Battle Harbour

The next morning bright and early half of us were loaded into a bus for a 5 minute ride to the dock. Once there we crawled onto a small boat and headed for Battle Harbour, 9 miles off shore. It usually takes a half hour but because the winds are so bad it is going to an hour.

Yep...10 of us in this small boat in the middle of the ocean...where
did you say the Titantic sank

Leaving the safety of Mary's Harbour...the big building in the
middle is where we are camping

Fishing fleet in harbour

Yes there were icebergs and land was not always in sight

We've arrived

Battle Harbour is located on Battle Island across the "tickle" from Great Caribou Island. It was once the salt fish capital of Labrador. Fishing was established on the island by John Poole of England in 1775. Over centuries it was a major commercial center for cod, seal, and salmon. Today, Battle Harbour holds two distinctions, National Historic Site and Historic District of Canada.

Do you think it was cold and wet

Now we have to wait until the other group arrives which will be about 2 hours. Hopefully there is a warm place to hang out. As we entered the General Store we were met with wonderful smells and a toasty wood burning stove.

Hot coffee, tea and delicious
 cakes and pastries

Making fresh treats just
for us

After everyone arrived we went on a tour of the village. Many of the buildings have been restored to their original beauty.

The salt store...salt would be unloaded
from ships and stored

The salmon store

Homes on "the tickle"

Why a teepee of wood you ask! Well the answer is simple. When you have 10 feet of snow on the ground its pretty hard to find. This way they can still see it.

Wood teepee

Old fishing "flakes" and fish storage building 

I'll wait thanks

As we continued our tour we kept spotting an Arctic Fox that seemed to be following us.

He was quite friendly but skiddish

Once our tour was completed we were treated to a wonderful home cooked lunch right on the premises.

Turkey, potatoes, gravy, veggies, and partridge berry sauce. Yum

Yep that's me in my winter skiing cloths

The trip back to Mary's Harbour took less time because the wind had subsided. Once home all I wanted was a nice hot shower. Of course I can’t so I had something nice and warm to drink "Newfoundland Screech",  that worked. 

Shortly after arriving home , a knock at the door stopped me from drinking the whole bottle. It was the boys, they wanted me to take a look at their dog. Well long story short, she must have had a stroke and subsequent seizure when they were gone. Shortly thereafter she passed away. It was very sad but now the problem is how to dispose of a large dog in no-mans-land Labrador. The next day they decided to cross on the ferry to Corner Brook which will take 2-3 days to get there. That's the only place that will cremate a dog. WOW another caravan couple gone. This trip is not, and I repeat is not for the weak at heart.

Oh, I guess your wondering what a "tickle" is. Well, when a boat passes through a strait between 2 island the waves come ashore and tickles both sides. Its a Newfoundland saying and I love it.