St. Anthony, with a population of 2,500 is the hub of the Northern Peninsula. We were up early and back into town to the Fishing Point Municipal Park with a series of walking trails, boardwalks and lookout points. We started with Cartier's View Trail, a .6 km trail to a lookout over St. Anthony Harbour and rugged coastline. Really stunning. The next trail was Whale Watchers Trail, a series of boardwalks and short stairways to a lookout over the Atlantic Ocean. More breath-taking scenery. Kathy also took the Iceberg Alley Trail. I didn't as I was taking so many pictures and video.
We walked to the Fox Point Lighthouse, placed on the eastern side of the entrance to St Anthony Harbour in 1912. More photo opportunities.
We returned to the Grenfell Historic Properties where we learned that the Grenfell House Museum was closed Tuesdays . No one told us that yesterday ....most disappointing. Kathy did climb the Teahouse Hill Trail to the Grenfells' burial site. The 2 km round trip trail was rated "moderate" but not moderate enough for me. I turned back after 5 minutes of climbing.
We ate lunch at Fox Point at the Lighthouse Café. We both enjoyed the seafood basket of cod nuggets, shrimp and scallops...delicious. Kathy also had seafood chowder. There were binoculars set out at the windows for customers' use. Our waitress said there had been two whales sighted off shore the previous day. We each bought a few souvenirs at the Fishing Port Emporium, a craft/souvenir store. It was their final day, closing for the season. We received 10% off.
Our next sightseeing stop was L'Anse aux Meadows. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1975 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. It is the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America. We watched a 10 minute video at the Visitor Centre and took an excellent 45 minute guided tour of the site which included the now overgrown ruins (archeological site from the1960s) , and reconstructed sod huts of the 11th c Norse buildings. One hut had costumed interpreters role playing. The boardwalk over the bog took us past the sculpture Meeting of Two Worlds added in 2000 to commemorate the 1000th year anniversary of the settlement.
We drove literally to the end of the road to see the Leif Ericson
We returned to the campground around 5:30, having driven 94 km. Another fabulous day of sightseeing. To quote Kathy: "Another 10." The sky threatened at times but the rain held off until we were back at the campground.