Sunday, Fathers Day, cold, breezy, partly sunny, abandoned school parking lot, St. Lunaire-Griquet, NL.
Woke up after a good night’s rest, got dressed and had breakfast and drove North for day for L’Anse aux Meadows and Norstead, two sites that preserve the presence of the Norse in North America. “Norse” because ‘Viking’ is reserved for their raiding mode.
L’Anse aux Meadows is the national historic site that studies, preserves, and interprets the archeological evidence of their presence. Rather than restoring the original buildings, they re-buried then for preservation and then built replicas nearby. Norstead, on the other hand (or just across the road), is a private, non-profit that uses costumed interpreters and re-created period-style buildings to portray what life might have been like during the ten-year period a thousand has ago when the Norse had a camp.
We’ve mentioned before about how Newfoundlanders honor the past and departed. We saw the following display on the way to L’Anse aux Meadows.
Interestingly, there was a big snowbank just outside the door to the Interpretive center. We got there in time for a film and a noon guided tour by Paul, who was excellent. Paul was clear to differentiate between what the archeology reveals versus what the Sagas convey. It appears that the Norse, probably lead by Lief Ericsson, used the camp on and off for about ten years as a base to forage supplies from “Vineland” or the lands around what we now call the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They gathered timber, hardwood burls, small-game furs, and grapes, among other things, for their settlement in Greenland and trade.
They appeared to have met some of the Native Americans. At first things went well and they did some trading. Soon enough relations soured. There appears to be some evidence that the camp was eventually abandoned in part to the threat of the native people. Nevertheless, the theme of the Center’s video was how the human family completed the circle of migration of our Africa and around the world in north directions.
Hard to imagine they made this encampment around a thousand years ago and that they spent the winters there. Also interesting that they knew enough in their small group to actually make iron and produce nails for repairing their boats. The boats they sailed over had no protection from the weather. Only their clothes made from wool to protect them.
We left the National Historic Site to go to Norstead, where we wanted to hear a storyteller telling tales of the sagas as part of the Iceberg Festival. Found out later his name was Mark Sexton, a local folklorist. Paid $18.40 CAD entrance fee and were escorted to the middle room of the Chieftains Hall, which had animal fur skin covered seats and a wood fire in the fire pit and this marvelous costumed storyteller. He had memorized many of the sagas of the history of Eric the Red and his sons including Lief Ericsson.
We also saw the replica Viking ship, the Snorri and we able to ask questions and hear a lot of information about how they sailed.
We took some photos of cod fishing boats that had been abandoned near the shore when they were told they could no longer fish for cod in the numbers that they had used to.
Saw sheep and icebergs and more Eider ducks.
We drove back to the National Heritage site and looked at all the exhibits in the visitor center that we hadn’t had much of a chance to see before until it was almost time for them to close at 6.
Then went to dinner at the highly recommended Northern Delight restaurant and had their fish and home made chips, wine and Iceberg beer. The last is made in Quivi Vidi, near St. Johns, of “20,000 year old iceberg water”. Turns out is is a light refreshing brew! Had gravy on the fries and malt vinegar on the fish and had deep fried ice cream and bake apple jam for dessert. Delicious!
Drove out to the Pistolet Bay Provincial Park for the night saw two moose by the road side on the way.
Nobody answered at the registration place so we found an empty spot #29 for the night with plans to pay in the morning. Lots of tent campers and a few RV’s. We got ready for and went to bed after another satisfying day.