Sitting in a little cafe at Rocky Harbour, in Gros Morne Park...just a few hundred metres from our wonderful bed and breakfast. We have travelled much since the last posting. First we spent a little bit of time at the most northern area of Newfoundland where the Vikings landed. Seems like a few of them are still there employed by Parks Canada to show one around their sod huts, and demonstrate making nails from the bog iron and boats from wood. They certainly have adjusted though, as one was able to take me to a back room and sell me his latest CD of newfie music sans tax. I guess a thousand years is ample time to fit right in.
The northern coast has vicious winds at times. Locals said in the winter at St Anthony's you can see the blue sky above, but the whiteout on the ground blocks out everything in your view. We were glad it was summer!
We had enough time to take a little detour to Labrador and do the coastal drive. The ferry lands on the Quebec side of the border after crossing Straits of Belle Isle. We were able to tell it was Quebec by the roads...they improved enormously as we crossed into Labrador. But the fog was the same in both places...couldn't see a thing so we pulled right over to a hotel in L'anse au Clair. Lots of French names on the coast as the French did a lot of fishing there...starting way back in 1542 or so when the Basque whalers landed in Labrador. At Red Bay, the end of our drive ( and the paved road) we visited the National Historic Site dedicated to the Basques. They supplied all of Europe with oil for their lamps with their whaling for close to 100 years by catching whales off the coast of Labrador, rendering the oil in big bronze cauldrons over outdoor fireplaces, putting it all in barrels assembled on the shore and heading back to Europe in the Fall. This was only discovered in the 1960's when someone read about a ship that had sunk in the New World called the San Juan in Red Bay Harbour. They dove in the harbour and found the ship perfectly preserved by the cold water and mud and then were able to find the evidence of the whaling on the shore. Up to 1000 men spent their summer there. At the end of the era, those pesky Norse and Danes had taken all the Basque skills and learned to catch whales in the Artic waters a lot closer to Europe. And also they suspect either the Basques overwhaled and depleted the species or climate change moved the whales elsewhere...how history repeats itself now in newfoundland!
We then came back down the coast of Newfoundland once again to Gros Morne and our favorite bed and breakfast.
So, back at Dot and Walter's place, we feel like family. Even went to their daughter's 25th wedding anniversay last night at Norris Point...lots of friends, family and food. Drove over with Dot, Walter and Dot's 98 year old mother..she is a great-great-grandma now.
This morning we went on a hike to Baker Brook Falls ...on the way we saw a bull moose munching away..What a sight! saw another on the way back..maybe the same one..but Jurg says he has seen 9 moose and 1 bear on the trip so far. Quite the count for one trip.
We are starting to sound like newfies now...day don't have a th sound..and day drop der 'aitches on a lot of words and put em where dey hain't. Der English sounds a lot nicer dan ours, but we can't understand all of it...
Sue and Jurg
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Viking Land
Remember that cop I mentioned from St John's? the nice one who stopped tourists to help them out? well, his wife told us about her mother who ran a bed and breakfast in Rocky Harbour in the centre of Gros Morne Park. We decided to give her a call when we got there. So we stayed in a room at Shears Bed and Breakfast with Dot and Walter Shears. It was just like being at home. Not quite my home though, Dot makes all her own bread and jams. So breakfast was terrific....yogurt, blueberries, ground flax, eggs, homemade breads and biscuits and terrific company. The other people there were 2 cyclists from Germany, Theo and Miya. He is a comedian and she a teacher. Then Dot's 2 daughters came for coffee...Ruth, the daughter we met in St John had driven the 8 hours with her children and husband (the cop) to have a weekend with her family. What a great visit we had! Felt like we had known them for ages, rather than a 20 minute talk on the top of Signal Hill. But, that is Newfoundland for you....
I also forgot to tell you about the last Art's thing we attended...a Scuff and Scoff (that's dinner theatre to you) at Twillingate...locals put this on 6 nights a week over the summer. Great homemade dinner and then singing and silly humour. The guy who took our cash as we came in, pitched in to help serve our meals and then was the guitar player and actor in the entertainment. He did a great Peter Mansbridge imitation. One of the funny skits was Patsy Decline who sang I Fall to Pieces as bits of her popped off...until she collapsed on the ground and her hat fell over her face and the song ended abruptly. Real slapstick that had us all hooting...great fun.
We are now in a campground just near L'Anse aux Meadows. We decided to travel up the coast to here yesterday as the weather was rainy and save Gros Morne for the return journey. Newfoundland has created this nice turn around loop at the top so you don't have to backup all the way down. ( check your maps!) We will see the Viking exhibit this morning...they were here 1000 years ago for a brief 25 year time... and then head back the 400 kms to Gros Morne and hopefully Shears again. The coastal views with the hills of the Long Range Mountains on the other side, are just outstanding. Probably will take a zillion pictures again.
