Thrombolites And Ice Ice Ice

What an interesting few days we have had.  The last you heard from us we were in a hotel in St. Barbe and wondering if we were going to be able to secure a spot on the ferry to Labrador.  Well that was no issue.  We made it on the boat easily and all was well.  One thing that we had wondered as we started to set sail was, what was that strip of white way off in the distance?  We found out about 20 minutes into our journey when we were traveling through a vast sea of ice.  Pack ice and icebergs, as far as ew could see.  Pretty to look at, and amazing to photograph, but a beast to travel through.  What should have been a ninety minute trip ended up being about three and a half hours.  The ice was so much, in fact, that they had to have a coast guard icebreaker sail in front of us.  We shall stress out more about this later.  The key at this point is that we had made it to Labrador.

Ice...

Ice...

...Baby.

So we finally made it to Labrador and got off the boat.  Actually, technically, we were in Quebec, in a small town in the far southeast corner of the province called Blanc Sablon.  But it was less than three minutes to the Labrador border so that is good enough. Since we got in so late really our only order of business was to head straight to Red Bay, which is where we were staying for the evening.  We made a couple of photo stops along the way.  Because you really have to.  There is no other option.  You've really seen nothing until you've seen the vast landscape of Labrador.  Unspoiled wilderness, as far as the eye can see, in any given direction, almost always.  There is a highway that runs through the province (paved until you get to Red Bay...unpaved for the next 1000km or so....we went no further than Red Bay) and towns are small, few, and far between.  And when you do come across a town, it really exists no further than a half a mile off the highway and then stops.  Beyond that, it's nothing but trees and/or rocks.  Some might find that maddening but we find it stunning.

This sucker was just chillin' off the coast in L'Anse au Clair.

See?  Beautiful.

More beautiful Labrador.

Lots of large boulders dot the landscape at all levels.  These two were a favorite of mine.

Beautiful blue winding river.  Oh yeah, not only is the water crystal clear up here but so is the air...smells so good.

Icebergs often totally look like spaceships.

After all our stops we eventually made it to Red Bay around dinner time.  Our hosts were George and Hazel, parents of Neil (the co-owner of the goat farm, whom you may remember from a few weeks back).  They were absolutely wonderful to us and we are most grateful to them for allowing us into their home and feeding us such delicious Labrador grub.  We visited with them for most of the evening and I wound up staying up til 1am with George, watching game 7 of the Kings/Blackhawks series (which ended with the wrong team winning).  It was a great time.  When we first arrived they fed us dinner which was, as far as I can gather, a version of what is known locally as a "Jiggs Dinner".  A traditional Sunday dinner in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's basically an Irish boil-up of meats, stuffing, and root veggies.  We ate quite a bit of it and were stuffed.  But not too stuffed for a piece of Bakeapple pie, another staple of this area.  Bakeapples are not apples - they are otherwise known as cloudberries.  I know them by yet another name - delicious.  Sweet and tart and something I would really like to someday put over ice cream.  But we'll worry about that later.  After dinner, and before hockey, Krissy and I took a long walk.  There is a hike over a big hill on the other side of the bay called Tracey's Hill and is an extensive boardwalk that goes all the way up one side and partway down the other with some stunning views along the way.  There are 670 stairs in this hike and it was a bit of an asskicker but we were glad we did it even though there was a bite in the wind and we were chilly.

This island in the middle of the bay used to be some sort of fishing station but has deteriorated into a picturesque little spot.

Some of the lichens that grow on the rocks at Tracey Hill.

Even more of the lichen that grows on the hill.  There is a lot of this in Labrador.  This makes everything look like an awesome Jackson Pollock painting or some such business.

Hans chills out and soaks in the icy bay at the end of the very long boardwalk.

We woke up on Monday morning and had breakfast and bade farewell to our wonderful hosts.  Our first order of business was to stop by the Red Bay National Historic Site.  See, Red Bay was once the center of a vast Basque whaling enterprise in the 16th and 17th centuries.  For those who don't know, the Basques hail from an area that straddles the border of Spain and France, on the Atlantic coast (currently it exists as an autonomous community within the borders of Spain).  This site was only discovered within the last 40 years via Spanish records and archaeological digs, both on land and under water.  The remains of four Galleons lie at the bottom of Red Bay, including the famous San Juan.  Because these digs not only reveal previously unknown intricacies in the development of shipping in those times but that they also prove Red Bay to be the earliest example of a European-based commercial enterprise in the New World, Red Bay was just last year designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This was our third such site that we have visited on this trip.  Unfortunately we could not see it all, as a visit usually also includes a guided boat tour through the bay, to see all the various spots where the Basques had their stations set up, and the bay is currently loaded with ice.  So no boat tour.  But there are two interpretive centers and, through films and artifacts, we learned a great deal.

