St. Anthony, Newfoundland - July 10 - 11, 2015

St. Anthony, Newfoundland - July 10 - 11, 2015

July 10, 2015



Elva, Phoebe, Bev & Mona

Today we headed to St. Anthony, Newfoundland.   The highlight of the trip came before St. Anthony, however.  We stopped in Green Island Brook, Newfoundland.  This is the home of Elva Caddy.  Her home is just two houses from the road we travelled.  We pulled up the motorhome out front and were greeted by Elva and two sisters-in-law, Mona and Phoebe. 

Elva, Phoebe, Stan & Mona

Mona couldn’t stay long, because she had an appointment, Phoebe got her car out and the four of us went on a tour of their village.  What a cool place.  We were able to see Elva’s Mom’s home, though it is vacant now but still standing. 





Phoebe, Cyril & Elva

We also got to go to the grave of Orval, Veronica’s Dad.  In the cemetery, there were many of the family buried – Phoebe’s husband (Elva’s Brother) was there too.  There were flowers on all of the graves as there is going to be a ceremony on Sunday.  Elva’s cousin, Cyril Hughes, was there maintaining the cemetery.  It is all about family in Green Island Brook. 




 

Many of the people in Green Island Brook are older.  Elva told us that there are only two children in the town that are transported to the area school.  Once they graduate, there probably won’t be any more, since most of the children go off to University and don’t come back, but rather stay in that area to work.

In true Newfoundland tradition, Elva had a wonderful spread all prepared for us.  They had also dinner made at Mona’s, if we would have been able to stay.   Unfortunately, we needed to get to the RV Park in St. Anthony.  Bummer.  They are all such great cooks, and we didn’t get nearly enough time to visit.   Elva was going to be leaving for Deer Lake in the afternoon, as she was flying to Manitoba, to visit Mark (Veronica’s brother), Jody and the girls, then on to Washington to visit Veronica, Darin, Katie & Cameron.

We arrived at the RV Park – a little late but we were forgiven.  Here we really understand the meaning of remote.   We have NO cell service, Wifi at the office only, and that is not strong, no TV and Sirius radio is intermittent.  OH MY.  Now that we have complained - onto the good part.  The area is beautiful, and we always have plenty to do.

In the evening we went into St. Anthony for the Viking Feast.  It is a Viking Dinner Theater.  We were greeted by the Viking’s in full dress.  The Captain, Thor, was seated in his chair in the center of the sod hut where we ate.  There we dirt floors and a series of long tables for the guests that had the appetizer on it – dried fish about the size of smelt and cod tongue. 

We had a wonderful dinner buffet they included, Jiggs Dinner (a boiled dinner of vegetables – potatoes, turnip, carrots, cabbage and corned beef or a similar meat), roast beef, rice with seafood, salmon and moose stew.  Dessert was a pancake with fruit and whipped cream – don’t remember what it is called.

After dinner was finished, they held “court”.   This included Jim Lund aka Fred I bringing a case before the court against Bill Hale aka Fred II, for being the last rig out of all of the sites, because he is polishing his wheels.  Donna Hale aka Frederica was called as a witness.   The sentence for Fred II was to clean the wheels of all the other rigs on the trip.  The voting of the council “all the rest of us” was by pounding on the table to vote yes.    Fun was had by all.

 

 

July 11, 2015

This morning it is 47 degrees and windy.  Hard to believe it is mid-July.  At least it is not raining.  We can wear coats and gloves to keep warm.

Today was a day of visiting Viking Village Historic Sites.  First we went to L’Anse Aux Meadows.  There we were able to see the likeness of a Viking Settlement, including the boat the Snorry.  This is a boat that was built in 1998.  It is a replica of the one that was sailed by Leif Erickson.   They sailed for 87 days in open sea.  They used a sail as well as oars to move the boat along.  

We also got to see the replica of their living quarters and cooking facilities.  The buildings were all sod buildings. 

From there we went to lunch at the Norseman Café.  It was a nice lunch of Fish Chowder and a shrimp wrap.  We also had a berry shortcake dessert.  We have never had this many desserts.  Not complaining mind you.