I also forgot to tell you about the last Art's thing we attended...a Scuff and Scoff (that's dinner theatre to you) at Twillingate...locals put this on 6 nights a week over the summer. Great homemade dinner and then singing and silly humour. The guy who took our cash as we came in, pitched in to help serve our meals and then was the guitar player and actor in the entertainment. He did a great Peter Mansbridge imitation. One of the funny skits was Patsy Decline who sang I Fall to Pieces as bits of her popped off...until she collapsed on the ground and her hat fell over her face and the song ended abruptly. Real slapstick that had us all hooting...great fun.
We are now in a campground just near L'Anse aux Meadows. We decided to travel up the coast to here yesterday as the weather was rainy and save Gros Morne for the return journey. Newfoundland has created this nice turn around loop at the top so you don't have to backup all the way down. ( check your maps!) We will see the Viking exhibit this morning...they were here 1000 years ago for a brief 25 year time... and then head back the 400 kms to Gros Morne and hopefully Shears again. The coastal views with the hills of the Long Range Mountains on the other side, are just outstanding. Probably will take a zillion pictures again.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Deer Lake
We are so busy enjoying the back to nature of Newfoundland, that the computer postings get forgot. We have done so much since Trinity...a stop at Port Union...the only union town in North America! Maybe Buzz Hargrove should take a look at it...started back in the early 1900's when the fishers sold their fish to the same rich merchants who sold them back all their supplies. So fish was always worth a little less than what they owed the company store. The process was called "truck" then. A thirteen year old Randy Coaker started to organize the fishers and eventually started a processing coop and this town..of course in the long run, the regulations forcing a fish marketing board type thing got undercut by a wealthy owner who just refused to join in and so the government caved...but things did get better. We still see Coop processing plants around the province...right now they are doing snow crab and have finished lobster. It is still seasonal work but it does get them by.
Elliston was the home of the Puffin colony...even a webcam you can watch..Spent half an hour watching TV looking at puffins entirely oblivious to us. They are monogamous during the time they raise their young in borrows they return to each year. Share all the work, they do, and then puff they fly off and leave the young and each other in August-September. The young fledge and have 5 years of freedom before they breed...mom and pop don't meet up again until May..spend the winter bobbing on the North Atlantic. That's the only part I don't like..the rest sounds pretty sane to me.
Onto Bonavista after that where it was wet and cold...hoped to see more whales ..but we did stand at the point where John Cabot landed in 1497. A little sidenote here...we met a scientist down near Trinity. who does whale research and animal communication stuff. He also said he is writing a book with Stephen Hawking on the next big thing for this century...tells us it is altruism, not evolution..guess you have to read the book. But, he did tell us that there has been a big discovery...by some guys doing Phd research at the Vatican for Harvard. Reading Portugeuse handwritten notes ...apparently they have determined that a Portugeuse explorer landed at Trinity bay or thereabouts in 1472. He said this will come out in the Fall...so poor Christopher Columbus has lost his longheld position. Watch for the breaking news!
We are now at Deer Lake on the public internet access...we have just spent the last night at Fogo Island...a little piece of paradise accessed by ferry from near Twillingate. If you remember the adds for Newfoundland and Labrador, the one with the Flat Earth Society referred to Brimstone Head...one of the four corners of the Earth..right there on Fogo! we climbed it to watch the sunset. The sunset was not all that great but the view was terrific. The adds must have worked because we met a couple from Ingersoll Ontario on the summit. Ontarioans are everywhere here. And Fogo Island is like it used to be when folks fished from dories. On the east side of the island is Tilting, settled by Irish Catholics who have made sure their town was declared a Heritage District. Almost seems like a little piece of Ireland broke off and floated over. Too bad the state of the economy in Ireland hasn't accompanied it.
Anyhow, on to Gros Morne.....and then St Anthony's to see the Viking exhibit.
Sue and Jurg
Elliston was the home of the Puffin colony...even a webcam you can watch..Spent half an hour watching TV looking at puffins entirely oblivious to us. They are monogamous during the time they raise their young in borrows they return to each year. Share all the work, they do, and then puff they fly off and leave the young and each other in August-September. The young fledge and have 5 years of freedom before they breed...mom and pop don't meet up again until May..spend the winter bobbing on the North Atlantic. That's the only part I don't like..the rest sounds pretty sane to me.
Onto Bonavista after that where it was wet and cold...hoped to see more whales ..but we did stand at the point where John Cabot landed in 1497. A little sidenote here...we met a scientist down near Trinity. who does whale research and animal communication stuff. He also said he is writing a book with Stephen Hawking on the next big thing for this century...tells us it is altruism, not evolution..guess you have to read the book. But, he did tell us that there has been a big discovery...by some guys doing Phd research at the Vatican for Harvard. Reading Portugeuse handwritten notes ...apparently they have determined that a Portugeuse explorer landed at Trinity bay or thereabouts in 1472. He said this will come out in the Fall...so poor Christopher Columbus has lost his longheld position. Watch for the breaking news!
