#33 Labrador

#33  Labrador

July 19, 2019

The ferry to Labrador crosses the Strait of Belle Isle between St. Barbe and Blanc-Sablon, Quebec in about 1 ½ hours.  Our departure time of 10:30 meant we needed to be in line with our ticket by 9:30. We were ready!  Derrille and Jay walked over to the ticket office, across the street at 8:30, but no one was selling tickets.  They went back at 9:00 and found two tour buses there where all the passengers had to buy their tickets individually. One group wanted to cut in line because they had reserved tickets. Derrille reminded the lady we all had reserved tickets and she could wait her turn. Derrille wasn’t sure we would even make the boat.  What the guys didn’t know was departure time was moved to 11:30.  We were finally able got in line and waited for the ferry.

I thought these workers were just hanging out. Wrong!  Later I saw that they are working the mooring lines and watching the ferry get into the slip.

The front of the ferry rotates up to allow loading and unloading.

Only cars go on “C” deck which has very little clearance, only 7.9 feet. Then a hatch closes over the lower car deck and trucks are loaded on the upper deck. Then the ramp is pulled up, the bow locks back down and we take off.

Got another view of the iceberg!  Remember only 10% of the ice shows above the water line.  Hopefully we will see others and can get some perspective with it.  Iceberg season  usually ends in June, so we will be lucky to see any on our trip.

Coming into port in Blanc-Sablonn! Trucks were lined up the hill waiting for the return ride to St. Barbe.  Cars are staged on the dock. 

Fishing boats sit in the harbor here.

The ferry lands in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec.  We knew this but the sign reaffirmed it.

When you leave the landing and turn left, you head north and into Labrador.  The Newfoundland Labrador sign looks very similar to the one we saw in Port aux Basques.  The exception is that one says just “Welcome”, and this one says “Welcome to the Big Land”.

Welcome to L’Anse-au-Clair!  The original plan had us just spending the day to say we had been on Labrador soil.  But after talking to people and understanding the ferry schedule that was not the best choice.  A young couple we met at Western Brook Pond told us about cheap rooms at the Northern Lights Inn.  So after leaving the dock we checked into our rooms. The Northern Lights Inn has the darker red roof.

The economy-rooms are across the street, behind some buildings in these trailers used for construction offices of bunkhouses.  We stepped inside and the smell of new wood triggered my sensory alarms.  However inside the room was just fine. The sign hung in the hall.

The room featured a queen size bed, a sink, a desk, a small fridge, a toilet and shower, a closet and several drawers.  Fortunately it came with an air conditioner since it was very warm in the room.  We had brought drinks with us, and to our surprise the little fridge chilled off our drinks and froze our ice packs for the next day.  The bed was very comfortable!  We just needed a bed.  The good news was these rooms rent for $75 as opposed to $130 at the inn which was full of tour bus people.

We headed north in search of Red Bay.  One of our objectives included buying a tee shirt from Red Bay, Labrador.  We expected more of a town with a gas station and grocery store.  We didn’t find these, but since we got to Labrador late we were in a bit of a time crunch.

We are thinking the Red Bay name came from the red rocks in the bay….or not.  The gift shop turned out to be disappointing.  The shirts we wanted were not there.  The one Derrille liked in purple wasn’t in his size. So we made other choices.  Derrille did find a great Labrador baseball cap at the Inn that is awesome!

Inukshuks are found all over Canada. They are a personal favorite of Lynn’s.

The Red Bay site contains well preserved remains of a 16^th century Basque Whaling Port. Selma Barkman researched the Basque and provided a wealth of information which led to the discovery of numerous Basque archaeological sites in Red Bay and other harbors on the coast.

This is one of the Basque tile roofed structures.

 

About seven kinds of whales frequent these waters. The Basque probably looked for Greenland Right Whale who were here October to May, and the North Atlantic Right Whale that visited mid-June to late September.

From 1540 to the early 1600’s as many as 2,500 Basque men and boys came on eight month voyages to hunt whale.  They rendered blubber into oil and assembled barrels to carry it back to Europe.

The barrels came in pieces and had to be assembled here.  Instead of being bound with metal rings, birch bark was used to secure the slats.

Each year approximately 30 merchant ships would sail from Spain and France to hunt.  They were built to transport men and supplies across the ocean.

Some areas beside the highway were covered with these big rocks.

A patch of snow

A river

L’Anse Amour

This lighthouse is a historical site and the tallest lighthouse on the Canadian Atlantic coast. We got there after closing, so we were unable to go inside.  Everything was closing, so it was time to go to our little rooms and settle in for the night.

We had dinner at the motel restaurant.  The lasagna didn’t resemble or taste like most we have had elsewhere. But it filled the void.  Then we retired to our tiny room for the night.

Day two began back at the restaurant with a breakfast buffet.  The buffet included fish cakes, scrambled eggs, country potatoes, and pancakes.  Toppings for the pancakes included stewed prunes, bakeapple/rhubarb compote, or partridgeberry compote. So glad they also had syrup! Several kinds of cold breakfast cereals and thin, watery oatmeal were also available.  Some of the bus tour ladies were looking for fruit cups, but only the compote was presented. The wait staff hustled around.  They were serving 3 tour busloads of people and then others like us. Busy! Busy!

The second stop was the ferry dock to pick up our return ferry tickets.  A little girl was selling Inukshuks, she had made.   Soft-hearted Lynn made the little girl’s day and bought one of her statues.

Leaving the ferry dock we turned left to explore Quebec.   Not too far past the ferry turnoff we came upon a large cove with lots of spouting whales, perhaps 15-20.  They were too far away to identify the species.  We thought maybe Minke, but then we discovered Minke don’t send out a big spray. They tend to do a quick puff.

 In the same area the island, Ile aux Perroquets , provides breeding habitats for 17,500 puffins.  None of them were close to the shore either.  Lynn spotted some on the island with binoculars. A reader board informed us that 150 different species of birds pass through this migratory area.  Wild iris grow in many places.  This was one of them.

The road bumped and wound around the east side of the Quebec shore.  We followed it almost to its end.  This end of the road seemed prettier than the road to Red Bay.

Middle Bay had an interesting and colorful collection of little shacks next to the bay. We assume they hold fishing gear for summer and ice fishing in the winter. I have since learned they are called sheds.  They do hold gear and are places to clean the fish too.

  Some of the grades showed 15% to 19% down and up hills. This hill photo was taken from the back seat.  Thank goodness we were in just the car!

The old one lane bridge always adds some excitement. Especially the way the Newfies drive!

Not wanting to be late for the ferry, we turned around and returned to the dock.  I was able to get photos of the ferry lifting the bow as it docked.

 The ride back was calm and uneventful. This ferry was really loaded and the crew placed everyone close together.  The crew even took pictures of the last two trucks on to prove the loading ramp wasn’t touching them. On our car deck Lynn and I were asked to leave the vehicle so they could park about 4 inches from the wall.  Because Jay’s driver’s door handle was broken and cars blocked the back doors, Jay and Derrille couldn’t get in until some cars had off loaded. Then they pulled away from the wall so Lynn and I could get in.

We were all glad to get home and sleep in our own beds.

Tomorrow we go to St. Anthony