Hang on to your hats, we’re on the Viking Trail! This trail has its base at Deer Lake and follows a northward journey for approximately 315 miles to the tip of the peninsula at St. Anthony. This vibrant region offers a wide range of natural and cultural experiences, including Gros Morne
National Park and L’Anse aux Meadows, home to the Vikings.
Heading to our first stop, Gros Morne, we passed lots of tall evergreen trees, blue waters and
white, sandy beaches. From the scars and rocky rubble left on the earth’s surface by tectonic forces, to the natural beauty of seascapes, mountaintops, and tracts of forests – the park is beauty magnified. There is the beautiful Western Brook Pond, a gigantic glacier-carved fjord with sides 2,000 feet high, over 60 miles of hiking trails, beaches of many types, and a quaint lighthouse. There’s even a theatre festival which we decided to attend the first night we arrived. The Gros Morene Theatre Festival has been entertaining audiences for the past twelve years. It is a professional theatre with over 40 professional actors, musicians, writers, designers and technicians. The play we attended was “A Rum for the Money” which was a comedy drama set in the 1960’s in a small dory on the waters between Newfoundland and St. Pierre & Miquelon. Three Newfoundland men were on a rum running mission in the middle of the night escaping and dodging French bullets and then evading R.C.M.P. cutters when they are hit and broken apart by a mysterious night vessel. An eerie night ensues as our three rum runners question their lot in life as inexplicable happenings engulf them. We enjoyed the play but did not enjoy the ride back home after dark, trying to make sure we didn’t have a face-to-face meeting with a moose! We stayed in a campground that allowed us to back up directly over the ocean, allowing
us views of beautiful sunsets and gentle rolling waves. We were the only ones in the campground, so it felt like our own private slice of heaven. And, true to its reputation – the weather changed! As one local put it, “You can enjoy all the seasons in one day here in Newfoundland”! We started out with a beautiful sunny day with a mild breeze and gently rolling waves. (View out our side window.)
By noon, the temperature had dropped and it was cloudy. At 1:00 p.m., when we were due to take our boat tour of the inland fjord, the winds reached 50 miles per hour and the boat trip was
cancelled. We’ll try to catch one on our way back down the peninsula. As we hiked back, the wind
was so strong, it practically blew us off the boardwalk over the bog!
By the time, we got back to the trailer, McKenzie was hanging onto the back of the sofa for dear life as it bobbed and weaved with the tremendous winds. Temperatures had dropped to the 40’s! The ocean was magnificent! The waves were crashing on the shore and the white froth was
blowing everywhere! Though we could have done without the wind, it was an exciting opportunity to experience.
Before the change in the weather, we had taken a ride over to Rocky Harbor to visit the
lighthouse at Lobster Cove Head which has guided ships safely into Bonne Bay for over a century. Until the late 1800’s, there was no lighthouse at the entrance. Each inhabitant of Rocky Harbor donated a pint of oil per week to keep a light in the window of a local home. In 1897, the pre-fabricated cast iron sections of the lighthouse were hauled up from shore by oxen.
It first cast its beam in April, 1898. George and McKenzie enjoyed the view but couldn’t imagine oxen carting the lighthouse up these steep cliffs. Since George and I had bought Newfoundland t-shirts, we figured McKenzie deserved one too. She enjoyed modeling hers! ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWobr21-mKvPt6Dovp7oJXC6B_ItcNbmn7tgJ3YIQkBIyL78fjfHDUzDU1esNQIQw1ahF-ruAQMKLFRnhNAYiz3DFMwEBVyxuP-MpT5R7-V_q8GUOu1mG9LOztm1ROqrSZZYtdX_F0fHs/s320/IMG_5385.JPG)
On a still day, with the Tablelands reflected in the waters of Bonne Bay,
it is difficult to imagine the dangers that lurk beneath the calm. In places the water is very deep making safe anchorage for boats difficult. This area can be the site of punishing hurricane force winds when a cold easterly flow drops down from the highlands and compresses in the valley.
