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Background: A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada's paramount political problem is meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services after a decade of budget cuts. The issue of reconciling Quebec's francophone heritage with the majority anglophone Canadian population has moved to the back burner in recent years; support for separatism abated after the Quebec government's referendum on independence failed to pass in October of 1995.

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By norway995
July 6th 2008

Following the Viking Trail, Day 5

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Red Bay

Pinware River

June 26, 2008 Whaling in Red Bay - Hunting and Watching Our first stop as we explored southern Labrador was the Pinware River, an exception place for trout fishing, plus salmon is abundant here. We learned about whale hunting when we arrived at the village of Red Bay. Today it’s population is 211, but in the early 1500s, when Boston and New York were still wilderness, this part of the Labrador coast had a population of 1500. The lucrative whale hunting industry brought Basque fishermen here by the ship load. Their targets were the right whale and the bowhead whale [View Full Entry]

By Vickie and Bob
July 4th 2008

Avalon, Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's

We came to the St. John's area on Sunday and have really enjoyed it. It is built on the sides of mountains and the houses are kind of "stacked" up. The historic downtown area is pretty cool but Bob and I both felt it wasn't a very clean city...lots of graffiti and crazy looking kids (like Picadilly Square in London) around. You can go up to Signal Hill and that is where the first trans-Atlantic signal was heard in 1904, I think. Anyway, we stayed there for 3 days and the last day was the BEST!! We had so much rain [View Full Entry]

By norway995
July 3rd 2008

Following the Viking Trail, Day 2, Western Brook Pond

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Gros Morne National Park

View from the Boat
Newfoundland is also known as The Rock.

Afternoon, June 23, 2008 The skies continued to darken and the drizzle began as we reached Western Brook Pond, our afternoon destination. Ahead of us was a 2 ½-hour boat ride on the pond; just one catch, there is a 2-mile walk before you reach the boat. Drizzle turned to rain, fog moved in and around the mountains, but we bravely marched off anyway. The trail was good, either wood chips or a board walk over the bogs; a few hills, fairly gentle; however, by the time we reached the boat launch, we were extremely wet and some of us, including [View Full Entry]

By norway995
July 3rd 2008

Following the Viking Trail, Day 3, Tablelands

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Gros Morne National Park

Tablelands
Yes, that is snow at the top.

June 24, 2008 Today our destination is Tablelands. First we visited the new interpretive center in Gros Morne and then drove through south and west along highway 431. What a contrast! The north side of the road was lush and green with gently rolling hills, plenty of trees. The south side was rocky, barren and flat. Scientists think that this area originated in the earth's mantle and was forced up from the depths of an ocean during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. The rock, peridotite lacks the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life. It’s ver [View Full Entry]

By norway995
July 1st 2008

Following the Viking Trail, Day 1

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

Gros Morne National Park

Sunday, June 22, 2008 (Newfoundland and Labrador is the correct name of the province, but most people refer to Newfoundland when speaking of the island and use Labrador to talk about the more northern area of the province. We’ll use the common abbreviations of NL for Newfoundland and Lab. for Labrador.) We got an early start, leaving home at 6:00 a.m. for our 7:20 Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit. Then we continued on NWA from Detroit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we’d hoped to catch a taxi and take a quick tour of Halifax waterfront during our four hour [View Full Entry]

By norway995
July 1st 2008

Following the Viking Trail, Day 2

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Gros Morne National Park

Green Point
A mecca for geologists

Morning, June 23 Bright blue skies without a cloud in sight and warm sun greeted us as we walked the short distance to the resort dining room for breakfast around 8. (By the way, NL has its own time zone which is 2 ½ hours later than central time - that’s right. When it’s 8 a.m. in NL, it is 5:30 a.m. in Green Bay. Actually, there are a couple of other time zones in the world with this 30-minute feature.) We met our three traveling companions: Peter A., Sr., Maine, a retired history professor; his son, Peter A., Jr., Connecticut, [View Full Entry]

By Vickie and Bob
June 27th 2008

Grand Falls--Windsor

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

The chief Chef...

We are in Grand Falls--Windsor for this week and are driving up to Twillingate today...don't you love that name?? Last night was sooooo cold and we broke out the electric blanket and were we glad we had it!! This is Salmon Country and there are some Interpretive Centers which are fascinating and they have biologists staffing them who tell you all about how they are keeping the salmon population alive and well. There are underground ponds holding the salmon who get upstream to them until they are ready to head upstream further to spawn. Bob has made many friends and he [View Full Entry]

By Vickie and Bob
June 22nd 2008

Gros Morne Nat'l Park, Newfoundland, CA

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Gros Morne National Park

Pop Up #1
Just starting to set it up!!

Bob and I arrived in Newfoundland on Sunday, June 17..The ferry was about a 9 hour trip and we were able to keep up with the fantastic finish of the U.S. Open during the trip. We spent the night and took off the next morning for Gros Morne National Park. What a beauty it is!! There were no cars on the highway so it is like we are the only people here. Bob has fished some but is planning alot more and I plan to salmon fish with him on our next stop...Grand Falls-Windsor. Millie was pretty sick when we left [View Full Entry]

By norway995
June 5th 2008

Following The Viking Trail in Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » L'Anse aux Meadows

Harold and I are getting ready for a week-long trip which will take us 2500 miles north and east of home to Newfoundland (NL), Canada. We're going to help the Newfoundlanders celebrate the 1008th anniversary of the Vikings walking on their shores at L'Anse aux Meadows, a Canadian. Other highlights include Gros Morne National Park, whale watching, birding and if we're lucky we'll see a few icebergs. Leaving the planning to the experts, we'll join a tour, offered by Wildlands Tours. On June 22 we fly from Green Bay to Detroit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Northwest, and after a 4 [View Full Entry]

By Mike and Charlotte
November 11th 2007

Coast to Coast - and back again...

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's

St John's, Newfoundland

Hello :) I was having problems publishing this blog so if you've had ten billion emails I apologise. If you haven't, well here you go!!!! It's amazing how in the space of a few short days you can be on one side of Canada, then the other, then the other and then the other. The life of a flight attendant I suppose. This time however, it was a mix of business and pleasure. A work trip saw me swerve across the country ending up in St John's, Newfoundland. Newfoundland is full of history and has has a flair to it's European [View Full Entry]

The Harbour walk to Signal Hill, St Johns - Newfoundland

Travel Blog » North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador