A Small Bit of Labrador

Aug. 28-30, 2012

We arrived in St. Barbe, where the ferry leaves to go to Labrador, on Aug. 27 to inquire about getting the ferry the next day. We didn't have reservations, but we found out that (1) all the reservation slots were taken for the next two days, and (2) they only allow reservations for 75% of the ferry; the remaining capacity is given out on a first come - first serve basis. The first ferry was at 8:00 a.m. and the ticket office opens at 6:00 a.m., so we spent the night at the RV park across the street from the ferry ticket office and got to the ticket office before 5:30 a.m. A couple of people were already in line waiting for the ticket office to open. We also learned that the last ferry the previous day couldn't take everyone since it was used for transporting dangerous goods, so those people left behind were ahead of us in priority to get tickets. We did manage to get on the 8:00 a.m. ferry, but were one of the last people allowed to board.

The ferry actually lands in Blanc Sablon, Quebec, about 4 miles from the Labrador border. After getting off the ferry and a short drive we arrived in Labrador. The weather was foggy, as one might expect in the Maritime provinces.

The Labrador Tourist Information Office is in a old church. No, the weather didn't suddenly clear; I took this picture the next day.

The lighthouse at Point Amour is the highest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada and the second highest in all of Canada; it is 125 feet to the top of the tower. The lighthouse keeper's home is now a very nice maritime museum with information on ship wrecks in the area; the guide at the museum took us up to the top of the lighthouse.

Point Amour is still a functioning lighthouse; the oil lamp has been replaced by electric bulbs and the fresnel lens is still being used.
There is basically one "highway" in all of Labrador. It goes east from the Quebec border near Labrador City, to Goose Bay and on to Port Simpson on the coast, and then follows the coastline southwest to the border with Quebec at Blanc Sablon. This is a distance of about 700 miles. In all this distance, there are only three stretches of paved road - a 100 mile stretch near Labrador City, a 100 mile stretch near Goose Bay, and a fifty-five mile stretch from Blanc Sablon to Red Bay. Calling it a highway is being generous; it is one lane each way with no shoulders and bumpy, even where it is paved.

Our next stop was Red Bay, which is at the end of the paved section of the road from Blanc Sablon. Red Bay was a Basque whaling station in the 16th century. In 1978 divers discovered the remains of four Basque galleons on the floor of the Red Bay harbor; one of these is believed to be the San Juan, which broke loose from its anchor during a storm and sank in 1565. the Red Bay National Historic Site focuses on the Basque whaling history in the area and contains exhibits from the whaling shipwrecks. This 400 year old chalupa, or whaling boat, was found under one of the sunken galleons.

This turnout on the highway provided a nice view of the Red Bay harbor and a scenic place to boondock for the night. The village of Red Bay is across the bay.

A partial skeleton of a bowhead whale in the whaling exhibit in the Red Bay town hall.

The Labrador coastline at West St. Modeste. The coastline is rugged, with lots of cliffs, hills, and coves. We encountered many short, but steep sections on the highway as it followed the coastline, with grades up to about 10% ( we encountered a 17% grade across the border in Quebec).

The village of L'Anse-au-Clair. Many of the coves had small villages in them.

After Labrador, and before heading back to Newfoundland, we went into Quebec to see a puffin sanctuary near Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon. The puffins are on the island about a mile offshore. An observatory platform at the turnout had a telescope for viewing the puffins, but they were still too far away to see very well. But it was a good place to spend the night before catching the ferry back to Newfoundland the next day.

The ferry coming in to Blanc Sablon.

Waiting in line to board the ferry for the return trip to Newfoundland. The ferry ride lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. The ferry is heavily subsidized by the government; our cost (for the Roadtrek and the two of us) was only $27, which is a real bargain.