Coming Home

Our hotel in Deer Lake was a Holiday Inn Express. The rooms were made with cookie cutters. We temporarily turned into vegetables. Breakfast was a full buffet with omelet, bacon, sausages, beans, etc. etc. It was served from 7 until 10 and we made an appearance at about 9:30.

After an excess of coffee we checked out just before eleven. The car didn't need to be returned just yet so we buzzed around town. At a fairly large beach on Deer Lake, Lily and I actually found two people sunning on the sand. We pulled our jackets and sweaters a little tighter and read the sign that was near the walkway. Apparently the discoverers of this lake saw a herd of caribou swimming across the lake. They therefore named this place Deer Lake, even though caribou are not deer.

So, Newfoundland was called Vinland by the vikings even though there were no grapevines on the island. This place was named Deer Lake by the European explorers even though there are no deer on the island.

We returned our rental car and checked into the airport. There were still a couple of hours before our flight but everything ran smoothly. In Toronto when we left it had taken us about two and a half hours before we arrived in the departure lounge. Here we arrived about two and a half hours before our flight and it took us about 15 minutes to get to the departure lounge.

The flight was smooth and uneventful. In fact I slept for at least an hour.

Today I had two pleasant surprises. We had been informed much earlier that we would be charge a $275 drop-off fee for the car rental. No such charge was made. When we picked up our car at Park'nFly, we were given $96 discount for our CAA membership, even though the clerk informed me that my CAA membership had expired.

That was a nice ending to a great trip.

Driving to Deer Lake

 We thought we were finished our touring, but we still had a five hour drive to get to Deer Lake. We programmed the GPS to lengthen the trip and we stopped regularly to have a look around. Shortly after we began, we saw another moose beside the road. Then a caribou ran in front of the truck that was in front of us. He must have scared himself because he didn't stick around for a picture.

We have been seeing these wagons on skids from time to time. Being somewhat logical we thought that they must be waiting around for the winter to carry the wood to the fire.

This one had two pairs of skis so I imagine it would ride more slowly over the rough terrain. Then we saw one that was hooked to a four-wheeled ATV. It was loaded with something in a large plastic tub and was bouncing along a dirt track. There are dirt tracks everywhere, for ATVs and for snowmobiles. These wagons could obviously be towed be either machines, at any time of the year.

Lily was looking at a map and realized that we were riding beside Labrador. The water is not the Atlantic, nor is it the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is the Strait of Belle Isle, which separates Newfoundland from the mainland. You can make out a coastline over there and it is Labrador.

From a slightly different spot we could make out a more significant section of Labrador. The map said that we were directly across from a small town, but I couldn't make out that much detail.

This garden seemed to be located behind someone's house. Obviously they are not all on public land. So far the only thing growing is rhubarb, which is not a root vegetable.

Of course there were still many piles of firewood.

The backbone of this peninsula is the Appalachian Mountains. Notice the black veins in the face of this cliff.

Norstead

Just down the road from L'Anse aux Meadow you will find a second viking village called Norstead. Here is a private facility which was built to further educate and entertain visitors. I think of it as the Hollywood version of the real thing. It is also very interesting. 

In the visitor's centre, a "viking" came in to get a bandaid. I teased him by jeering, "C'mon, You're a viking."

He replied, "Yes I am, but I'm not as tough as the vikings we are playing."

The very first building is called the boathouse, and it actually does contain a viking ship.

The ship does not entirely fit in the boathouse. It pokes out the other end.

In a strange coincidence, I was reading a coffee-table book just last night at Tuckamore Lodge. I believe it was called "A Viking Voyage". It told the tale of a modern day adventurer who was fascinated with the history of the vikings. This adventurer build his ship from the ground up using original materials and original methods. His ship fit into his boathouse in Greenland, but he did have to enlarge the door in order to get it out. He then gathered a crew of 12 and sailed from Greenland to L'Anse aux Meadows.

This ship in this boathouse is the actual ship that he created.

Worsted is not real, but it is "real".

Here the metalworker works with iron. It might take two hours with a dual bellows to make the iron hot enough to work.

This bed belonged to the leader. It was the only one with a curtain.

This is the leader's wife. She "controlled" the women of the longhouse. The men were her husband's responsibility.

Others just found an open space on the floor.

There was a women's workroom where sewing and weaving took place

This was the only place where Deb could find a snowbank which she could climb on.

L'Anse aux Meadows

From the parking lot at L'Anse aux Meadows, you look up a hill to see rusted iron silhouettes of vikings arriving from Greenland. Walk along a short path to find a modern visitor's centre. Inside you can watch a short introductory video and browse through a small array of exhibits. One is a model of the ship that we saw in Oslo, Norway.

On the path to the site we realized that the snow we had only seen in the hills was now down to our level.

At the site all you can see are small plaques on the ground and small mounds and dips where the walls and rooms have been. Archeologist have explored these places for artifacts to determine what each building was used for, then they filled them back in. This small building was found to be a forge where iron was formed into tools and utensils. This was probably the very first place in the Americas where iron was smelted.

Beside the building is a small creek with very rusty brown water. Our boardwalk goes over an iron bog. By poking a stick into the bog the vikings were able to locate globs of iron.

In this picture you can see the outline of one of the larger buildings. We stopped at each marker and the guide explained the usage for each building and gave us a sense of the history.

It is believed that the vikings only chose this site as a base station and it was never meant to be permanent. From here they explored this land that they called Vinland. Grapes (and beech trees) do not, nor have they ever grown in Newfoundland, but they do grow wild in New Brunswick. Here, however, there are signs of winemaking and of beech wood used in their building and their ship repairs. The vikings travelled beyond Newfoundland to harvest whatever they could for trade.

According to written records, the vikings soon began to trade with Europeans. From Europe they learned that they could get the same resources that they were collecting in Vinland. The journey to Europe was much shorter and much safer and much less expensive. As well, in Vinland the relationship with the natives was not going well.

After only about fifteen years, L'Anse aux Meadows was deserted. They took everything they could carry and burned the buildings.

Walk a little further and you find a recreation of the village as they believe it would have been. Actors dressed as vikings carry on about their work. always willing to stop and chat.

This is a longhouse, where thirty or so people would live.

The outer walls are made from dried and stacked peat moss. The inner frame and the doorways are wood. The roof is sodded.

This was private sleeping quarter. Only a lucky few had such luxury.

Most would sleep on benches in one of the great rooms.

This is a lathe which is powered by a treadle.

Here is a loom where textiles were made from natural fibres using natural dyes. Stones tied to the yarn maintained tension.

The sails of the viking ships were actually made on a loom such as this. Since the loom could only be as wide as a woman's outstretched arms, the sails were made in stripes. The stripes were then sewn together by hand.

This sculpture is meant to symbolize the meeting of two vastly different cultures. On the left you can see a stylized version of a viking ship. On the right is a native war club.

This meeting is very significant in terms of human history.

It is now commonly accepted that humanity first existed in Africa. From here humans roamed widely until they populated all of the continents except Antarctica.

Some travelled north and east, eventually reaching North America and Australia. Over many millennia, humans adapted and different races emerged.

Others travelled north and west to occupy parts of Asia and Europe.

Those who travelled east eventually ran into the Atlantic Ocean, which they could not cross.

Those who travelled west eventually ran into the Atlantic Ocean, which they could not cross.

L'Anse aux Meadows was the actual spot where humanity came together again after millions of years of separation. This site represent the closing of the circle of human life on earth.

This small detail shows the prow of the viking ship in the sculpture.

Heading to L'Anse aux Meadows

 We were a little slow to get moving this morning, but they were serving breakfast until the. Lily and I prowled and lounged around drinking coffee, but we had to wake Deb up about nine. Breakfast was bacon and eggs and toast and jam. It was a very large plate and took us some time to get through it.

We were told that dinner tonight would be salmon. so we had to be very careful that they understood that we would not be there for dinner. (Last night we told the hostess that we would not be there for dinner only to learn when we returned that they had prepared dinner for us anyway.)

Later that night were speaking to some other guests and we were informed that the dinners st this lodge were amazing, but we missed out. We wanted Newfie food.

