Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Elliston and Bonavista Newfoundland 8/24/2016

Elliston, Newfoundland is one of the best accessible areas in North America to view Puffin birds from land. It is less than a 5 minute hike to see these beautiful creatures on their own rock about 100 feet away from our cliff edge. While in the area we went out to watch them twice. Puffin breed for life and often do not choose a partner until their 6th year. Many puffins have been together for 20 years or more. In Newfoundland they spend from May - Sept on land laying their one egg and raising that young (male and female share all duties). The rest of the year they spend living on the open seas. When on land they will make a burrow that is approximately 3 feet deep. Here they will raise their young and often will return to their same burrow, year after year. Elliston is thought to have over 2500 pairs living on this one rock in the summer.

Elliston is also said to be the root cellar capital of the world. This small town has over 130 documented root cellars, many having lasted over 200 years. Root cellars were built to keep root vegetables from freezing in the winter months and rotting in the summer months. Most are built on hillsides and most were open to view. more on root cellars

At Bonavista we first visited the Mockbegger's plantation. Mockbegger refers to the type of soil, not the inhabitants. It was originally a 1700's fisherman merchant site. Fisherman would buy their good on credit and repay with their fish at the end of the season. It was a somewhat unfair system as the merchant set the price for the merchandise and also for the fish after the catch. As we visited we were reminded of the song Sixteen Tons (I owe my soul to the company store). In 1939, it became the Gordon Bradely home. Gordon Bradley is known to have lead the confederation movement and was also the first Bonavista Senator after Confederation in 1949.

The Cape Bonavista lighthouse was built in 1843. We would have loved to climb the light house where the seal oil lamps are. The day we went it was raining and the lighthouse was closed due to unforeseen circumstances. But we met a couple that were on their honeymoon (from Toronto) that had hiked to the lighthouse from Dungeon (and it was raining now). We offered them a ride back. They were fun to visit with while we gave them a ride back to Dungeon. We wished them a lifetime of happiness as they left for their auto. By then the rain let up and we took a few pictures out at Dungeon. Of funny note, on the road to Dungeon horses were blocking the road. Bob rolled his window down to say something like shoo and this beautiful house stuck his head in our truck window to say hello. Our Canadian friends thought this was grand.

Elliston, Newfoundland

Root Cellar
Elliston, Newfoundland

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
Newfoundland

Mockbegger Plantation
Bonavista, Newfoundland

Dungeon
Near Bonavista, Newfoundland

Dungeon roaming horses
Near Bonavista, Newfoundland

Monday, August 22, 2016

Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland 8/21-22/2016

We began our visit to Terra Nova National Park attending the last day of their Music in the Sound Music Festival. We enjoyed three hours of Newfoundland Folk Music, Country, Irish and some American songs too. Check out the link to Dave Penny. He does more of what one calls recitation. It is good humor. Dave Penny

Terra Nova National Park we found to be beautiful. The landscape varied, depending upon the hike we were on. We hiked through bogs, along Salt Water Fjords and fresh water ponds. We saw ferns wild berries, unusual mosses, large birch trees and tall pines too.

On our last evening we went with the Ranger on the Beaver Walk. While we did not see any beavers that night we did see their lodge and we learned a lot we did not know about beavers. Beavers have two coats and they also have a gland that allows them to cover their coat with an oil. With this adaptation, a Beaver can stay under water for 15 minutes and never get wet. When they go under water, their nose and ears close off and they have a transparent lens that covers their eyes. Beavers mate for life. Their young will stay with them for 2 years, but they will birth every year. This can result in a family of 12 occupying one of their lodges at a time. Beavers will normally build 2 lodges. The second lodge serves as a back up, in case the first one floods. They are incredibly strong (as strong as a bear) and will drag hug logs long distances to build their lodges and homes. We were told that they are not shy, however, the evening we were near their home, they did not come out.

Newfoundland Trivia: Newfoundland used to be the location of the world's busiest airport. Back in the day, most airplanes were unable to make a transatlantic distance without refueling. Prior to the early 60's most transatlantic flights would stop at Gander International Airport to refuel. It's airport code is YQX.

Dave Penny

We do not know these people
We just enjoyed watching them all pitch together to
build this large sand castle.
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

Blue Mountain
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

The 'Coastal' Trail
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

Sandy Pond Trail
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

We thought it was unique how these puffs burst our of these thin blades
Sandy Pond Trail
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

There were hillsides of this moss. From a distance it looks
like fields of flowers
Sandy Pond Trail
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

Our Beaver Walk
That is the beaver's lodge, but they did not get the news of our appointment
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland

Twillingate, Newfoundland 8/18-19/2016

The lighthouse in Twillingate is set on some beautiful cliffs. Built in 1876, the house and light tower were connected by an interior tunnel to keep the light keeper out of the weather. The colors of the water were absolutely stunning.

Within the city of Twillingate is the Twillingate museum. The museum is housed in a former 1915 Anglican rectory. The museum housed lot of local artifacts including information on Twillingate's most famous resident, Georgina Stirling, said to be the Nightingale of the North. She was a promising Opera singer whose stage name was Marie Toulinquet. Marie.

The Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center we found to be a bit disorganized. That said, the owner took on a 3 year project of taking a beached Sei whale, removing all the flesh and carefully piecing her back together again. It was a fascinating story, and straight from one of the men that helped with this huge task. From what he shared, it was a pretty smelly task as well.

The Beothuk Interpretive Center was our favorite find in near Twillingate. The Beothuk Indians have been documented as being in Newfoundland and Labrador as late as 7500 years ago. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Beothuk were not willing to trade with the Europeans. In the early years, the Europeans only came in the summers to fish the Newfoundland waters. The Beothuk quickly realized they did not need to trade. They would scour the abandoned camps when the Europeans returned during the winter. The Beothuk were great at re-purposing. They took iron nails left behind and fashioned them into metal arrows and scrappers for animal hides. When the Caribou did their migration, the Beothuk built fences along the river where the Caribou crossed, forcing them into a narrow area, where the Beothuk would spear them while they crossed in the water. The Beothuk sadly were destroyed by the Europeans. The Europeans caught them for slaves, drove them into the mainland, away from their food source (the water) and brought numerous diseases that they had no immunity to. The last know Beothuk was Shanawdithit who was found in 1823 staving and sick at the age of twenty. She lived another six years in St. John's where she died in 1829 of tuberculosis.

We were impressed by how the Beothuk adapted to their changing situations. One of the many things we learned was how at birth they would begin to coat their bodies with red ochre. While it was thought to also have some ceremonial purpose, it is believed that this coating kept them safe from biting insects, the sun and also served to keep them warm.

We finished up our visit to Twillingate celebrating with the locals, the group Sweet Peas and toutans and tea. Sweet Peas is a local group of 7 ladies that have been playing together for 24 years. It was another fun night of Newfoundland Folk music and Toutons and tea too! Toutons are fried bread dough with fresh jam or molasses. They tasty and a common Newfoundland treat. Oh, and if you didn't know an ugly stick is a traditional Newfoundland musical instrument made out of household items and things from one's shed. It typically has a mop handle, bottle caps that rattle and is connected to a boot that does the stomping.

Newfoundland Trivia: Newfoundland has it's own time zone. It is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time and 90 Minutes ahead of the Eastern time zone.

Long Point Lighthouse (1876)
Twillingate, Newfoundland

View from trail- Long Point Lighthouse
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Foggy Morning
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Twillingate Museum
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Sei Whale
Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Baleen from Sei whale
Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Re-purposed iron nail into an arrowhead
Beothuk Interpretative Center
Boyd's Cove

Arrow heads at the top are 500 years old, at the bottom they are 1000 years old
Beothuk Interpretative Center
Boyd's Cove

Sweet Pea, demonstrating Mummering
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Sweet Peas Band with the Audience helping out on the 'ugly sticks'
Twillingate, Newfoundland

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Western Brook Pond (Fjord Tour), Newfoundland 8/15-16/2016

On our first night in the area we went to a music show at an Irish pub and listened to the Anchors Aweigh band. They are so much more than a band and more of an experience. They taught us about Newfoundland culture through their music, jokes and stories and played for an incredible 3 hours. Newfoundland music is folk music. It is uplifting, fun and usually tells a story. A few of the songs we heard that night, I found links to and we hope you take a quiet moment to enjoy, as we so enjoyed this evening.
Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor
Saltwater Cowboy
Grey Foggy Day This song is about when the Cod Industry was shut down in 1992 with only 3 days warning due to the over fishing of the Cod. Of note, Newfoundland employment struggles.
Aunt Martha's Sheep
Saltwater Joys If you listen to none of the others, listen to this one (or at least we loved it).

We sure enjoyed the Nefie songs, and we will continue to enjoy them during our last 2 weeks here. I am sure I have mentioned before that not only is the Newfie music uplifting; but, the locals are really friendly too.

The pond! The pond is not what most Americans would consider a pond as it is almost 9 square miles in size and is oligotrophic. The 'pond' was carved by glaciers like 10,000-25,000 years ago. The surrounding rocks are over 2,000 feet high (a bit hard to realize in the pictures).

Our hike to the boat launching was almost 2 miles. It wound its way through bogs, in and out of wooded areas, by a stream and finally to the pond. Our boat tour was 2 hours. Along the bog we were amazed to learn that the bog moss is not only 8,000 years old it is also estimated to be 13 feet thick! Bog water is cold, acidic and basically void of oxygen. It contains almost no nutrients. Because of this, most of the vegetation in the bog ends up being essentially pickled. The idea that the moss was 13 feet thick, to us, seemed incredible.

The boat tour was great. While the photography lighting was not always ideal for pictures, they often get fog and rain on this tour so we felt really fortunate to have done this on such a beautiful day. We hope you enjoy in the sharing of our beautiful day! The boat tour was more incredible than the pictures show for sure.