We are now at Deer Lake on the public internet access...we have just spent the last night at Fogo Island...a little piece of paradise accessed by ferry from near Twillingate. If you remember the adds for Newfoundland and Labrador, the one with the Flat Earth Society referred to Brimstone Head...one of the four corners of the Earth..right there on Fogo! we climbed it to watch the sunset. The sunset was not all that great but the view was terrific. The adds must have worked because we met a couple from Ingersoll Ontario on the summit. Ontarioans are everywhere here. And Fogo Island is like it used to be when folks fished from dories. On the east side of the island is Tilting, settled by Irish Catholics who have made sure their town was declared a Heritage District. Almost seems like a little piece of Ireland broke off and floated over. Too bad the state of the economy in Ireland hasn't accompanied it.
Anyhow, on to Gros Morne.....and then St Anthony's to see the Viking exhibit.
Sue and Jurg
Monday, July 21, 2008
Trinity Bight, Newfoundland
We have settled into a motel tonight as it is raining very lightly. Seemed a little overwhelming to orchestrate the sleep in the van thing when everything is wet.
What a great few days we have had! We reluctantly left St John's on Sunday morning as we had enjoyed so much of the city and the people. We had met a police officer and his wife on Signal Hill enjoying an early morning coffee. He gave us all sort of ideas about what to see, as well as telling us how things had changed for him in his work. From policing in the 80's what seemed like an old folks home, to the issuance of guns in '97, to the drugs and crime problems found in modern cities today. He also told us when he saw tourists trying to read a map and drive, he would pull them over, get them sorted out, set their radio to Newfie music and send them on their way. My kind of cop! The city is certainly not set out on a grid pattern, and we were finally able to get from downtown to our campsite without looking at a map...so time to move on.
We headed toward Trinity...an historic restored town on Trinity Bight. The scenery has been spectacular, just like on the ads. Small outports, winding roads, beautiful ocean views and great people. Every once in a while, you see the flag of the Republic of Newfoundland...pink, white and green. In Trinity, we went on a tour with a man who spends his summer telling tourists about the history of the place...fabulously interesting dialogue. He also gave the us the views of Newfoundlanders about some of the decisions related to the fishery and other issues...we could understand why there might be some move to be independent! politics and all that...
We drove very early this morning out to New Bonaventure and Old Bonaventure. These former fishing towns are reduced to about 20 to 30 people mostly over 70. Their time is limited for sure and major thinking needs to be done to figure out how to maintain some sort of presence in outlying areas. Seasonal tourism is not enough to keep even a few of these communities alive. There are lots of defunct towns on islands and outports already...They were abandoned in the 60's under a resettlement program and nature has already claimed them for its own. There were over 1000 outports in NFLD when fishing was done from rowboats and the fishers had to be close to the source.
Saw a great play last night at Trinity...Donna Butt, a famous newfie actor, did a one woman show set in the 50's kitchen of a widow doing her laundry in a ringer washer...sounds odd, but it was fabulous. Such insight into the old folks here whose families all have to move away.
Tomorrow Bonavista, hope to see more whales from the shore...it is amazing to be surrounded by such wildlife here.
What a great few days we have had! We reluctantly left St John's on Sunday morning as we had enjoyed so much of the city and the people. We had met a police officer and his wife on Signal Hill enjoying an early morning coffee. He gave us all sort of ideas about what to see, as well as telling us how things had changed for him in his work. From policing in the 80's what seemed like an old folks home, to the issuance of guns in '97, to the drugs and crime problems found in modern cities today. He also told us when he saw tourists trying to read a map and drive, he would pull them over, get them sorted out, set their radio to Newfie music and send them on their way. My kind of cop! The city is certainly not set out on a grid pattern, and we were finally able to get from downtown to our campsite without looking at a map...so time to move on.
We headed toward Trinity...an historic restored town on Trinity Bight. The scenery has been spectacular, just like on the ads. Small outports, winding roads, beautiful ocean views and great people. Every once in a while, you see the flag of the Republic of Newfoundland...pink, white and green. In Trinity, we went on a tour with a man who spends his summer telling tourists about the history of the place...fabulously interesting dialogue. He also gave the us the views of Newfoundlanders about some of the decisions related to the fishery and other issues...we could understand why there might be some move to be independent! politics and all that...
We drove very early this morning out to New Bonaventure and Old Bonaventure. These former fishing towns are reduced to about 20 to 30 people mostly over 70. Their time is limited for sure and major thinking needs to be done to figure out how to maintain some sort of presence in outlying areas. Seasonal tourism is not enough to keep even a few of these communities alive. There are lots of defunct towns on islands and outports already...They were abandoned in the 60's under a resettlement program and nature has already claimed them for its own. There were over 1000 outports in NFLD when fishing was done from rowboats and the fishers had to be close to the source.
Saw a great play last night at Trinity...Donna Butt, a famous newfie actor, did a one woman show set in the 50's kitchen of a widow doing her laundry in a ringer washer...sounds odd, but it was fabulous. Such insight into the old folks here whose families all have to move away.
Tomorrow Bonavista, hope to see more whales from the shore...it is amazing to be surrounded by such wildlife here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)