To Gros Morne National Park

South on the Viking Trail to Gros Morne National Park

After two days in St. Anthony we travelled south towards Gros Morne National Park (368 km).  What was interesting along the way was all the jet trails in the sky heading from Europe to spots in North America.  We passed by the land-locked Western Brook Pond and fjord, stopping for a couple of nights at an RV Park in Rocky Harbour.  Cecil had an unforseen issue to deal with from his e-mail , so I explored Rocky Harbour and was able to purchase some fresh halibut from a store at the fishing wharf for supper. 

Jet trails

View from Fishermen's Wharf, Rocky Harbour

Inland Fjord at Western Brook Pond

After a quick visit to the Visitor Centre the next morning, which was a bit cloudy, we drove to Norris Point, which is situated where Bonne Bay is split between the East Arm and South Arm fjords, by a rocky peninsula and narrow channel (Tickle).  From Norris Point it was possible to see the Tablelands and Woody Point across the South Arm. 

Two Arms and a Tickle

Tablelands and Woody Point from Norris Point

View of Eastern Arm & Southeast Hills

View of South Arm & Tablelands

Bonne Bay from Norris Point

We then drove back to Rocky Harbour, through the village to Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, which provides a vista of the coastline south of Bonne Bay (Lookout Hills).

View of Bonne Bay from Lobster Head Cove Lighthouse

After lunch we headed to the Discovery Centre at Woody Point.  The road has to go around the sea fjords and the Southeast Hills, passing by the highest peak in the park, Gros Morne, which looks like a very smooth, bald, rounded mountain, rather than a peak.

Gros Morne is the bald, rocky hill on the left

The Discovery Centre is an interesting building on a steep hill overlooking the fjords with Gros Morne visible in the distance.  Gros Morne is the highest of the Long Range Mountains in this area, which are actually the glacially eroded end of the Appalachians. Inside the Discovery Centre there was an art exhibit of handmade objects from around the Gros Morne area. The mittens and wooden "dozer" caught our eye.

Wooden bulldozer

Local mittens and balls of wool as art works

 Another hill climb or two took us up to the Tablelands, an area where tectonic plate activity has pushed part of the earth's mantle up to the surface . The orange weathered rock is called peridotite, which is orange on the outside from the oxidation of iron in the rock, but green in the interior.  There is very little plant growth in this area because the minerals in the rock are toxic, due to the high concentration of iron, magnesium and heavy metals.  We took the walking path up to the viewing platform at a small brook (round trip of 4.3 km).

Tablelands

Split piece of mantle rock (peridotite) showing orange exterior and green interior

Back at the truck, we drove around to Trout River, hoping to see a moose or two on the way as they had mentioned in the Centre that there were sightings that day - no luck, though a couple we talked to had recently seen a moose cow and calf.  At Trout River Pond, there is a view of the other side of the Tablelands with a more typical rocky hill on the other side of the lake.  All very scenic.  The last photo is of the Southeast Hills on a misty morning on our way out of the National Park to Deer Lake.

Other sidde of Tablelands from Trout River Pond

Misty morning in the Southeast Hills

The Viking Trail, North West Newfoundland

The Viking Trail,  North West Newfoundland.

From St. Barbe we travelled to St. Anthony on the Viking Trail, going through many small fishing communities perched very close to the water's edge.  Then the road left the coast , and crossed over to the other side of the Northern Peninsula to St. Anthony, through terrain that could be called "moose meadows" - low growing vegetation in bog-like areas changing to hills, small lakes ("ponds") and forests, but no moose to be seen. St. Anthony is cliffy and has a deep safe harbour with fishing vessels, and a large vessel docked that had a landing pad for a helicopter. We got settled in an RV park close to St. Anthony with good internet for a change, and laundry facilities which were much needed.

St. Anthony's Harbour

Ship with helicopter pad

Shrimp fishing boat

It was still early in the afternoon on a nice sunny day, so we drove  to L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, where the Vikings landed over a thousand years ago.  Based on archeological findings a Viking village has been recreated complete with costumed Vikings to explain their lifestyle (see photos).

L'Anse aux Meadows from the Visitors Centre

Site of the Forge

Reconstructed Viking Village

What's inside ?

Vikings at work

Viking Loom

The Vikings are coming!!!!

There were some interesting sights on the way to L'Anse aux Meadows, including the harbour at St-.Lunaire-Griquet, and an interesting sign saying "Dark Tickle Bridge".  Apparently "Tickle" is the term used for a narrow channel.  One difference between the island (Newfoundland) and Labrador is that the houses are often painted bright colours, rather than being mostly white.

