St. Anthony to Quirpon Island:

August 20, 2016

Thar she blows!

Fishing Point B&B owner Donna Budgell provided a wonderful breakfast, including Partridge Berry Jelly. While we lingered over breakfast we saw her husband Lester and a friend launch a small boat from the dock to go fishing. Less than a half hour later after we packed the tandem we went down to the dock to say goodbye.

Apparently the cod were jumping into the boat, little fishing required.

The route north toward L'Anse Aux Meadows was very scenic but I had heard enough about polar bears by this time that I kept my eyes open for anything that looked like a large white rock.

L'Anse aux Meadows is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I did not really appreciate it's significance until a guide explained. Man evolved in Africa and spread west into Europe and also east into Asia crossing into North America across the Bering Straits. These two waves of migration washed into each other here. In 1960 explorer Helge Ingstad and the archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad discovered the site and started archaeological excavation the following year revealing the remains of a Norse settlement from 990–1050. Local people were aware of the grassy mounds and led Ingstad to what they thought was an old Indian camp. Remains of eight buildings were found.

Buildings were thought to be constructed of sod placed over a wooden frame. We are entering a recreation.

Rhona had been standing too long at this point.

After touring the site, this sculpture on the hill was a little more meaningful.

After the tour of the Center we cycled to a small dock at Quirpon to await Ed English for a ride on a Zodiac boat out to Quirpon Lighthouse Inn.

Ed English loaded ten guests and a small amount of luggage into the Zodiak boat which is a (probably) fiberglass bottom with inflated tubes as gunwales.

We anticipated just a bumpy ride out to the northern end of Quirpon Island where we would be staying in Ed's Quirpon Island Lighthouse Inn. However, we had a big surprise as we entered the small cove near the lighthouse. A pod of Humpback whales had herded schools of fish into the cove and we followed the whales in as a feeding frenzy began. Schools of fish jumped out of the water while whales breached the surface chasing them. It was so unexpected we did not video the first attack but the following video did capture some closeups of the whales close to the Zodiac.

We unloaded at a small dock and climbed the hill to the lighthouse keeper's home. The lighthouse is still operational and of course the view was stupendous.

On a clear day, any picture is a great picture from here.

At the end of the day we enjoyed a farm style dinner around a huge wooden table with guests from all over the world. Donald Trump's candidacy came up and Americans were asked to try to explain his popularity. Rhona and I were unable to do so.

Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 395 miles (636 km)

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