(Written July 11. 2013)
Frank, our bus driver (not George as I may have said),
picked us up at the motel this morning at 8:00AM after a very good breakfast of
scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, and coffee. When we went outside to board the bus we were
disappointed to find that the black flies had not disappeared during the
night. They literally swarmed around our
heads and got in our hair (well, not mine since I have a perfect head – no hair). It’s no wonder that only 30,000 people live
in Labrador! Luckily, Carol Ann and I
had head nets left over from our Mexico trip last year. However, the mesh may have been fine enough
to block mosquitoes but not to block the black flies, which managed to find their
way through the netting to make it very unpleasant to be outside.
The bus pulled out of L’Anse-au-Clair for Red Bay, about a one-hour
drive to the north. Red Bay is a new
UNESCO World Heritage Site. It only
received that recognition within the past few weeks. Their claim to fame is that the village was once
a 16th century Basque whaling outpost.
The Basques sailed from Europe to hunt the whales. The whales were butchered on shore and their
blubber rendered into oil. Whale oil was
used in lamps all over Europe at the time. They would spend six or more months each year
hunting the whales and filling barrels with whale oil for the return trip to
Europe. These ships were the equivalent
of today’s oil tankers. The business was
extremely profitable, as long as the ships made it back to Europe. It was a very risky business.
In 1972 a small Basque chalupa
(not the popular Mexican food product) was discovered. A chalupa
held six or seven men and went out from the “mother” ship with a harpooner to
hunt whales. This one was found buried
under a sandbar in the small cove at Red Bay.
Although it was 500 years old and had been flattened by the weight of
the sand, the cold water and being covered by sand had preserved the wood. It was recovered from its resting place, reassembled,
and placed on display in the museum along with many other Basque items found in
the area.
There was some construction at the museum and I noticed that
several men were wearing “bug jackets”, which were made of very fine mesh as a
pullover that covered your torso, arms, and head. I asked one of them where I might purchase such
apparel and was told that some should be available in the gift shop.
Before going through the museum I charged across the street
to the gift shop. They did indeed have
the bug jackets with mesh much finer than our head nets. I bought their last Large for me and their
last Medium for Carol Ann. The rest were
all Smalls. Let me tell you they were
fantastic! We put them on and walked
down the street amid swarms of the little pests and took photos of the icebergs
in the bay.
We had an early lunch in the restaurant (in which the gift
shop was located) across the street from the museum. We weren’t able have ice water to drink
because of a “boil order” issued for the area.
We were offered hot tea or coffee because the water had been
boiled. We really wanted something cold
to drink so elected to purchase a bottle of water and a Pepsi.
After lunch we turned back south and went to L’Anse-du-Mort
(Cove of the Dead) and the Point Amour lighthouse. As we drove through the small coastal
village, Frank informed us that the population had been only eight but was now
growing. Lisa (the Mayor) had a baby
not too long ago and the population was now nine!
There have been many shipwrecks off of Point Amour over the
past couple of hundred years or so. The
lighthouse began operating in 1858 and is still going strong, except the light
is now electric and automated instead of being lit with whale oil and requiring
a keeper. At 109 feet it is the second
tallest lighthouse in Canada. The guides
led eight at a time to the top. There were
126 narrow circular steps with the last section being an almost vertical ladder
that had to be climbed to access the catwalk (it was glassed in so no worry
about falling off) around the huge Fresnel lens. The lens was at least two feet higher than I am
tall.
One thing about this lighthouse is that it was also the site
of Marconi’s first wireless telegraph station, one end of the first
transatlantic wireless message. Only the
foundation of the wireless station remains.
It was actually kept operational up into the 1960s.
Finally it was time to head for the ferry. The bus would not be going across with us but
because it had started raining, Frank got permission to back the bus onto the
ferry so that we wouldn’t get wet. We
got a lot of stares from the people in the cars and trucks that were lined up
to drive onto the ferry as we backed past them while they waited.
Frank was a great tour guide and bus driver. He seemed to know everyone in the small
villages and everyone knew Frank. He not
only drove the tour bus, he owned it along with 13 or 14 school buses that he
contracted out to the county. He also
purchases berries from the locals and sells them to companies on the mainland
for making jams and jellies. I think
Frank has a lot of fingers in a lot of pies!
He is a very hard worker. Newfies
can be a little hard to understand so when Frank was telling us about
Labrador’s natural resources I wondered why he kept mentioning “R & R.” The only R & R with which I was
familiar was the Army’s one week Rest & Relaxation leave we received while
in Vietnam. Finally, I realized what he
was really saying. It was “iron ore.”
Our drive tomorrow will be very short. It is only 72 miles to St. Anthony’s where
we will stay for two nights. Our visit
will include a Viking Feast in a Viking village replica and iceberg
viewing. I THINK they will have Wi-Fi.
(Written July 12, 2013)
Well, they claim to have “Wi-Fi access available.” It is if you take your computer and stand
outside of the RV park’s office. This
post may have to wait another day.
Maybe we will go to Tim Horton’s for coffee and a donut in the morning
and use their free Wi-Fi. There is a Tim
Horton’s in just about every little town up here. It’s kind of a cross between McDonalds and
Starbuck’s, but perhaps a step down in quality.
Today’s drive was only 70 miles and there were no
problems. During the first half of the
drive there was quite a bit of fog but almost no traffic. The highway could use some improvement but it
got better along with the weather after we turned eastward and away from the
coast about halfway to St. Anthony’s.
All 22 of our RVs are crammed into one section of the park (Triple
Rivers RV Park) with no shade, no sewer, and poor power. I’ve already mentioned the absence of
Wi-Fi. The voltage on the power drops
every once in a while to the point where my electrical management system
decides it is too risky and shuts it off.
