Kae's Fun Times

In August, we went to Labrador to pick up our daughter Miriam from her last Katimavik post at North West River. (This is a picture of Miriam & camion 172, the the longest serving Caterpillar Model 789 truck, ever. It logged 105,630 hours before being retired from the Quebec Cartier iron mine at Mount Wright. It is now proudly displayed in nearby Fermont, Quebec.)

I absolutely LOVED the scenery in Labrador... the flat, treeless, stark landscapes, rocks which were strangely green and white due to various mosses and lichens. This photo was taken on Saddle Island, site of a Basque whaling post in the mid 1500s. In nearby Red Bay, are the ruins of a 1540 chalupa (Basque whaling boat) which sank c.1540. Red Bay is an amazing historic site, well worth a visit.

Our trip out to Labrador involved three different ferries. The first was from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland (6 hours). The second was from St. Barbe, Newfoundland across the Strait of Belle Isle to Blanc Sablon, Quebec (a mere 1.5 hours, but what a rough crossing that was, I thought I would lose my breakfast, my son!!!) Then we drove up the Labrador Coastal Drive to Cartwright and took a smooth 13-hour ferry to Goose Bay.

Coming back, we decided to stick to land.

We ventured out on the Trans-Labrador Highway.
On the Labrador side, it is a well-maintained, straight, wide road, 100% gravel. Most of the time it was like driving on marbles. Stressful is an understatement. I suppose one could develop the skill, just as one learns to drive through snow.




And it was dusty. Here, a tanker truck approaches us, somewhere in the 291 kilometres of uninterrupted bush and beautiful lakes between Goose Bay and Churchill Falls.

Here, we meet the truck, and wave to the driver.

Although we didn't see any moose or cariboo, we did experience lots of wild life, most notably the black flies at Pinware Provincial Park, Labrador.

However, by creative use of bug suits, we found we could still sample Newfoundland's own brews in relative comfort ... until I woke up the next day to discover the little creatures had snuck in under my clothes and bit me all around my waistline.