View of Saddle Island, in Red Bay.  This island saw a great deal of activity during the Basque times.  Several rendering stations for whale oil existed here as well as several cooperages.

These flags fly proudly in the wind outside the Red Bay Historic Site.  From left, Labrador; Canada; Basque.

A small army of Inunsuks are waiting to mess you up.

From there we made our way out of Red Bay and started heading back South.  Unfortunately the weather was, as they say, also going south.  It was very chilly, very windy, and drizzling for the entire rest of the day.  We tried not to let it affect our mood even though that was tough.  We stopped at Pinware River Provincial Park to have lunch and maybe walk around.  It was too cold for that.  We ate lunch in the car while listening, very appropriately, to the "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" suite by Frank Zappa (as well as the rest of the Apostrophe (') album).  Got out and took a few photos but we were not long for that.  The hiking trail as well as a good deal of the beach along the river were both choked by about four feet of snow.  Nope.

Ya think?

None shall pass.

Back in the car, we continued down the road.  It was in Forteau, I think, that we saw this tiny lighthouse on a small island:

Look at this little guy.

Not much else about that.  After stopping for a donut and coffee at Robin's - the only chain-type of food establishment in all of Coastal Labrador - we made our way to L'Anse Amour, home of the tallest lighthouse in all of Atlantic Canada (and 2nd tallest in the country).  Much to our surprise - because we have been ahead of the season just about everywhere we've gone - they were open, so we got to tour the exhibits of the keeper's house as well as climb the 127 steps to the top.  It was most incredible.  Woulda been better if there was any sort of visibility but it was still cool to be at the top of this structure, with the lens and the lights and all that.  The interpretive center taught us a great deal about the history of the Labrador Straits in regards to fishing industry as well as all the shipwrecks - and, oh my, there have been so many - along the coast.  There is also a lot about the lighthouse keepers too.  Such a noble and highly respected profession.

Not a good day for photos but this turned out well.  This place was cool.  There are also ruins of a Marconi wireless telegraph station that existed next to the lighthouse for over sixty years.  

On the way out of L'Anse Amour there is a burial site that is 7500 years old.  It is of a young, maybe twelve year old Maritime Archaic boy.  Not much is known about the boy but all signs point to him being someone special, as he was laid in there in some sort of ceremonial fashion, face-down, pointed west, with a boulder on his back, and covered in red ochre.  He was also accompanied by various items, tools and totems.  This is the oldest surviving example of burial in North America.

More than just a bunch of rocks.

Once we were done there we made our way to the B&B where we were staying last night, which was a private house in L'Anse au Loup.  It was a nice place and the owner, Marina, was really nice.  We enjoyed our time there but were anxious to move on.  I will admit, it has been fantastic sleeping inside and in bed for these few nights.  It's easy to take it for granted and forget the ills of tent camping in the cold, but it doesn't make me appreciate it any less.

We were getting a wee bit scared, though.  Word was going around that the last ferry crossing for the day had been cancelled, on account of all the ice.  And then for today (Tuesday), they cancelled the afternoon crossing in advance.  Which meant that the only crossing for the day would be the 8am crossing.  Attempts to make a reservation online totally failed.  So it was on us to arrive at the terminal at 6am, when they opened the ticket office, and get a non-reserved slot (they set aside 25% of the ferry for folks with no reservations).  Which is what we did and we got the #1 slot.  But we were still worried that, with the afternoon crossing cancelled, the morning boat would absorb all the customers and we would end up left in Labrador.  So that had us totally stressing out.  To add insult to injury, as we were racing down the road at 60mph, to make sure we would get to the ferry on time, a rabbit ran right out in front of my car and, despite my better efforts, I hit it.  Even though I did swerve and it was really, at that point, between hitting the rabbit and running the car clear off of a cliff, it still broke my heart.  And I am still quite upset about it.  Even though that was obviously the stupidest rabbit in the world.  Ugh.

