Viking Village to Colony of Avalon

Sunday, June 17:  Rocky Harbour – Hay Cove (L’Anse aux Meadows)

We filled up with gas and headed off about 9:30, checking out the parking lot at Western Brook Pond as we drove by:  no dog and no car from Nunavut, so guess the rescue mission was a success.  Port au Choix, about half-way up the Northern Peninsula from Gros Morne, is a Canada National Historic Site.  http://www.pc.gc.ca/portauchoix This peninsula has been home to four aboriginal cultures dating back 5500 years. The French settlements started in 1700 and the English in 1800 at Pointe Riche.  We managed to eat our picnic lunch without getting blown away, but just!   This is a very bleak and windswept coast.

  

Sandy Cove, Northern Peninsula                 Cape Riche Lighthouse, Port au Choix

At Flower’s Cove we talked with a local woman.  (The accents are getting stronger so it's harder to understand the dialect.)   We were surprised to see how well-kept and prosperous-looking the small communities appeared.  She said many of the people work in Alberta or off-shore on oil rigs, coming back to NL on their time off.  She also said the shrimp and lobster fisheries are doing well.  It was around here, in the Strait of Belle Isle, we saw our only “growler”, a large chunk of glacier.   

We arrived at Viking Village B and B, Hay Cove, just before 4:00 and quickly drove to the Visitors’ Centre at L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site.  www.parkscanada.gc.ca/meadows  where we caught up with Clayton, doing the last tour of the day.  He grew up in the village, and remembers the Norwegian explorer and writer, Helge Ingstad and his anthropologist wife, Anne Stine, who discovered the ruins in the 1960s.  They were responsible for determining this was the ancient Vinland  referred to in the legendary Norse sagas, discovered about 1,000 AD.
 

Our room is small but comfortable.  Somehow the queen beds we’ve had on this trip seem more like doubles (or are we getting bigger?)  Dinner at the B and B was hearty:  roast moose, potatoes, cabbage, turnip and bread pudding, and partridgeberry (lingonberry) square and ice cream for dessert; $16 each.  There are no TVs in the rooms so you are encouraged to sit around the living room and chat with the other guests. 

Monday, June 18:  L’Anse aux Meadows – St. Anthony’s – L’Anse aux Meadows

We woke up to rain and heavy wind, the coolest, dullest day yet.  We spent most of the day in St. Anthony’s and the Grenfell Historic Properties (www.grenfell-properties.com) showcasing the work of doctor-missionary Sir Wilfred Grenfell, who joined the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen to investigate the condition of the fishermen and their families on the Labrador coast starting in 1892.  He and his wife, Anne, devoted their lives to helping the people in the remote parts of the Labrador and Northern Peninsular Newfoundland coasts.  Dinner was at the Norseman restaurant in L'Anse.  Its creative, well-presented food, professional service and wind-swept sea view makes it one of the province’s best restaurants.  Jim had lobster, I had Roasted True Cod with tomato gratin, pancetta and baby spinach pine-nut relish.  Saw moose #4 and 5 today.

Tues. June 19:  Hay Cove – Gander

Our longest travel day, 728 km, just over 8 hours.  Sunny skies and the warmest temps we’ve had to date.  It reached 30 C on the TCH after we left Rocky Harbour where we stopped for lunch at Java Jack’s, a “deep-fry free zone”.   Pulled into the Comfort Inn in Gander about 4:30.  At last we have a king-sized bed. 

Wed. June 20:  Gander – Branch (Cape Shore, Avalon Peninsula)

Comfort Inn sure does have comfy beds!  But the desk clerk said we couldn't take it home.   Travel goes by quickly on the TCH…before we knew it we were going through Joey Smallwood’s hometown of Gambo.  Now I’ve been here, I want to read Wayne Johnston’s A Colony of Unrequited Dreams, an historical novel, and maybe the biography, Smallwood:  The Unlikely Revolutionary, by Richard Gwyn.  We passed many stony brooks and ponds as well as the inevitable rocky, scrubby terrain.  We purposefully drove by Come by Chance.  Once off the highway, our pace slowed considerably, taking our time to enjoy the sights. 

Our first stop on the Cape Shore section of the Avalon Peninsula was the National Parks Historic Site at Castle Hill,  (www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/castlehill/index.aspx) above Placentia, another area of dispute between the French and British.  The draw, of course, was the cod, which was plentiful in 1662 when the French founded the colony of Plaisance.  Today, the remains of the fortifications on top of Castle Hill are all that is left of France’s presence.  The British gained sovereignty over Newfoundland by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. 

