Western Brook Wonders

Western Brook is the name given to a magnificent fiord like body of water in Gros Morne National Park.  It is a tourist must do while visiting Gros Morne.  Occasionally they have to cancel the trip due to poor weather; however the forecast seemed encouraging and  two boats were fully loaded and ready for spectacular scenery and photographic opportunities.

Soon after leaving  the dock we realized that our day might not  be splendid sunshine and fine photos.  That being said it is always interesting to get dramatic photos when the weather is changing.

The further in to the journey and the darker the skies became.

This photo shows the other boat that was following us.  It gives you a better idea of how large these cliffs  really are.

Gratefully being sailors we had prepared for wet and cold weather....including long undies which were gratefully appreciated by the time the trip was over.

Once again you can see the sheer size of this body of water and its surrounding rock.

In between the showers we were able to see some other colours than gray.

By the time our boat was on its way back to the dock everyone was huddled and desperately trying to stay warm and as dry as they possibly could.  Unfortunately the boat had limited shelter so the hardy stayed above decks and saw what Western Brook looked like in sleet, fog and driving rain.
Once back in eLVie we found just what we needed to thaw us out....hot chocolate and a wee shot of rum.

eLVie's Gets A Tow

This is what happens when your eyes are on ice bergs and not on the road.  We learned that Newfoundlanders will try just about anything to help a person out.  This fellow actuallly thought he could pull eLVvie out of the ditch with his four wheeler.  eLVie moved but not enough.  Just when we thought it was time to call Good Sam along came another willing Newfoundlander and this time with a big truck.

This time eLVie made it to the road just as the tow rope broke.  We were very grateful for the help and eLVie was no worse for wear.

This is the siren ice berg that had lured us off the road and subsequently in to the ditch!!??

The Vikings were the first people to arrive in Newfoundland about 1000 years ago.  L'Anse Aux Meadows is a World Heritage Site and is situated north of St. Anthony at the northernmost part of the province.

I can't imagine crossing an ice filled ocean in a boat like this?  It is thought that the Vikings sailed down from Iceland looking for new lands.   

Some of our boon docking stops along the north west coast.

The Provincial and National Campgrounds that we stayed in were all but empty and we could have our pick of ocean view sites.

These formations were called thrombolites and were living creatures millions of years ago. 

The Beach Girls Turns 60

 

The annual bathing suit picture taken on my 60th birthday.

 

Rob had a beautiful cake made for me from Culberts in Goderich showing the cottage and the beach girl.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by good friends.

My wine glass says 60 is the new 50.

 

It wasn't too difficult to blow out my birthday candles.  Rob stole the show with his Michaelangelo's David apron!?!

I just know that my birthday wishes will come true.

 

 

eLVie and Rob gave me a special gift! 









Elvie Goes North to The Iceberg Festival in St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Every town has to have a festival and St. Anthony has its iceberg festival in June.  The majority of the icebergs come from about 100 iceberg producing glaciers along the Greenland coast while a few originate in the eastern Canadian Arctic islands.   While on our cruise on the Gaffer 3 the crew scooped up some iceberg chunks for us to see and taste.  It was amazing to hold a piece of ice that may be over 15,000 years old!?!

Icebergs are the edges of a glacier that has broken off and slipped into the ocean.  The glacier has been thousands of years of snow building up and gradually it  flows towards the ocean under its own weight and eventually slips in.  The current off  Labrador brings them to the Newfoundland coast after a two year journey from Greenland.  Once they are to Newfoundland they rarely last a couple of months in the warmer waters.

 We were dressed in our foul weather gear complete with long undies....many others were cold but we sailors were prepared.

We motored for a good five miles out in the Atlantic to see this berg.....about the size of an aircraft carrier and about 6 stories tall.  It is very hard to believe how big these icebergs can be and what we see is "only the tip of the iceberg."  This expression is explained as follows:  Icebergs float because the density of ice is lower than that of seawater.  The ratio of these densities tells us that 7/8 of the iceberg 's mass must be below the water.  Usually they protrude underwater so that they are 20-30% longer than they appear from above the surface.  The average depth of the berg is slightly less than its apparent length above water.

The bluish streaks of clear, bubble free ice often seen in icebergs results from the refreezing of melt water which fills crevasses formed in the glacier as it creeps over land.  The ice is blue because of the natural light scattering characteristics of pure ice.  The first massive berg that we saw had some dark streaks throughout and these are formed from airborne dust or dirt that was eroded from the land and ends up on the glacier surface.  

It is hard to describe what it is like to see icebergs up close but they are truly quite beautiful.  Sometimes you see coloured streaks, caves and tunnels, old and new waterline notches, even objects such as boulders or birds are seen on icebergs.  What would be truly spectacular is the occasion of an iceberg calving and rolling which evidently can be heard a long way away.

  

Some facts you may find interesting:

-Icebergs are comprised of pure,fresh water.

-Icebergs float because the density of  ice is less than sea water.

-It takes an iceberg about two to three years to reach the island of Newfoundland from Greenland, a distance of 1,800 miles.

-The average iceberg weight for the Grand Banks is one to two hundred tonnes.

-Ice harvested from icebergs is often used to make products that boast purity and superior quality, such as vodka and some beers.  Rob was anxious to try the pure beer. 

-Hibernia, an oil platform off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, is designed to withstand the impact of an iceberg in excess of five million tonnes.  

Elvie's Adventure Continues

We have a wonderful keepsake from Newfoundland.  We happened to see some of Ben's work in a hotel in Gros Morne and decided to visit his studio.  It just happened to be on the way north from Gros Morne and by then we had decided that we would go to St. Anthony to see the ice bergs rather than Twillingate. 

Ben's work is quite wonderful.  He makes 3D figurines and adds them to his painted picture.  We had him add a whale and an ice berg to our piece.

Ben is adding painted splash to our 3D humpback whale.

While on our way north to St. Anthony we found ourselves a great boon docking spot complete with water view.  It was chilly and we had to use the propane furnace but it was a good spot to camp.

Everywhere you go you see fishing boats in Newfoundland.

There are also lobster traps everywhere; however we did hear that the price of lobster is so low that many of the fishermen are not able to make a living. That low price is not reflected in the price of lobster dinners however.

 

This fishing boat uses seine nets.  The small boat tows the net out from the big boat and eventually closes the circle of fish.  The fishing industry used to use drag nets along the bottom for cod; however there is now a moratorium on cod fishing  and it may last 20 years.  Fisherman are allowed to keep 5 per cent cod if they catch some while fishing for other kinds of fish but that is all.  The Newfoundlanders blame other countries that still fish the outer banks for the decimated cod population.

 

 

We didn't get screeched into Newfoundland.....tourists are dressed in yellow slickers, given a shot of Screech, which is terrible rum and given a cod to kiss; however we did have a few delicious cod dinners.   The Atlantic Cod shown below was stuffed and on the wall in a lighthouse.

 

The mural shown above was displayed in the lighthouse pictured below and showed some other important residents of Newfoundland....killer whales, polar bears that float over from Labrador on pack ice, but swim back after feasting on Newfoundland seals, and puffins, which are the national bird.