Up the Northern Peninsula

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OK, I am back…. It’s been quite a trip so far. WiFi and even cell access has not been great in the north end of the island and the part of Labrador we have been visiting. But that has been the only disappointing thing so far. I spoke too soon. I discovered while checking the photos that the date and time on our phones and iPad changed automatically but the camera didn’t which makes sorting the pictures tricky. Back to the beginning of the trip…

After a long day in the Montreal airport, the flight to Deer Lake was uneventful. It even landed on time! The Tour Company representative met us and made sure we got off to Corner Brook without any trouble. Much to our (very pleasant) surprise, our bags showed up!

The hotel was built in the 1920s to house the senior workers of the new powerplant being built in Corner Brook. Now it caters to senior tourists. Because we had let them know of our travel troubles, the tour folks had left sandwiches and tarts in our mini fridge. Much appreciated. The rest of the tour members were interested to hear of our “adventures” that occurred while they were enjoying the opening reception.

On the road again

The 6:00am wake-up call was pretty nasty having just gone to bed about 2:00. After breakfast at the hotel, we loaded the bus with 37 tour members, two guides and a driver. The first leg of the journey took us on a tour of Corner Brook. One of our tour guides, Patti, had grown up in CB and was able to share some insider info on the town. Then it was back up the highway to Deer Lake where we had landed just a few hours before. Last night’s driver had explained the reason the airport was not in Corner Brook was that there was no flat area near the town to put runways. In the clear light of day we could see what he meant. Definitely a town of hills. Finally, we hit the trail towards the northern tip of The Rock.





Northern Peninsula

Our destination this first travel day was Plum Point, a four hour drive up the Northern Peninsula. As we have discovered, this type of tour hits many highlights of the province and helps you decide where you want to visit next time you come. We don’t spend a lot of time anywhere except the bus as it takes a while to get between the attractions. But it beats driving yourself and there are lots of really nice people on board.

We usually don’t go more than an hour and a half without a stop to see something (or use a washroom). One of the first stops was the Arches Provincial Park. Reminded us of some of the arches we saw in Utah and it’s a good thing we saw them because the wave action will probably destroy them in a few hundred years.

We did get a look at our first lighthouse and a few caribou who were grazing in the fields around the lighthouse. Not exactly the herds of migrating animals you see in the documentaries but interesting none the less.

After dinner at the hotel, we walked up to a nearby church hall to a presentation by a local women’s group. They raise money for all kinds of local groups in this case by proving dessert, tea and coffee to tour groups like ours. An interesting event and, although we didn’t buy any of the knitting and quilting projects they were offering, we did make a donation to such a worthy effort. The dessert and coffee were nice too.

Travel day 2

Back on the bus, we headed north to the furthest northern point on the island, L’Anse aux Meadows. But before we got there, we stopped off at a craft centre where they have been converting seal pelts into a whole bunch of different products. They were quick to point out they don’t hunt the seals; they use seals that have been caught in fishing nets and other accidental incidents. The lady making the presentation was lovely. And, to make us feel more at home, just as the video portion of her presentation wound up, we had a power failure.

Another quick stop on the trip was the Fox Point Lighthouse. The interesting things about lighthouses in this area is how short they are. We are used to tall, stand-alone buildings but the ones we have been seeing are short and often have outbuildings attached.

L’Anse aux Meadows is where the original Viking settlement was located. They had one chap there acting as an inhabitant of the area. Apart from the Newfie accent, he made a great Viking. A font of knowledge and a great sense of humour.

The last stop of the day was in St Anthony’s which is about as far as you can go in the Northern Peninsula. There we visited the Grenfell House Museum dedicated to the life and times of Sir Wilfred Grenfell who was also Dr. Grenfell. He was a medical missionary in the first half of the 20^th century. It is difficult to imagine the hardships he and his colleagues faced providing services up and down the coast.

After an interesting day, we were back on the bus that returned us to our hotel in Plum Point. Tomorrow, we head back to mainland Canada. The ferry takes us to Labrador by way of Quebec! In the space of about 15 minutes, our clocks turn back 1.5 hours to Eastern Time then ahead 1.5 hours when we cross into Labrador.

But tomorrow is another day. Our wakeup call will be 5:00am as we have to be at the ferry terminal by 8:00 and have to allow for breakfast, driving to the terminal and getting there early to make sure we get on the ferry. This is something we Pender Islanders can relate to. ToBeContinued, hopefully in a little more timely manner now that the bus tour is almost over.

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Photos

Our first moose
This is the only type of moose we have seen so far. No one knew what happened to his other antler.

Corner Brook paper mill
A major employer in Corner Brook, the mill has been operating for years.

Same view without the mill
From high atop one of the surrounding hills. More restful.

The road ahead
We will be seeing a lot of this sort of thing over the course of the tour. So far, the roads have been great.

Tuckamore trees
Particularly in Victoria, we were familiar with the concept of trees blown almost flat by the winds from the ocean but we had to come to Newfoundland to learn the name for this phenomenon.

Not just trees are affected by wind
This selfie shows that we, too, are a little windblown. My glasses show the effect of being carried in my pants pocket when not wearing them.

The fleets
As we cruise up the coast we pass many small towns that all have a fishing fleet.

A valley view
It made us think of views in BC - hills, trees, rivers and lakes. Always beautiful.

The barrens
Lots of land in this arrea is pretty barren. Not a tree in sight.

The arches
Not as spectacluar as Utah's arches but pretty cool anyway.

Theatre
We stopped for lunch in Cow Head and bought tickets for a couple of plays that we would be attending in this theatre on our way back through this interesting town.

Fox Point lighthouse
Our second lighthouse. This one is particularly short but on a high cliff so is visible for miles (or kilometres these days)

Caribou
One of several grazing near the lighthouse oblivious to the tourists passing by.

Vikings!
Showing us the way into the park at L'Anse aux Meadows

Model of a typical Viking ship
Patterned on one found in Roskilde, Denmark. We saw the original when we were in Denmark in 2016.

Reconstruction
Part of the reconstructed site

Viking
A great re-enactor

Leif the Lucky
This statue of Leif the Lucky is found at the L'Anse aux Meadows historic site. Some of the tour members suggested he should be called Leif the Green.

Dr. Sir William Grenfell
This statue appears outside the Museum in St Anthony. We were told there is a similar statue in St John's but there is one difference. We have to wait until we see it to find out what the difference is. The tension mounts.

St Anthony's
Nice harbour. Pretty peaceful. But a long way from anywhere.

Home away from home
We saw a couple of these vehicles in the area The licence plates were German. Can't imagine what it would cost to ship them over to NL.

Cemeteries
Lots of cemeteries (and graveyards) in NL. Most have nice white fences around them. We thought we knew the difference but we checked and we remembered correctly. Do you know the difference?