As this air flows out, it creates a low pressure area which results in winds that can blow the roofs off houses and produce waves that damage local wharfs.
We decided we’d had enough of the high winds, rain, and waves and headed up the peninsula. The pounding surf was still showing its anger as we drove thru Sally’s Cove.
But a little further down the road, there was a weather change and the rain and wind stopped. As we drove, we noticed garden plots lining the sides of the roads, without a house in site. We were told that these are roadside gardens, nurtured and maintained by residents of the nearby towns, who take great pride in their ability to grow fresh, tasty vegetables. Looking like mini-plots of farmland, the gardens are fenced off with an array of posts and sticks and guarded by
makeshift scarecrows, tin cans and plastic bags. These small plots – located miles from a community – provide their owners with vegetables which are harvested in late summer or fall and stored in root cellars during the winter. No one ever touches anyone else’s garden or the bounty from it. It’s just a way of life!
Another oddity that we noticed as we drove along was the wood that had been cut and stacked into a “teepee” shape. This is to allow the wood to dry and the moisture to run out. Once this
happens, the wood is then cut and stacked – again all along the roadside. Each family cuts and stacks their own wood and as they need it, they drive their trucks or skidoos to their stack and
fill them up. Once again, the Newfoundland Code of Behavior, prevents any “borrowing” off your neighbor’s stack.
While species like cod are in decline, lobster is king along this shore and we saw hundreds of lobster traps stacked up along the side of the road.
The lobster enters the hole made in the net and gets caught and can’t get back out. Too bad we weren’t here in June! ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUfJxmUgFx3MPuKF84a4f-4IucKkHCh31ELxrwbNANs41LFcFmERBx6dgmeKdkTByX-RttxSlWs55NsEj-g10Kx35PQ_okfbQOoUCZDQh30hrFp9HGJdwaWisQU7WG5iiEyAsgyxGa7U/s320/IMG_5588.JPG)
Labrador is just a ferry crossing away. Though we would love to go there, it is not on the agenda for this trip as the weather is starting to push us southward. Labrador is recognized as one of the
last great wilderness areas in the world and perhaps we’ll come back one summer to spend some time there.
L’Anse aux Meadows was, and still is, a tiny fishing village.
The Northern Peninsula is land’s end for Newfoundland and North America,
with the northern end of the Island jutting into the Labrador Sea. George stood on the most Northern part of Newfoundland for a picture.
Heading to our first stop, Gros Morne, we passed lots of tall evergreen trees, blue waters and
Before the change in the weather, we had taken a ride over to Rocky Harbor to visit the
On a still day, with the Tablelands reflected in the waters of Bonne Bay,
We decided we’d had enough of the high winds, rain, and waves and headed up the peninsula. The pounding surf was still showing its anger as we drove thru Sally’s Cove.
Another oddity that we noticed as we drove along was the wood that had been cut and stacked into a “teepee” shape. This is to allow the wood to dry and the moisture to run out. Once this
While species like cod are in decline, lobster is king along this shore and we saw hundreds of lobster traps stacked up along the side of the road.
Labrador is just a ferry crossing away. Though we would love to go there, it is not on the agenda for this trip as the weather is starting to push us southward. Labrador is recognized as one of the
L’Anse aux Meadows was, and still is, a tiny fishing village.
It is documented that a substantial Viking expedition from Greenland landed on the shores of what is now L’Anse aux Meadows around the year 1000. Under the leadership of Leif Eiriksson, the group of between 70-90 people established an encampment that served as the base for
The National Historic site is a model which illustrates how the site may have looked at the time of the Norse.
On our walk back to the Historic center, we stopped to view the sculpture, a “Meeting of Two Worlds” which is an interpretive artwork that captures the historical significance of L’Anse aux
Well, that was a bit beyond my comprehension, but what I did comprehend was two moose out in the field chomping away at the bog plants.
We headed back to our trailer and decided to rest for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow will be another adventure to St. Anthony!
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