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.
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