Continuing our 2010 trip. All photos look much better if you click and enlarge them.
June 23, 2010 4600 km.
Snippets along the way to St Anthony
We spotted a few more moose on our hikes. There are about 500,000 people in Newfoundland and approximately 125,000 moose. That’s 1 moose per 4 people. Moose are not native to Newfoundland, but were introduced here on two different occasions. In 1878 a bull and a cow were brought from Nova Scotia and released at Gander Bay. In 1904 two bulls and two cows from New Brunswick were released near Howley. The rest is history.
A word about cemeteries in Newfoundland; they are usually located in the most beautiful, serene places, preferably overlooking a beautiful bay or cove. This picture is not showing the actual cemetery, but rather the trail that leads from it to the top of the mountain where you can watch the Atlantic Ocean. the local call this trail – due to the cemetery at the bottom – stairway to heaven…
Waiting for the Iceberg boat
We were at a restaurant waiting for a boat ride when we spotted three Mennonite women followed by three Mennonite men exit a van. The entire population of St. Anthony stopped and stared. The group ended taking the same boat tour as us and we had a great chat with them. They drove from Waterloo area and will return via Labrador. When we mentioned the 1000 km gravel road, they sounded surprised. I hope they made it.
Here is the boat we’ll be getting on later.
Bergy Bits and Growlers
We’re on our way to see some icebergs. First we’ll go along the coast and look at some nesting birds. The iceberg is starting to be visible in the distance and our guide points out the boat shown below, which is an iceberg chaser. These boats look for icebergs and ‘harvest’ them. They pick up ‘bergy bits’ – more about those later on – and sell them to companies that make beer, bottle water, etc. The icebergs were formed 15,000 years ago and the water is considered the purest water, since they have no pollutant in them. The sad reality of our current situation is that 15,000 year old water is better than what we have today.
You can see the pile of ice on the boat.
Bergy bits are the small pieces that fall of the iceberg
Growlers are the bigger pieces that waves break over.
Anything bigger than that is an iceberg.
After a bit of a struggle, a bergy bit is caught and hauled on deck…
…chopped to little pieces…
and we got to taste some bergy bits. Pretty refreshing, even though it’s cold out.
And now for some iceberg pictures. no need for words.
from different angles
And just in case you didn’t have enough of icebergs, here is a video.
This is the best I could do with the puffins. You can click on the picture for a bit of a better view.
Minke whale!
Humpback Whale!
Terns.
We started the day with a moose sighting and we can close it with another moose sighting.
This is it. We are starting to make our way back down the Northern Peninsula. Destination: Port aux Choois and the ferry back to Nova Scotia.
The stairway to heaven is really rather majestic. But the iceberg is absolutely spectacular so thank you very much
Thank you! It was a spectacular trip!
Icebergs and moose – a perfect day. The cemetery with a stairway to heaven is really something. Makes you want to walk up there to see the beautiful view.
It was a perfect day. I am not sure why I didn’t include photos of the cemetery itself…
It looks like quite the spectacular trip and scenery! Those icebergs are quite stunning and how awesome you also got to taste iceberg bits water!
Moose are lovely to look at. I do admittedly am terrified of driving in the East Coast of the high probability of hitting a moose!
It was very scary to drive at night and we made a point of not doing that. We didn’t encounter any moose on the road, only on trails. The icebergs were awesome!
what an amazing trip and things seen along the way- the stairway to heaven is amazing
It was one of these trips that stay with you. A spectacular place!
It is true that when you are not used to icebergs, as soon as there is one in sight, it is difficult not to look for it all the time.
…or take a million pictures of it ????
What a fabulous day. Obviously one you would never forget. So many wonderful sights.
it was, and you are right, this trip really stayed with us!
Spectacular boat tour. Thanks so much for sharing. Allan.
It was! Thanks for coming along, Allan!
Such fabulous photos of a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for joining us!
You saw a whale, puffins and icebergs. I’d say that was a successful boat ride! Maggie
It was adequate ????
Thanks for explaining the iceberg lingo! That’s so cool you saw both a minke whale and a humpback whale!
It was very cool, and you are welcome!
How neat that you were able to see icebergs, whales, puffins, and moose. We used to see moose around northern Minnesota often, but now they are quite irregular, sadly.
It was very neat! I supposed that urban sprawl helps push them away from the natural habitat.
Stairway to Heaven—great name. Reminds me that I haven’t listened to the Zeppelin tune in some time. 125,000 is a a lot of moose. I wonder if the population is growing, stable, or falling? We saw icebergs and moose when we went to Alaska prior to Covid.
The numbers are for 2010. I googled the current number and it’s 120,000, so they may be declining. There are a lot of collisions with deer and they are also hunted for meat.
Iceberg, right ahead!! We missed out on the icebergs when we visited Newfoundland, but I’m glad I got to experience them through your travels. I love all their interesting shapes and formations. They look so pretty.
I’m so glad we could share the experience with you! They are so beautiful!
With so many moose in Canada, it’s no wonder that it’s such an iconic animal of the country! Those icebergs look beautiful, yet somewhat menacing: they appear to be ready to strike any boat (or person, animal…) that approaches them, so I hope you stayed a good distance away from them (as they look quite close from the photos you took)!
The captain was very careful and I zoomed in on the icebergs. Still, we were close enough to appreciate their size and beauty.
How cool!
It really was!
Wow, what an amazing experience!
It was a wonderful experience and an amazing trip!
You will remember these trips forever and enjoy thinking of them even more when you are my age. All the best, Muriel
You are right, and having them recorded in this way really helps with the memory thing ????
Great post – and educational too; I had never heard of “bergy bits”! Your photos are stunning; thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
At the end of my three weeks in Newfoundland, I hadn’t spotted one moose and just a tiny iceberg in the distance. That moose statistic is astounding, especially as I traipsed through a number of national/regional parks. Ha! Lucky you.
It may be the time of year we were there. Moose are pretty active in late spring, and perhaps stay away in the summer. Still, yes, very lucky!
Interesting story about bergy bits, I guess they do not get a salty taste from the sea.
They don’t!
looked like a wonderful timeout in nature. that would have been fun to taste an iceberg. and some spectacular photos of icebergs…
It was a fun trip! Hey, I hope you are getting the break that you need and that you’ll be posting again. There is no rule that says you have to do this every day. Write when you feel like it and it you don’t, then don’t 🙂
Loved the berg sculptures! Never would have thought of tasting one. ???? One moose for every four people!
It was very refreshing. I remember the surprising taste even 12 years after the fact.