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Published: September 19th 2013
St. Anthony
End of the Viking Trail, road stops here at the far north end of Newfoundland.Very nice...one of my photos was nominated and selected as Travel Blog's "Photo of the Week." See link: http://www.travelblog.org/Topics/33772-1.html
September 18, 2013
Hotel North in St. Anthony provided a good night's rest and breakfast. We talked with a lot of locals, such a friendly town. We drove to the north end of the Viking Trail so that we could visit another UNESCO World Heritage site, L'Anse aux Meadows. This is the spot of the first authenticated European presence in North America. Vikings were here around 1000 AD and archaeologists have uncovered the remains of three dwellings. We found this place truly fascinating... seeing the artifacts in the well-done interpretive center, wandering around the mounds of the old dwellings, and enjoying the costumed interpreters in the cozy recreated sod buildings. We were the only hut visitors for about 30 minutes so enjoyed visiting with the Viking chief and his wife. In the visitor center we spent another 30 minutes with a local that used to play on these mounds when he was a kid, this was before they were "discovered." He knew everything about this place and everyone in the area and we were entertained with his colorful stories of
growing up near L'Anse aux Meadows. It's a pretty scene with the cove where the Viking boats were believed to moor, the mounds, the sod buildings, and the hills.
The Viking Trail to L'Anse aux Meadows is a dead end so we were retracing our path back to Gros Morne today. We're not fond of driving the same road twice but didn't mind this one; there is so much to look at. There is a lot of activity on the road this time of year with men chopping wood and loading it to take to their homes. There were about three giant piles of cut wood for every mile, we aren't sure why the sleds and wood are still by the road but they don't seem to be afraid of others taking the wood. There are also huge stacks of lobster traps everywhere and men repairing them. The many villages, treed mountains, meadows and seashores create a collage of never boring scenes.
We drove a long way today and we are safe tonight in the town of Lewisporte in the central part of the island. It's a pretty simple hotel but there aren't many to chose from in
this part of Newfoundland. Looking forward to visiting Twillingate tomorrow. A bus driver in North Sydney, Nova Scotia told us, "You haven't seen Newfoundland if you haven't been to Twillingate." In the spring and summer months one can see icebergs there but not now. I asked him, "Is it still that great without the icebergs?" He replied, "You haven't seen Newfoundland if you haven't been to Twillingate." We'll see.
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Bob Barbee
non-member comment
We too stopped at Dark Tickle. Still, to stand in the shadow of the Vikings and where their dwellings were at L'Anse aux Meadows, is spine tingling--or maybe a "dark tickle"--no pun intended.