Day 06 – St. Anthony to Rocky Harbour

Today is a rocky start; Carmen did not sleep very well last night.  Besides that, once again it is cloudy and overcast.  So back on the bus we are heading south route 430 to Rocky Harbor on the other side of Gros Morne.  As on our trip to St. Anthony we pass fields of stunted trees in fairly clear fields like this one. 

While we are driving Carmen and a couple of others see a moose and holler out.  Rod, the coach driver, stopped the coach and backed up.  The moose, hearing the backup warning signal, moved into the woods.  Carmen was able to get quick camera snap before she was gone.  Though it is a little blurry, she got the picture.   

We pass another river with salmon fishermen in the river.  I’ve been wondering how the fishing is, are they catching their limit for the day? 

Driving along the coast we have passed before, going by the same coves and bays.  As we near our first stop it is still very overcast with some drizzle.   

Our next stop is at The Arches Provincial Park.  Here the rock outcropping has had several tunnels created by wave actions creating three arches.  Here we can see the entire rock and arches. 

This closer look at the right side arch shows how the waves get funneled into the beach.   

Looking at the other two arches, it is clear that the center column may erode at some time in the future.  Imagine climbing on top of the rock and literally have the ground fall out from under you. 

A rock sea stack with a rock stack on the top giving evidence of a climber getting to the top and leaving his or her mark.  

Heading back to the motor coach, I get a picture of Carmen with two of the arches in the background.  Also if you look you can see the legs of someone who climbed to the top of the rock, easier going up then down. 

Next to the parking lot were these dead trees bleached white by the sea salt air.  Very dramatic. 

Also near the trees were a few of these cow parsnip flowers.  Just look at the black flies on this one flower.  Glad they are on this flower instead of me. 

Leaving the Arches Park we once again pass beaches and coves on the coast.  This one has a boat beached now that the fishing season is done.  Maybe it’s time for a good painting. 

It is not long before we are passing the Western Brook Pond trail to Western Pond again.  As I mentioned earlier, a boat to the end of the pond and a hike up to the top of the cliff you can see along the now landlocked fiord. 

We will go on a boat ride on Bonne Bay out of Norris Point.  On our way we pass this fish shack on the water overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

In Norris Point I am walking around before the boat ride and see this root cellar.  It doesn’t look like it is still in use, but it still looks neat.   

I think these cabins on the beach are for rent.  If you were looking for cabins on the waterfront on the coast of Newfoundland, these are the ones for you.  Great location, only later as we motor away from the dock I find out that this is where you rent kayaks.   

We head out on the north side towards the mouth of the bay and there is a little fog rolling in.  There is very little chance of seeing any whales, although some say they saw some Minke whales, but still no pictures. 

We move across to the other side of the bay near the entrance to the Gulf of St Lawrence.  While we head back in along the south side of the bay, the cloud cover is lowering.  

On our way back in someone sees a bald eagle in a tree and Carmen was able to get a fairly good picture even though the boat is rolling around and vibrating from the engines trying to keep us in one place. 

The rock ledges that come down to the water are impressive and include some small caves.   

Not too much time passes before we see another eagle.  This one has yet to get its distinctive white head and tail feathers.  From its perch it begins to fly away and we get this picture of it in flight before landing in another tree and we have moved away from it.  I’m surprised we were able to get a decent picture with the boat moving as much as it was. 

Back near houses, we learn about how sheep were kept with only a single fence.  The animals were penned in with the fence going from the salt sea water up to the mountain ledges.  Anyway, we have not seen many open fields for either raising animals or for crops. 

We get a look at one of the towns from the water.  You can see the colorful boats and houses on the hillside.   

A number of fishing shacks are found along the shore.  This one has a fish tank, a set of elk antlers, lobster traps and the boat is pulled up onto the ramp.  What more could you ask for? 

Having seen many of the salt-box style houses, we haven’t had a chance for a good picture of one however; from the water we have a great view of one.   

There are more fish shacks and boats along this section of the shore.  We have passed many on our trip across Newfoundland and Labrador, but not from the water or this good a view. 

This shack and boat seem to have had better days and out lived their usefulness.   

Leaving the town behind and moving across the end of the bay and I looked behind us and see that it is raining where we just left and it appears to be heading our way.  Hopefully we’ll have seen everything important before we get rained on.  You can even see some snow still in a crevice on the mountain in Gros Morne National Park. 

It has started to sprinkle a little when we see another bald eagle.  Between the boat shaking and the rain, Carmen did a great job of getting the picture. 

The boat came to a small cove and we were told that a town once was located here until they had to move.  So they packed all of their stuff into the second floor, added ballast in the first floor and floated the houses to the town across the bay where they were trucked to a new location. 

This rock formation has been uplifted on one side exposing the years of rock strata.  As we were told, the rock is millions of years old with the newest formations on the right and the oldest strata on the left. 

