Northern Newfoundland

We left Gros Morne and drove north along the Northern Peninsula.  We again had great weather. 

Along the way we stopped to view the Arches. 

We stopped at Pt. Riche at Port au Choix.  This is one of the critical plant locations known as the limestone barrens.  Such regions along the peninsula harbor many rare and endangered limestone plants.  This was a short visit out to the lighthouse.

 

That night we stayed at the Tickle Inn B & B at Cape Onion.  This is the northern-most residence on the Island of Newfoundland.  The Inn is at the end of the road with the sea to the north and ledges and cliffs on either side.  This had to be the best place we stayed at. The Inn is over 100 years old, and the rooms were decorated reflecting the age. There were two other couples staying there at the time, one from Ontario and the other from Northern Ireland.  Before dinner we took a walk along the coast observing at least five humpback whales.  These whales were constantly breaching and laying on their backs with both flibbers out of the water.  This was by far the best display by the whales we observed.  That evening we enjoyed a great home-cooked meal.  We took a short ride after dinner at dusk hoping to see moose, but no luck.

 

The next morning we learned that the whale and iceberg watch boat trip was booked so we modified plans and decided to head out to Cape Norman.  Along the way we got two great views of two bull moose. Both were along side the road, standing still and allowing us to photograph them.  On the whole trip in Newfoundland only 5 moose were seen.  The last trip taken in 2004 we observed 34 moose.  It seems the populations are possibly eating out their food supply in the area and are moving to new sites.

Cape Norman is at the tip of the peninsula closest to the Belle Isle Straits between Newfoundland and Labrador.  The lighthouse sits on one of the most barren areas in Newfoundland.  The habitat is basically a rock strewn area with the many limestone plants.  Canada considers this the only tundra region on the island portion of Newfoundland.



St. Anthony is the "metropolis" of northern Newfoundland with a population of approximately 2500.  It has just about every essential needed.  In 1900 the Grenfell Mission was established in the the town.  They established health care for the area.  Today the town has an large hospital and extensive health care, plus a large facility for elderly housing.  In the spring polar bears often frequent the town riding the ice flows south following the seals.  They leave the ice flows after the seals and find themselves south of their normal range.  At this point they head west and swim across the Bell Isle Straits to Labrador and head north.

Icebergs are usually spotted from St. Anthony.  This year was no exception.  The huge iceberg, seen in the distance, off the end of the land in the photo above, was grounded in water 650 ft. deep.  Three other icebergs were seen in the far distance off northern Newfoundland.  The icebergs take two years to travel south through the Davis Straits from their origin in Greenland.

L'Anse Aux Meadows in northeastern Northern Peninsula is the only documented Viking settlement in North America.  It was believed to have been settled approximately 1000 years ago.  The site was located by researching the sagas (google L'Anase Aux Meadows).  Leif Erickson is believed to have been here and the settlement was used as a base for exploration of the North American, north Atlantic.  The site contains old remains of the buildings and a few reconstructed sites.  The proof of the settlement was the finding of a Viking cloak pin.  In the picture above the site is at about 2-3 o'clock just below the island at the top of the pecture.

Above, two reconstructed buildings that may be entered.  (I only had the telephoto lens on at this time hence the closeup).  We stayed at the Valhalla Inn, in Gunners Cove. the site where Annie Proux wrote "Shipping News".  I was told on a previous trip that the bay at the Valhalla Inn was the area where the scene of dragging the house across the bay was based.  That night we enjoyed a great meal at the gormet restaurant "The Norsemen".
 

On July 7 we drove south the long trip back to Port Aux Basques for the ferry trip back to Nova Scotia.  The next morning we boarded the ferry Blue Pettees for the 5 hour trip. The name Blue Pettees come from the leggings worn by the Newfoundland soldiers during the First World War.  The weather for our Newfoundland portion of the trip was very good.  Rain along occurred when we were in transit.  The temperatures along the coast was mainly in the 60's and warmer inland. 

We are now touring the eastern side of Nova Scotia.