7 July
Headed back to Deer Lake today so we could meet with Dr Dave Thomas who is chief of staff at Port Aux Basques (but he was flying back into Deer Lake from a.course).
Driving there we went through a traffic control that just let us through at the same time trucks were coming the other way and was just so casual about it – just kinda peeked behind the truck and shrugged his shoulders. Lucky there was room for all!
Thats taking the happy-go-lucky Newfounsland spirit a little too far!
Ron was stopping at little creeks and rivers along the way to fish- great thing to do as they’re all so pretty. He caught a couple of smaller trout but let them go. He was very excited to catch his first trout though!
Especially as the locals had all said you need a worm on your lure. Ron wasn’t convinced and was determined to prove he could catch one with just the lure and he did!
Western brook has salmon closures because the stocks are really down and in fact quite a few rivers were closed to.salmon fishing and the quota is way down this year. It’s pretty sad to see how fragile our environment is becoming.
We were super keen to see a moose so it was very exciting when Ron spotted a large bull and cow in the forest at the edge of the road. He pulled up and I ran out with the camera only to find my SD card had been locked! Of course! So you just have to believe me…
It turns out that hitting a moose with your car is a major cause of accidents on this province and there are warning signs everywhere.
Western Newfoundlanders do grow some Veges but not a lot.
The short summers make it hard so they mostly grow potatoes and carrots. But it’s great to see the Vege patches in the ditches on the sides of the road sometimes in the middle of nowhere. The reasoning being that this place is so rocky that when roads were dug in and out through it created some tilled land at the edges that was the best place for a Vege garden. 
Its all public land and everyone is sharing and trusting here. Like the firewood they cut from the forest. They cut it in winter and drag it to the side of the road on sleds pulled.by snowmobile. Then it’s left to dry through the summer. Noone touches anyone elses pile and there is no thieving.
Looking at the huge piles the concern for me would be how long this could be sustainable for.
Everything on this coast seems to be about the sea and is dotted with very quaint and historic looking fishing villages and cabins some in quite wild places. Piles of wooden lobster traps line the shores. Very picturesque. The weather is quite cold and wild and this is meant to be summer but apparently there is a Labrador current that brings down the cold leading to almost arctic weather at a lower latitude.
8 July
Getting to Lanse aux meadows would have been ony bucket list if I believed in bucket lists. It is the archeological site where they have found Norse/ Viking remains. It is believed this is where Leif Erikson an Icelandic Viking came across from Greenland with other Norsemen to be the first Europeans to reach North America – long before Christopher Columbus. It’s thought their interactions with the local indigenous people didn’t go so well which is why they only lasted about ten years here. They’ve done a great job of reconstructing the Viking sod houses using the traditional methods.
Even had a chance to interview some of the locals working there about their experience of the local health system.
I’d never thought about this but the site was presented as the place where the circle was conpleted-that is the journey of peoples across the globe came full circle and met again here…
Ron persuaded me to go on a boat tour to see icebergs and whales. He gets really seasick and wasn’t keen. The tour owner tried to persuade him that due to the open zodiac boats and fresh air he wouldn’t get sick. He declined. However when he dropped me off for the ride it turned out I was the only one booked and they needed two people to go. So Ron sacrificially offered to come and I thought he’d love it because it has warmed up and the sea was so calm and flat.
But literally just as we jumped in the boat the weather unexpectedly turned and the wind whipped up and tossed us around. Thankfully Ron didn’t end up getting sick but it also meant we couldn’t get out to the cape, to any big icebergs or too close to the lovely humpback whales we saw. The guide was very informative and it turned out helpful to talk to some of his staff who were locals and worked at the hospital. But to be honest I think we got more from the icebergs and whales we saw off the shore and that is alot cheaper too!
Some interesting things we did hear from them was how they had noticed a major change in the shape of the icebergs over the years and how they were really concerned about climate change and the way the changing icebergs indicated increased melt of the Greenland ice sheet.
Also they said that from time to time a Polar bear floats down on a berg or some ice and comes into town. They just blow a whistle warning locals to stay indoors until they can dart it and move it north or it may just make its way north itself.
Had another good Seafood dinner at Northern Delight.
9 July
Had a good chat to the lovely local ladies running our BnB and they were telling us how some of the local plants were called cow parsley as cows at it but about 20 years ago people stopped owning cows because the store just became easier.
