29 August 2019, Thursday

This morning we return to the Visitor Centre. O wants to re-examine the model of a Knarr there, the type of boat thought to have been used by Vikings to visit L’Anse aux Meadows, the next stop on our exploration of Newfoundland. The knarr was a cargo ship, not a long boat. From the Visitor Center we return to Rocky Harbour seeking a few groceries. The one grocery store we find has a few of the vegetable basics of Newfoundland: carrots, cabbage and potatoes. (The other two basics are turnips and beets.) But that’s not what we were looking for so we decide we have enough supplies to get through the next four days of camping at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park anyway. We do find a CD of music of Newfoundland which we decide to buy, along with bottle of partridgeberry (also known as lingonberry) sauce. Just a bit further down the road we also find a nice view view of Rocky Harbour from the south end.

Our next goal is to hike up Berry Hill. It’s not a very formidable hike, only 1.5 km, but it’s my first attempt since getting my cast off at walking an actual trail with uneven ground and a bit of elevation gain. Part of the climb involves a long flight of wood and gravel stairs. There are some beautiful views of Gros Morne and the Long Range Mountains in one direction, bogs and meadows in another direction, and Rocky Harbour towards Trout River in yet another direction. It’s well worth the climb and my ankle does pretty well.

We return to camp in late afternoon striking the tent and the tarp when we get there. There’s a good chance of rain in the morning so we elect to pack up dry and seek breakfast at Java Jacks tomorrow morning. We’ll sleep in Vincent tonight. The sky is so perfectly blue it’s hard to believe there could be clouds and rain tomorrow.