Newfoundland and Labrador – July 5th to Aug 4th

Our first impression of this large island was: Rugged and remote. Our second? Beautiful. The awesome, glacially formed Long Range Mountains span the entire west coast, with spectacular hanging valleys in between. These mountains are part of the Appalachian Chain – and 10,000 years older’n the Rockies. The weather is capricious, alternately smiling or weeping. During our month, most days were cool, breezy, with either fog or clouds, but we spent most of our time near the ocean - gratefully - considering the high heat elsewhere. Many of the provincial camping parks are located on the ocean or bays and are excellent places to stay for reasonable fees. Provincial population is only about 516,000. Villages are small (or tiny); with few people, but all are friendly. Helpful and kind. 

Water is everywhere – clear, cold, translucent – brooks, cataracts, coves, lakes. Peat bogs with tannic water are common – the ground is spongy; walking feels weird – stay on the path! Balsam fir and spruce trees cover the island, and the air smells like perpetual Christmas. Newfoundland is called “The Rock” for good reason – it’s rock-strewn and craggy. Brilliant wildflowers abound all over the island during their short summer. Ohmigosh, the colors are outstanding! Love the fields full of flowers.

 

 

A couple of signs that we saw (there were many more).

Four non-native moose were introduced in 1898 (and a few more in 1904) and now number over 150,000, crowding out the native caribou and chewing their weight in native trees and plants. The first moose we saw had ceased being a nuisance as she was lying by the side of the road and the vehicle that hit her would’ve been wrecked. Girl moose weigh around 800 lbs and males top out about 1100 lbs – yikes, be careful! Moose warning signs on the roads appear regularly.

 

Fish Flake replica in isolated Battle Harbour, Labrador.

Codfish is what brought people to this island and the remnants of codfishery structures are visible in many places:  flakes and stages. Flakes – wooden platforms covered with spruce or fir poles (longers) – and stages – primitive wooden buildings (frequently built over the water) – were essential to fishermen for landing, splitting, salting and drying their codfish catches. Codfish were overfished to the point of almost-no-return, so the season is limited now, regulated by the government. We like codfish, excepting maybe fisherman’s brewis (Google it) or cod tongues!

In early July, the sky held light at 10 pm, and the sun got up very early in the morning! Most major roads are good, secondary roads are full of pot holes. Gas prices for us USA citizens are painful, but we’re willing to ante up for the privilege of spending a month on this delightful island. We didn’t quite understand why the drinking water in so many campgrounds had to be boiled for one, two, five, or in one place, ten minutes – complicating our lives a bit, but we learned to work around that. Biting bugs were a problem, especially in Labrador, but for me they always are. Never mind ....  Sleeping at 15°C temperatures was great.

Ferrying to and camping in Newfoundland and Labrador for a month was a real adventure. We lived and loved every minute; in fact, we hope someday to return and spend an entire summer!

Bye-bye Labrador 7-18-10

Yeow! -- Tumultuous Bradore Falls on the Quebec side. We even "saw" thousands of puffins at the bird sanctuary island off the Blanc-Sablon coast ... but they were too far away to actually "see!"

Catching up on my reading while awaiting the ferry.

1.  

Here comes the ferry (note iceberg).

Our week in Labrador is finished - time to return to Newfoundland. We've enjoyed our stay on this remote block of land (despite gray weather and black flies!) amid some of the friendliest and most hospitable people on the planet. Labrador makes Montana's Big Sky Country motto look puny. It is a vast and beautiful country.

7/16/10 leaving Battle Harbour, Labrador

The Captain took us for an up-close encounter with the iceberg below, including our 180 degree photo montage. Believe it or not, a seal was lying on the low "shelf," but slid into the sea before we could snap its picture. Icebergs are cool, in every way!

Heading for the iceberg.

And, that was it.  You can see the iceberg behind the boat in the background.  Nice of the captain to do this for us.  We have enjoyed our time in Labrador.

Battle Harbour 7/15-16

We packed a bag each, parked Tergel in Red Bay and drove Smartie to Mary’s Harbour, for the 6pm passenger ferry ride to Battle Harbour. This is a quaint, restored cod-fishing village on a tiny island in the icy-cold Labrador Sea, nine miles offshore, and one of the last unspoiled corners on earth! No one lives here permanently anymore, but summer is lively with locals and tourists. Overnight accommodations are available for up to 37 guests in six of the restored buildings. Our room was downstairs in the renovated Royal Canadian Mounted Police Detachment (the only building with a furnace, which was ON). The small room next to us (vacant) was originally used as a jail cell and still has bars on the window.

