MOOSE MANIA.
Day 133 – We were up at 5 a.m. this morning. It was painful. But when the sun is rising or setting is supposedly the best time to see Moose. We’d been told where to go; our expectations were high. Armed with coffee and cameras, we headed out at a little after 6 a.m. It was a warmish 62 degrees with no wind and lots of clouds – the calm before the storm.
The storms weren’t supposed to begin until around 11 a.m. The sunrise was pretty and very few people were on the road. We drove between Raleigh and the St. Anthony airport; these were the roads the boat captain said to take. No Moose. We also took dirt side roads off the more major roads, thinking the Moose might be more in the trees. No Moose. Finally, there was a large Moose near the side of the highway, but it took off into the woods as soon as we passed by. Damn! We turned around and drove slowly and quietly back. It was in the woods, but it had stopping moving away and was just standing still. Rob did get one picture. There are branches in front of the Moose. But you can still tell what it is, a female. One picture/sighting made the 5 a.m. get-up time worthwhile.
We went back to the RV and Rob worked on solving the problem of the full hard drive. He can’t process the pictures from yesterday and today until he has room on the computer to do so. I read a little and that put me to sleep – early morning wake-up call, you know. At 11 a.m. the wind had picked up a little, but it didn’t look like a big storm was coming. Just in case though, we headed out to do our final day of driving around the northeastern part of the Peninsula. We hoped to beat the storm, whenever it did arrive.
We first drove through St. Anthony to the end of Route 430. Goose Cove is the last small fishing village that we hadn’t checked out this trip. The entire northeastern coast of the Great Northern Peninsula used to have fishing villages at every bay/cove, but many of these villages have been abandoned and the people relocated. When we are driving thru some of the smaller, more remote villages with low populations and very small town wharfs, we sometimes wonder if they will still be occupied 20 years from now. Goose Cove seems to be doing well and since they are only 8 km from the much bigger town of St. Anthony, they’ll probably be okay.
We drove back to St. Anthony, got gas in the Honda, and walked around Fishing Point Park. This Park is situated on top of a hill with an incredible view on three sides of the Ocean. There are plenty of parking spaces and people often just sit in their cars or on the benches watching for Whales. In spring and early summer, there are often Icebergs, too.
There is a restaurant, The Lightkeeper’s Cafe, which is popular and conveniently located by the Park. The Cafe also has views from their windows and outdoor seating, views on three sides. Our meal was good: excellent Seafood Chowder for us both; Rob had the Cod au Gratin with a small Kale Salad, and I had the Shrimp & Scallop Basket. After lunch we drove around St. Anthony. In addition to a gas station, they even have a grocery store, a drug store, a liquor store, and a small shopping mall – oh yeah, a couple of fast food places, too! Wow.
We were still waiting for the storm to arrive. The weather forecast on the phone was not acknowledging it, not a hurricane, but just your normal Newfoundland day or two of rain and wind. The last stop we made was the Grenfell Museum in St. Anthony. We hadn’t been to the Museum before; we were too busy last time. When we were buying our tickets, the ladies behind the counter mentioned that the storm had recently been downgraded. That’s a good thing. In 2019 we were in Labrador when a big hurricane went through. And late last year, Hurricane Fiona did lots of damage in Newfoundland.
We enjoyed the Grenfell Museum. We also went to the indoor mural display at the hospital and stopped at the Grenfell House to take a picture, but did not do that tour. Lots more information about Dr. Grenfell is below.
From the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023: “Dr. Wilfred Grenfell brought modern medicine to northern Newfoundland and the remote communities of coastal Labrador beginning in the 1890s. His work and legacy live on, and his story is told at the Grenfell Historic Properties in St. Anthony.”
Rob and I both had read a book about a Grenfell-trained nurse in the mid-1900s as she traveled by boat to some of the tiny outport fishing villages to help women deliver babies, fishermen who had been injured on the job, children sick or injured, etc., (by boat because there weren’t yet any roads to these villages). The book was ‘Adventures of a Grenfell Nurse’, by Rosalie M. Lombard. I had purchased this book on the ferry traveling to Newfoundland the first time we came here. Dr. Grenfell is recognized in Newfoundland and Labrador in many cities and villages with displays and interpretive signs, so we already knew a little about him this trip. The museum in St. Anthony helped us to learn more. (For example, early in his career he was dog-sledding in the snow & ice in winter in Newfoundland, and he got stuck on an ice pan [floating piece of pack ice]. For a couple of days he was lost at sea; he was on his way to a village on a medical emergency. Fishermen were out fishing and saw him on a distant ice pan floating out to sea. It was getting dark so they couldn’t attempt to rescue him until the next morning when it became light again. He was unrecognizable with hypothermia and frostbite. Yet, he went on to continue his work. He died at age 75, a Canadian hero, and was knighted twice in the UK.)
From the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveler’s Guide 2023 – “The Grenfell Legend. Northern Newfoundland and Labrador’s harsh living conditions and lack of medical care attracted Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the British physician-missionary. He worked with the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen on the North Sea. A visit in 1892 convinced Dr. Grenfell that serving the people of remote Labrador and northern Newfoundland was his calling. He established Labrador’s first coastal hospital at Battle Harbour the next year, followed by a large mission at St. Anthony. From the mission, he sailed along the coast in mission boats, treating 15,000 patients in 1900 alone. By 1907 he had opened treatment centers at Indian Harbour, Forteau, North West River, and seven other remote settlements. For his efforts, he was knighted. Dr. Grenfell initiated a policy of free medical treatment, clothing, or food in exchange for labor or goods. He was funded by private contributions and the Newfoundland government, and he opened cooperative stores, nursing homes, mobile libraries, orphanages, and lumber mills. He also initiated the Grenfell Handicrafts programs and home gardening projects. In 1912, he formed the International Grenfell Association to consolidate the English, Canadian, and American branches that funded his work. The physician was subsequently knighted a second time, in 1927, and also awarded recognition by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and other notable organizations.” from Moon Handbooks, Atlantic Canada, 5th Edition, 2009
We drove back to the campground and relaxed some with the girls. Rob is still working on the computer; I am writing the blogs, and once the pictures are ready, we’ll send them out. These things happen. The high temperature today was 70 degrees. As of 8:30 p.m., it is breezy & there’s only been a spritzel of rain – the windows are all open. Some hurricane!