Subi & The 5

L’Anse Aux Meadows and St. Anthony – Newfoundland – Out and About

We took a day trip from St. Barbe up to the northern tip of Newfoundland (the Great Northern peninsula) to visit L’Anse Aux Meadows. It was a cold, foggy morning which set the atmosphere for the lonely, quiet, peaceful road full of moose.  We lost count of the number of moose we saw out and about on the side of the road eating grass. Luckily, none of them were out on the road but they certainly gave us plenty of photo ops. We did not see any caribou although people who drive the same road the day before spotted 5 of them.

 

On our way to L’Anse Aux Meadows we passed a number of small villages including St. Lunaire-Griquet which is a small fishing village that offers tourism activities such as boat tours and musical entertainment. It also serves as the service center for the surrounding smaller communities such as Quirpon, Straitsview, and L’Anse Aux Meadows.  The Canadian National Park Historic Site of L’Anse Aux Meadows is located about 2 km south of the very tip where the town of L’Anse Aux Meadows is located. The Norseman restaurant is in the town and is well known as a great place to eat.

 

L’Anse Aux Meadows Historic Site

This archaeological site was discovered in the 1960’s when evidence of Norse explorers were found to have settled here over 1,000 years ago.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the only authenticated Norse site in North America. It was cold and foggy and windy with snow still on the ground when we arrived in mid June which set the tone perfectly.  It was nice to huddle into one of the settlement mud huts where a fire was going and an actor in period costume was telling stores, playing music, and baking bread which he had us all sample. We were all so, so cold and it was nice to be inside and picture what it must have felt like 1,000 years ago (albeit with down jackets on).  The bread was outstanding!!

 

St. Anthony

St. Anthony is the largest town in the Great Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland with a population of over 4,000. It, of course, is full of restaurants, stores, and lodging along with a full host of tourist activities and is well known for their icebergs and iceberg and whale watching tours.

 

We departed St. Anthony and headed back towards St. Barbe passing more moose along the way along with some icebergs and a golden eagle and a few bald eagles. It was still a bit drizzling and foggy out but soon we were on the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence and the sun broke out.

 

Flowers Cove and the Thrombolites!!!

We decided to drive around the village of Flowers Cove and we came across a sign for a Thrombolite Trail. Off we went…touring Thrombolites!!

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