Things I learned today

It’s really not that far from Port aux Basque to Deer Lake but at the rate we go, it takes all day.  We’ve been told one should get off the TransCanada from time to time along the way and that’s what we did.  It was a wonderful drive even though it was overcast and occasionally drizzly.

Things we learned today.

Tuckamore Trees

These are the ones that are blown over sideways by the winds.  We didn’t get a great photo, but when I saw the sign with the name, I remembered someone telling me about these trees and it all made sense.

  

Killick

We stopped for a coffee in Stephenville at a shop called Killick Café.  I was curious about the name and the server pointed us to this object.  It’s an anchor from days gone by.  The stones sink the anchor and the wooden frame digs into the seabed.  Apparently it was used as far back as the 16th century before heavy metal anchors were common.  

Green Crabs

Dave was interested to find out about a fishing excursion place he’d seen advertised in Cox’s Cove.  After about 35 km along the shore by Corner Brook out towards the sea, and then over the mountain to the other shoreline, we found a little fishing village.  They didn’t have cell service out there so we’d have to drive around to find this boat tour guide. We were told his was the orange boat.

Do you really want to go out on the sea in a little boat like that?

 We met some young kids with their mom along the wharf and they showed us a green crab.  Apparently, they’re an invasive species that eats everything.  They feed on many organisms inclyding clams, oysters, mussels, marine worms and other small crustaceans.  The kids were having a fun time catching them in the shallow water by the wharf.  

Deer Lake

We finally made it to Deer Lake and found our beautiful AirBnB house – Jones’s Bed and Breakfast. It was a lovely place with gracious hosts.  They were originally from Labrador and had moved to Deer Lake just a few years ago and opened this beautiful bed and breakfast. 

We had supper at a Maritime institution, Jungle Jim’s. After, we walked along the sandy Deer Lake shoreline before calling it a night. Apparently, the town’s name is really a misnomer as there aren’t any deer here.  The first settlers saw caribou migrating across the lake and thought they were deer.  It should have been called Caribou Lake, I guess.