St. Anthony's Newfoundland

A hi-lite of this whole trip was the resident moose in our campground at St. Anthony’s. He just hung around devouring a lot of vegetation, and did not seem to mind us getting close to take pictures. Our Wagon Master told us the same moose has been there for at least 4 years. They got to see him when he was pretty young.

Sr. Wilfred Grenfell was the first doctor to come to Northern Newfoundland.  He was moved by the great need for medical treatment for the destitute fisherman in Labrador and Newfoundland.  The hospital in St. Anthony’s is named after him and his home built in 1900 sits above the bay.   

Tile art pictures in lobby of the Grenfell Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony's. 

At the tip of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula, L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site is the only authenticated Norse site in North America.  The Vikings explored and lived briefly in this area they called Vinland more than 1,000 years ago.  Archaeological digs done in the 1960’s has discovered several buildings of that era.  A replica of the village has been constructed. 

The owner of this shop had a friend bring in his 2 Newfoundlands.  They were a big hit with our group.

We were treated to a Viking dinner.  The chief (in grey) was holding trial. 

Eva (in purple) accused the owner of Adventure Caravans (Ron) of sleeping on the job.  I was called as a witness (and "yes" he was sleeping on the job).  The sentence was that he had to treat us all to ice cream.

 St. Anthony's from across the harbor.

Hurrying to catch his daily quota of 5 cod.  At the time of this picture, there were only 2 more days they were allowed to fish for cod for the year.  All of his catch this time were over 10 lb's each.

Gros Morne National Park Newfoundland

Western Brook Pond in Gros Morne National Park.  Lake was cut by glaciers so it is very deep, long and narrow.  Back-packers were dropped off at far end of the lake.  They were going on a 4-5 day hike through the park.

Figurines making fun of the type of scientists that come to this park to study. Check out the bird that is untying the knot.

Art done with items gathered from the park.  

We took a guided tour with a Mi’kmaw Indian. He really is only a small percentage, but his grandfather taught him a lot about how these early tribes lived off of the land. Kevin our guide actually made this canoe following the lessons he learned from his ancestors.

 Lighthouse at Rocky Harbor. The Park Service was having a party with music and a comedy skit for anyone who wanted to come.

 We went through the Salmon Interpretive Center on our way to the Northern most part of Newfoundland. The logging industry nearly wiped out the salmon population in this area in the mid 1900’s. The locals with the help of many outside donations built a underwater passage way to bypass the waterfall on the Trent River. But the salmon would not use it, because these fish always return to the spot where they were spawned. Scientists finally devised a way of transporting spawning salmon up the Trent River. Finally, the new young salmon that were hatched started using the passage way. It’s been a big success. The numbers of salmon have been increasing every year.

 Counting and measuring the salmon.  The monitor records round the clock.

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Twillingate, Newfoundland

View near lighthouse at Twillingate.

Two Fin whales (mom and baby).  The adults are around 60 ft. long.

Long Point lighthouse.

Very proud of his cod he just caught.  Showing it off to our whale watching tour group.

Downtown view of Twillingate and boat we took on the whale watching tour.

Museum at causeway leading to Twillingate Island.

Dave (the man below) put this museum together and runs it.  He brings tour groups through and shows them a video of moving his father's fishing shack (called a stage) from his hometown by water to this current location where the museum was built.  When his father was very old he told his only son that his stage would probably just fall into the ocean someday.  Dave was determined not to let that happen.   It is now used to demonstrate how to clean and salt cod.  The surrounding buildings also house an art museum and old photo's of Twillingate's earlier days.  It's a very popular musuem.

The liver is removed from the cod and then put in these containers to ferment.  Soon you have Cod Liver Oil.  Pretty disgusting.

Dave's father's stage.

Getting ready to go out and get their quota for the day:  15 per boat or 5 per person.

A man from Covington, Georgia bought this old church and is renovating it into a home.  Of course he spends that winters in Georgia.

We hiked to the top of this mountain overlooking Pike's Arm.  We could see 360 degrees.  Cliff stopped and asked a man in this town for directions.  His name was Ivan Cutler.  We hadn't talked to him for just a few minutes, and Ivan invited Cliff to go fishing with him.  His wife came out of their house and invited us in for coffee and cake.  We had to turn them down, because of a show we had to be at.  That's just how these Newfoundlanders are.  Very friendly.

Bonavista, Newfoundland

Wharf at Bonavista.  The blue building with the red roof houses a replica of John Cabot's ship  The Matthew.  He landed near the lighthouse below in 1497.   

Museum in Bonavista tells the story of a very wealthy businessman that controlled the fishing industry in this area in the early 1900's.  He was not very well liked by the fisherman because he paid them so low.   Unions were finally formed.  Mr. Cocker was a very avid advocate and formed the union.  It was headquartered a  few miles from Bonavista and the town that grew out of it was called Port Union.

Salted cod drying on racks.

Bonavista lighthouse near where Cabot landed.

 With the moratorium on the cod fishing in 1992, over 30,000 lost their jobs.  Elliston could not even afford to keep their lights on.  The city leaders got together and formed a committee to encourage tourism.   Not only is it a wonderful place to see the Puffins, but also they are known for their abundance of root cellars.  One festival that they have in Elliston they serve a jigg dinner which is a stew using vegetables from the root cellars.

 Puffins come to this area to mate in May and stay through mid to late August.  After the chicks are able to fly, they migrate off shore and spend the rest of the year out in the ocean.

 Port Union, home of the fisherman's union.  Brick building is where the Advocate newspaper was published and housed the offices of the union in the early 1900's to mid 1900's.

Trinity, just another beautiful town in Newfoundland.  This is where the movie "The Shipping News" was filmed.

 Cliff dancing to Newfy music with an "Ugly Stick".    We were "screeched-in" which means drinking a shot of screech rum (bottom of the barrel), and kissing a dead cod.  Really disgusting.  We are now official "Newfy's".   This dinner was put on by the local chapter of the Cocker Historical Foundation.  These ladies made us quite a dinner including moose sausages, and fish & brew.