Day's 57-60 Trip to St. Anthony and back

Sunday, August 19th

Larger fishing village Port Au Choix

The forecast for today was 30% chance of rain.  Well, we definitely are the 30% that will have a full day of torrential rain!  One of those days that is only nice for ducks.

All cozy with a " pretend " fireplace
on the TV

  We had previously planned, and were completely packed the night before, to head up to L’Anse aux Meadows, a 5 ½ hour drive and stay somewhere half way in between, but because of the weather thought it crazy and decided to wait and do the whole drive tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be great.

Still eating" Healthy"- turnip greens,
Forbidden Rice, carrots and organic grilled chicken

Now that we have done quite a bit of Gros Morne’s highlights, we have a better idea when we will need to make ferry reservations to cross back into Nova Scotia.  We spent the entire day, all snuggly and dry, (and with the modern convenience of high speed internet service) planning and making reservations for the next couple of weeks.  It is a really good thing it is raining and we are doing this, because it never occurred to either of us that we were coming upon Labor Day Weekend, and reservations at campgrounds were difficult to find!  Because of that, we need to stay in Gros Morne an extra day.  I am sure there is plenty to do, and it’s a perfect place to stay (although we really hate the campground itself).

Monday August 20th

We got up and out a little after 9AM which was pretty early for us, and started our drive to the northern tip of Newfoundland.  It was still pretty cloudy when we started out, so we didn’t stop to take photo’s at places we otherwise would have. 

  The road twisted and turned both along the shore where we saw little villages and the frequent lone house sitting atop the rocks with the waves sloshing against the shore, and slightly inland, where the road ran among miles of bogs or forest. In the distance were the Long Range Mountains, which as we travelled north, suddenly stopped.  Then further up the road, they reappeared.

Almost missed it!
Actually, it was good that we did!

 We saw a huge bull moose standing on the side of the road!  Danger!  Norm quickly hit the brakes while I frantically tried to get the iPad on the camera mode to get that fabulous picture (hopefully not of it coming through the windshield).  As the animal ran across the road, all I managed to get was his hind end, but perhaps with a little cropping, I will make it appear more spectacular than it was! I don’t want a “boring“ blog, now do I?

So this is what algae and bacteria look like after 650 million years

 We stopped for lunch at the Anchor Café in Port Aux Choix ( which I do not recommend ), then went on to see the Thrombolites of Flowers Cove.  These look like flower shaped boulders, but were actually remnants of algea and bacteria dated back 3.5 to 650 million years!  The earliest living organisms on earth. The only other place these are found is remote Western Australia.

Modern technology.
No one knows you are even out of the office! 

 While Norman was there he received a business call !  Now THAT I find amazing. We have come a long way.

After a long drive (I was occupied by writing the previous blog) we finally arrived in St Anthony about 4:30 at our first, after 58 days, overnight stay out of the motorhome.

We did not choose to stay in one of the quaint B & B’s because we thought a little more elbow room might be needed at this point of the trip.  Months ago I discovered the Grenfell Heritage house and suites.  It was a very roomy 1 bedroom with full kitchen and bath, and had a BBQ on a small adjoining deck. It was newly renovated, and was extremely clean.  After being in a 32 foot motorhome for months, it felt great to have more space.

Really?

Five minutes after stepping through the door, I was filling the bathtub for a very long awaited soak!  Oh, it felt really good!

I had made reservations at the Norseman restaurant, which was reported to be one of the best in St Anthony, and the menu on line looked really terrific.  Caribou, elk, moose and the usual variety of fish, prepared in unusual ways.  Unfortunately, it was about 40 minutes back the way of which we just came! I messed up on that one!  We got cleaned up and headed out again, being very wary of moose.  The menu was very different than on their website, but thankfully they had an elk special that Norm ordered, and I ordered the rabbit. As usual, I wish I ordered what Norm had, but he very generously shared his.   It was a lovely meal albeit very expensive ($45 for elk?) and the view of the cove at sunset was a bonus. 

Tuesday August 21^st

We feel like normal tourists today, staying in a motel and getting right up and out to see the sights!


First on the list of things to do was to procure some bottled water because the color of the water in the bathtub was very brown, not at all appealing to say the least, and I questioned the water's safety to drink.

Replica of 1000 Viking Settlement 1000 years ago

We then headed off to L’Anse Aux Meadows to visit another UNESCO Heitage site, the 1000 year old Viking Settlement site, discovered in the 1960’s.  The subsequent digs uncovered eight rudimentary buildings that included workshops and fireplaces.  We enjoyed a very well done film on the Vikings or Norsemen, that described their history and way of life, and gazed upon many artifacts discovered here. The day was glorious as we headed down the boardwalk to the reproduction of their settlement and to walk the actual area where the Viking structures stood 1000 years ago.

Taken inside the sod home

 I took many pictures, when the new camera seemed to fail.  I am having the worst luck with getting pictures for this blog!

The rest of the day we went on a great hike that to get to the trailhead you needed to actually walk through someone's driveway and yard!  

Norm enjoying the views

Oh, this is really Heaven

 I was really tired today, probably due to straying from the foods my body seems to demand, so when we reached the panoramic views I just laid down in the incredibly soft moss (which was softer than a feather bed) and basked in the warm sun.  I was so relaxed; I just didn’t want to leave.   Norm spotted what we think is another black fox, but surprisingly, that was the only animal we saw.  We were disappointed we didn’t see any moose or caribou, but after reading the sign at the beginning of the trail describing in detail how to defend yourselves again coyotes, I was pretty okay we didn’t run into any.  We have been told that they are breeding with wolves here, and are particularly dangerous.  Yikes!  (I still have my little knife).

We stopped and talked with the very friendly local “Newfies” and learned so much at each stop about their way of life and culture.  We have never found such a friendly people with absolutely everyone we have met.

After having walked, talked, and relaxed away the day, we got back to the hotel and after I took advantage of another brown water soaking, we decided to just get a take-out pizza (our first of the trip) where they offered gluten free crust.  It certainly wasn’t like the regular type, but was not bad. 

I worked online entering the last 3 posts, watched a little TV (caught up on the news – what? A hurricane heading toward Florida, and learning who Romney’s running mate is.  Also top in the news;  Casey Anthony’s parole is up this week)!  It has been weird, and I have to admit, nice, not having any access to newspapers or television for months.

Wednesday, August 22^nd

Today was spent merely driving back to Gros Morne.  The day was mostly sunny, and we hated wasting it in the car, but what can you do?  I got caught up on the blog and that is a good thing.  We have until Sunday morning at the park and hopefully we will make good use of the time enjoying a beautiful, nearly untouched part of our world.

A little wood, anyone? Newfie's are sure hard working!

One thing we found fascinating, is the amount of cut firewood on the side of the roads here, all cut, split and stacked.  There is very often a wooden sled there as well, and even a Skidoo left from the winter!  We inquired, and an old fellow confirmed it all is for personal use to heat their houses!  The other alternative is diesel fuel, which is just too expensive, so they use all this wood. It was just everywhere!

one of many gardens in the middle of nowhere

Another unusual sight was that of obviously tended garden beds, out on the main "highway", miles from anywhere! Where there is an area of naturally occurring fertile soil, you would find this very quaint gardens.

We met our neighbors on either side of us and they were extremely nice.  One group was from St Anthony and boy, their accent was so unusual and hard to understand.  Like listening to and Irishman talking in high speed.  So hard to understand.  Or should I say “ too ‘ard, eh?”