Headed out to Goose cove which was a definite highlight with a beautiful walk across the cliffs where you could look out and see yet more whales and icebergs. We saw minke and humpback whales. The town itself had an iceberg that had floated right into the bay and we were actually able to pick up a little floating piece to eat. A local grabbed a big chunk to put in their cooler. Whilst we were there it actually broke in two and the crack was frightening! I can’t imagine what the bigger ones sound like?! It was interesting because it looked very stable and just broke out of the blue. They say the local fishermen stay clear of them for that reason as they can tip or break with no notice and be very dangerous . Of course that doesn’t stop the tourist boats from chasing them or people gathering the ice to make iceberg cocktails or for a company that makes iceberg beer,rum and vodka.
Headed to the Lighthouse keepers cafe at fishing point for another nice serve of local fish. Could also see more whales and icebergs here. The little gift shop there is not to be missed because tothe side is a little information centre there that actually had some of the best and most interesting displays and information on the area and its history and nature and it was free ( but give them a donation as they’ve done a great job).
Next stop was Port Saunders where we got to stay with a lovely Egyptian doctor who had generously offered for us to stay and cooked us up a lovely meal and invited the other doctor in town. It was great to get a perspective from the overseas doctors.
10 July
Today we explored around
Port Au Choix and its several fascinating historical sights.
It has a history going back thousands of years being an important site for generations of different Indigenous groups starting with the Paleoeskimos and going onto Basque whalers and French and English cod fishermen and finally fishing families from around Newfoundland who had to move their houses here after Canada took them over and could not supply roads or services to their tiny villages and offered a resettlement program. Many people actually floated their houses across the sea as they had no money to build a new house.
A fish processing plant was built in the 1960’s and it became one of the richest towns in Newfoundland until the cod fishery collapsed in the early 90’s and now there is only inshore fishing and some summer tourism supporting the town.
There’s a great little video of a house by sea moving at the French heritage centre.
Had an interesting perspective from a lady who had grown upon the tougher way fishing days with no TV, living off the land and getting some fruit for Christmas. She went away for twenty years and came back to find to her horror that the tough resilient communities she had known were now a generation of ‘spoiled’ young ones whose parents felt like they had to give them everything because they’d had it so hard and now they all have multiple devices they’re addicted to, eat junk and sugar like no tomorrow, get addicted to alcohol and smokes when they’re older and are not prepared for life out in the wider world. She fears for their future but I’m pretty sure they’re not alone.
Out with the lighthouse are beautiful views out to see and across the limestone barrens that have many rare plant species. The rocks on the beach are full of shell fossils.
Had lunch at the anchor cafe which was lovely fresh seafood but a bit overpriced for the portions compared to other places.
The water here is not potable so you have to buy water in refillable containers. Good ole platy bottle came in handy again. 
Further up the road is an interesting place if you’re at all interested in finding and conservation or nature.
The Torrent river salmon Interpretation centre is a great project working on replenishing salmon stocks and you can watch them underwater in the area they congregate before they go upstream over the ladder they’ve built on the waterfall to spawn.
Further up Ron had another go at a spot of trout fishing in yet another crystal clear river in the forest. There seemed to be a hunting track there and we saw a moose skull left behind. I was hoping to see a live one.
Our picnic today was at the seaside and we stopped to fish at little villages and streams along the way.
The plan was to head back to the campground at Berry Hikl and sleep in the car again before our trip out to Western brook pond the next day. We wrongly made the assumptions could just turn up as we had done before. We came across a closer campsite and pulled in there but the ranger informed us they were full and so was berry hill….thankfully there was another one you couldn’t see from the road at Shallow bay and he radioed them for us and got us a spot. It was even lovelier than the other ones and I’d highly recommend it as a base for Westernbrook pond. We camped in a field of buttercups and slept like babies.
11 July.
The track into westernbrook pond can take up to one hour but 25 mins if fast-paced. If you take your time anyone can do it even an old lady on a walker made it.
It pays to get in early so you can secure a good spot on the boat when you get there. People say not to skimp on the boat tour and they were right-it was fantastic. It is meant to be one of thepurest bodies of water in the world and is like a beautiful fjord. You can get dropped in for a 3-5day hike that sounds amazing. On the way back it is worth doing the 1.5km detour through the forest and along the stream. It is really beautiful with amazing views andovely forest and birds and butterflies.
On the way out Ron was feeling very hungry so we decided to randomly stop at a very unassuming little diner at Frontier Cabins in Wintondale. It had great value food and Ron finally got his moose dinner. Before you get horrified – moose were introduced here for meat and are not native wildlife. Her desserts were tarts made with local wildberries.