St. Lunaire - Griquet

Dark Tickle Bridge

Fishing Point Lighthouse is at the entrance to the harbour at St. Anthony, and provided a photo op for the rugged coastline in this area.  The fishing boats in the harbor fish for shrimp, king crab and other species of fish.  A cruise ship had come into harbour in the morning, the National Geographic Explorer, which had been cruising in the Arctic. I heard one passenger up at Fishing Point Lighthouse mentioning Resolute Bay as one of their stopping points.  Back in the Harbour at the Ice House, we had an interesting chat with a retired gentleman, who was raised in St. Anthony, came to work in Ontario, and retired back to St. Anthony.  St. Anthony is also home to the Grenfell Interpretation Centre and Grenfell House Museum.  Sir William Grenfell, a medical doctor, was sent to Newfoundland in 1892 and we have seen his name in several places across Labrador and now in the Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland, relating to hospitals and medical stations he established throughout the area.

National Geographic Explorer Cruise Ship

Cliffs at Fishing Point

A couple of points of interest on the side of the road are woodpiles - the land is crown-owned, and anyone can get a permit to cut wood in a defined area for personal use.  The other common site is veggie patches surrounded by a fence, usually potatoes, but sometimes carrots, cabbage and other staple veg. Apparently theft and pilfering are not an issue.

Woodpiles at the side of the road

Veggie Patch at the side of the road

St. Mary's Harbour to L'Anse au Clair.

The next morning (Saturday) it was pouring rain and foggy, so we decided not to take the passenger ferry to Battle National Historic Site, but to continue on our journey south towards Blanc Sablon (QC) and the ferry to St. Barbe NL.  I have not had cell phone service or internet access on my I-phone since we left Happy Valley - Goose Bay, so we were not able to check the weather forecast. 

It continued to rain as we approached Red Bay, 100 Km south on the really pot-holey and wavy gravel road, through barren rocky terrain and ponds (lakes) with little vegetation again.  Red Bay is another National Historic Site, this time for Basque History in the area dating back to the sinking of a whaling vessel in 1546.  A reconstruction to scale of the vessel, and many artifacts were on display, from the sunken vessel and sites on nearby Saddle Island where they butchered the whales and rendered the fat to whale oil, which was put into barrels they made on site.  Whale oil was a precious cargo and much in demand in Europe for oil lamps at that time.  Basque fisherman from the French/Spanish border area had decimated the population of whales in the Bay of Biscay, and sailed further afield to Terra Nova to hunt for whales.

Red Bay and Saddle Island seasons

the whaling ship that sunk in Red Bay

Red Bay

Barrel for whale oil

Red Bay is also the start of asphalt road again - hooray.

As we approached Pinware Provincial Park, the rain stopped, but on higher ground it was misty.  Pinware has a nice sandy beach and is a good spot for fishing and bird watching (neither of which kept us there). We were allowed to use their showers, their dumping station, and fill up with fresh water for a small fee after several days of dry camping. 

Beach at Pinware  Provincial Park, Labrador

We stopped briefly in L'Anse-au-Loup to pick up some groceries (raining & misty again), and decided not to go and see the L'Anse Amour Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site, and L'Anse Amour Burial National Historic Site because of the weather.  Instead we drove across the barrens (rocky hills with little vegetation visible) to L'Anse au Clair for the night which is 7 km from Blanc Sablon (QC) and the ferry to St. Barbe, NL.  The weather finally cleared up and we were able to get onto the 8:00 am ferry the next morning.  

Beach at L'Anse au Clair

The ferry ride on the S.S. Apollo was about 95 minutes, quite smooth, just a bit of rolling. We sat chatting to a couple that had stopped to see if they could help us when we had problems with the trailer wheel.  They have no fixed address, their furniture is in storage, and they are travelling in their camper van across North America, stopping to visit family along the way. 

SS Apollo, ferry from Blanc Sablon QC, to St. Barbe NL

Lining up for boarding the ferry

Labrador Coastal Drive - Cartwright to St. Mary's Harbour

From Cartwright to the Coast

One thing I haven't mentioned about Labrador is the BLACK FLIES.  Even in September the pesky insects are biting but not as voraciously as in July and August when bug jackets that enclose your head with netting, and Deet are recommended. Some Labradorian expeditions in the early days had deadly consequences because of black fly bites as recorded at the Labrador Interpretive Centre in North West River.  We have been bitten a little bit especially around the hairline, and they don't disappear quickly like mosquito bites, they are hard lumps for several days.

