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Monday, May
31: St. Anthony, NL to Port au Choix, NL (124 miles)
| Today turned out to be a cold, blustery, wet day.
The temperature got down to 37 at one point and hovered right around 40
all day. The flags were flying straight out, to the south. We put on
everything we had along to keep warm but we still got cold. At one point
we stopped at a highway maintenance station to get out of the wind to
put on more clothes, and a couple of the crew pulled up and invited us
inside to warm up and use the facilities. What a godsend - I should have taken their picture. Their main job is to keep the long,
fairly deserted stretch of road cleared of snow in the winter.
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This picture was taken in Griquet, on
our way up to L'Anse aux Meadows. It's typical of the look and feel of
the coastal communities. We stopped on the way back at The Daily Catch
for a most amazing lunch. The seafood chowder was outstanding, as
was the partridgeberry pie - everything
was home-made. |
One of the sites we really wanted to see on this trip was L'Anse aux
Meadows, where the Vikings landed about 1000 A.D., establishing the
first known presence of Europeans on the North American continent, 500
years before Columbus "discovered" America. L'Anse aux Meadows is on the
very northern tip of Newfoundland, about 30 miles or so north from our
B&B in St. Anthony. With the weather as it was today, we really had to
wonder at the bravery and ingenuity of those people 1000 years ago to
make it from Norway to Newfoundland in open boats. You can see icebergs
in the distance on this photo. |
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To the left is a re-creation of what their sod
huts must have looked like. We were able to get inside one of the huts
(right) and found it quite warm, relatively speaking. . |
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The visitor center wasn't open today and we were on
our own at the site, so we had a quick look around and left. No messing
around. It was really cold and inhospitable, and we were eager to have
the wind to our backs! We got to our B&B in Port au Choix by
mid-afternoon, and were really beat. It took a good swig of Scotch
(Vodka for Elaine) to rejuvenate us. |
Tuesday,
June 1: Port au Choix, NL to Rocky Harbour, NL (101 miles)
| This morning the weather was much more amenable.
It would get into the upper 40's today, with partial sun and little to
no wind. A big, and welcome, change from yesterday. Part of the morning
ritual before setting out is to check the tire pressure - 36 in front
and 42 in rear. With only two wheels you want to make sure both are
working as they should! |
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Jeannie, our host at Jeannie's Sunrise B&B, told
us the plot of land adjoining her's is the burial site of Aboriginal
cultures from 5000 years ago. When you think about it, it really
stretches your imagination. Jeannie told us that these cultures came
from a different line than today's First Nations Peoples - Newfoundland
turns out to be an important place in tracing the cultural origins of
the different inhabitants of North America. Perhaps it has something to
do with the fact that Newfoundland contains the eastern most point of
contiguous land on the North American continent. |
| Yesterday up at L'Anse aux Meadows we saw
whitecaps and icebergs; today we saw almost glassy seas of a beautiful
aqua color. Even the locals told us yesterday was unusually cold. |
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We've seen a lot of roadside gardens on the
peninsula. The soil is already cleared and apparently free for anyone
who cares to use it. The fences are to keep the moose and caribou out.
We've been seeing moose fairly regularly the last several days, but no
caribou. Hunters come to this area to look for black bear, along moose
and caribou. A little cafe down the street from us this evening is
advertising moose soup. I don't know about that... Moose roast, on the
other hand, would be pretty tasty - maybe we'll get a chance for some of
that before we leave the island. |
| Another thing we've seen frequently is wood piles
like this along the roadside, often with one or several sleighs nearby
that were used to haul the logs to the site
in the winter so they van be cut up and split later. Each resident can
purchase a permit for $25 which entitles them to cut up to 10 cords of
wood that year. The wood may not be sold, bartered or given away. Ten
cords is enough to heat most homes for a winter, and most Newfies heat
by wood, I was told. |
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We happened on to Payne's Bakery in Parson's Pond
right about lunch time and had some delicious home-made pea soup and a
ham and swiss sandwich made with the absolute best home-made bread. The
bakery is part of a small convenience store that sells, among other
things, ketchup flavored potato chips. They definitely taste like
ketchup! |
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Today's ride was short - only several hours - so
we took our time and enjoyed the views and the weather. We rode to Rocky
Harbour today, which is situated right in the middle of Gros Morne
National Park. That is Gros Morne mountain toward the right side in the
photo on the left. I plan to take a boat tour of the Western Brook Pond
fjord tomorrow and will have lots more to say tomorrow, along with
photos, of course. Elaine is taking the day "off" tomorrow to relax and
recuperate from the riding. She says she's already seen lots of
mountains... |
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