30 August 2019, Friday
The brilliant blue of yesterday’s Gulf of St. Lawrence has given way to today’s angry gray, with wind-whipped spray blowing off the tops of the white caps. O and I are very glad we struck camp last evening. We drive back to Rocky Harbour for breakfast at Java Jacks. The little breakfast room fills fast – good thing we are the first ones here.
After breakfast we begin our drive northward along Newfoundland’s western coast. We can see patches of rain falling from dark clouds, but also breaks of blue sky. Soon after leaving Gos Morne we arrive at Arches Provincial Park, a small park with an impressive line of limestone arches, even more impressive today with the waves crashing through.
After Arches we continue our drive, stopping again at Flower’s Cove where we easily find the pull-off for the Thrombolites Walking Trail. Thrombolites existed from about 3.5 billion to 650 million years ago. The formations at Flower’s Cove have been left behind by the growth of calcified colonies of single-celled organisms. The larger thrombolites are thought to represent the merging of individual communities of organisms that grew together. Western Australia is one of the few other places in the world where these rare formations are found. It is thought that these colonies eventually provided habitat for other, more advanced, creatures that were developing.
After visiting Flower’s Cove we drive a bit more than 100 km to arrive at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park. The relatively short drive from here to L’Anse aux Meadows makes it a great place to stay if you are planning, as we are, to visit the Viking site.
