Goose Cove and L'Anse aux Meadows

The weather was clear and spectacular on Tuesday morning.  Perfect for a day trip.

First, we drove back out to Fishing Point in St. Anthony.  Chuck had spotted another iceberg from there on Monday and wanted to drive back there to see if we could see it.

Unfortunately, the clouds had still not lifted out where he had seen the iceberg.

But the view all around Fishing Point was clear and beautiful.

And we got to see a couple of more whales.

Sometimes, all you see is the spout.

Behind the point, was a tall hill with steps going up to the top of it.

Chuck saw one of the rock people statues that hikers will leave many times up at the top of the hill.  We have seen many of these little statues along the roadsides.

At the top of this hill, were some hikers building another one.

Fishing Point was a beautiful way to start a beautiful morning.

Next, we drove to Goose Cove, which was at the end of Highway 430.  We drove by this house with all these moose antlers on the roof just as we turned down Highway 430.

Then, a few miles down the road, we came to Goose Cove.

As always, rocks everywhere.  (We are starting to understand why they call Newfoundland “The Rock.”

We decided to explore the Pumley Cove Trail  at the end of the road.

Looking back from the trail, you could see the little community of Goose Cove.

The trail went up a hill along the water’s edge.

We could see some snow way back off in the distance.

The trail next went up on top of a cliff overlooking the water.

It was a long way down to the water.

Chuck tried to see if he could spot any more icebergs or whales.

We headed a little further up the trail..

…but we took a short-cut back to the car…

…across some really springy ground cover.

At the end of the trail was an old sled used for hauling logs.

On the way back to St. Anthony, we spotted the type of sled they use now to haul the firewood behind the snowmobiles.

We stopped by the motorhome to eat a quick lunch before heading further north to L’Anse aux Meadows, where the Vikings first landed.

The coves around L’Anse aux Meadows were beautiful too but a little more wide open.

And we spotted another iceberg way off in the distance.

Some of the rock formations on the outlying islands were a little different.

I wondered what the Vikings thought about this land when they landed here over 1,100 years ago.

We spotted this shipwreck on the coast of one of the islands.

There were lots of birds on these outlying islands too.

We next drove to the L’Anse aux Meadows Historical Park where artifacts from the Vikings had been found.

We went into the visitor center but not on the tour because we were running short on time.  We were going to the Great Viking Feast later this evening in St. Anthony.  We could see these reconstructed sod huts from the visitor center.

Notice the iceberg in the background.

I wonder how many icebergs the Vikings saw.

As we headed out of the park, we spotted a bull moose.

Unfortunately, we never could get a head shot.  But he was a BIG moose.

We drove into the seaside community of Quirpon where we saw another logging sleigh.  We think this one must belong to Santa.

And this bicycle left on the side of the road.  Hope nobody was on it!  (The main reason I took this picture is because it reminded Chuck of a time he and Donald saw this guy returning a bicycle wheel to Sears that was about as warped as one of the wheels on this bicycle.)

Maybe Santa will bring the owner a new bike for Christmas!  :)