Blogs from Saint Anthony, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, North America

English Version Follows (Scroll down, it takes a while!) ___________________ Jour 13 - Mercredi le 20 juin 2018 - Port-aux-Basques Aujourd'hui, ma mère aurait eu 97 ans ! C'est en pensant à elle que j'ai choisi cette date pour prendre le traversier pour Terre-Neuve. Je voulais qu'elle soit un peu avec moi, elle qui n'aimait pas voyager. Elle me disait tout le temps, « J'comprend pas pourquoi tu voyages tant. À quoi ça sert ?» Et elle était toujours si inquiète quand j'étais quelque part, ailleurs que chez moi. ? Je suis prudente, Mam, promis ! Ce matin, je pars tôt pour le port afin de prendre le traversier qui a quitté le port vers 11h30. C'est un grand bateau mais il n'y a pas beaucoup de gens à bord. Nous sommes très peu nombreux dans ... read more

We slept in L'anse Aux Meadows to the sound of the wind buffeting the house, slapping it around a little. A storm crept in during the night and we awoke to 50 km/hr winds. Jenny prepared a lovely breakfast for us and the other couple staying there. She and her husband David were great hosts. Jenny and I exchanged jars of homemade jam - her partridgeberry for my blackberry. We both went away feeling we'd got the better end of the deal. We talked about how close families are in Newfoundland and David said that there are four families in their village and they're all related - the Heddersons, Eddersons, Edisons and Hendersons. It's true. Not only that, but Mrs. Edderson's full brother died and the name on his tombstone says Hedderson. Crazy! Jenny said that ... read more

I am exhausted from an unexpectedly full day and am recovering by drinking green tea brought from home – not an option in these smaller cities and towns yet. The drive up the coast of the Northern Peninsula held pleasant vistas of slate-covered beaches strew with boulders, interspersed with mixed woods and green green bogs. Occasional very small outports perched on top of the landscape. Periodically we saw stacks of cut firewood, some very large. It was explained to us that for $36, residents could buy a permit for 10 cords of wood. (A cord is four feet wide, four feet high, and eight feet long.) The wood is cut in the winter, after the fishing seasons are over. During the summer it dries, and in the fall the families collect it to supplement oil heating ... read more

A lovely morning on the northern tip of Newfoundland dodging bergy bits. It was so calm since the light wind was out of the southwest. We saw our fist huge and up close icebergs, I am adding pictures. Very rigged mountainous shoreline with green moss covering the rock. Little villages are nestled in coves and they have internet! Nice to have both cell and internet at the dock. The boys on the wharf in St. Anthony helped us dock and were quite welcoming. There is a Tim Horton in this town and a laundry mat. It was actually warm but now it is raining and the wind has veered to the north so it is cool. We have electricity and there is a shower close by, this must be paradise. There is a large fleet of ... read more

From a distance, it looked like just a chip of ice, particularly as it was alone on a wide, empty sea, framed by an equally wide, empty sky. As we approached, the blip of white began to take on a bit more character, at points looking like a delicate dragon lifting out of the waves. But it still looked rather small. How deceiving appearances can be! The boat had set out from Saint Anthony, the largest and perhaps most important town in the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Within at least a hundred kilometers of the town, you start to see signs on the Viking Trail advertising all the amenities that Saint Anthony has to offer - including full hospital services (which had more significance than I expected). I imagine it was even more important when there ... read more