Purplelake: Newfoundland & SPM (St. Pierre & Miquelon)

We took a quick trip to Newfoundland in July 8-17, 2018. Here are some of the highlights:

Newfoundland is also blessed with lobsters like PEI and Nova Scotia. We had a feast!

After landing in St. Johns and stayed one night, we drove to Fortune, NL to take a fast ferry to Saint Pierre and Miquelon which is a France Oversea Territory and they uses Euro and speak French!

Even in July, Saint Pierre is filled with sea fog. Cold and damp!

Being part of France, wine here is very cheap just like back in France. We brought our lobsters here to enjoy with their wine

On the short ferry ride across the harbor to Ile aux Marins which has a long history of settlement

At the fort on Ile aux Marins. These guns were never fired. France ceded the New France in North America to Britain in 1763 but somehow SPM was returned to France

SPM now has a population of 6000 and they import all their groceries from France, and not Newfoundland which is just an hour of ferry ride away! They also run their own electricity, water, post office, and cable internet facilities.

Guns overlooking the main harbour at Saint Pierre. Cars here look exactly the same as the European models although some take advantage of the North American muscle pick up trucks.

Lighthouse at the main harbour

We hiked across the small island to the other side. This is a very tough place to make a living for early settlers. Just rocks and short shrubs.

End of our hike overlooking a small islet

Back to the mainland (hmm... I mean a much bigger island known as Newfoundland). We drove west across Newfoundland on the only highway and reached Gander. Gander is now known for its generosity shown to many stranded passengers on grounded planes on Sep 11, 2001

We found this very pretty spot in Harry's Harbour, a short drive from our B&B in Indian River, NL

The whole Newfoundland is full of peninsulas and inlets linked together in the middle by the Transcanada highway

Our B&B owner Doreen. Can you believe she is over 70 years old? Yiling is holding an Ugly Stick which is a partner in Newfoundland's folk dance

We reached Gros Morne National Park at the west end of Newfoundland

Hiking the scenic Tableland trail in Gros Morne National Park

Tableland is an UNESCO site noted for its rare feature where the Earth's mantle is folded over and exposed. The Earth's mantle is actually toxic to plants so you do not see much plant growth in the area

Outside the park headquarter overlooking Gros Morne National Park

Lobster Cover Head Lighthouse in Gros Morne National Park

We stayed in a fully equipped cabin in Rocky Harbour and cooked up a storm eating all kinds of fresh seafood like mussels and lobsters

Beautiful sunset at Rocky Harbour, NL

We drove north to see another rare fossil - Thrombolites which are not fossils technically but the structures built by microbes that lived in huge colonies long time ago

These beautiful structures are found only in two places on earth: Flower's Cover, NL and somewhere in Western Australia

Jordi Bonet Murals in the lobby of St. Anthony's community hospital

We came too late to witness Newfoundland's famous Iceberg Alley in full action but we managed to catch up to some small icebergs in St. Anthony at the northern most part of Newfoundland.

Seeing an iceberg is an emotional thing. The ice inside these giants was formed millennia ago

This is only a small iceberg. The giants are many times bigger

Newfoundland's brand of beer is called Iceberg which claims to be made with water from actual icebergs!

Can you tell what are those cute little creatures in the background? Answer coming up...

They make nests just over on the small island right across from the village of Elliston near Bonavista. It is one of the few places on Earth where you can see these birds' colony up close on land instead of going out on a boat