NFLD Day 10

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We wake up to a wet, dreary, cold day. Breakfast at the hotel restaurant. And we are en route north. The goal is to reach the extreme northern tip of the Newfoundland "finger": L'Anse aux Meadows.

As you may know, L'Anse aux Meadows is the site of the only confirmed Viking settlement in North America. It was discovered by Norwegian researchers and is believed to be where Leif Erikson and other Vikings stayed intermittently for about ten years. It dates to 1000 AD, 500 years before Columbus' voyages.

We stop at Arches Provincial Park near Parson's Creek. The attraction here is a series of magnificent sea arches. They were actually carved out underwater thousands of years ago, then pushed up to their present elevation and location at the ocean's edge. And they are wonderful! We have the place to ourselves and enjoy getting up close and personal to these magnificent structures, with the waves crashing through the arches. I get a little over-enthusiastic and get a huge soaker as a big wave comes in unexpectedly.

Back in the car and drive and drive and drive. The weather continues to be miserable, but we hope it clears up in the afternoon.

We are closing in on our target. In the town of Griquet, we stop to gas up and find some lunch. We stop first at a place called Dark Tickle. We recognize the name from a line of chocolates, teas and other food items that we have seen in stores across Newfoundland. Dark Tickle specializes in bog berries; their products include crowberry chocolate bars and bakeapple tea, for example.

The Dark Tickle store advertises a café, but it's closed for the season. However, we enjoy chatting with the two young people managing the store. We find out that Dark Tickle hires local people to comb through the barrens to harvest the berries, manufacture everything here in Griquet, and ship their products across the island. There is a free museum on the 2nd floor with information on the French Coast. That is the name given to this area because it was originally settled by the French, then ceded to the English. Most of the places names are either French or an English mangling of the original French. L'Anse aux Meadows, for example, was originally L'Anse à la Médéa, "anse" meaning cove and "Médéa" being the name of ship.

Next stop is the nearby gas station. When I go inside to pay, the young lad asks me whether we want any food. Huh? Wow, there is a table inside laiden with sandwiches, vegetables, cold cuts and more, plus a huge slab cake on which is written "Happy 50th Birthday Paul". Apparently, a party for Paul, the lad's uncle, was held earlier in the day and there's lots of food left. I go outside and inform Violet that I've found lunch. She takes a bit of convincing, but we enjoy our lunch very much. Yet another example of the generosity of Newfoundlanders.

We push on further closer to L'Anse aux Meadows. We want to make sure we have a place to stay. We locate our first choice for accommodations, the Viking Village B&B in Hay Cove. The building is open and looks cosy, but there's no one there. Wait, there's cell phone in the lobby with instructions to call Madge. We do just that and Madge arrives in five minutes to greet us. Yes, there's a room and all I needs is your names, luv.

The B&B has individual rooms like a hotel, with en-suite bathrooms. There is a comfy living area with a big-screen TV, and a common kitchen and dining room. Everything is decorated in wood. The atmosphere is warm and intimate.

We hurry over to the L'Anse aux Meadows Visitor Centre, which we know closes at 5 pm. We meet Fred and Clayton, the two very friendly Parks Canada interpreters. We wander among the excellent displays until closing time. We end up walking with Clayton to our cars. We find out that Clayton is an ex-fisherman, and the son of a fisherman. I ask what people do here in the winter. "We waits. We survives." Clayton pauses. "I builds boats," he finishes.

Madge's restaurant recommendation means backtracking to Gunner's Point, where we find the Northern Delights Restaurant. We enjoy fresh halibut and salmon, nicely seasoned and pan-fried. Too bad vegetables in Newfoundland seem to always be canned or frozen. The waitress, Gayle, is a lovely person and, as usual, we end up friends. I mention that Violet's birthday is tomorrow. Just as we are leaving, we meet the young couple from Dark Tickle, who have come in for a meal. Violet strikes up a conversation with them while I am paying. She finds out that the business is owned by the woman's parents. She and her husband now run it, although they maintain their own careers. She's a nurse in St. Anthony's and her husband is an engineer.

We return to the B&B, where we meet the other people staying there. Two are visual artists, primarily photographers. The work of one of them, Wendy, is displayed on the walls of the B&B. We strike up a conversation with a lady from Quebec, who is here with her mother, while I work on the accursed blog.

There's a rare full lunar eclipse tonight but we are still completely socked in. We sincerely hope that the weather is better tomorrow as we continue our visit to L'Anse aux Meadows.

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Photos

Sea arches
The Arches Provincial Park NFLD

Looking north from L'Anse aux Meadows
L'Anse aux Meadows NFLD