After lunch we continued to the Norstead Village & Viking Port of Trade.  This included another village similar to that of L’Anse Aux Meadows.   We then were left to go on our own for the remainder of the day.  We opted to go back to St. Anthony and drive around to see the town. 

Then, we went back to the coach for some rest and relaxation.  A bit later we got a wonderful surprise.  We heard a knock at the door of the RV.  Who should be there but Mona & Phoebe Hughes (Veronica’s two aunts).  They came to bring us some homemade jam (Partridgeberry, Apple Bake, and Rhubarb) that Elva had made and had forgotten to give us.  In addition, Mona included a fresh loaf of bread.   Since Elva had flown out this morning to Mark & Jody, they brought it to us.  In turn, Elva took leftovers to Mona’s daughter in Deer Lake when she when down there.  That just shows what a wonderful family they have. 

We got to do more visiting.  It was great to get to know them better.  We sure hope they can come to the Seattle area to visit some time.  

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St. Barbe, Newfoundland & L'Anse Au Claire, Labrador - July 8 - 9, 2015

St. Barbe, Newfoundland & L'Anse Au Claire, Labrador - July 8 - 9, 2015 

July 8, 2015

We left Port au Choix, Newfoundland this morning heading toward St. Barbe, and meeting with Elva Caddy, Veronica Stordahl’s Mother.  Elva is going to ride over on the ferry with us to Labrador and spend the night and come back on the ferry tomorrow.  Bev was worried we wouldn’t be able to make connection, but that was not a concern.  As we drove up to the RV Park at the ferry dock, there was Elva in her van waving and smiling.  

We had plenty of time to visit and introduce Elva to the others in the tour, before we loaded the ferry at 3:00.  We sat at the RV for a bit then when to the Restaurant for lunch. 

The trip across on the ferry was very smooth.  Elva was an immediate hit.  Since she has been on the ferry many times, she knew where to take us for the best view.  First it was just the three of us up there, but as others followed, and soon everyone was up on the top deck.   The rain was coming down pretty good, so we were glad to be inside.

The ferry actually docked in Quebec, but it is only a short bus ride to the Hotel. There was concern that when we exited the ferry to catch the bus for the hotel, we would get wet.  However, we soon found that the bus was backing onto the ferry to pick us up.  What service.

Elva Caddy with her niece Bernette

When we got to the hotel and settled in our rooms, Elva went scouting for her niece, Bernette, that worked at the hotel.  Before long we met up with Bernette, who was just getting off shift, but was due back at 5:00 am to ready the breakfast buffet.

There was a Basque dinner served at the hotel.  Once again we had a great meal.  We were all so tired that we turned in early because we had breakfast between 6:00 & 7:30.  We needed to be at the bus at 7:45.

July 9, 2015

We had a busy day on the bus tour.  Frank, the bus driver had lived in the area his whole life and was very informative.  We were taken to Red Bay, Labrador.

On the way, we saw a snowbank alongside the road, so Frank said it was a first for him, but he pulled the bus over and some of us, Bev included, had a snowball fight. 






 

Our first stop was the Basque Museum.  There we found about the Basque people and their arrival from their country between France and Spain.  The early Basque people were whale hunters.  They would go out in small boats and harpoon the whales, tow them back to the larger ship for processing.  They melted the whale blubber down for whale oil that was sent by the shipload to Europe.  It was very profitable, bringing about $900 - $1,200 per barrel. 

We were told of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor during that time.  Many lives were lost.

Following the Basque Museum, we had lunch at the Whaling Station.  We had time to visit the gift shop before we got back on the bus.

Point Armour Lighthouse

Our next stop was the Point Armour Lighthouse.  We were actually able to climb to the top of the lighthouse and look out.  It was an active lighthouse for many years with two families that lived in the lighthouse and maintained it.  Now it has a light that is run on power so no need to haul kerosene for the lights any longer.

Nina (Genge) Woodward & Elva (Hughes) Caddy

We caught the 3:30 pm ferry back to St. Barbe.  That turned out to be the most fun of all.  Elva was just sure that she would probably see people that she knew on the ferry.  Sure enough, we ran into her cousin Nina (Genge) Woodward and her husband, Ky.  Nina is a wealth of knowledge on the Genge family, so Bev was excited to meet her.  Wonderful people. 


