Saturday, July 5, 2008

Western Brook Pond, Gros Morne






















It was “hot” when we woke up. Marvellous! Today we were doing a 2 ½ hr boat trip in Western Brook Pond – and we had prayed for good weather! The boat trip started at 1:00 p.m so we had some time to go and see the remains of the SS Effie just past Sally’s Cove. Next we went to Broom Point and saw a restored fishing camp. Fascinating. We chatted with the Parks Canada guide who at the age of 16 was the first women in the fisheries. A women on the boats was considered bad luck. The men thought that if they didn’t speak to her, she would go away. But of course she didn’t, and in the end they accepted her and she continued to fish with her husband whom she married at the age of 16. She was out fishing when she went into labour with her first child – managed to make it back to land! Quite a women and is hoping that she can put some of the stories from her past into writing. It will make an interesting story!

We did the 3 km hike to the boat at Western Book Pond and along with a ton of other “tourists” set off on the boat trip down the fiord. It was huge; the sides were about 700 feet high, and you literally felt the power of the rock rising straight up out of the water beside you. We kept going deeper and deeper into the fiord and when you thought it had come to the end, we went even further. The water is quite devoid of minerals so there were not many fish or plant life in the 500 foot deep, dark-brown watered, pond. It was awe-inspiring and we really lucked out on the weather. Dry and sunny!

After the boat trip, we drove back to Woody Point and went for fish and chips and a beer in The Lighthouse Restaurant. When we got back to the camp site, we had a lovely wood fire, reviewed our pictures on the laptop, and marveled at how lucky we are to be able to do all these things and see so much.

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