A close up of the strata.  Here is a good example of the different layers, some thin and others thicker. 

This section of the rock formation has a white stone I think it had something to do with calcium or something like that. 

Next the boat was moved around rock formation where several rock caves exist.  I think they look like a skull from skull island.  I’m waiting for King Kong to show up. 

We were told about a formation in the top right cave which looks like a kneeling woman that is facing away from us. You can just see her on the bottom right of the cave.

As we head back to the dock I am constantly looking for whales but haven’t seen any.  From here we are back at the motel where we will partake in a lobster dinner.  Tomorrow we have a long day traveling across Newfoundland, so until tomorrow.

Day 05 – L’Anse Au-Clair, Labrador – Viking Settlement – St. Anthony

Today we leave Labrador and will take the ferry back across the Strait of Belle Isle and go to the Viking Settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows.  As we are leaving Labrador heading to Quebec for the ferry we actually see an animal, in this case a groundhog on the side of the road.   

We do not have to meet the ferry as early as when we crossed to Labrador since our ferry doesn’t leave until 9:15am.  It is foggy and a little drizzly when we leave and hope that it will clear by the time we get on board.  A cargo vessel is coming out of the fog bank as it is approaching the docks. 

On the ferry, up on the top outside deck and while we are waiting for the cars and trucks to get loaded, I watch the small cargo vessel load and unload cars in containers.   

This van is being loaded in a container which has no sides.  The container looks a little flimsy if you ask me.   

Out on the water, Carmen saw a whale, but no picture.  We are told that Minke Whales do not do a tail fluke dive like the humpbacks do and you only see their backs, maybe this is what she saw.  I did see a couple of fishing vessels dragging their nets.  Not sure what they are catching.  

We pass through rain and everyone that was out on deck head back in.  As the rain let up some I went out and see a number of birds that are moving out of our way.  I think this is a Puffin that is sort of swimming, doing the breast stroke, trying to fly away. 

Back in Newfoundland our destination is L’Anse aux Meadows.  To get there we pass places like Deadman’s Cove, Bear Cove, Sandy Cove and another 10 more coves.  This one has the fishing vessels docked ready for the next day’s fishing.

Later this stream has some sort of fish trap stretched across it.   

More boats which I think are dories used to catch cod fish.   

Entering L’Anse aux Meadows we learn that the Norsemen originally came here from Greenland and this sculpture on the grounds represents their arrival to Newfoundland. 

The walkway leading to the reconstructed buildings meanders along and over streams and through fields which once held other buildings. 

Nearing the buildings constructed to represent how the buildings might have been in the early to mid 1000’s you can see the example of the fence built to keep unwanted animals out.  You can also see at the near end of the long house there is a ceiling vent opened to let heat out. 

Inside the fence we get a closer look at the longhouse and side buildings.  There are two entrances on this side which pass straight through to matching entrances on the other side of the building. 

We entered the longhouse and get a representation of one of the rooms.  At the bottom right of the picture is a man representing a male member of the Norsemen along with a fire while a women representing the women goes about her duties.  The long house is separated into different rooms by walls with a passageway.

Another separate building which represented the smithy was also present and equipped with anvil and fire bellows. 

A close-up view of the buildings external walls.  It is clear that sod was cut, about 4-6 inch depth, and at different lengths and widths.  The walls were 5-6 feet deep and 6 foot tall making the inside temperature comfortable in both summer and winter. 

As we leave the interpretive buildings Carmen gets this picture of the roof of the longhouse through the fence.

After leaving the buildings we walked around the field area where other buildings once existed.  Here the building at this site is presumed to have been used for ship repair and iron forging, probably determined by items found in the depression.  There were about 7-8 other building sites similar to this one each used for a different purpose.

Carmen and I always include flowers and animals in our travel blogs.  Although we have not had many animals so far, we have had an over abundance of flowers.  This flower is very small and different from many others we have seen.   

Though these Irises and buttercups are not unusual, we have seen many of them sometimes a lone iris or buttercup to groupings of the flowers.  I can’t get over how often we have seen them. 

This has nothing to do with the Norsemen, but this dandelion puffball was so perfect I had to include it with the pictures.  I found it while I was walking back to the motorcoach.   

Back on the road again heading to our next stop, we pass coves similar to this one.  Docks with either a dory or motorboat with houses and store or fishing shacks near the water. 

Like we have before, we pass another river with fly fishermen hoping to hook that elusive salmon.  I wonder if either of the has caught anything yet? 

 

As we near our hotel for the night, we can see an iceberg in one of the nearby bays and the coach driver was able to take us down near the water.  The sky was overcast and it was getting late, but we could still see the iceberg fairly well. 

On our last turn to the hotel we pass this Canadian rescue helicopter in the field of a school.  Not sure why it was there, but it was gone by the morning.  Tomorrow we are heading back south through Gros Morne to the coastal town of Rocky Harbour.