Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Heading up to St. Anthony

The day started off just a little chilly looking. Let's hope the fog burns off!

This looked interesting...

Pretty amazing...

Cool!

Hello from the arches!

Look at the nice round rocks...

Looks like there used to be another arch here...

All we have to do now is say "smile" and the hand flies up!

These trees are weird. We've seen this several times along the way. It's like the wind blew everything off them or, more likely, the salt water spray has killed them.

And then it was back into the fog...

And out of the fog...one of many fishing villages along the way...

These trees are called tuckamore, a term for balsam fir and spruce trees that have been stunted and shaped by the wind.

Pretty barren now...

We stopped for lunch in Port aux Choix. Close knit neighbours...


The Anchor Cafe...not hard to recognize when you're told it looks like the bow of a boat!

Cute interior...

Waiting for lunch...

We have been noticing this artist's work in several places. He has a studio in Port aux Choix, so we plan to check it out after lunch. For the Great Big Sea fans, this piece is called Lukey's Boat.

Figgy Duff? OK...we'll bite, literally! It's like a slice of dark plum pudding and there is a slice of white "plum" pudding, covered in sauce. Surprisingly, it's not sweet!

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture. We both agreed that this is one time where the "dummy" actually looks better!

It's low tide...

Typical fishing shanty with lobster traps beside it...

Lots of trawlers...

Whee-ha! Look at the dips in this road!

Point Riche lighthouse built in 1871...

Looks like a postcard!

And then we arrived at Ben Ploughman's studio to find a note on the door saying "Back in 20 minutes." Sketchy! We went and got gas and came back about 30 minutes later to find the note still there. His neighbour told us he just saw him at the lumber store, so we waited a bit more...

And looked around...this piece was leaning against a building. It's called Great Big Sea No More. A lot of his works are based on Newfoundland events, like the cod moratorium.

And now we're getting bored...me with Buddy the Viking...

This is on the side of the studio...

Couldn't wait any longer for Ben, so we headed out. We'll check him out on the way back...These trawlers are in dry dock.

I think the dry dock business is a good one around Port aux Choix. We noticed lots of very large new homes.


We have seen so many of these little gardens on the side of the road, quite often in the middle of nowhere. It seems that residents just arbitrarily stake a claim to a piece of land and plant potatoes, beets and other hardy crops. No one seems to worry about anyone stealing their harvest.

We're getting there...it's 2:30 in the afternoon and we have 193 slow miles left to go.

There's snow in them thar hills!

Pretty...

This was too funny...there was cove upon cove...Blue Cove, Pond Cove, Deadmans Cove, Bear Cove, Flowers Cove...and then I guess they ran out of names!

An old-time method of drying wood...

And then some more fog...

How is this thing still standing?? Looks like the next big gust of wind might take care of it.

At last!! St. Anthony...

Stop lights? Maybe there is rush hour traffic!

St. Anthony lighthouse built in 1835. I guess they don't all have to be tall. We saw an iceberg off in the distance. Tomorrow we'll go check out the best spots for viewing...

St. Anthony on a cold wet evening...

The lady at our hotel said her husband spotted icebergs that are grounded at L'Anse aux Meadows. They go out and chip ice off them to use as ice in their drinks. Go figure! I guess it's safe if they are grounded. Tomorrow...iceberg search!

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