Port au Choix

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Those caribou keep faking me out. They seem so off beat, so nonchalant, so non-uptight, unlike bear or moose say. This time I was going into the visitor center at Port au Choix, half way down the western coast of Newfoundland, when the receptionist said – “forget the exhibits, they’ll be here for ever – go out and see the caribou” . Sure, no problem, where do I go ? So I wandered off on the bike towards the lighthouse at the end of the point, not seeing anything. I go to the end and dismount. Seeing some other tourists down by the beach, I wandered towards them. “Hey”, they said, “go see the caribou.” Ok, where ? Oh yeah, I can see one of them waking up now. Those famous animals had gone to sleep on the rocks. Slowly their heads turned towards me, then they knelt, and stood up. All except for one, who looked like he was dead. Eventually, when I got to within a few yards they groaned got up and shambled slowly off. They were all white. All the others I had ever seen were brown.

I had never realized, until I got to this exhibit on early indigenous peoples, that Labrador is rising, while the rest of the North American continent is sinking. . Seems the tectonic plate for the island is sliding up over the North American plate. Plus, with the receding of the Ice Age glaciers, the removal of all that ice has allowed the island to come up. Whatever it is, the rising of these ancient rocks has revealed evidence of human habitation on this point, for some 4,000 years. These ancient peoples, named the Dorset Paleoeskimos pre date the Beothuk, the last known indigenous tribe on Newfoundland. Their stone weapons and tools are very finely made and beautiful.

It is surprising that such a small island should offer such temperature extremes. When I left the Northern end of the Peninsula, it was freezing cold. The water was full of ice and fog as far as the eye could see. I piled on all my clothing and hunkered down as I went south. By the time I got to Point du Choix however, it was warm and sunny – perfect for animal pictures.

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Photos

The leaning house
I met a charming couple who said they had recently moved here from Labrador, and lived over behind the leaning house... then I saw it...

The coastal road down from St Anthony's
is a challenge because of the view, the fog, the curves and the strong winds. Keeps one awake.

Why are they white? Why are they so tired?
What on earth is there to eat on this rocky peninsula ?

Lighthouse at end of the crack
which reminds me of the entrance to the deYoung museum in San Francisco