Labrador and Quebec

Saturday, July 30

We took the ferry from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Labrador today. Actually, the ferry goes to Quebec, a few miles away from Labrador. The trip was about 1 1/2 hours. During the winter when pack ice fills in part of the Strait of Belle Isle, the ferry leaves from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and ports at the same place in Quebec, a journey that must take 6 or more hours.

On the ferry we met up with several people we have become friendly with in Newfoundland, and even before in Nova Scotia. Since there is only one road going North and South, we keep seeing the same people wherever we go. One group is a family from the Netherlands whose daughter is going to be going to graduate school in Boston. They are traveling around this area and need to end up in Ottawa for her to get her visa through the Embassy there. Another is a couple from Quebec that we have seen several times.

While on the ferry, our Netherlands friends were talking with a gentleman who lives in Goose Bay, Labrador. He is a judge, and it sounds like he has a unique job going from one small Labrador town to another to hold court. He sometimes goes by car, float plane, snowmobile, or whatever way he can reach the town. He was telling us about the “road” in Labrador. He thinks it is quite good, but he lives here and is used to it! Only portions of the road are paved, the rest are gravel. We found out that even the paved road is not good! The only paved portion once you get off the ferry in Blanc Sabon is about 50 miles north into Labrador and 50 miles south into Quebec. Many of the villages can only be reached by boat or plane. The road goes all the way from the ferry north through Goose Bay, Churchill Falls, and Labrador City into Quebec, but it is about 500 miles long and extremely bumpy. We decided not to go on it with the RV, especially since flat tires and other damage are a real possibility.

We went up to Red Bay, passing several fishing villages along the way. Once in Red Bay we found a nice spot overlooking the harbor, and settled in for the night.

Sunday, July 31

We tried to go to the local church in Red Bay along with a few other tourists, but found out that they have no minister, so services are not held there any more.

Red Bay is a charming little fishing community on a natural harbor that right now has an iceberg in it! In the late 1500s, Basque whalers would come here for about 8 months of the year to kill whales. They would render the blubber into oil which was then placed in barrels that they had brought with them (disassembled until needed). They also harvested the baleen which was used for the stays in women’s corsets, among other things. More than 1,000 men would usually come, and they had quite an operation going here.

In the 1970s and 80s, archeologists uncovered the remains of much of the operation, including a galleon that had wrecked in the harbor and several of the whale boats. From documentation in Spain and France, they feel that it must be the wreck of the ship, San Juan, which got loose from its moorings one night during a bad storm, was slammed into the rocks, and sunk with 1,000 barrels of whale oil lost. The mud and cold water had actually preserved most of the objects, and they were able to resurrect one of the fishing boats and some whale jaw bones from the right whale. They found most of the pieces of the galleon also, but the cost of restoring it was prohibitive, so after carefully measuring and documenting each piece, it was all put back where they found it in the mud and covered with a large piece of rubber weighted down with concrete filled tires. That way, if later they found some money to do something with it, it would still be preserved.

The archeologists also found a grave yard containing the remains of 12 men who probably died from disease, not the wreck. Along with the men, they found some articles of clothing still partially intact! It was all a very fascinating exhibit.

Not wanting to risk our RV to the gravel road, we headed back south and went along the coastal road past several fishing villages in Quebec. The countryside here is beautiful, but very stark. The land is vast, and filled with rocky hills on which only different kinds of lichen grow. There are a few stunted trees here and there, but none growing on the rocks. There are also many, many gorgeous lakes and rivers adding to the scene. It has been a very enjoyable two days!

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