Thursday 6/23/2022 - Day 12 of 31 on our 2022 Canadian Maritime #2 Caravan with Yankee RV Tour

When we first woke up on Thursday June 23, 2022, the sun was already up, but I did go for a walk on the beach and captured a few nice pictures!

We were lucky enough to see a couple of whales give us a show out in front of the rigs!

We departed Ocean View RV Park, onto Highway 428/430, back toward the Viking Trail, you can see the Keppel Island Lighthouse is on an island just outside of the town of Port Saunders. The town of Port Saunders got its name when three British war ships returned from Battle Harbour, Labrador. A ship under the command of "Admiral Saunders" came here and Port Saunders bears his name to the present day. Port Saunders had its real beginning when a ship named the "Modest" under the command of Captain Arnold from Halifax, Nova Scotia arrived with lumber to build a lobster canning factory for "Shurhand & Forest". James Singer, from Nova Scotia, built the first house and was followed by more settlers from nearby settlements who were interested in the lobster fishery. The factory operated until 1960 when it was shut down because it was considered no longer profitable. In addition to the lobster fishery, people began to fish cod and herring. Everyone grew their own garden vegetables. In the meantime, the French Settlers had built their rooms on Keppel Island.

The French Settlers had their own fishing boats and would salt and later dry their fish before sending it back to France. In addition to the cod fishery, they used nets to drag the rivers for salmon which they split and sent back to France. In 1958, Cyde House built the first fish plant in the area which split and salted codfish. This led the way for further economic development of the town. The following year saw the addition of a general store, post office, and even a commercial wharf was built. In years past, when boats were the dominant mode of travel, Port Saunders was a major port of call. Evidence of this remains in some of the old buildings on the wharves. Near the mouth of the harbor is Keppel Island where the lighthouse guides the harbor entrance. The lighthouse was a kerosene burning lighthouse when it was first built in 1901. The island itself was a Spanish burial ground, and later French settlers built houses on the island. Today, tourists can visit the island and view the lighthouse. Their harbor has been a haven for many ships throughout history and that proud marine tradition still continues with the modern fishing industry of today.

We headed north on Highway 430 once again. It is a quick trip today, less than 80 miles! So, I will talk about some of the unique things we have seen in Newfoundland.

On our drive through The Great Northern Peninsula we noticed what looked like garden plots squeezed in along the Viking Trail. There are some single plots or 2 or 3 together often fenced in with an assortment of logs and boards or sometimes with netting. We started to see people working in these roadside gardens cultivating the soil into neat rows and getting ready to plant. Some of these plots were a great distance from any houses or populated areas and we weren’t sure how these remote gardens came to be.

Most of the plots that we were driving past were started in the late 1960′s when the highway was constructed. Up until then gardening had been a challenge due to the lack of plentiful and fertile soil along the coast. However, when the major road was built the dirt was piled up alongside the road where it could be put to great use in growing the main Newfoundland crops of potatoes, carrots, cabbages, beets, turnips and other root vegetables. No garden would be complete without a row of cabbage. The only no trespassing signs are plastic bags fluttering from the poles, old clothes drenched in urine draped on the sides, and the makeshift fencing. The growing season is short and the vegetables are moved to outdoor root cellars for storage.

As we traveled on the Great Northern Peninsula, the Northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, we traveled in the lowlands along the coastline, with the Long Range Mountains providing a spectacular backdrop. The coastline presents a kaleidoscope of bays and inlets, islands, jagged headlands, with forested areas inland. There are over 69 distinct communities in close proximity to one another. These communities share services such as schools, health care and other public services. On the Long Range Mountains, we saw more snow!

Highway 430, the Viking Trail, follows the coastline up to St. Anthony at the most northern tip of the peninsula. The ferry link to Southern Labrador operates from St Barbe, where we are headed today. With the completion of the Trans Labrador Highway in 2009, the Great Northern Peninsula is now connected to mainland Canada via the 60 mile crossing from St Barbe, Newfoundland to Labrador.

Another familiar sight along Newfoundland and Labrador roads, especially in the Northern Peninsula, was an endless stacks of roadside woodpiles.  A fee is paid to the government, to obtain a permit to cut wood on public land.  Then the wood is hauled to a roadside area for storage, where longer logs are arranged in a pyramid, teepee style, to allow them to dry out. Once seasoned, the wood is chopped to stove-length and stacked in neat, standard size rows.  Winter lasts at least six months in Newfoundland, and fuel prices are very high, so most families go through lots of firewood each year. Like the roadside gardens, these woodpiles are not targets for theft.  According to locals, you don't steal from your neighbor in Newfoundland.  The harsh conditions and often brutal winters require a culture of interdependence for survival. The wood is a means of glowing red hot stoves, huge kettles of steaming stews meant to be shared with family and friends all winter long. There is no need to steal, because even the firewood will be shared with all, if needed, and everyone knows it. What a wonderful way to live... and some call these people poor… they are rich!

St Barbe is an important transportation site for the Great Northern Peninsula, the community is the site for the Strait of Belle Isle Ferry. The MV Apollo crosses daily from St Barbe to Blanc Sablon, Quebec and Labrador. St Barbe is also home to the region's ice arena and host a variety of events such as broomball, skating, and hockey. In addition, St Barbe is proud to host the annual Straits Festival each summer. We arrived at St Barbe RV Park, our home for two nights. It is a simple RV park, but has all we need! The all gravel lot has back in sites to accommodate 26 rigs, with electric. There is a central dump and a building. The building features cable TV, Wi-Fi, affordable laundromat, showers, and kitchen facilities. The entire park is fenced in and there is a path to the waterside to view incredible sunsets!

After we got set up, we took a trip further north. Our first stop was Flowers Cove. It was once called French Island Harbor. Some people still call it "The Harbor". Local lore claims that Flowers is a generic term used in Italian for any rock just appearing on the surface of the water. During his mapping expeditions in 1764, Captain James Cook labeled Flower's Cove "Flour Cove". The period of greatest growth in population in the area occurred during its first period of settlement. In 1951 the population stood at 281 and by 1966 it had reached 338. The early economy of the area was based on seals, herring, cod and some furring. 

Flower's Cove is famous for thrombolites, very rare fossils which can be seen on the coast in the southern part of the town, remnants of bacteria and algae. Some of the most primitive life forms on the plant, Thrombolites, can be found hiding in plain sight, among the rocks of Flowers Cove. Thrombolites are the only known forms of life from over 3 billion to 630 million years ago. They are extremely rare and can only be matched to the other side of the world in Australia. Along the coastline, these bun shaped, unicellular creatures have left a large reminder for us to witness their existence in the fossil records. This amazing geological find can be viewed from the town’s Thrombolites Walking Trail, a very easy 15 minute walk. The majority of the caravanners went on this expedition with us!

It may seem hard to believe today, but years ago before the construction of the Viking Trail highway, Marjorie’s Bridge was the only way to get across Lawless Brook on your way up or down the coast of the Great Northern Peninsula. That is, if you weren’t walking. Today, the bridge, while was originally constructed over 100 years ago, connects a walking trail from Burke’s Road to Lawless Point. It was lovingly restored and named after Marjorie “Burke” Myers.

We enjoyed another community dinner of chili and soup. We really like our comfort foods! It was a restful evening. Nights in Newfoundland, would not be complete without a sunset! Okay, tonight and many nights in Newfoundland, the sun sets too late!