The Claddagh Inn B&B serves a very nice breakfast--although we had to be finished by 9:00 to beat a planned power outage. It seems a transformer on a pole had to be replaced. Everyone was notified--making it the big news story of the week in St. Mary's. Homemade granola with yogurt and cranberries preceded delicious berry filled crepes.
Patrick our host suggested that we might see whales outside the causeway at St. Vincent's which is about 15 minutes from St. Mary's. Having been disappointed before, we were a bit dubious--and it turns out we were right. There wasn't a whale in sight. Instead, we witnessed a fascinating feeding frenzy of gannets along the shoreline. Their numbers were far short of the thousands we had seen the previous day at Cape St. Mary's, but we were able to stand in the fierce wind on the shore and watch them decimate the capelin stocks. Constantly in motion, these elegant birds swoop with the wind and seem to poise motionless against the wind. When they spot a capelin, there is a brief second of awkwardness as they tip their wings and dive like fighter jets into the water. Completely submerged for a few seconds, they bob to the surface, flex their wings and make a graceful and effortless rise off the water. Had it not been for a very strong wind, we could have spent an hour or more watching the spectacle.
The landscape on the southern part of the Avalon Peninsula is markedly different from other parts of the island we have visited. There are few trees, so the rolling hills look barren and a little desolate. One could imagine fields of wheat or hay blowing in the breeze--except the land is mainly bog where little grows except moss and other plants that don't mind the acidic soil.
Trepassey was a little disappointing. It is spread along both sides of a narrow bay, but there is not much of interest. We had hoped to see the Amelia Earhart exhibit or at least some evidence that she begun her flight across the Atlantic Ocean here on May 20, 1932--becoming the first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo. She predicted that she would complete the journey in 15 hours and she did. In keeping with the fine old Newfoundland tradition of deigning to use signs, we looked carefully for any indication about Earhart--but saw nothing. There might well be a sign, but we never saw it, in spite of looking closely. Once again, par for the course.
Just as the road through Portugal Cove turns north there is an interesting Interpretive Centre. It features video and displays about the oldest and most spectacular assemblage of fossils—the Mistaken Point assemblage (575 to 560 million years old)— preserved in the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. The Reserve is the only place in the world where you can view a 565-million-year-old sea floor that accurately preserves the ecology of these ancient deep sea communities. The area is awaiting confirmation as a UNESCO World Heritage property.
The creatures whose fossils now form the Mistaken Point assemblage lived on the bottom of a deep ocean, considerably below the depths that waves or light could reach.
In normal conditions, when marine organisms die, only bones, shells, and other hard parts are preserved as fossils. The soft-bodied creatures at Mistaken Point lived millions of years before animals developed skeletons, but the imprints of their soft tissues were preserved in place on the muddy sea floor when they were suddenly buried by repeated volcanic ash-falls. The volcanic ash layers contain zircon, which makes it possible for geologists to accurately date the different fossil layers. This unique find made it necessary for geologists to create a the name for new era, the Ediacara biota period. We did not have time to do the 4 hour tour to the actual site with a guide--the only way visitors are allowed close to the valuable find.
Mistaken Point takes its name from the fact that sailors, in the dark or thick fog, thought that it was Cape Race and under the false security of that belief sailed full speed ahead--right onto the rocks. The Centre has pictures and accounts of ships that wrecked at Mistaken Point, including a Norwegian ship the Kristianiafjord SS which ran aground and was wrecked off Mistaken Point, 7nm W. of Cape Race, Nova Scotia on the 15th July 1917. No lives were lost.
The highlight of the day was a visit to the Avalon Colony at Ferryland. There is a very good display set up in a large building. The first permanent settlement was established in 1621 by George Calvert, who later became Baron Baltimore. He must have done something here to earn brownie points from King Charles I, although he only stayed here one year. A Newfoundland winter and sickness among most of the settlers convinced Calvert to move to Baltimore, Maryland, although to a less luxurious house. Artifacts at Avalon reveal that the Calvert family had silk clothing, elegant dishes and cutlery, and lots of wine. A flourishing settlement sprang up, complete with a blacksmith shop, Governor Calvert's house, smaller family dwellings, a garden and a busy fishing port. Things went well until a large French fleet bombarded then attacked and destroyed the settlement in 1696. No one was killed, but the place was razed to the ground. The settlers were taken to Placentia where most of them chose to return to England. The remains eventually became overgrown with soil and sparse vegetation--so much so that no one even knew of its existence until archaeologists began excavating the site about twenty years ago and found, to their amazement, ten of thousands of artifacts which have been unearthed and catalogued. The painstaking excavation, which is ongoing, has revealed much about the inhabitants--their food, their clothing, their eating utensils, the tools of everyday life, etc. Archaeologists and historians have a treasure trove of information about the life of early settlers. The Avalon Colony is the oldest permanent European settlement in North America. The Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows was, of course, older--but it was not a permanent settlement.
Our tour of the Avalon Colony site was led by a very knowledgeable man. Visitors are not allowed near the excavation site unless accompanied by an official guide. The reason is obvious: it's easy to imagine boorish tourists trampling all over the place, disturbing valuable work and helping themselves to souvenirs. The only downside to our experience was constant rain and a strong wind that whipped our umbrella inside out. The guide, wanting to give us our money's worth, insisted on stopping and giving a thorough explanation of all 20 parts of the dig. Nonetheless, it was a thoroughly interesting experience.
Supper at The Captain's Table a km up the road was a welcome relief. There were actually several items on the menu that were not deep fried!
We are desperately hoping for fine weather (at least no wind or rain) when we go whale and bird spotting tomorrow morning at 9:30. We cannot seriously complain about today's rain--it is the first unpleasant weather since our arrival. Even the fog at Western Brook Pond last week lifted by noon.
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| Diving gannets at St. Mary's Bay |
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| Excavation at Avalon Colony, Ferryland |
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