Nfld & Labrador - Battle Harbour

 We finally reached Labrador!  Battle Harbour, our first stop, is a restored 19th century fishing village on a small island off the coast of Labrador.  It is a designated National Historic Site and preserves the history of Labrador fishery.  There were wharves and fish-processing spaces, a community with church, pub, RCMP station, etc..  For many years, it was considered the unofficial capital of Labrador.  

We were let loose on the island for the afternoon.  Battle Harbour not only gave us an idea of what life was like in a fishing village, but it also boasts a plane crash site.  Getting to the site required a steep hike and I passed on it, but I have posted here a photo from my fellow traveller, Jean.  I did a leisurely walk in the village and the surrounding fields, exploring the spectacular coastal rockscapes along the waterfront, visited an old cemetery and the mercantile complex with its fishing rooms.  It was an interesting afternoon.

Battle Harbour

This is a "flake" - a drying rack for cod fish and if you can read what is on the signage below, it gives you information about the whole process of fish drying.  Hope you can read it as it is very interesting.

Vintage scales

Life size photo of the men from 100 years ago

Musicians at the coffee shop

St. James Anglican

Looking out at the Labrador sea from the heath

Looking up behind the heath

One of the passengers practicing rock climbing?

 Behind this mountain is the site of the plane crash of 1958

The remnants of the plane.  Photo credit:  Jean Liao

The view from near the crash site.  Photo credit - Jean Liao

The entrance to the 19th century cemetery and the old head stones

Wild flowers on the island - clockwise from the left:  cottongrass, butterwort, marsh cinquefoil (rare), golden root.

The incredible rockscape on the far side of the village

As we leave Battle Harbour, we saw more icebergs,,, 

a Northern Gannet in flight,

a watercolour-like landscape,

and an incredible sunset, thanks to the fires in Quebec

 

Nfld & Labrador - Gros Morne NP

 I climbed Gros Morne mountain in 2008, braved it past the "point of no return" and made it up to the top and back down.  True, it took us almost 9 hours and got the young people who were passing us left and right worried whether we'd make it.  They were clapping their hands when they saw us show up at the restaurant at the end of the trail.  When we landed at Woody Point to visit a different part of Gros Morne National Park, I had mixed feelings - glad we are seeing something new but a bit wistful that I couldn't see the stunning scenery again.

Gros Morne 

The Tablelands do not have the spectacular scenery of Western Brook Pond or Gros Morne Mountain but it has some significant geological history - formed 500 million years ago in the middle layer of the earth, beneath an ancient ocean.  It was the earth's mantle thrust up to the top when ancient continents collided, forming the Appalachian mountain chain which this is part of.  When we walked on the Tablelands, we were actually walking on the exposed mantle - to put it romantically, the "soul" of the Earth's core.  After 400 million years of erosion, we now have this barren, bizarre orange landscape with some unique plants and vegetation. Mind boggling how it all happened.

The Tablelands as seen from the trail

The Tablelands from a distance 

We were lucky to have a young, articulate Park Ranger who gave us the whole geological history and timelines in easy to understand language (Christina is a performing arts major turned Park ranger).  We did not have a very long hike but she pointed out many interesting plants and geological features.  Since we did not have the time or energy to climb the Tablelands anyway, the easy trail was good enough for me.  

The orange rocks we were walking on are called peridotite - igneous rocks, dense with iron, magnesium, nickel, cobalt and chromium; this rock is poisonous to many plants. The plants you see below are the special ones that can survive in this environment.  Peridotites are actually black but because they have been on the surface for so long, they have "rusted" (iron oxidizes) and so have an orange surface.  Break one open, and you can see the black core.  Amazing!

Peridotites

This is Sepentinite (named for the scale-like pattern on its surface) formed by the metamorphosis of peridotite (see closeup below)

 

There were some unique plants among the rocks!

Pearly everlasting

White bog orchid

Sprawling needle sunrose (rare)

Pitcher plant with flower

Butterwort (also carnivorous)

Hare bell

Alderberry

Fireweed

We spent some time visiting the Park Visitor Centre which further reinforced our understanding of the geological history of Gros Morne.  One of the Indigenous staff was leading a walkabout workshop in the garden about native medicinal plants.  It was very interesting but we had to leave midway to catch the shuttle back to Woody Point so we can get back to the ship.  Woody Point is very small but it has a lighthouse and a library!  👍👍

Woody Point main street

Woody Point including the lighthouse - from the zodiac

Gros Morne mountain and the Tablelands in one shot from the ship.  We said goodbye to this beautiful National Park and had our first iceberg sighting on the trip.