Red Bay, Labrador
© 2001 Robert A. Mackall
It's cold up here! There's an iceberg out there! There's patches of snow in the hills! A puffin just flew by! It's almost bloomin' July! We wake up this morning already tied to the wharf at Blanc Sablon, the most easterly point in Québec. We are on the Labrador border and it is a scant 35km (20 miles) by ferry to St. Barbie, Newfoundland. This is iceberg, whale and bird country as the Labrador Current sweeps icebergs and capelin from Greenland through the Strait of Belle Isle into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Newfoundland ferry is tied up next to us looking the size of the Queen Mary. There is a barge at the end of the pier swallowing whole tractor trailer rigs, gas trucks and heavy equipment presumably as dangerous cargo for the trip to Newfoundland. Everything is big here including the sky.
The wharf at Blanc Sablon is not in town and appears to be in the middle of nowhere. In fact to say that we are visiting Blanc Sablon is a bit of a misnomer. We will be visiting one of the few paved road regions of upper Québec and Labrador. The 100km long region is made up of a series of 13 very small villages from Riviere-Saint-Paul, QE to Red Bay, Labrador. Today is going to be an exciting one as we will be picking up picnic lunches in the lounge and boarding a big yellow school bus for an all day field trip into Québec and Labrador.
Breakfast under our belts and lunches procured, we board the bus and begin our exploration south to the Lady of Lourdes Shrine at Lourdes de Blanc Sablon. The shrine is quite impressive with an illuminated AVE perched atop its hill. We all take the opportunity to climb to the top of the hill where we find many wildflowers in bloom in the wet tundra-like fields. At the base of the hill I am puzzled by two seperate and distinct Stations of the Cross. One quite lenghy; the other short circling a small boat. I can only surmise that the short one was meant for the men.
Back on the bus we head a short distance south to Brador and the Brador Falls, a favorite local spot for wedding pictures. After a short stop for picture taking its back on tthe bus and the road north to Labrador. We stop at the border for pictures... just to prove we did get to Labrador. This school bus is great. Marie Odile and Marie Jöelle provide a translation of the driver/guide, a local French-speaking fellow who adds a great deal of color and intreperation to our stops. Indeed he knows where the icebergs are and the local roads to go see them. At one such stop, while we pile out of the bus for pictures, M. Fontaine goes for a shore ramble and comes back with a bucket of huge scallop shells and a hunk of iceberg which has come ashore. Now that's an iceberg up close.As we head north further into Labrador the terrain is more hilly and wooded, more remote. We stop just across the Pinware River and enjoy our bountiful lunch and some more excellent picture taking. At lunch it comes to our attention that the francophone passengers are having trouble understanding the very heavily Newfoundland accented français of our driver. It must have sounded a lot like a Bronx taxi driver in Atlanta, GA. Even the Parisians were gritting their teeth. To make things worse Bob tells everyone that he understands the driver perfectly!
With lunch finished we travel the last 30km to the end of the paved road at Red Bay, Labrador. Here we will visit two interpretive museums: The Red Bay National Historic Site of Canada and The Red Bay Visitor Centre. Should your travels take you to Red Bay (and by all that is holy, they should) by all means see the exceptional video at the Red Bay National Historic Site. It is offered either in French or English . After visiting the museums there was sufficient time for us to take a short hike, shoot some pictures of this small, lovely town and visit a pair of craft shops. Hey, where else are you going to buy a hand carved, wooden puffin yo-yo. Then back in the bus for the 70km trip back to the boat. This is a tremendously interesting region, diverse in culture, ecology and geology which could be explored for days without uncovering the depth of its treasures. It is indeed "a come back someday" place!Click here for pictures of the Côte Nord from Resources CanadaWith everyone back on board the lines are freed and we collapse exhausted, excited and happy. If this was not enough adventure for the day, after leaving port we find a pod of fin whales just south of Lourdes de Blanc Sablon. The few of us one deck are treated to the sight of a pair of juvenile fin whales breaching themselves straight up and totally out of the water. An absolutely indescribable sight. With the cry of Baleines, Baleines the decks are quickly refilled with our group and we spend an hour or so watching this family of 5-6 whales enjoy their day in the capelin rich water. And we still have cocktails & conversation waiting in the lounge; then, dinner and a evening seminar to attend. And little do we know...tomorrow is even better!
