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Published: September 12th 2022
The Qajaq
It's pronounced "kayak".which we thought was appropriate for a ferry we might take. Looking forward to getting back into our kayaks.The 5:00am wakeup call to catch an early ferry made us feel right at home. Hurry up and wait. The trip to the ferry was uneventful and the ferry was very similar to BC Ferries Salish class ships. The first difference we noticed was that the ramps at our ferry terminals drop down to the ferry from the dock whereas the ferry here had ramps on both ends that dropped down onto the ferry dock. The interiors were slightly different, but ferries are ferries, and we had a nice crossing back to the Canadian mainland.
Landing at Blanc-Sablon in La Belle Provence, we headed north to our first destination, the lighthouse at Point Amour. Yes, another lighthouse. It’s amazing how many there are, and they all have something unique to offer. This one is the tallest in Atlantic Canada and has been carefully restored. There were 132 steps to the viewing platform. Built of stone, it was covered with cedar to prevent erosion. We hadn’t seen that before. I didn’t realize there was a lot of cedar on the east coast but apparently there is.
We stopped at the L’Anse Amour burial site, one of the oldest
Different ramp system
These boats take their ramps with them. Ferries our way look a little sleeker as they don't have to carry their own ramps. burial sites in the new world dating from almost 8,000 years ago.
Red Bay was our next target. It was a Basque whaling station in the 1500s. The displays were great; lots of info about the whalers and their boats, the whales they were hunting and even things like how they made and used barrels.
We travelled many kilometres and, in general, the roads were excellent. We did pass through one area where there was a crew updating the road. Charles, our driver extraordinaire, told us about driving on one section of road they were still building where he had to drive his huge bus on what amounted to sand. A bit scary when you see how the cliffs drop off into the ocean.
After a relaxing evening in a Labrador hotel we were reminded we had another 5:00am wakeup call as we had to catch the ferry back to The Rock. It certainly came early. But the tour team was great and were almost always on time for every bus loading. Full marks to the tour and hotel staff who moved our bags on and off the bus with no effort on our part (except to
Welcome to Newfoundland and Labrador
This sign greets you as you take your 15 minute trip through Quebec between The Rock and Labrador. get the suitcases closed which did present a problem as we went along).
Back to Newfoundland The next hotel was in a town called Cow Head. Our guide was quick to point out that the name was an Anglicized version of the original French name, Tete De La Vache. He didn’t know why the French had called it that but we found a sign that told us there used to be a rock shaped like a cow’s head at the tip of the peninsula. Hmmmmm.
We had a couple of hours to walk around Cow Head which was more interesting than we had expected. There was the Veteran’s Memorial Garden, St. Mary’s Botanical Garden near the church and the walk out onto the peninsula.
There is a beautiful theatre in town and we were lucky they were offering two plays during our stay; one was a one man play about Joey Smallwood and the other a comedy about B&B living. A few of us decided to attend both plays but some were nervous about attending a “drama” so opted to just go to the comedy. We were the winners: the one-man play was excellent and had
Point Amour Lighthouse
The sign read: Some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that in the Point Amour area the winds can blow at more than 200km per hour. The good news is that these walls are more than six feet thick. Dianne went all the way to the top - including 2 ladders. a lot of humour in it. The next day we heard that the comedy was cancelled as one of the key actors had been injured (rumour has it he fell off his bike!).
From our base in Cow Head we explored Gros Morne National Park. A boat trip from Rocky Harbour through Bonne Bay ended up at Woody Point. The on-board guide was great and they had a musical group to provide entertainment and a screech-in ceremony. The whole event was very entertaining. We got to touch base with The Tablelands, part of the earth’s mantle that is normally kilometres under ground. Most of the people would like to have had more time to climb the hills and see them from the top but there is only so much you can do in 12 days. We did manage to visit yet another lighthouse(!) at Lobster Cove.
We were disappointed that the comedy performance was cancelled but we were happy to relax from our busy schedule. Tomorrow is a long driving day: Cow Head to Gander as we end out visit to the northern peninsula and head to eastern Newfoundland. The sites and sights are all very interesting, but
L'Anse Amour burial site
It may not look like much but it is the oldest funeral monument in North America. Discovered in 1973, it dates back about 8,000 years. I wish they could be closer together.
ToBeContinued
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