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| endangered piping plover (not our picture) |
We spent a couple of nice days touring and birdwatching
around southwestern Newfoundland, and were fortunate to see some Piping
Plovers, an endangered shore bird that nests in a small area of the Codroy
valley in southwestern Newfoundland.
We headed north on the hunt for icebergs in time for good
weather … and drove our longest day so far, 413 miles. We weren’t disappointed as we entered
Newfoundland’s famous ‘Iceberg Alley’, and saw several beautiful icebergs close
to shore and many more in the distance.
A boat trip took us up close and personal with several, most in the
75-100 vertical foot range. With 8/9ths
of the berg underwater that’s a lot of ice – watch out Titanic. It’s amazing to see these giants that broke
off the Greenland ice cap 2 years ago and have traveled this far on ocean
currents with some winter vacations locked in sea ice. Some of this ice is 10,000 years old and our
taste test from a dip net sample confirmed perfect quality! Despite their incredible size the skipper told
us they will be melted away in 2 months.
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| So many beautiful icebergs! |
We explored several coves and corner of the peninsula, and
were rewarded with our first moose and caribou sightings – yay!
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| A moose - finally! |
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| Caribou |
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| Jesse wonders why Chaco is jumping into a wet bog! |
We also visited L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site,
the only known Viking site in North America and the earliest evidence of
Europeans in the western hemisphere. Who
knew Christopher Columbus was a johnnie come lately?? It turns out this historic site was occupied
by Vikings in the year 1000, some 500 years before Columbus “found” the New
World in 1492! The site is a Parks
Canada and UNESCO World Heritage Site. As humans migrated from Africa across the
planet, this is the place where eastern met western migrants. It’s a significant site in human
history. The park has re-constructed
Norse buildings based on the archeological evidence found here and developed an
excellent exhibit, well worth visiting.
We end our visit to this remote corner of Newfoundland with
a ‘Viking Feast’ dinner theater. We’ll
head south to visit Gros Morne National Park in the morning.
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| L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site and Unesco World Heritage Site |
The photo of the family plus iceberg cracks me up. Those dogs are S.P.O.I.L.E.D.!
ReplyDeleteHow come you deleted my comment sending you an ebay link for earrings made out of moose poop?
Kim McLaughlin
Yes, the girls are spoiled... and loving every minute of the trip (except when we leave them alone in the RV). Don't recall seeing a comment with a link for moose poop earrings -- they must have been made in Newfoundland!
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