Harbour Le Cou, Newfoundland

Harbour Le Cou.

Upon returning to Port aux Basques from our trip to Gros Morne last week we found that our 10:00 a.m. ferry from Newfoundland back to Nova Scotia  was canceled, and we were bumped to the 7:30 pm sailing.  That gave us another whole day to explore western Newfoundland, and Dan suggested that we drive over to Harbour Le Cou about 30 miles east of Port aux Basques along the southwestern shore. 

Harbour Le Cou lies along the southwestern coast of Newfoundland about 30 miles east of Port aux Basques.

Dan was familiar with Harbour Le Cou from a Newfoundland folk song by the same name that he had heard since he was a boy.  Here's the first verse of the song:

As I rowed ashore from my schooner close by,
A girl on the beach I chanced to espy,
Her hair it was red and her bonnet was blue,
And her place of abode it was Harbour Le Cou.

You can check out the other verses at this this website.

Or better yet you can listen to the song on You Tube.

The road over was narrow, curvy, and hilly and passed through heavily glaciated areas, dotted with small glacial lakes and with barren vegetation on the rocky hillsides.

The little fishing village of Harbour Le Cou was charming consisting of small, colorful houses perched on the rocky shore.  There was no sign of a beach or sand as alluded to in the song, and Dan believes that the writer of the song probably never set foot in Harbor Le Cou. 

A colorful fishing village.

Houses in Harbor Le Cou.

I like the decorations on this little house in Harbour Le Cou.

In hindsight, we were pleased that our ferry was delayed, because we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this region of Newfoundland which was quite different from what we had seen along the northwestern shore.

Moose On The Highway

The cow and calf we saw on the highway.  (Photo by Dan Livingstone.)

We're back from a nice trip to Newfoundland where we had hoped to see a lot of moose.  Actually we saw only three.  One cow was too far away to get a good photo, but Dan got a pretty good photo of the cow and the calf that crossed the road in front of us.

Moose crossing the highway in front of our stopped car. (Photo by Dan Livingstone.)

My friend Iris suggested that I "google" the song Moose on the Highway, so I did and now I'll share it with you.  It would have been appropriate to add it to my earlier moose post , but I didn't know the song until Iris suggested it..  So I'll share it now along with Dan's photo of the moose on the highway that we did see.

Cute song.  We weren't out driving at night, but I understand one must be very careful to watch out for moose at night.

Partridge Berry (aka Lingonberry) Pie in Newfoundland

Partridge berry (aka Lingonberry) Pie.

According to Wikipedia partridge berry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), internationally known as lingonberry, is a  relative of the cranberry and is a low mat forming evergreen shrub with tiny rounded leaves. These berries grow in the dry, acidic soils of Newfoundland and Labrador’s barrens and coastal headlands.

Partridge berry growing among the reindeer moss.

We are fond of lingonberry preserves that are available from IKEA, and the other evening in Newfoundland we discovered partridge berry pie was on the menu.  Needless to say we were definitely determined to try it, and we were not disappointed.

We also had partridge berries on our home cooked oatmeal for breakfast one morning.

 And a sundae.

I was hoping that perhaps fresh partridge berries might be available, but I learned they are harvested in September after the first frost.  The pie was made with frozen berries.  I'll look for frozen ones in the grocery store, but I suspect they are not available commercially, but perhaps only as preserves or jam.  I guess individuals pick the berries and freeze them.  I didn't find out from the restaurant just where they got the berries for the pie. I wish I had done so

Lingonberry jam from IKEA (Photo from their website).

Saw a Moose; Ate a Moose

Cow moose crossing the road. (Photo by Dan Livingstone.)

On Tuesday morning as we headed back into Gros Morne Park from our cabin at Cow Head, Newfoundland, Dan had his camera ready as we were hoping to see a moose.  It was about noon, and it was a bit overcast, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a cow moose and her calf off in an opening on the passenger side of the car between the road and the beach.  I came to a screeching halt and slowly backed up. The moose went into a wooded area, but it looked as if they were heading for the road.

I told Dan to be ready to get a pic when suddenly the cow moose bolted out of the woods right in front of our stopped car.  The calf followed closely behind her. Dan shot these pics through the windshield and they're not bad photos considering the moose were moving pretty fast.

Young calf moose following his mother across the road. (Photo by Dan Livingstone.)

We felt that the moose sighting had made our day.

After spending some time at the Visitor's Center at the Park we went to Rocky Harbor, the largest town in the Park  Dan calls it the "Myrtle Beach" of Gros Morne Park since it seems to be mainly a tourist town.  After seeing Rocky Harbor we were happy that we were staying out at Cow Head near Shallow Bay a more remote location.

Earle's Restaurant, home of the moose burger.

One thing we did enjoy in Rocky Harbor was lunch at Earle's Restaurant where I had a moose burger.  I asked them to serve it on their homemade bread rather than on a bun.  It was very good---much leaner than beef, and it didn't have the "gamey" taste that deer, for example, has.

Moose burger topped with mustard, catsup, relish.

To finish off a good meal, Dan and I shared a partridge berry sundae.

Partridge berry sundae.

And we got a bottle of moose meat to take home.

Bottled moose meat.

Yes indeed, this was a good "moose" day.

Sailing on the Atlantic Vision to Newfoundland

The Atlantic Vision, our ferry from North Sydney to Newfoundland.

On Sunday we sailed from North Sydney to Port-aux- Basques in western Newfoundland on the ferry, Atlantic Vision.

In line at the ferry.

Ready to drive into the bow of the ship.

 The ship is beautifully designed and can accommodate 702 passengers and 531 cars.  We had booked a private outside cabin for the six hour trip so that we could have a nap and so that we would have our own private bathroom.

Desk in our cabin and wonderful connection to the internet.

Our beds.

 Maggie was in her kennel in a special place on the top deck where we could visit her, but we were not allowed to take her out of the kennel.

The sailing is quite smooth.  One of the crew members told us that it is smooth most of the time, even through the ice in the winter.

We had lunch at the buffet.

Dining room.

There was a room where there was entertainment and a casino, which I avoided.  Although I usually make one trip each summer to the casino in Sydney with my girl friends up here.

Entertainment.

The reception area on the seventh floor.

Yes, this was a delightful and smooth crossing, and I heartily recommend a trip to Newfoundland via this ferry, The Atlantic Vision.