When we first arrived it kept going off and on and off and on. Now, about five hours later it seems to be
OK.
At 1:00PM we drove out to Goose Cove in hopes of seeing some
whales and/or icebergs. Rich and Helen
went with us and we saw Thursa, Dottie, Dan, and Stacha. Thursa had a huge 200mm - 400mm telephoto
zoom lens that she let me take a few shots with. Now I know what I want for Christmas! We never saw any whales or icebergs but the
scenery was terrific.
Eight people from our group went on an optional whale
watching boat ride this afternoon and did see whales. Howard and Stoney related how rough the sea
was and how many people got seasick and were “calling Ralph” over the side of
the boat. Carol Ann wants to go tomorrow
so I hope the ocean will be a little calmer.
We went to a Viking Feast this evening for dinner. It was in a building “disguised” as a large
Viking sod hut. It was actually a dinner
theater in which the wait staff dressed and role-played as Vikings. After we had eaten and the tables were
cleared the Viking chieftain held court.
Several people in our group were singled out and accused of committing a “crime”. They were called up front to defend
themselves. “Witnesses” were called who would testify for or against the
accused and then the chieftain would call for a vote. If the accused was found guilty (most were)
the chieftain would decide the sentence. Dottie accused Thursa of drinking too much
Screech at the Screech-In a few nights ago and various witnesses were
called. When asked if she had anything
to say, Thursa said she wanted more Screech.
Additional witnesses were called and then Goodman, one of the wait
staff, surprised everyone by brining out a shot of Screech for Thursa, who
downed it without hesitation. She was
found innocent and Dottie, her accuser, was found guilty of making a false
accusation. Her punishment was that she
would have to forfeit her next shot of Screech to Thursa. Another funny “case” was when Larry accused
Harvey of being a messy eater because of an incident on the ferry with a hotdog
and spilling mustard on his shirt. His
wife Barbara testified that the accusation was true. Harvey was found guilty and as his punishment
the chieftain sentenced Harvey to purchase a washer and dryer for their RV.
Let me backup for just a moment to relate this interesting
bit of information. When we (Stoney,
Claudia, Howard, Diana, Carol Ann, and me) first arrived for the Viking Feast
we stopped to pose under a “Viking Feast” sign.
So that all six of us could be in the photo, Howard stopped a pickup
truck that was passing by and asked the man to take our photo. The man was quite pleased to do so and Howard
introduced himself to the man and his grandson, thanking them profusely. While we were standing there I did a
double-take when I saw a fox nonchalantly trotting by us on the road, perhaps only eight or
ten feet from us. The fox paid us no
mind and proceeded right to the back door of the restaurant where she sat and
waited. I found out later that she
is a silver fox and a mother that some of the restaurant staff are feeding with leftovers.
(Written July 13, 2013)
This part of Newfoundland is where the Vikings discovered
North America about four hundred years before Chris Columbus. The Vikings stayed no more than ten years
before pulling up stakes and returning to Greenland or Iceland or wherever they
came from. Nobody knows for sure why
they left but speculation is that that they never intended to be here
permanently. They came for natural
resources, such as furs and lumber, but eventually they began trading with the
closer European continent and had no real need to stay in North America. They may have also had some problems with the
Native Americans who vastly outnumbered them.
This morning we car pooled to Norstead, a replica of a
Viking trading port, and then drove to L’Anse Aux Meadows, which was the actual
site of the first Viking settlement 1000 years ago. A Canadian National Park docent gave us a
walking tour of the area and told us about the archeological excavations. This was a great experience after last
night’s Viking Feast.
A rumor got started at lunch today. Supposedly, a 175-foot tall iceberg had
appeared in St. Anthony’s harbor and was grounded. As soon as we finished the tour at L’Anse Aux
Meadows several of us high-tailed it to the harbor but there was no iceberg to
be seen. We should have known better. An iceberg that size would be the equivalent
of a 17 or 18 story building (above the water) and about twice that below the
water. It would have been a real
monster. Still, you never know, so we
had to go and check it out. On the way
down to the harbor we did spot some icebergs in a small bay between L’Anse Aux
Meadows and St. Anthony’s. I found a dirt
road that seemed to be going in that direction and followed it out to a point
from which we had a great view of three small icebergs.
After the iceberg hunt we stopped at Foodland to buy a few
groceries before returning to the RV Park.
We entered the RV and found it a stifling 85 degrees. As I have mentioned, the power here is
unreliable and because of low voltage my “smart” electrical management system
had shut off the power to prevent any damage to appliances. The cats were glad to see us, especially
after we started our generator and let the air conditioners cool down the
coach.
Tomorrow we have to backtrack along the same highway that
brought us to the northern tip of Newfoundland.
It will be 215 miles to Rocky Harbor and Gros Morne RV Park where we
will spend three nights, giving us a little break. While there we will go out on a whale
watching boat and also visit the Gros Morne National Park. There will be no cell service and the Wi-Fi is
said to be “spotty”, which probably means non-existent. I hope to find Internet access somewhere
along the way in order to get this posted before it becomes the length of “War
and Peace.”
(Written July 14, 2013)
We arrived at Gros Morne RV Park a little after 1:00PM
today. Almost five hours for the 215
miles. Not too bad considering we
stopped twice. Once for fuel (3/4 of a
tank for $312 Canadian!!) and again at a scenic overlook for some photos and
lunch.
The RV park looked really nice when we pulled in. We drove by a lot of nice wooded sites with
lots of shade until we came to what amounts to a large gravel parking lot with
electric, water, and sewer hookups. We
have a picnic table at each site but not one single solidary tree in the entire
parking lot. At least we aren’t crammed
in as we have been in some parks. Plenty
of room in this one.
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