venturing4th: Finally! Moose

This morning we hitched up and drove out of the driveway of the campground right onto Route 430 north; the Viking Trail. #430 is the only highway that travels up the west coast of Newfoundland, so every truck heading north and anyone who wants to travel north is on Route 430. No wonder there was so much traffic noise on the road right next to our campground.

About twenty miles north we entered Gros Morne National Park, the gem of the western peninsula, maybe of all of Newfoundland. Since our itinerary has us spending six days in Gros Morne in August, on our way back down the peninsula, we only drove right through. But, almost as soon as we entered the Park, we saw a moose off to the side of the road. We have been hearing about moose ever since we arrived in Newfoundland, but this is the first one we have seen.

We did stop at theVisitor's Center, about half way through the park, located right on route 430.(When has there ever been a Visitor's Center we have not stopped at?) We got some good information that we will use to plan our visit later on.

As we were driving along we commented to each other that we have not seen any other Airstreams in Newfoundland. About a half hour later we passed two Airstreams pulled over in a roadside picnic area. Later, at our campground, what should appear, but the same two Airstreams.

Oceanside RV Park in Port au Choix, NL, right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There are only three other RVs in the campground besides our three Airstreams. The Airstream on the right, with the little window in the back, belongs to a couple from Texas. They are traveling with her brother and his friend who are from Massachusetts. They have had their Airstreams about six years and have travelled together to many places including Alaska. The little Airstream I would guess is a 25 footer; the middle one is about 27 feet, and ours is 30 feet long.

The landscape in this northwestern part of Newfoundland is like none other that I have seen. It reminds me of the arctic tundra. One of the main reasons that we stopped here is to visit the Port au Choix National Historic Site. Evidence of four ancient cultures has been uncovered at Port au Choix; in archaeological terms, these are the Maritime Archaic, Dorset and Groswater Paleoeskimo, and "Recent Indians" or the ancestors of the Beothuk. Port au Choix's landscape is also intriguing; the limestone barrens.

The local Foodland that we can see from our campground, back up the hill.

This is the Visitor Center at the Port au Choix Historic Site. We arrived too late, they were just closing at 5pm. We can actually see this Center across a little bay from our campsite.

Even though the center was closed we decided to take a 4 km hike through the surrounding area. What you see on the ground, in the center of the picture, is a tree.

There are many endangered and threatened species of wildflower here. We will find out more tomorrow when the Center is open.

Then, just as we came around a little tuckamore, we heard a splash and rustling and there - was- another- moose, about twenty feet from us.

I think she was as surprised as we were, and quickly made for the trees.

The trail out across the limestone barrens.

There were several tuckamores.

Wild country and stunted trees.

We took a loop trail around Crow Head, which is this weird hill made of boulders and misshapen trees.

The view from the top of Crow's Head.

The town of Port au Choix in the distance.

It is the strangest thing; we have seen this before. In the midst of an historic and quaint fishing village will be these suburban-style houses - big ones. It can be very incongruous.