Newfoundland

We didn't have a reservation for the ferry from Blanc Sablon QC to St.Barbe NL, but we luckily managed to get on and got one of the last spots. No motion sickness. Less than two hours. It was good.

I love Newfoundland. First off, the bugs are noticeably better than in Labrador. Not sure why the short distance across the sea makes a difference, but it does. We drove north to St.Anthony's and Luke took me for taters at Mary Brown's...a Newfoundland must! That are pretty fantastic. There was also a very friendly journalist that we met, who told us to go check out the icebergs. So we did. There was a particularly large, nice one right next to the look-out that was built to view the icebergs as they come into the harbour.

This particular iceberg made the CBC news, as a video of it breaking later on that evening:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/iceberg-video-stanthony-newfoundland-labrador-breakup-1.3672511

We then headed to L'Anse aux Meadow, where there is an ancient Viking settlement from about a thousand years ago. Technically it's a Norse settlement, since 'viking' is reserved for when they were pillaging and raping, and this was a peaceful settlement. Nothing is left (that hasn't been taken by archeologists) except the indentations of where the buildings were in the ground. The buildings were very, very small and the biggest building was for the most important resident, Leif Erickson.

Depressions in the land where the buildings stood

The settlement had about 60 people living there and they suspect they did ship repair there, as well as taking resources from the land back to Greenland. They did have a recreation of the village just beside where the actual village was. The building walls were made out of peat! It kept them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Peat House

Inside, they had items they would have used on display. There were very few women at the settlement, and the ones that were there were the wives of the important men. They had sheep and spun wool and knit and did weaving. I would have fit right in!

Spindles and wool

A Loom

More wooly goodness

While we were getting the tour with the tour guide, a moose and her calf appeared in the distance. According to the guide, that moose has had several offspring in the area. It was an eventful first day in Newfoundland!