July 19, 2009 Gros Morne to L'Anse-au-Clair Labrador

Rain stopped early in the morning, so we were able to take down the trailer and pack up without being very wet. We headed north back through the park along the coast. The clouds were hanging over the mountains, sometimes floating down, sometimes floating sideways. As we got near the area of the Western Brook Pond, the mountains moved away from the water and we were traveling along the edge of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. You could imagine thousands of years ago, that this area was under water right up to the mountains. This place is hard to describe in its beauty. Very wild and rugged, yet people cling to the edge with tenacity, in small villages.

We thought we could make an earlier ferry crossing but that was not to be. We had lunch in Port au Choix. Meals here are not fast food, so once we realized that we couldn't make the earlier ferry, we took our time and the Newfoundlanders helped. We arrived early at the ferry terminal.

The ferry is big, bigger than I expected. The boat was built somewhere in Europe we decided by the electric outlets and the Scandinavian language on some of the doors, etc. It was a cheap passage over, even with the camper. There was a cafeteria line open. The ship had cabins, a formal dining room, and a bar on the top passenger deck. Only the cafeteria was open but you could sit in the bar. It had the most expansive views. Of course, we were looking for whales, but it was so choppy on the way over that you couldn't see a blow for the life of you. We could see dolphins swimming along side the boat. In the distance we could see icebergs.

By the time we got off the ferry in Blanc-Sablon Quebec, the wind was howling and it was cold. We drove 5 km up the road to the motel (which was in Labrador) where we planned on staying and parked the trailer and unhitched. We had a late(and long lasting) dinner and hit the hay. Woke up to rain and the same wind howling. We had a long lasting breakfast and started along the Labrador Coastal Drive.

OK, so it is raining, cold, windy and just to make it wonderful, it was foggy. Clearly, or foggily, you could see that the coastline was very interesting, with the road going up hills and down to sea level in the towns that were on bays. On a clear day it would have been beautiful. We caught sight of the iceberg, but kept on going to our destination of Red Bay, where the paved road ended and where there was an interesting Parks Canada exhibit on the Basque whalers, who came to this area in the 1540's and sucessfully hunted right whales for 0ver 60 years. An amazing archeological expedition that lasted 14 seasons uncovered many artificats that gave archeologists an idea of the life of Basque fishermen who came here for 8 months a year. Underwater archeologists revealed the remains of four 16th century galleons. The historic sites provide facinating insights into this bit of history.

We drove back towards L'Anse-au-Clair to pick up the trailer. The weather worsened. Blowing wind and rain and fog. We had hoped to stop at the Point Amour Lighthouse, the tallest in Atlantic Canada, but by the time we reached that turnoff, you could barely see ahead of you.

We hooked up the trailer and drove to the Ferry Terminal, only to learn that the 3:30 ferry was now leaving at 5:00. We called the campground at St. Anthony and they said weather there was as bad as we were experiencing. However, by now the rain had turned into snow! So we called the motel at the Ferry Terminal in St. Barbe and got a room for the night. The crossing was not as bad as I thought it would be and weather on the Newfoundland side was much calmer. Tomorrow we are off to St. Anthony and the Vikings.

While parking the trailer, we met another couple with a Chalet. They left their trailer parked at Gros Morne and came up to this end of island on an overnight trip. We haven't seen a Chalet in all our travels until now.