On the way to L'Anse aux Meadows we had to sop for one more picture of the iceberg in St. Anthony's Bight. 

Within about twenty minutes we had stopped to take pictures of three moose.

A cow

A young buck

And an old buck.

This is not the most extreme example, but it does show how many of the spruce trees get thin and spindly at the top, but many have tufts of growth at the top.

On many of the roads around here we have seen many fenced garden plots. They seem to be in the middle of nowhere. Today we got around to asking a waitress about them. Now we know that many of these plots have been tilled by the same family for generations. If someone new wants a plot, all they have to do is select a spot, build a fence and till the ground. The soil is incredibly black peat moss. On public land they can just squat .... forever.

We pulled into a little lane just to turn around. This moose just watched as we stopped and took pictures. Then he casually went back to his eating.

In many places we found large piles of wood beside the road. Our waitress (same one) told us that each was the winter supply for one home. They do need a permit, but then they simply cut the wood in the early spring. They stack it and leave it to dry over the summer. When they do find that they need heat they simply go and get what they need. The piles are replenished next year. They do not pay for the wood, but cut it from public land. Each pile has a permit number posted with it and apparently nobody will disturb your pile throughout the year.

We stopped to suss out the restaurant where we planned to have dinner. It was low tide.

This little dock was in front of the restaurant.

St. Anthony

Since St. Anthony was a fair distance away, we soon headed on our way. We were hoping to find a jig's dinner or perhaps even to attend a viking feast. Shortly after leaving Tuckamore Lodge, we passed a moose along the side of the road, but he spooked and ran into the bush. 

Just before reaching St. Anthony we rounded a curve and found an iceberg (number three) grounded in a little bay called St. Anthony's Bight. We didn't even stop because we were on a mission. At the tourist office we were told that Jigg's Dinner was only served occasionally but they recommend a small restaurant that we would pass on our way home. 

Apparently a large iceberg had been at Fisherman's Point in town but it had recently broken up. We were given a map showing a little road called the Bight Loop so we could get right into the bight for a closer look at the iceberg we had already seen. He suggested visiting a little town called Greater Brehat, because we would very likely see icebergs there.

At fisherman's Point we found that there were only small bits of floating ice.

The small fragments are called berg bits...

And the bigger ones are called growlers.

We found the right location for the Viking Feast. This is a dinner theatre, but it would not be performed while we were here.

On the road to Greater Brehat, we had to slow down considerably because of many potholes. I was reminded of a joke that our guide in Norris Point told to us.

In Ontario, the police can watch a car leaving the pub at night. If the car is weaving, they can assume that the driver is drunk and pull him over.

In Newfoundland, the police can watch a car leaving the pub at night. If the car is travelling in a straight line it will be pulled over. The driver must be drunk if he is not weaving to miss the potholes.

At Greater Brehat we had to climb a long set of steps to reach a very windy lookout. It was worth the walk however, because just offshore we saw a huge iceberg floating placidly.

By widening the angle of the lens, the same view could show another huge iceberg out at sea. Obviously, if this is the top of Iceberg Alley, this is the place to go to find the big ones.

Tuckamore Lodge

 It took us more than five hours to drive from Norris Point to Tuckamore Lodge. Just before we arrived, we spotted our first moose. The lodge seemed to be in the wilderness about an hour before St. Anthony or L'Anse aux Meadows. It seemed an odd location, but we learned to love it.

It is a large log building with lots of room to wander.

Inside we discovered a large common room with windows on two sides. I expected to see moose. No luck.

In the dining room they served a full breakfast each morning. They also serve a full dinner each night. Since they were serving roast beef on the first night, we opted to search for a traditional Newfie dinner in St. Anthony.

There was the required moose antler chandelier hanging in the great room.

Our room was relatively small, but quite comfortable.

Deb found a place to relax before we headed to St. Anthony.

The water in the lake was so clear and calm you could easily make out the details of the bottom.

We were actually here during one of their slow seasons. In the spring and fall there are very few guests. In the summer they fill up with hunters and fishermen. In the winter they attract crowds of snowmobilers.