This is our last day in Newfoundand and we left Englee around 9:00 to head across the Northern Peninsula to St. Barbe and the Labrador Ferry. First, we stopped at the underground salmon pools just outside Roddickton. This was a beautiful walk through the forest along side a river. We saw tons of salmon both entering the underground pool, and exiting it.
The road across the Peninsula was very good. It was lined with buttercups and a beautiful white flower and in many places the view ahead was of the grey road flanked by the yellow of the buttercups.
We caught the ferry around 3:30 for the hour and a half voyage over the Belle Isle Straits to Blanc Sablon. Spent the journey chatting to an artist from Rocky Harbour.
The coast road in Labrador from Blanc Sablon in Quebec to l’Anse Amour where we are staying was stunning. We are staying at the Lighthouse Cove B & B in l’Anse Amour. The owner showed us a beautiful video that the CBC did for their series on Ocean to Land. The video gives the story of l’Anse Amour and the owner’s family. L’Anse Amour has 4 houses, 1 cottage, and a population of 8! The houses are located across the narrow sandy road from the ocean. The beach at the end of the cove is a beautiful red sand. Continuing along the sandy road and around the corner is the l’Anse Amour Lighthouse, the tallest in Atlantic Canada and one of the oldest. The Davis family have lived and fished here for over 4 generations. The story goes that HMS Raleigh, a British ship was on its way home to Britain some time in August 1922 when it ran aground in l’Anse Amour. The owner’s mother was out to milk the cow and heard an enormous boom. Through the fog she was able to make out the ship rammed up on the rocks. She called the men and they all went out to help the 700 plus people on the boat. The captain and the officers stayed with the Davis’ and premises were quickly fixed up to house the others. It was not until October of that year that the last of men were able to leave l’Anse Amour. The captain gave the Davis’ the piano from the ship and it is still in their living room today (see picture!). The British government was so grateful to the Davis family for rescuing the crews on the boat that they deeded the cove to the Davis’ for life. To this day, no one other than a Davis can fish in the Cove. It’s a fabulous story!
Just before we arrived at the Davis’ house, we stopped to see the l’Anse Amour Burial site. This is a mound of rocks which is the earliest known funeral monument in the “new world”. It marks the burial place of an Indian child who died over 7500 years ago. The plaque says: “The body was covered in red ochre, wrapped in skins or birch bark and placed in a large pit 1.5 metres deep. Fires were lit on either side of the body, and several spearheads of stone and bone placed beside the head. A walrus tusk, harpoon head, paint stones and a bone whistle were also placed with the body.” No-one knows why the child was buried in such a manner. Some think it may have been a sacrifice (and after our experiences in South America this seems quite possible).
Also living with Cecil and Rita Davis, is Rita’s mother Evelyn Rose from Flowers Cove in Newfoundland. She is a lovely lady of 92 who came for a holiday last October and decided to stay. She had some trouble with her toes and the Dr. wanted to amputate the lower part of her leg, but a friend told her “no” that she would cure the toes. And she did; with a special cream from the States, and Epsom salts. … lost the tips of her toes but nothing else. I was really squeamish about seeing the toes, but when I did it was OK. They are very nicely healed up, and “Grannie” is so happy to still have her leg and the ability to walk around. She has a wonderful rocking chair and sits by the window looking out over the bay. She has seen whales, dolphin, all kinds of birds, beautiful sunsets, calm seas, wild seas, and of course all the cars that go by down to the lighthouse. Her life is quite full and she is thriving on it.
(pictures to come)
The road across the Peninsula was very good. It was lined with buttercups and a beautiful white flower and in many places the view ahead was of the grey road flanked by the yellow of the buttercups.
We caught the ferry around 3:30 for the hour and a half voyage over the Belle Isle Straits to Blanc Sablon. Spent the journey chatting to an artist from Rocky Harbour.
The coast road in Labrador from Blanc Sablon in Quebec to l’Anse Amour where we are staying was stunning. We are staying at the Lighthouse Cove B & B in l’Anse Amour. The owner showed us a beautiful video that the CBC did for their series on Ocean to Land. The video gives the story of l’Anse Amour and the owner’s family. L’Anse Amour has 4 houses, 1 cottage, and a population of 8! The houses are located across the narrow sandy road from the ocean. The beach at the end of the cove is a beautiful red sand. Continuing along the sandy road and around the corner is the l’Anse Amour Lighthouse, the tallest in Atlantic Canada and one of the oldest. The Davis family have lived and fished here for over 4 generations. The story goes that HMS Raleigh, a British ship was on its way home to Britain some time in August 1922 when it ran aground in l’Anse Amour. The owner’s mother was out to milk the cow and heard an enormous boom. Through the fog she was able to make out the ship rammed up on the rocks. She called the men and they all went out to help the 700 plus people on the boat. The captain and the officers stayed with the Davis’ and premises were quickly fixed up to house the others. It was not until October of that year that the last of men were able to leave l’Anse Amour. The captain gave the Davis’ the piano from the ship and it is still in their living room today (see picture!). The British government was so grateful to the Davis family for rescuing the crews on the boat that they deeded the cove to the Davis’ for life. To this day, no one other than a Davis can fish in the Cove. It’s a fabulous story!
Just before we arrived at the Davis’ house, we stopped to see the l’Anse Amour Burial site. This is a mound of rocks which is the earliest known funeral monument in the “new world”. It marks the burial place of an Indian child who died over 7500 years ago. The plaque says: “The body was covered in red ochre, wrapped in skins or birch bark and placed in a large pit 1.5 metres deep. Fires were lit on either side of the body, and several spearheads of stone and bone placed beside the head. A walrus tusk, harpoon head, paint stones and a bone whistle were also placed with the body.” No-one knows why the child was buried in such a manner. Some think it may have been a sacrifice (and after our experiences in South America this seems quite possible).
Also living with Cecil and Rita Davis, is Rita’s mother Evelyn Rose from Flowers Cove in Newfoundland. She is a lovely lady of 92 who came for a holiday last October and decided to stay. She had some trouble with her toes and the Dr. wanted to amputate the lower part of her leg, but a friend told her “no” that she would cure the toes. And she did; with a special cream from the States, and Epsom salts. … lost the tips of her toes but nothing else. I was really squeamish about seeing the toes, but when I did it was OK. They are very nicely healed up, and “Grannie” is so happy to still have her leg and the ability to walk around. She has a wonderful rocking chair and sits by the window looking out over the bay. She has seen whales, dolphin, all kinds of birds, beautiful sunsets, calm seas, wild seas, and of course all the cars that go by down to the lighthouse. Her life is quite full and she is thriving on it.
(pictures to come)
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