After several hours walking around the site we worked up an appetite for a late lunch at a pub in town before heading down the coast to Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve (www.greatcanadianparks.com/nfoundland/cstmary/index.htm)  on the tip.  As we approached, the fog got thicker, and we wondered if we'd be able to see the birds, but apparently they have fog 200 days of the year, and you can still see them.   Our Cliffhouse B and B host, Chris, works there as a naturalist.  As soon as we walked in he asked where we were staying.   I replied “with you.”  He told us to stick to the path and avoid the steep cliff edges because “We won’t come out to look for you.  Well, maybe since you’re staying with me and haven’t paid me yet, I might come looking for you.”  Bird Rock was covered with Northern Gannets, Common and Thick Billed Murres, and Kittiwakes (which look like gulls to us.) Total distance driven today was 372 km.

Thurs. June 21:  Branch – St. John’s

Foggy, foggy morning; no view.  Breakfast is self-serve since our hosts go off to work early after a 5:30 a.m. jog!  We chatted with the other guests from QC and NS and didn’t get off till 9:00.

Today’s mission was to complete the Cape Shore and Irish Loop around the remainder of the Avalon Peninsula.  Fog drifted in and out of St. Mary's Bay.  We stopped to look out at Point Le Haye near St. Mary’s.  An elderly woman who walks up the rocky path every day told us we might sight Humpbacks near St. Vincent.  Sure enough, though just a fin or two.  They come back here from the Caribbean about this time of year to feed on the capelin (small smelt-like fish) which also brings the gulls.  Another stop was the Edge of Avalon Interpretive Centre (www.edgeofavalon.ca) at Portugal Cove.  Cape Race, where the Titanic victims were buried and the Myrick Wireless Centre that received the ship’s distress call are down a gravel road, untravelled by us.

We were hoping to see the iceberg at Ferryland, but when we arrived the bay was fogged in.  There was barely time to see the Colony of Avalon, (www.colonyofavalon.ca)  the oldest continuously occupied settlement in British North America.  The colony was founded by George Calvert, later Lord Baltimore, in 1621.  The Ferryland settlement was largely forgotten and its remains lay undisturbed for centuries until excavation began about 20 years ago.

 

Constructed of stone, the buildings have left substantial remains. Archaeologists have uncovered over a million artifacts to date – gold rings, Portuguese ceramics and other unusual objects – as well as a smithy, a stone-walled well, a sea-flushed privy and the "prettie street" described in very early accounts. There is evidence of earlier occupations by Beothuk Indians and Basque fishermen.  http://www.heritage.nf.ca/avalon/introduction.html

We finally got to see the iceberg, now a “bergy bit”, before we left.

Fri. June 22:  St. John's Airport where we're currently in a 7-hour flight delay due first to a storm in Toronto, then crew issues, and now fog.  We'll get out of here some time today.

St. John's to Gros Morne

Wed. June 13:  St. John’s
                          

The morning’s agenda was a trek up Signal Hill, walking distance from the B and B.  There is so much history associated with this Hill.  Numerous battles were waged between the English and French and the final North American battle of the Seven Years' War was fought here in 1762.   From the Queen’s Battery we had a good view of the Harbour and the Narrows. At the top stands Cabot Tower, constructed in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee and the 400’s anniversary of John Cabot’s “Voyage of Discovery.”  It was finished in time for Marconi’s historic trans-Atlantic wireless reception in Dec. 1901.  We followed the 1.7 km coast-clinging North Head Trail down past the Narrows and through the former fishermen’s houses, now marine or craft shops, in Outer Battery, houses clinging to the cliffs inches from the road.  The Roses B and B, a "jelly house"

Following a siesta of several hours we headed downtown on Duckworth and Water Streets, and up to the pub area on George St. before settling on Nautical Nellie’s for pub fare.  We shared a bucket of mussels in a tangy sauce and an order of halibut with fruit garnish and parmesan-crusted fries…too much food.  This unpretentious English-style pub is frequented by more locals than tourists; the courthouse crowd stood around the bar enjoying a pint or two.  Today we were greeted by many friendly locals who were all obviously pleased with today’s change of weather (sun and high of 22.)  “It’s loovely wedder, isn’t it?”  We had to agree, coming from rainy, cool Vancouver!

Fri. June 15:  Gros Morne

Yesterday was a long drive across the province, about 700 kms, broken with stops for lunch and shopping for food as we're staying in a cabin. We found the cabin easily and made a simple dinner after quickly checking out the town, spread out along the rocky beach. 