Ky & Nina Woodward

 

Elva with our bus driver Frank

The bus driver, Frank, came over to join us at our table.  We got visiting with and found that his Aunt Winnie & Uncle Luke were friends of Elva & Orval.  They even traveled together to California, years ago, to visit Darin & Veronica.  After further discussion with Nina, we found that Frank might also be related.  Small world.  So much fun.






 

When we docked, Elva headed home, Stan & Bev headed to the coach to check on Monte & Max.  The cats were doing fine, but Marlene said they had not eaten while we were gone.  Their plates were still full – we through that out and gave them new food and they made up for lost time.



Ice Burg
 

Ice Burg

Port Au Choix, Newfoundland - July 7, 2015

Port Au Choix, Newfoundland - July 7, 2015

July 7, 2015

To was our longest day of driving for the whole trip.  We went 285 miles.  Since we stopped for lunch on the way, it took us about seven hours.

We have been sleeping so good, that we almost overslept.  We didn’t get out of the park until about 9:15. 

There was so much beautiful scenery.  We had a view of the water most of the time.  There was evidence that there is quite a bit of wind off the water, because trees are blown to one side and many are dead.  They take quite a beating.

We also saw our first moose.  Unfortunately, it had been hit by a passing vehicle.  We didn’t see it, but there was also her calf that had been hit.  The road crew was already there removing the remains.  So sad, but drivers are warned to keep an eye out for the moose.

When we arrived at the park, we were all parked facing the beach.  It wasn’t a fancy park, but the view was awesome.

Jennie, one of the Wagon Masters, told us that we were going to have an A, B, C party by the beach.  That is translated, Appetizer, Beverage & Chair.  They provided the hot dogs that we roasted over the bon fire.  We had a great time.

Grand Codroy, Newfoundland - July 5 - 6, 2015

Grand Codroy, Newfoundland - July 5 - 6, 2015

July 5, 2015

Today was the day to travel on the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.  It was amazing how they parked all of the RV’s in the lower decks of the Ferry.  There was barely an inch or two between coach mirrors.  We pulled in behind a trailer that was rather wide, luckily, one of the ferry workers decided that we were not going to be able to move forward any more, or we would have a problem. 

We had to leave the kittens in the coach as we went upstairs to the lounges.  We left windows open for ventilation.  We had a sign in the window showing there were pets on board.  We left them food and a clean litter box, so they were fine. 

On the upper decks, they had a restaurant, bar and lots of comfortable seating.  There are even cabins for sleeping – which we will use on our 18 hour return trip from St. John’s, NL in weeks to come.  

We arrived in Grand Codroy, Newfoundland after a six hour ferry ride.

After arrival we were to find out about the mysterious “Screech In” Ceremony.  This was conducted by the owners of the owners of the Grand Codroy RV Park, Dennis & Alice.

When we arrived at the Recreation Room, there was a band playing.  There was a bit of dancing and general good cheer.  Once everyone had arrived, the ceremony started.  The Screech In is a ceremony to become an Honorary Newfoundlander.  It consisted of four things – Speaking Newfi, dancing Newfi, drinking a shot of Screech Rum (thus the name), and KISSING a cod.  Not a rubber cod, or a dried cod, a fresh cod.  Luckily, for the cod it was dead.  Oh MY.  Needless to say fun was had by all.

It was a wonderful welcome to Newfoundland.

July 6, 2015

After the “Screech In Ceremony” last night, where we got to bed about 11:30 pm or so, it was tough getting up to catch the 9:00 am tour bus.  For the first time, maybe ever, Stan actually woke Bev up.  She is planning to use “Screech” as her sleep aid in the future.

Alice, from the RV Park, was our tour guide.  She is the sixth generation of her family to live in the area.  She knows a lot about the area.  What she didn’t know, George, the driver, did know.

Newfoundland is basically a huge rock that people have chosen to live on.  It is so beautiful and peaceful. 

The primary industries in the area are fishing and farming.  Many of the people that have lived here their entire lives will leave their families here for weeks on end and go to Alberta to work, returning for a week here and there.   Many of the homes here are summer homes for people in other parts of the country. 

We visited a fish processing plant.  We were not able to go inside, but were able to see the area around the grounds.  Many of the group ordered seafood (Halibut, Lobster & Scallops) that was later delivered to the park.  We had no room in the freezer, so did not order anything. 