Anyway, we make it to the ferry terminal and we get the #1 slot in the non-reserved lane. We are still worried that the boat was going to fill up with all the reserved and rescheduled folks and we were going to get left behind.  Anywhere else and it would probably not be a problem but, really, as pretty as Labrador is, there is nothing to do there.  Every last attraction on the Coastal Drive can be knocked out in one day.  Well, on the paved portion, at least.  And we pretty much did it all.  And they don't have places where you can kill time like big museums, malls, or movie theatres in Labrador.  Needless to say, the very last thing we wanted was to get stuck there.  Our worries got even more intense as we waited and waited for the boat to come.  See, it had to first make the crossing over from Newfoundland before we could make our scheduled sail.  We were supposed to leave the dock at 8am.  The boat did not even arrive until 10:30.  Fortunately, our worries were settled when we made it onto the boat.  With room to spare.

Wind and seas are very odd things.  When we crossed over on Sunday, the water on the Newfoundland side was clear and totally free of any sort of ice.  That was because it was all over on the Labrador side.  Today, however, it was clear on the Labrador side...well, more or less.  That was because all the ice had blown over to the Newfoundland side.  Actually, there was a massive sea of ice a little ways off the Labrador coast and there was a ton on the Newfie side, all the way up to the shore, but in between it was clear.  Very odd.  Also, there was no wind and the water was almost perfectly still.  With the icebergs seemingly floating, and the sky reflecting on the water, this made for some downright crazy photos.

Before the clouds and the fog started to life, it was quite spooky.

Which side is which?

Coming soon to an acid trip near you.

Hans on the high seas.

Krissy is very happy to not be stuck in Labrador.

Needless to say, we were quite joyed to be back in Newfoundland.  We did not have a place lined up to stay for tonight, but we were prepared to wing it.  We were originally booked to camp in Pistolet Bay Provincial Park but after those super chilly nights last week we were beginning to rethink that plan.  With our uncertainty about being able to get back to Newfoundland on time, I went ahead and cancelled our reservation anyway.  So the plan was to make our way to St. Anthony and figure it out from there.

Our first stop along that route was in Flower Cove, home of the thrombolites.  These large rock-like structures are actually comprised of bacteria and algae that are older than 650 million years old, making them the oldest living organisms on Earth.  In fact, from about 3 billion to 650 million years ago, this was the only known form of life on this planet.  The only other place on Earth where these are currently found is in one particular spot in Australia.  Very cool.  Afterwards we spotted yet another lighthouse out on a small island right off the coast of the town.

They kinda look like a flower, they kinda look like a brain, they kinda look like stone, and they are older than all the Rolling Stones combined.

Krissy is chillin' with the thrombolites.  She has instructed me, however, to inform you guys that she is not actually standing on a thrombolite, but on a nearby boulder.  Because we are not those kind of tourists.

Flower Cove lighthouse.  On ice.

From there we pretty much high-tailed it to St. Anthony.  We made our way into the first Tim Hortons we'd seen in over a week and used the wi-fi to find a room.  We finally found one at a b&b in L'Anse aux Meadows which is convenient since going there is the whole reason we are up here (more on that in the next blog entry).  We then explored the town and hiked a small trail with a hell of a view.

We passed this on the road to St. Anthony.  Rocks.  As far as the eye can see.  A lot of the topography at the top of the Great Peninsula reminds of of what we saw in Labrador.  Or on another planet somewhere.

The lighthouse in St. Anthony is short and squat but possesses a foghorn that, if the sign is to be believed, will blow your ears out.

The edge of the harbour in St. Anthony.

From the trail we stopped for dinner at one seriously un-good Chinese restaurant.  I wouldn't say it was as bad as, say, Panda Express, but it was pretty terrible.  Of course it was foolish of us to even go for a Chinese in a place like this but our options were somewhat limited.  Doh.  Anyway we then made our way to the b&b and we totally got the hookup.  Probably sensing the crazy day we'd had, the owner of this place upgraded our room and we have one with a deck and a perfect view of the iceberg-filled harbour, from our bed.  We will be here for two nights.  We spent the evening in the living room chatting with the other guests, all of whom are much older than us but we had some great conversations.  They are all on nice big journeys themselves though none of them are on the kind of trip we're on and, like everyone else who hears about it, are totally fascinated by our adventures.

So yeah, even though we had a slight hiccup and found ourselves stressed out for the first time on this trip, everything worked out perfectly and all is well.  Gotta love it.

Lemme tell you how to get here....