Shipwrecks to Fossils to Rainbows-What a Day!

Sunday, July 18—Day 21

After breakfast we clean the cottage before leaving for Port au Choix. Hilary helps out by sweeping the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen. Once the bags are packed Marshal gets the car loaded and we begin our trip north on Route 430. Our drive to Port au Choix should take us about 2½ hours. The sky is overcast, but it isn’t raining when we leave Rocky Harbour.

About 30 minutes up the road we come to the provincial historical site for the S.S. Ethie, a ship that crashed on the rocky shore during a storm in the early 1900s. The most famous story to come from the crash is one is which a brave Newfoundland dog carried a baby ashore in a mailbag while the storm was still raging. We are surprised at the amount of wreckage still left on the beach. The engine block, the ribs of the ship, and several other large pieces of the ship are on the beach and just offshore. There is even one piece of wreckage that still has wood connected to it.

We return to the car and continue north. Before long we pass through Cow Head and exit Gros Morne National Park. The Long Range Mountains still climb high into the sky to the east and the Gulf of St. Lawrence pulses to the west. Another hour up the road the clouds get darker and it begins to rain. By the time we reach Port au Choix the rain is falling heavily so after checking into the Sea Echo Motel and getting to our two-bedroom cabin we decide to stay in for lunch. I make vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and we settle in to wait out the storm. Thor is busy during this storm and the thunder and lightning pass directly overhead with tremendous noise and blinding flashes of light. I am so glad that we aren't in a tent!

We finish lunch and Marshal and the girls start the first of several Uno games. I curl up under a blanket on the couch and enjoy some precious reading time. Around 4:00 p.m. the rain stops and we decide to visit the interpretation center at the Port au Choix National Historic Site. On the way to the historic site we pass a house with a storage shed filled with caribou and moose antlers! We're so astonished that we stop and take a picture.

At the historic site we walk through a small, but well thought out interpretation center. Long before Europeans ever set foot on Newfoundland the Maritime Archaic Indians and Dorset Paleo-Eskimos lived on the western shores of the island. They hunted seals and exploited the natural resources of the land and sea. Port au Choix is one of the richest archaeological sites in North America because it tells the story of 4400 years of human history from the Maritime Archaic Indians through the French occupation of the shores up to today's Canadian residents.

The hunting and survival skills of the Maritime Archaic Indians and the Dorset Paleo-Eskimos were remarkable. They used not only large harpoons to fish and hunt, but also small hooks and needles for much finer work. The clothing they made from seal skins was durable, practical, and water resistant. Although these people lived nearly 2500 years before the birth of Christ they were deeply spiritual and made time in their daily life to recognize the spirituality within them and the existence of a higher power. They believed in life beyond death and buried their family members with items they would need in the afterlife such as food, hunting supplies, and clothing. Considering the incredible difficulty inherent in living in such a harsh and unforgiving environment, the effort made to address spirituality is humbling.

When we finish at the interpretive center we drive to Point Riche to see one of the archaeological sites, the lighthouse, and the fossils at the beach. We aren't sure what we will find on the beach—we aren't even sure we will find any fossils. We are delighted when we reach the beach and find that it isn't sand, but rather long flat layers of sedimentary rock absolutely covered with 350 million year old fossils! The fossil-covered beach extends more than 3 km up the coast. We are like kids in a candy store as we move along the beach calling out, "Here's one! Here's another one!" The thrill doesn't wear off. We can't

believe that we're allowed to walk on the fossils. In addition to the fossils, there are beautiful little waterfalls coming down to the ocean and tide pools filled with little crabs and shrimp. Watching over the beach was the Point Riche lighthouse.

We spend more than an hour looking at the fossils before we return to Port au Choix for dinner at the Anchor restaurant. We have just ordered our dinner when another rainstorm hits. There is thunder and lightning and the power goes off and on all through dinner. Thank goodness the restaurant has backup generator power. We have a tasty

seafood dinner and enjoy a Newfoundland favorite for dessert—figgy duff. Figgy duff is a steamed pudding (cake) with molasses, raisins, and spices served with a vanilla white sauce. Delicious!

As we leave the restaurant a double rainbow appears over the harbor. We stop to enjoy the rainbow and lightning keeps flashing behind it. Then the clouds part and we see the moon. Never in our lives have we ever seen anything like the sky over Port au Choix this evening. This has truly been a day filled with firsts for us.

We return to our cabin and get the girls to bed. Marshal watches a little TV while I check my email and work on the blog. It has been a wonderful day, but it's time to get some rest because tomorrow we head to L'anse aux Meadows.