When we got off the bus to check out the fish processing plan, Bev found that she stuck to the seat.  As it turns out there was candy on the seat of the bus, and now on Bev’s butt.  Since we had traded places in our row, we found Stan had it on his butt too.   Luckily, after mentioning it to George the bus driver, we had it all cleaned up in short order.

We had lunch at a restaurant (we were the only group in there – so we don’t know how these places make it).   Everywhere we go there is SO MUCH food.  We started with a Seafood Chowder and rolls, then had Cod with mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and vegetables.  All this was followed by dessert.  A warm cake with blueberries on it – they had a name for it, but we had never heard it before.    

In the afternoon we went to the Rose Blanche Lighthouse.  It was built with local granite.  We were able to go up most of the way into the lighthouse.  We were not able to get to the top, but did see the living quarters of the lighthouse caretaker.

Since things are spread out, it took a bit to get back to the RV Park.  When we returned we had the drivers meeting for the day to follow.

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North Sydney, Nova Scotia - July 4, 2015

North Sydney, Nova Scotia - July 4, 2015

July 4, 2015

Happy Fourth of July – US Independence Day.  We really appreciate the fact that we have Independence, when we hear all that our ancestors sacrificed to achieve that status.  So many battles fought and so many lives lost.  God Bless the USA and Canada.   We are seeing so much history on this trip, it makes it all real.

We left Halifax today after a very busy few days.  There is a lot to see in a community.

We passed a town called Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.  Their claim to fame, is being half way between the North Pole and the Equator.  We couldn’t find the town on the Atlas.

The Alexander Graham Bell Historical Museum was a place they recommended to stop on our trip up to North Sydney, NS.  We think of Bell being the inventor of the telephone.  He was, however, interested in far more than that.  He had a fascination in flight, both planes and kites. 

The museum was a nice break in our longest day of driving since we have been on the tour.  We traveled 247 miles, which is about a 5 ½ drive.

When we got to the park, we didn’t even have to unhook our tow car.  Yippee.  We all got a pull thru site.  This is nice because we leave in the morning for the ferry to Newfoundland.

Fantasy Tours provided a Pizza Party, complete with Root Beer Floats.  It was a nice finish to a long day.  We went back to the coach after the party and were in bed by 8:15 pm.  No fireworks for this pair.

Halifax, Nova Scotia - July 1 - 3, 2015

Halifax, Nova Scotia - July 1 - 3, 2015

July 1, 2015

It is Canada Day today.  We started out by driving an entire 21 miles to get to the new Park.  We needed to be here between 10:00 and 11:00 am since we were the first of three tour groups coming into the park.

We had much of the day to ourselves, so we drove to a little shopping area to find a place to eat.  We had not eaten at a Tim Horton’s yet, so we each had a sandwich.  Bev also had an Iced Cappuccino.  Yum.  When we got back to the park, we heard that one of the other couples went to McDonald’s.  They had a McLobster Roll and Poutine.   I am figuring out when we can fit in that meal too.  No wonder we are gaining weight – Bev is anyway.   So much to try and so little time. 

Tonight there is a band playing to honor Canada Day.  The group that performed was the Saunders Brothers Show.  There were three men that did a great job of including the audience in the performance.  They had several types of instruments, such as spoons and tambourines for the volunteers to use.   The Fire Works that had been planned were cancelled due to rain.

July 2, 2015

Today, we didn’t have to be ready to catch the bus until 1:00 p.m.   We were picked up by the tour bus at the Rec Center of the park.

We were taken to the Citadel National Historic Site.  This is the Fort that was at the harbor in Halifax to protect the city.   The Fort which is an eight sided star that was the fourth generation of fort for protection.

We started the tour with the changing of the guard.  Each guard stands for one hour at attention.  I am not sure how they do that with all of the people taking pictures with them.  Also, it is rather warm and the uniforms are rather heavy.  Luckily, they get to stand in the shade.  There is a rotation of four guards, each standing an hour with two hours off.  Since that works out to only 12 hours, they must not have a guard when the fort is closed, since it is only a tourist attraction now.

