August 29, 2018

    For three of the next four days we will be exploring the part of Newfoundland known as the Great Northern Peninsula. At 225 km long, it is the longest peninsula in Newfoundland. Tomorrow we cross the Strait of Belle Isle, known as Iceberg Ally in June, to explore a bit of southern Labrador.  Our bus is manufactured by Motor Coach Industries and is the J4500 model with only one door. In Europe most of the coaches had a door about the center of the bus as well as at the front.

   The day started cloudy with the threat of rain, windy and a temperature of 22°C. The visibly was reduced by the low clouds which hid the tops of the low mountains around Corner Brook. Our luggage was packed and in the hall by 7 a.m., then we went down for the buffet breakfast and departed on schedule at 8 a.m. Before leaving there was a visit from a ten month old 130 pound Newfoundland dog and her owner.

   The journey today was about 345 km. The trip started going northeast on the Trans-Canada highway bypassing the town of Deer Lake, then turning north onto the Viking Route, highway 430 which had many views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on to visit Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The only rain we saw was for about 30 minutes after we passed Deer Lake. Afterwards, the clouds remained for a few hours, gradually thinning. Before arriving at the Visitor Center Chris, our tour director played a video about Gros Morne National Park. It is an important geological site.  The most famous feature is the Tablelands which millions of years ago were ocean bottom, which have risen above the earth’s surface caused by tectonic plate activity. Other features of the area are the alpine tundra, boreal forest, lakes, bogs, lowlands and fjords.

  There was a 45 minute stop at the Gros Morne National Park Visitor Center which had excellent displays explaining the park and well stocked gift shop with lots of educational material, jewellery and souvenirs. We learned that “holding ground” was a fisherman’s term for finding a sheltered cove to seek cover in a storm. There was not any time to hike on the nearby trials.

   The next stop close by was Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse. Here the group had 45 minutes to listen to the Parks Canada warden explain the history of the lighthouse and the families that lived and worked there. The light guided boats to the Rocky Harbour entrance within Bonne Bay.

The main floor of the house housed detailed signs regarding life at the lighthouse from 1884 to the 1970s when automatic lighthouses were introduced.  We explored several of the trails around the house and down to the large vegetable garden by the water.  The wind from the water was gusting up to 50 km per hour, but it was 21°C and a partly cloudy sky.  Steps accumulated 4181.  We could see the fishing town of Rocky Harbour on the other side of the bay.

  The coach returned to Rocky Harbour for  an optional group lunch of vegetable soup, ham & cheese or pulled beef sandwiches followed by cheesecake with Partridgeberry sauce and coffee or tea. Partridgeberry is part of the cranberry family and is also known as lingonberry. Then we were back on the road for a short stop at Western Brook Pond, in the Tablelands, to view the inland lake carved out millions of years ago by glaciers. The rock formation was about five kilometers away on a lake.  There was a broad crushed rock trail to the lake but it took about 40 minutes to walk there and there was not enough time.

   Another short coach ride took us to Broom Point Fish Store and Cabin, located on the rock-strewn shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  It was a family’s former summer fishing home where they spent the summer fishing and preparing the fish for sale. The tiny cabin held four bedrooms big enough to fit a double bed each and a small kitchen and parlour. The interpreter explained that lobster season is only 48 days long and showed us the lobster traps and how they capture lobster. Only lobster about seven years old which are 1.5 to 2 pounds (easily measured by a length of 3.75 inches from the lobster’s eyes to the start of the lobster’s tail) can be kept unless it is a fertile female. The buildings and equipment were used from 1941 to 1975 when the family donated their property to Parks Canada for a museum. Also explained was the centuries old preservation method of salting cod which only have oil in their liver that is harvested.  The old method of canning salmon and crimping it by hand before boiling cans and cooling them was also discussed.  This was the final stop within Gros Morne National Park.

   We journeyed 90 minutes to Port au Choix National Historic Site. During the journey a few passengers saw a moose standing along the road side. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on windblown limestone outcrops known as the barren lands. Only low growing stunted plants can survive. It has as a long history of people using the area for summer activities including the aboriginal tribes of Maritime Archaic from about 3500 BC to 1000 BC, Dorset from about 800 BC to 200 AD, Groswater from about 200 to 700 AD and the Beothuk people from about 700 to early1800s when they were wiped out by tuberculosis and the English settlers.  We took a short walk onto the limestone barrens and increased the day’s steps to 8,864.

   We all returned to the coach for a 55 minute drive to the Plum Point Motel and a break before a buffet dinner. It was a long ten hour day which ended at the small village of Plum Point (which has a latitude close to Calgary’s latitude). After dinner we went for a walk along the boardwalk of the lake behind the motel where we watched the sun set, about 8:15.  Total steps 11,759