Today we drove to the Park’s Discovery Centre, 74 km away on the South Arm section of the park.  From here we drove another 16 km to Trout River, a still-active fishing village with stacks of lobster traps amid the fishing boats.  Trout River is one of the Tidy Towns, as are Rocky Harbour and Norris Point.  We hiked the 4 km trail at Tablelands, whose 470 million year old orange moonscape rocks were brought to the surface from the ocean when two continents collided.  This unusual example of plate tectonics is the reason Gros Morne was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Tonight we went for a pub dinner.  By the time we left at 8:00, the place was full of locals (mostly our generation) out to support a young local band at $25/head.  We drove to nearby Lobster Cove Head lighthouse, then backtracked to Norris Point, yet another of the Tidy Towns.Trout River  Tablelands

Lobster Cove  Head 

Sat. June 16:  Western Brook Pond cruise and dog rescue

We followed the 3 km. path through the delicate coastal plane to the “pond” which is a glacially-carved fjord from the last ice age.  Once aboard we pulled away and were soon surrounded by vertical cliffs of billion-year-old rock rising 700 m. high.  The pond itself is 16 km long and 165 m deep, with few fish as there's little for them to eat.  Technically it’s no longer a fjord as it’s fresh water.  The small boat was packed.  There was good bi-lingual commentary and a taste of local music recorded by Anchors Aweigh, the local band who performed at the Ocean View last night.  Coming back we took a loop to the river, where we saw a black and white wolf-cross dog who forded the river which was maybe half a metre deep.  When we got back to the parking lot, the dog was there, lost and looking for its owners.   We didn’t want to leave it free (there were no Parks employees present) as it was running down the highway, seemed to be looking for its owners.  So another couple from BC tied him to a car from Nunavut (the dog’s tag was from Iqualiut) and left him water and a blanket, which calmed him down.  We informed a student at the lighthouse who was to pass it to parks warden.   We hope the story ended with a happy reunion.  We're out of here tomorrow morning, on the Viking Trail to L'Anse aux Meadows.  We've seen three moose, only one on the road.  

The "Rock"

We're on The Rock.  We've been here three days.  It's only taken us 39 years to get here.  We wanted to come, really badly, when we made our only cross country trip in a van back in 1973 with our young son, but when we got to Sydney, Nova Scotia, about two months into our travels, time and money constraints kept us from our goal.  So here we are now, savouring it more than we would have then. 

Why come to Newfoundland at all?  Here are a few of our reasons:
1.  THE PEOPLE:  They're friendly.  Genuinely friendly.  And they have a sense of humour as well as fascinating accents.  The accents in St. John's are fairly mild, faintly English but easier to understand than what we expected.  Now we've moved away from the city we've noticed in smaller places they're stronger and more reminiscent of Irish.
2.  THE TOWNS:   They have a sense of community.   Newfies have an annual award for "Tidy Towns" and we've seen a few where we are now in Western Newfoundland.  Some of these are hamlets but they all have a town hall, post office and community gathering place.  Most of the houses are dressed in their Sunday best with makeup on. They're not afraid of colour!   And who wouldn't want to visit a place with town names like Dildo, Heart's Delight, Heart's Content and, Witless Bay...and these are just in the Avalon Peninsula.  Where else would you find a highway named for an Olympic gold-medal curling team:  Team Gushue Highway, being funded by the Federal and Provincial Governments.
3.  THE HOUSES:  St. John's colourful Victorian row "jelly houses", Newfoundland salt boxes, brightly painted shacks in the fishing villages, "white-washed" coastal towns.  They are so different from our west coast architecture. 
4.  SEAFOOD:  Fresh caught lobster, mussels, halibut, cod and crab, and if you look hard you can find some that's not battered and deep fried. 
5.  TRAVEL POINTS:  Okay, it's as far as we could get for the least number of travel points, but that doesn't cheapen the experience.  It also takes as long to get here as it does to fly to London!

So we are here, enjoying the sun and learning about the land.  On the next post we'll fill you in on St. John's and Gros Morne (where we are now.)

Newfoundland Viking Trail

June 12-22:  We're following the Viking Trail from St. John's to Gros Morne National Park, up to L'Anse aux Meadows.  Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  L'Anse was the area the Viking Norsemen called Vinland when they landed 1000 years ago.  From here we'll double back towards St. John's, veering off on to  the Cape Shore section of the Avalon Peninsula, to spend a couple of days exploring St. Mary's Bay and the Irish Loop on the east coast of the peninsula.