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