2015-07-Kings Point. NFLD

2015-07-19 Kings Point

What a beautiful sight today. Ice bergs, waterfall and a Pottery  that had some 40 artist wares on display. King's Point Pottery, owned by Linda Yates and David Hayashida was just full of  the artists wares and  all were so beautiful. Being all handmade they were also quite expensive.

There is a Humpback Whale exhibit in a small Pavilion .Story is that  it had gotten entangled in a fishing net and expired. The locals decided to debone it, presrve it  and put it on display. After cutting away most of he meat and blubber they put the pieces in a crate and  back in the water to let the marine life eat away at it until the bones were clean. They then sent it to  Drumheller, alberta, Canada  where the bones were preserved and a frame was built  to support  it. The locals in Kings Point built a building  and displayed it for all to see. A beautiful specimen.

We were able to observe a waterfall. It wasn't anything spectacular but was something different for a change. The walk to  get to it was also interesting. The trees grow around rocks and engulf them. Mother Nature has her way

The icebergs were the most gorgeous we have seen both in Alaska and here. Why? We're not sure butI think it's because we are closer to Greenland and the icebergs are actually wetter than  in Alaska. Alaska is drier than Newfoundland. Thus the humidity is higher here. One of the icebergs looked like a ship from a distance and another like a large loaf of bread. You decide. Keep in mind that 9/10th of it is underwater. Imagine how huge that is.  (Anita here: I think they were prettier because they were so close to shore.  It felt like you could almost touch them.)

Last but not least is the King Point Pottery  and displays. You appreciate them more being close to them. Enjoy

A tree burl

Linda Yates

Crows in NFLD--Ravens in Alaska

2015-07-16 Gander, NFLD

2015-07-16 Gander, NFLD

We had a nice drive from Twillingate to Gander. Weather was clear and the roads were good.

Our First stop was at the Silent Witness Memorial for the plane that crashed December 11th, 1985 with 248 of our American Soldiers of the 101st Airborne aboard . The plane had just gotten airborne when it descended into the rocks. All aboard perished.. It was caused by Libya (explosives were in a bag on board by order of Qaddafi). Jesse grew up with the father, Frank Kee, of one of the men on the plane Sp4 J.S.Kee.

        Aviation Museum

Just can't pass up a good aviation museum. This one was mostly as tribute to the history of aviation in Gander and also had a tribute to the 9/11 episode.

The 9/11 story was very moving.  When our nations planes in the air had to land ASAP, 32 of them landed at Gander because Gander has one of the longest runways in the world and it is a vital location for aircraft.  The passengers waited in their respective planes up to 20 hrs until they could deplane. At that time, the people of Gander had brought food to the airport and fed them and then opened their homes to them for several days, until the all clear.

12 Cylinder

12 cylinder

R1850

Our next bike.

Fantastic and delicious fish & Chips. The best yet.

Salmonid Viewing Station

We had the opportunity to visit the Salmonid Research and viewing Station for the Atlantic Salmon. Unlike the Pacific Salmon, the Atlantic can and do spawn two to four times in their lifetime. A record of eight has been recorded. The pacific salmon spawns only once and then dies.

The Atlantic has only one species of salmon, whereas the Pacific has five different types. Spawning and growing is pretty much the same: from hatching and consuming the milt they hatched in to alvin stage, to Parr and then to adult.  They swim to the ocean transferring from fresh water to salt water until they spawn again.  They return to the place where they were spawned to reproduce.