Back to our travels, on a sunny and windy day, we left Cartwright and backtracked to the junction with the Labrador Coastal Drive (route 510) and turned south towards Port Hope Simpson, 98 km away and the next opportunity to get gas etc. This is the older portion of the gravel road, and it was in much worse condition than the newer portion we drove on yesterday.  The scenery changed from forests and lakes, to sparsely treed  bogs (moor-like) and rocky terrain with low growing vegetation.

Boggy, moor-like vegetation

Rocky terrain, with lichen

We had driven about 40 Km when the "trailer failure" light came on the dash.  Stopping to investigate, Cecil noticed that that there was a burning smell coming from one of the wheels on the trailer. A bearing cover on the hub of one of the wheels had fallen off with all the jiggling on the rough road, allowing the grit and gravel to get in so the brake and bearing had heated up and seized.  The only solution was to remove the wheel once it had cooled down and limp to Port Hope Simpson  58 km away, slowly,  with only three wheels bearing the trailer weight.  Many people again stopped to see if they could help while we were parked, and one couple let us know that there was a garage in Port Hope Simpson.

It was very fortunate that the garage at Port Hope Simpson could fix the bearing for us, but did not have the right parts to fix the brake.  Tom at the garage said this fix would get us to Corner Brook where there would be an RV dealer that would have the necessary parts.  He was not surprised by our predicament, he sees a lot of flat tires etc., coming from that stretch of road.

Fried wheel on the trailer

Port Hope Simpson from the garage

Back on the gravel Labrador Coastal Drive again, we headed slowly for St. Mary's Harbour for the night. We drove through a rain shower and had to take a picture of the double rainbow that kept moving in front of us.

double rainbow

Rainbow further down the road

St. Mary's Harbour is where you can catch a passenger ferry to visit the Battle National Historic Site, a reconstructed whaling village.  With no campground there either, we parked on a newly constructed parking lot next to a boat launch ramp in the sheltered harbour for the night.

Parking spot for the night

St. Mary's Harbour

Labrador Coastal Drive to Cartwright

From Happy Valley - Goose Bay to Cartwright

285 km of gravel road (route 510) opened in 2010 connecting to the existing Labrador Coastal Drive to L'Anse au Clair and side branch (route 516) to Cartwright (another 87 km), with no gas stations, food or lodging, no cell phone service, and a recommendation for borrowing a satellite phone for emergency use (provided by government), but none were available in Happy Valley - Goose Bay on the day we were leaving. It had rained most of the day before so there were pot holes and areas of "washboard", so it was a slow drive around the Mealy Mountains, passing by lakes (ponds in NL) and rivers (brooks in NL), through bush, some forests of black spruce, white spruce, tamaracs, and some aspens, and some barren areas of rocks with lichen and low scrubby bush (caribou country).

It had rained most of the day before so there were pot holes and areas of "washboard", so it was a slow drive around the Mealy Mountains, passing by lakes (ponds in NL) and rivers (brooks in NL), through bush, some forests of black spruce, white spruce, tamaracs, and some aspens, and some barren areas of rocks with lichen and low scrubby bush (caribou country).  The colour of the gravel on the road changed from pink to black to grey and back to pink as we passed by the "quarries" beside the road with the local rock they had used for the gravel.  Also along the road there were groups of boxes on sleds which we learned later was for hauling wood out of the bush in the wintertime.

Brook with Mealy Mtns in the background

Lichen

Where's the moose or caribou?

Sleds for wood

We arrived in Cartwright which is spread around Sandwich Bay and has no campground, but the local RCMP officer Mike suggested parking beside the outdoor arena, which was a nice flat area, for the night (no services).  Cecil had hoped that we could get a boat tour to see the Viking named "Wonderstrands" a 56 km stretch of golden sand beach about 10 km to the north and only accessible by boat.  Unfortunately the tours ended Labour Day weekend.  

We had the opportunity to chat with some fishermen on the wharf folding up their nets.  They had been out about 154 km in the ocean for a week fishing for turbot, the last trip of the season.  They also fish for king crab in season.  All their fish/crab goes to the local fish plant at the other end of the wharf, for freezing and shipping.

Fishing vessel Cartwright

King crab pots

Boats moored in Sandwich Bay

Outdoor arena and our parking spot for the night

Note the wild looking sky at sunset that night