Newfoundland Trivia: Nicknames-In some Newfoundland Communities, there were often a limited number of family names. First names were given after Saints, Queens, Kings or Biblical characters. This often resulted in some communities with multiple people having the same first and last name. To resolve, people were given various nicknames. One community might have John on the Hill, John the Blacksmith or Little John. For women there might have been John's Sarah or Midwife Sarah. Down by the Southern shore, a woman might have her name followed by her husband's name such as Mary- John or Mary-Paul.

The Forming of a Fjord

The Bog along our Hike to the Boat

The Moss that is said to be 13 feet thick!

Landscape where we began our Hike to the Fjord

Western Brook Pond, Fjord

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Red Bay, Labrador 8/12/2016

We began our day early getting in line for the ferry to Labrador at 7 am. We would not get back until around 11 PM the same day. The ferry trip over was on a tired ferry, nothing like our ferry arrival from Nova Scotia. But it got us from point A to point B so no complaints.

We wanted to get a small taste of Labrador which is about a 25 mile ferry ride from Newfoundland. The roads when we arrived were a bit poor with lots of frost heaves, but hey, we were on an adventure! The biggest thing we noticed was how much the landscape changed over a distance of about 70 miles.

Our major destination for the day was the Red Bay National Historic Site. In approximately 1978, it was uncovered that the area near Red Bay was a large whale harvesting and processing site for the Basque whale fishermen in the 1500's-1600's. What they were after was the oil for fuel, soaps and lamps. We learned that between 1530-1600 over 15 whaling ships and 600 men from France and Spain would come to Red Bay and stay for the whaling season (sometimes as much as 8 months) when the whales were migrating through the Straight of Belle Isle. The whale of choice was the Right Whale, funny enough, that is how it got its name(the fishermen pointed at it and said that is the right whale). They also hunted the Bowhead whale. These whales were chosen because they floated after being slaughtered and they also supplied a large amount of baleen.

Whales were hunted in a 26 foot boat known as a Chalupa. Keep in mind that an adult Right Whale could be 40-60 feet long. When spotted, the whaler would thrust a harpoon into the whale. The whale would then be stabbed with several harpoons that had anchors attached. The blood loss and anchors would slow the whale down enabling another whaler to hit a vital organ with a harpoon. As brutal as all this sounds, it had to be incredibly dangerous from a 26 foot boat that sat close to the water. The skin and blubber would then be removed and boiled for its oil. It is estimated that in 50 years over 20,000 whales were killed. It is believed that their own over hunting, in this short time, is what brought this industry to an end.

While at Red Bay we took a water taxi over to Sable Island and we walked the whale processing trail. Sable Island is one of the locations where artifacts of the rendering process have been found. There was quite an operation taking place on Sable Island between the huge vats used to render out the oil and also the assembly of the barrels (the pieces were brought from France and Spain) to haul these massive amounts of oil back home. While there are many interpretive signs along the trail on the island, there were no actual artifacts to view. There were lots of seagull colonies, however, with young gulls trying their best to get off on their first flights. The island was also covered in what the locals here call Baked Apple Berries( known in other places as Cloudberry). Guess we will need to buy some Baked Apple Berry jam and give it a try.

In the Red Bay Museum, located on the mainland there is a lot of information and artifacts from the San Juan ship that sank in 1565 with over 1000 casks (each holding 60 gallons) of processed whale oil on board. The ship is one of the 5 ships that have been recovered in the area. The San Juan was excavated, recorded and then reburied as the waters are preserving her well. There is also an actual 400 year old Chalupa that was recovered, piece by piece and reconstructed. Conserving a Chulpa For those interested in learning more about these Basque Discoveries: Red Bay Discoveries

Before returning to the ferry we also visited the Point Armour Lighthouse (tallest in the Provence and second tallest in Canada) and also the oldest known burial site in North America. At L'Anse Amour a young girl was buried about 6500 years ago. This is like 2000 years prior to the Egyptian Pyramids being built. The child was found buried with numerous artifacts including a walrus tusk and a bone whistle. Her body was covered in red ochre (pigmented natural earth) and then wrapped in birch bark.

Finally, we just drove down various roads and enjoyed the changing views before returning for our ferry ride back. It was a long day but one filled with discovery.

Newfoundland Trivia: Candlemas Day is February 2nd. This is Newfoundland's version of Groundhog Day. If a hibernating bear comes out of his sleeping place and the sun is shinning, it is believed that the winter weather is almost over. "If Candlemas day is fair and fine, half of the winter is left behind; If Candlemas Day is ruff and grum, half of the winter is yet t come".

Chalupa (whaling boat over 400 years old)
Red Bay, Labrador

Greenland Right Whale Left Flipper (gives a perspective of their size)
Red Bay, Labrador

Whaling Harpoon from 1500's
Red Bay, Labrador

Hiking on Sable Island Where the Whale Processing was Done
in the 1500-1600's

Young Seagull trying to learn to fly
No, he did not quite make it while we were there.
Sable Island, Labrador

An Abandoned Boat on Sable Island, Labrador

Baked Apple Berry on Sable Island, Labrador

River Along a Labrador Highway

Burial Site from 7500 years ago, This is like 2000
years before the Egyptian Pyramids were built!
Oldest known Marked Burial in North America
L'Annse Amour, Labrador