After a long day of travel on Friday (the Toronto Airport was devoid of signs or help for navigating from the small plane that brought us from St. Louis, through Customs, then back to a terminal and once again through security for a flight from Toronto to Deer Lake, Newfoundland, where we stayed in a very hospitable hotel), we traveled today to Norris Point, Newfoundland. On the way we saw:
Tablelands
Trout River
Bonne Bay
Norris Point
Evening sun on granite in shale bed
Old ship tie-in
Sunday, August 28
Boat tour of Bonne Bay
Tour guide told us this is called “shag cliff” by locals. The plates in this rock (shale I think) used to be horizontal but tectonic shifts pushed it up like this on an angle. Each inch of rock represent 100 years of geological time. The white streaks in the rock are calcite.
Tide pools off Lobster Cove Head lighthouse
Periwinkles and anemone
Monday, August 29th, 2016
This morning Dennis and I walked down to the wharf to move around and get some fresh air before eating breakfast. A man in an SUV pulled up near us on the wharf and we got to talking, he is a Newfoundlander who takes folks on private tours of Gros Morne and the surrounding area, and seemed only too happy to find two souls to talk to on a cloudy Monday morning. He went home and got a jar of moose meat and brought it to our cabin, then he and his “missus” took us with them on an excursion to Corner Brook, the big town around here. Was a good day for it, grey and rainy. Lloyd loves to talk, loves to share about all things Newfoundland.
But on the way to Corner Brook, Dennis called our friend who is staying with the cats and watching the house while we’re gone, to check on a notice we got that the house alarm went off last night. It had, but it was only that Bob had forgotten the code. The real news was that Ishmael, our beloved cat who we found all alone in the woodpile a few years back, died. Bob found him dead this morning, asleep under the chair in the dining room where he often stays when it’s hot. I will miss that little fellow terribly. He was so sweet, loved to cuddle with me at night and in the morning, nuzzling my cheek, putting one soft paw on each side of my neck. Loved me to play with him around the house, making up games, throwing things for him to chase. I loved that little cat.
So, while Lloyd is talking, Dennis and I are simultaneously processing this information and trying to listen to Lloyd. It was difficult for awhile but finally I just gave in and went with the moment. Lloyd took us to Big Falls on the Humber River, where salmon swim upstream in June.
And a cabin his friend Max is selling, where you can fish for salmon off the back porch in the spring.
Lloyd and Joyce
Norris Point graveyard
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Strong winds in the night, sounded like the cottage would break apart but we were warm under 2 comforters.
Morning rainbow
Bog with Long Range mountains in background
Went North today and visited
the Arches
Driftwood
and the wreck of the ship SS Ethie
http://www.newfoundlandshipwrecks.com/Ethie/Documents/wreck_of_the_s_s_ethie.htm
Loved being out in the wind and rain!
View from top of Burnt Hill
Dennis, Lloyd and Joyce in the kitchen. Lloyd and Joyce just stopped by for a chat.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Long Range mountains at Western Brook Pond
Bog at Western Brook
Pitcher plant in bog, eats insects to feed itself
Sandy Cove
Granite below, sea bottom above, at Sandy Cove
Broom Point, fisherman’s village, granite boulder and sea bottom juxtaposed. One of the fascinating things about this place is this geological history all over the place.
Norris Point wharf, unloading salt for use on roads in winter. They worked through the night and into the middle of next day.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Coastal walk
Big excitement for the day: Saw a moose behind a house on main street, the kids call him Gerard, he’s become a nuisance, eating the turnips, potatoes, cabbages out of peoples’ gardens, and once hurt a man. The authorities know about him and have said they’ll come out and kill him . Resident’s can’t do it themselves because they’ll go to jail. He weighs about 800 pounds.
Gerard
Friday, Sept 2
Dinner at Lloyd’s (jit dinner, boiled cabbage, potatoes, turnips, salt beef, roast sea duck), Dennis and Lloyd examine boat for fishing in the morning.
Sat sept 3
View of Norris Point from Jenninek house as we left town
Pinguid 