We woke up to a fine view of the Alexis River estuary from out campsite at the primitive Long Point municipal campsite. The weather seems to have improved and it looks like partly cloudy for the next week.
After breakfast and a stop at Penny's Pit Stop for windshield washer fluid and camo band-aids, we were back on the Labrador Coastal Drive south. The drive was through a much more open landscape, which reminded me of the Maine blueberry barrens
We made a couple of stops along the way to Pinware. The first was at Mary's Harbour, our first real place on the ocean. It was mostly a drive around with stops for a couple of photos. We also noticed a new commercial wharf with a new cod processing plant. Ellen had just read that Newfoundland and Labrador had recently lifted the 30-year moratorium of the commercial cod fishery. This plant must be one on the results of that.
Mary's Harbour is also where one can get a boat out to Battle Harbour on Battle Island, a restored 1700s fishing port. It is managed by a Historic Trust, which mostly provides pricey overnight accommodations in the village. It would have been interesting to just visit, but the boat out to the island is $150 per person. We decided to pass it up and drive on to Red Bay.
Red Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and much more interesting. It has a brand new Parks Canada visitor center that relates the history of the 16th century Basque whalers who came every year to hunt whales, render whale oil and then sail back to Portugal.
Most of the whale processing activity took place on Saddle Island in the middle of the harbor. Canada Parks has an hourly free boat out to Saddle Island where there are paths and a boardwalk around part of the island. There is also an interpretive walk alternating hourly between English and French. We took the ride over to the island but decided to walk about on our own and hiked up to the lighthouse site at the top of the island and around a gull-filled interior pond. There is still a light at the top of the hill, but the old lighthouse has been replaced with a metal tower and a modern light.
While waiting for the next boat trip, we stopped for lunch at the Whaler's Restaurant. I had the fish & chips (with real cod) and Ellen had the fish soup with cod, haddock and salmon. Both were quite tasty. We split a partridgeberry cobbler, which tasted like a combination of blueberry and cranberry.
After Red Bay it was off to Pinware Provincial Park where we intended to spend a couple of days. There were only a few sites available and the one we took, Site 15, which turned out to be deep in the trees. After all that open landscape, we were surprised to find that the provincial park, situated on a spit, was forested. There is a row of sites along the beach but all were taken. They did offer us the option of parking in the day use/overflow area, which we have done. It is open and sunny and has birds in the background.
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