Travels East: Happy Valley

Onwards to Happy Valley - Goose Bay, most of the road is now paved, but there is a 60 km gravel section and that is where the low tire pressure message appeared on the truck dash, and we found that the rear driver's side tire was flat once we pulled over and stopped. Many people stopped to see if they could help, we were carrying two spare tires, so it didn't take long to change, especially since it had started to rain a bit.

We got to Happy Valley - Goose Bay without further mishap, and got a spot with full services at Goose River Lodge & RV Park for two nights, about 15 Km outside of town, close to Gosling Lake. Close to where the Churchill River runs into Lake Melville and hence to the Atlantic Ocean (via Hamilton Inlet), the two communities of Happy Valley - Goose Bay run into each other like Kitchener - Waterloo but on a much smaller scale. They have two grocery stores, and I was surprised to see that the cost of fruits and vegetables was not that high and gas for the truck was $1.42 /L. They have a Home Hardware Building Centre, Tim Horton's (with Wifi), and several of the usual fast food restaurants. There was a very interesting store that we went into to look for souvenirs (fridge magnet). In the lower floor it had a small museum of military paraphenalia dating back to the time when Goose Bay airport was used by the armed forces of several countries during and after WWII. The store also sold guns, ammo, fishing rods, reels and flies, camouflage wear, and all the camping equipment you might need for a winter hunting trip. The biggest surprise was a counter with drug testing kits and other drug use related items.

It took a good chunk of the day to find out that the truck flat tire was not fixable and to buy 2 new matching tires of the right size for the back wheels, for the next section of the Trans Labrador Highway. In the afternoon (which was rainy again), we became tourists and drove to North West River, which is at the end of the asphalt road in this part of Labrador. We visited the Labrador Interpretation Centre, which had exhibits explaining the history of the four peoples of the land, the Innu, Inuit, Metis and European Settlers. Interestingly they had an art exhibition and one of the paintings looked similar to our view of Labrador City /Wabush from Smokey mountain. We also stopped at what used to be the Hudson Bay Trading Post which is now a museum. Some photos below.