Blast from the Past: Northern Peninsula the Return

Continuing our 2010 trip to the maritimes.  All photos will look much better if you click and enlarge them. 

June 24-27, 2010 5000km. Port aux Choix to Gros Morne.

Southern Ontario is experiencing some strange weather involving tornadoes and earthquakes in the same day! It was good to hear that everyone was okay. Here, the weather is lovely, but a bit on the cool side.

Port aux Choix

We stopped at Port aux Choix again on our way back. Unlike our first stop, this time the weather is nice.  We visited the archaeological site and chatted with the archaeologists. They call arrowhead ‘end blades’ here.  They showed us some interesting artifacts: seal bones. quartz, and funky chert that looks very different from the variety we see in Ontario.
It seems as if the entire length of the coast has archaeological sites and I actually found a few artifacts in several places we had visited.  There is an abundance  of natural resources, so it’s not surprising that past people would stop and camp here.
It’s also very beautiful.

A French oven. A communal oven similar to the ones used in the 1700s.  A well made reconstruction.

We stayed in a hotel rated 3 stars. Hmmm….I think that the hotel ratings in Newfoundland may be rated similarly to the handicapped system in horse racing or polo…
The food at the hotel was great, although the waitress was somewhat challenged; she charged us $12 for a $55 dinner, when I explained to the waitress why it should be more, she charged me $25 and apologized as if she over-charged me.  I didn’t feel like arguing about this any more.  The next morning the waitress went into shock when I order the breakfast # 1 without the meat…she thought about it for a minute, and said: “so you just want toast and eggs?” When I say that I also want coffee and juice, she thinks some more and says: “It’s eggs and toast, I won’t charge you for the coffee and juice…”. I didn’t argue…Then, when we checked out, our $2 phone bill turned into $13 , so I think that maybe by the end of out stay we were even. Maybe..
We went for a walk on the beach and below you can see some of the stuff that is brought in by the tide. Some of the beaches are just filled with debris that is washed up shore, and as you can see there are a lot of shotgun shells. In winter, everyone goes on the ice to shoot the ducks.  There is a quota for each person.  The evidence in the form of shotgun shells washes up on the beach.

A lobster trap. Score!  Well, only parts of one, actually.

Gros Morne National Park

We continued to Rocky harbour in the heart of Gros Morne National Park. We found a nice hotel with balconies facing the water

Tony is relaxing on the porch.

and me too.

The view from our room kept changing depending with the ever changing weather.

And here are some lighthouses pictures

We are still at Rocky Harbour and Java Jack’s is one of the best restaurants we ate at during this trip. The appetizer, caribou sausage, “flown in from Labrador, because their caribou is better”, was absolutely amazing.  The restaurant is still there, but I don’t see it on their menu anymore

We drove around a lot, just to take in the scenery. Drove through Norris point, Neddie’s Cove, and Woody’s point. The clouds were very dramatic  and it was chilly.

And this, our friends, is a tickle


Took us some time to figure out what a tickle was; a narrow channel between an island and the mainland. Below is a picture of one.

Below is the Tableland Mountain. Apparently, a piece of the earth’s mantle that was pushed up when the continents crashed and created this cool mountain.  Too bad that the top of the mountain was  not visible through the clouds.

Gros Morne Park has a neat discovery centre.  The next two pictures are of small humorous dioramas of some of the scientist that work in the park.

And here is the archaeologist.

We hiked to Baker’s Brook waterfall.

We are on our way to take a closer look at the Western Brook Pond.

More Moose

Can you spot the moose?

There he was.  Once again, a moose between us and our destination. He was a handsome buck and he graciously moved away and let us go through.

Getting closer to the pond.

There it is. We didn’t take the boat for a closer look because of some scheduling confusion. It was very pretty from where we were though.

Some random observations along the way

Tony must be a vampire. No reflection in the mirror. Okay, this is odd, but we can’t remember where the mirror is…maybe it’s the squarish window looking thing on the left side of the picture?  Not sure what’s going on here, but will leave this here in case someone gets it, or maybe one day we’ll remember 🙂 

This outhouse needs some reinforcement. There seem to be nasty winds about.

This is an isolated fishing summer post. Fishermen relocated with their families to these cabins for the summer months.  Can you imagine?  Life here is so different.

A shipwreck! The S.S. Ethie was shipwrecked in 1919. All passengers were rescued.

We are on our way to Port aux Basque. Apparently, the ferry was grounded due to mechanical problems and our reservation was pushed back.  We managed to book an earlier date on another ferry instead, but now we need to hurry up and get there on time!

 

35 thoughts on “Blast from the Past: Northern Peninsula the Return”

  1. Ab says:
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    The scenery looks absolutely beautiful at Gros Morne and Port aux Choix. Definitely gonna put Newfoundland on our bucket list. Those archeological dig sites and the different water views look quite calming and fun. The waitress’ discount deals seem like a win to me too!

    Come to think of it, I have vague memories of earthquakes in Ontario at that time.

    • backroadsandotherstories says:
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      It was very beautiful. As to the earthquakes, I paused when I read what I wrote 12 years ago and wondered if it was indeed multiple earthquakes and tornadoes, or perhaps just bad grammar on my part and what I actually meant to say is that there was a tornado and an earthquake on the same day. I should Google it…

  3. WanderingCanadians says:
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    It’s crazy how much the weather can change in a day (or even within the same hour). I got a good laugh about the tickle. Newfies have such a funny sense of humour. I still can’t get over how many moose you saw while visiting Newfoundland. We only came across one during our visit, which was still very exciting.

  4. Linda Hocher says:
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    Beautiful scenery. Isn’t it surprising how such a large animal as a moose can move quietly through the bush and hide amongst the trees. He was a big guy! Maybe math is done differently out there on the island? Hmm 🤔

  5. kagould17 says:
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    Another great post from the past on the Rock. Loved the story about the waitress. Hope the restaurant manages to stay open. Not sure I would use the buttressed outhouse in a strong wind. Thanks for sharing. Allan

  6. Bitchy After 60 says:
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    Well doesn’t that tickle look like a finger…. Perhaps that’s related to the name tickle. Two fingers could be tickles. And yes, the view, as most views involving water out east, is constantly changing. Gotta love that. I can put life into perspective for sure.

  8. petespringerauthor says:
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    As a guy who sometimes did dioramas with his class, I liked the ones you featured. The waitress stories were funny too.

  11. Lookoom says:
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    I remember this earthquake in June 2010, I was in a building in Toronto that vibrated as if an underground was running underneath it, except there was no underground there. The landscapes of Gros Morne are grandiose.

    • backroadsandotherstories says:
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      The last earthquake i was in was in Japan. We were at a party and everyone was seated on the floor along the walls, drinking and having fun. Then the room started swaying and I thought it was because I had too much sake, which I did 🙂

  13. Rebecca says:
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    Tableland Mountain looks gorgeous…what a lovely visit. Honestly, if I were you, I wouldn’t have challenged that waitress when they undercharged you for the meal, haha!

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