The Boomer Bus: 2015-07-26 Red Bay, Labrador

2015-07-26 Red Bay, Labrador

After making sense of the time differences ,we headed out for Red Bay and the lighthouse. Red Bay was 91 KM from Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Our first stop was the visitors center in La-au-Bois and discovered there wasn’t really anything to see in Red Bay except the Whale Pavilion ,a Visitors Center which was also an interpretative Center for early Basque settlers and another interpretative center for the ships and whaling and the Light house in L’Anse Amour. We had to be back no later than 5:00 to catch the ferry back to NFLD

The highways were good in some areas and terrible in others. Even in the good areas you could see where potholes were starting to form on the sides and some in the middle. The wear and tear from the semi’s and heavy trucks coupled with the rock base and permafrost, the roads take a beating. You can’t build a solid bed for the pavement.

Arriving in Red Bay we first went to the Visitors Center where we learned about the Basque settlers and their way of life and how they may have intermixed with the early natives. The other building had all the artifacts displaying the ships, their cargo, whaling and storage of whale oil for return to Europe. The second building just picked up where the first left off.

The Whaling Pavilion was Ok except a lot of the whale bones were missing and it was hard to imagine the missing pieces. The one we saw in Kings Point was far superior to this one.

We saved the light house for the return trip and it was a good decision. The weather cleared some and it was a little warmer but the wind was still blowing around 20 mph. The light house didn’t have anything spectacular except it is the tallest in Eastern Canada. It is still in operation but like all the rest, it is automatic and doesn’t need a keeper anymore.

Passing through one of the villages we noticed the hardware store had stocked up with ski-doos’ or the coming winter. WOW! They have a good business here.

We stopped at the Northern lights Inn and Restaurant for a late lunch. We ordered fish and chips—our favorite meal here because the Cod is usually cooked just right. BLAH, the fish served to us was horrible. It obviously came from a frozen package precoated –NOT FRESH. It was wedge shaped just like you get in a frozen food package.

Visiting Quebec and Labrador was a very good experience and we are glad we took the time to go. From what we saw it amazes us as to what is there that allures the people to live there. Most of the terrain is rocks-pure and simple-rocks and mountains. Some downgrades were as steep as 20 %. They must plan a lot of activities in the town hall or community centers for the winter and plan to use their Ski_Doo to get there.

The Whaling Pavilion was Ok except the whale bones on display were missing a lot and it was hard to imagine the missing pieces. The one we saw in Kings Point was far superior to this one.

Passing through one of the villages we noticed the hardware store had stocked up with ski-doos’ or the coming winter. WOW! They have a good business here.

We stopped at the Northern lights Inn and Restaurant for a late lunch. We ordered fish and chips—our favorite meal here because the Cod is usually cooked just right. BLAH, the fish served to us was horrible. It obviously came from a frozen package pre coated –NOT FRESH. It was wedge shaped just like you get in a frozen food package and over cooked until it was brittle..