04 The Viking Trail

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada
I didn't sleep on the ferry so I felt exhausted the moment I hit shore. It's drizzling in Port aux Basques and the weather is not expected to improve until tomorrow. The first lighthouse I saw was at Cape Ray and was almost deafened when the foghorn blared as I was taking a picture. I decided to head up the Viking Trail toward L'Anse aux Meadows at the northern tip of Newfoundland and delay exploring Gros Morne National Park until the return trip, hopefully when the weather improves. I meandered along most of the side roads along the way and at Deer Lake did my first laundry load. I "camped" the first night at Green Point in Gros Morne next to an extremely rough ocean with gale force winds (90+kmph) buffeting the van while getting bombarded by a torrential downpour. No sunset tonight but hopefully I can unload the bike tomorrow near St Anthony's and use it for more forays on the island. I am extremely glad that I was not riding today and trying to pitch a tent --- the van/bike combination might just pan out better than I thought plus having a laptop and better camera is definitely a real plus. Slept like a baby last night, as the van was constantly rocking in the wind. So far, all Newfoundland libraries have wi-fi even when they are closed, which makes staying in touch easy, but keeping batteries charged is a perpetual problem (my seven year-old laptop only holds a charge for an hour now). The western coast is spectacular, even in crappy weather; the little towns are also cute with names like: Cow Head (singular), Deadmans Cove, Eddies Cove and Nameless Cove. Also saw an iceberg near the Labrador coast.

I am currently camped in Pistolet Bay Provincial Park where I can use "baby" to visit the surrounding terrain; I have a well sheltered, from the nonstop wind, campsite and feasted on cod tongues for dinner --- delicious, with the consistency of scallops .
Burnt Rock, near Raleigh, is mostly bare rock with many patches of beautiful small flowers amongst the rocks and moss that survive the constant wind; too bad I don't know the names of these wonderful plants (I had the same experience of not knowing in the Yukon). Next dead-end town was Ship Cove where someone had built a miniature town with a 3-foot high lighthouse on a large rock next to the ocean - really cute.

The bike is getting me to many great viewing places that the van couldn't. Unless you are an avid fisherman, I found the most desolate place in Newfoundland; Boat Harbour looks across the Strait of Belle Isle towards Labrador and is at the end of a 20km road off the main highway (with the last 10km being gravel) in a flat treeless rocky expanse where today's 50+kmph crosswinds made for some exciting biking. The prettiest spot was the cemetery on the point but was too much in the open to build houses; I couldn't get all the way there since the local fishermen along with their wives were repairing their nets in the middle of the only road in town . It is also difficult to understand the "bay" people but they are extremely friendly and the local kids don't see too many motorbikes up close - quads and skidoos are parked everywhere so I assume fishing is somehow profitable.

Played Viking for a day with Leif Eiriksson (Norse spelling) at L'Anse aux Meadows in Vinland (their name for Newfoundland); this is both a National and World Heritage site. Their settlement housed seventy to ninety people and they even smelted a limited amount of ore to produce ship nails and rivets to repair their vessels. Had local Snow crab with Greek salad and homemade bread for lunch at the Norseman, supposedly "world renowned;" most delicious $15 I've spent to date.

Spent a reading day with picnic on Burnt Rock to "feel" the ocean --- extremely relaxing when out of the wind and the bike liked the no road, no people experience. It took close to an hour to wend my way down to the tidal pool for my pseudo ocean dip; because it was sheltered the water was warmer than the air . But all good things must end when the tide started coming in; had to beat the waves up the 1km stretch of rocky shore before getting trapped. This was the most beautiful picnic spot I've had since Northern Ireland's Devil's Causeway many years ago.

I finished touring all around St Anthony's area today and have now seen every road, and some non-roads, on the peninsular. The prettiest setting for a town was Goose Cove (it was a tough choice). The forty percent chance of showers for today is actually one hundred percent rain; one more plus for having the van. I will load up the bike after dinner and will return to Gros Morne National Park tomorrow.

Notable items to date:
- Newfoundlanders are extremely honest; examples include running after me to give two cents change plus their firewood and gardens at roads' edge in the middle of nowhere.
- There seems to be too many churches and not enough people in the small towns.
- Have yet to see a sunset in Newfoundland due to evening clouds; which is a shame since there are not many places in the east where one can see a sunset over the ocean.

PS: Burnt Rock is the local name --- try Burnt Cape if finding on a map.
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