Mary's Harbour before ferry left.

Jimmy, en route to Battle Harbor.

 Chilly waters, of course!

Coming in to Battle Harbour.

Jimmy walking up to our quarters at the RCMP.

Sunset ....

We were served a hearty breakfast the next morning

at the dining hall above Battle Harbour's general store.

Summer wildflowers decorating the path.

 Craggy cliffs and deep blue ocean.

Jimmy and an old boat!

Me with "friends!"

  

Sorry to say goodbye to the island!

The wharf and its rustic, wooden, and shingle-clad buildings are the hub of Battle Harbour. Guided tours are given by folks who grew up on the island and are very proud of their heritage.  Our guide was quite a character (though his native patois was a bit difficult to understand) and he made our tour really personal and interesting.

The next day dawned clear, beautiful and chilly, and we roamed all over the one-kilometer-long island. The ocean vistas and craggy rock outcrops took our breath away. Hated to walk on the wet-sponge tundra; didn't like leaving footprints. We left on the afternoon ferry, with smiles on our faces, completely charmed by our short island adventure!

Go to: www.battleharbour.com

St Lewis, Labrador 7/15/10

We endured more of the rickety road to get here, amazed and thrilled that we actually made it up to Iceberg Alley!

Sure enough, the sign was right!

Yes, I'm pointing -- there it is!

Another big berg further out.

Fishing?  Crabbing?

Really close to shore.

St Lewis from the road.

The little guys with their dog, Fluffy!

  

One of a billion lakes, ponds or puddles in Labrador.

We had time to drive further north on the gravel road before our ferry left for Battle Harbour, and elected to drive up – with Spot – to St Lewis (pop. 312), the easternmost point on continental North America. We were intrigued to see the Iceberg Alley sign on the road to St Lewis! The rest of the photos are pretty self-explanatory, except there’s no picture of our jaws dropping when we nearly stepped on the iceberg parked just off Fisherman’s Point.  So very cool (so to speak!).

Red Bay, Labrador 7/14-17

Red Bay in the fog, sheltered from the ocean.

Saddle Island.

Here's the little guys again!

Red Bay, population 211, is an ideal natural harbor, and goes way back, including use by the Basques whalers during the 16th Century. We, however, only stayed here three nights (one hooked-up, two parked [free] near an historic building), all very quiet and comfortable. Weather was foggy and cool, not conducive to hiking. One of our days was a business day: laundry and grocery shopping, etc. - no photos of that! We visited the Visitor Center & Museum, with its fine Basques shipwreck display - archeologist's believe the San Juan (Basque whaler) went down in a fall gale just inside Saddle Island. Have to confess: We even ate a caribou burger for lunch at the Whaler's Restaurant! Enjoyed our stay here.

7/14-16 Scenes to Mary's Harbour, Labrador

Awesome Pinware River.

This little guy (Inukshuk) shows up everywhere.

  

Headin' north via gravel road.

Rocks, water, mountains & trees make a great landscape.

Sleds to haul cut wood?

  

Smartie... on the move!

The gravel road from Red Bay to St Lewis was a real challenge for Smartie. We left Red Bay in light rain; at least the water-filled pot holes were visible! The return trip was somewhat easier thanx to better weather and Grader-man who'd leveled out many of the pot holes, but still not easy. Smartie was a real mess when Mary's Harbour hove into view!

7/13/10 Point Amour Lighthouse, etc.

Please read this first.

The mound.

Rocky coastline below the lighthouse.

Point Amour Light.  16 seconds on, 4 seconds off, that's the Point Amour signature. First illuminated in 1858, we climbed to the top (132 steps), and then toured its cheerful and snug house. 

Above and below:  Patch reefs and fossils.

Though fog was moving in, we wanted to investigate the rocky shore beyond the lighthouse. That ocean water has to be freezing cold, because the wind off the water chilled us to the bone. Still we clambered down the rocks and got a good look at the Point Amour patch reefs – mound-like formations composed of calcite skeletons of extinct sponge-like animals called Archaeocyathids … formed about 530 million years ago. Way older’n than me and Jimmy!

Ghostly light!

From there we checked out the HMS Raleigh ship ruins. Above and below: We donned our best-looking gear to explore the ruins.

Great experience ... and it felt good to get home and get warm!