A few things we have noticed on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland:
Roadside gardens- Many people have planted small gardens in the right-of-way of roads, surrounded by 2-rail fences which apparently keep the moose out. Looks like they plant lettuce, squash, beans. Very small gardens, maybe 20x20'.
Also by the roadside, people have large woodpiles stacked. Some are marked, most not. A guide at L'Anse au Meadows told us they are private piles, honest-john basis: Everybody knows everybody, and if they see someone taking your wood, they'll probably stop and definitely will report to owner who took it.
Also by the roadside: large stacks of lobster traps. Don't know why they are stacked there. Maybe the lobstermen don't have a good place of their own?
Today- Had reservations for a 9 o'clock whale watching boat. a.m. 48 degrees, showers, misty, foggy, windy. We didn't cancel but the tour boat did: capt. reported by telephone to base that there are lots of whales offshore but conditions are too rough to take people out. Went back to campground to dump our holding tanks; another camper told us he'd taken his family on the same boat tour yesterday and 8 people were vomiting the whole time, incl. his wife and 2 kids. The whales were gregarious, however; came up right alongside. Oh well, we've seen whales before and hope to again, but not this time.
While I was dumping the holding tanks, S made Plan B: head south along the E coast of Nfld northern peninsula, the "French Shore". Long unpaved road through dense fog to little fishing port of Conche (no road at all before 1969). Turned out to be a very interesting stop. French Shore: from 1500's through early 1900's French fishermen came every summer from Brittany (St. Malo and Granville, where we were last summer) and fished near shore. To keep their summer cabins and equipment safe from English fishermen, they paid Irish families to be "guardians". French lost fishing rights in 1904, except for St. Pierre and Miquelon, French territory islands off the S Nfld coast. People in Conche now are mostly descendants of the Irish guardians. Town had a one-room schoolhouse from 1941 until 1971. Built a larger school, but now only 15-18 kids, 2 teachers. We killed time until the French Shore Interpretive Center opened at 1 p.m. Besides info about local history and artifacts (they have a WWII bayonet identical to the one I keep aboard Casita to fend off intruders) they have a tapestry a la Bayeux Tapestry chronicling the history of the French Shore and Conche. Designed by a French artist and his Newfie wife, done by local women incl our guide '97 to '00, beautifully done. From creation to present, incl animals, aborigines, Norse, French, English, Irish. As appropriate, captions are in each of those languages. A battle was fought in the harbor in 1715: French scuttled their ships and escaped overland across a narrow isthmus to another harbor where other French ships awaited them. English later caught those, too, however. Wrecks are still in the harbor, protected from looting. Interpretation Center has a cannon, though. Wish we could get a book illustrating the tapestry, but they don't have one. Great visit.
One other thing re Conche: in 1942 a Canadian plane got lost over Nfld in the fog while on a ferrying mission to England, and was running out of fuel. One crew member bailed out, but the other two stayed aboard and crashed at Conche. All survived. The plane's remains are said to still be in the middle of town where it crashed, but we couldn't spot it. Had to take their word for it.
As we left to drive across N peninsula, weather cleared somewhat. Got up to 66, but didn't last.
Reached St. Barbe, RV park by terminal for ferry to Labrador, for which we have reservations tomorrow. Another Casita came in right behind us, a woman from Texas (Catherine?) travelling by herself.
Maybe we'll see whales or even icebergs from ferry tomorrow in Straits of Belle Isle.
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