Our guide is a college student that is working to be a RCMP.  He would like to be assigned to British Columbia, Nova Scotia or PEI, when he finishes his schooling.  

We were able to see the bunk/mess halls of the soldiers of the time.  The bunks were arranged around the table and folded in half during the day.  The soldiers were locked in at 9:30 in the evening to avoid any chance of desertion.  

In the center of the fort was a large area where there were shooting demonstrations, cannon fire and marching practice.  It was all very interesting.

Around the upper rim of the fort, there was a Bag Piper that played as he walked the outer wall. 

We also got to go into the “ditch” which was built to be an extra layer of protection if they were attacked.  They kept sheep and goats grazing in the ditch to keep the weeds down and when they were fattened up, they used them to feed the troops.  Attackers would need to scale one wall, then blast through or scale a second wall to gain access. 

After the Citadel, we only had a couple of blocks to get to the Hotel where the buffet was held before the Tattoo.  Again, the walk down the street to the Tattoo, was only a block.

The Halifax Explosion.  One of the many things that we learned, was that there was an explosion in the Harbor in 1917.  Two of the ships in the harbor collided, one carrying a huge amount of explosives.  Consequently, there was an enormous explosion.  It caused a huge loss of life.  It was the largest explosion in the world prior to Hiroshima. 

The Tattoo – What can we say!!!! OMG it is better than anything that we had been told.  It is truly an extravaganza.   There were bands for multiple countries. bag pipes, bicycle performers, a motorcycle drill team of French Police, a cheerleading group, a group that performed using large hoops, body builders that do many exercises. 

One performance melded into the next.  It was the most amazing combination of talent that we had ever seen.

July 3, 2015

After returning to the coach at 11:30 pm last night, we needed to sleep fast, because we had to be ready for the next bus tour at 8:00 am.   YIKES.  Actually it wasn’t as bad as we had expected.

We started with a Halifax City Tour, which took us around the current Halifax, with a review of the history of the area.  Our guide, Laurie, & bus driver, Karla, have lived in Halifax area all their lives, so are very knowledgeable.   They said that Halifax proper has about 120,000 people, but there are about 390,000 in the area. 

One of the VERY interesting areas was the Titanic portion of the Fairview Cemetery.  This was such an informative piece of the history of the Titanic sinking April 15, 1912.  We had NO idea that the Titanic sank only about 700 miles from Halifax.  Because this was the closest port to the site of the tragedy, it was called to the rescue. 

There were many grave stones of the tragedy.  Most of the gravestones were of the victims that were not claimed by their families or just not identified at all.  Since there was no DNA and there was no list of all the passengers, it left many unanswered questions.

The rescue team, developed a system which numbered the victims and also, numbered the belongings that were found near them, to keep an accurate record.  We are told that this system was again used in the Halifax Explosion that happened in 1917. 

On to a more uplifting part of the tour.   We visited the Public Gardens.  Stan was thrilled about seeing another garden, but it was actually very beautiful.  One interesting thing that we found, is that no jogging is permitted in the garden.  We actually saw a Security Guard stop two joggers.  It’s a shame, because that would be a great place to jog.  I guess that rules are rules.

From there we were able to go to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.  This told the history of the ship building in the Halifax area over the years.  One thing we found interesting was the story of the “Fate of the Pirate”.  Piracy was a very serious crime.  It was punishable not only by death, but a ritualistic execution.  They were hung on the beach between high and low tide, their bodies were chained and tarred in a “gibbet” at the harbor entrance to warn other mariners.

In the afternoon, we were scheduled for a Harbor Cruise on a schooner.   It was fascinating to see them “hoist the sails” – they even got some of the passengers to help – Stan & Bev were not volunteers.   It was a beautiful day for a cruise.   Halifax is a busy harbor with many container ships.

After two long days, we went back to the RV to get rested up for the five hour drive the next day.

 

INTERESTING TIDBITS

Here are a few things that we found interesting.

Lobsters

There was a time when lobster was considered a poor persons food.  Kids would be embarrassed to bring a lobster sandwich to school - it was a sign that they were poor.  They would love to trade it for a BP&J.

Also, there would be riots at prisons, because they were so tired of being served lobster for their dinners.

My, how time have changed.  Now it is about $10 a pound.