The ride north from Rocky Harbour to Port au Choix was spectacular…again. We really have not found any part of Newfoundland that isn’t nice.
We have come to the conclusion that we prefer the western side of Newfoundland more than the eastern because it is full of mountains and ocean. The eastern side is more forested and more towns rather than cute fishing villages and bays. Not to say the eastern side is bad, we just personally prefer the mountains and bays. Although every place in Newfoundland is totally different than the rest. You can drive a 1/2 hour and be looking at something totally different.
However, it is impossible to explore everything with the time that we had. So that, so far, is our conclusion. We would love to visit Newfoundland again and explore other areas we have not been able to get to on this trip.
Port au Choix, and in turn Point Riche, has a deep past. It has been inhabited by Paleo-Eskimos, fishermen and the such for over 1500 years. It has recently (1929) become a very important archeological find with the discovery of ancient dwellings and tools. This in turn is what made Point Riche a National Historic Site.
We stayed here for just one night. Just to pass through.
BK enjoyed the fresh sea air and the beautiful ocean outside our window.
David On The Rocky Shore With The Lighthouse In The Background At Point Riche In Port au Choix.
As you can see, we had a beautiful puffy cloudy day. With temperatures in the low 70’s.
There were some very interesting tide pools. They contained some small fish, mussels and various plant life. We even saw a sea urchin in one of the tide pools.
There were some areas in the rocks that had lines through them. You can see the lines in this picture above. These show a significant time in history that something huge happened. The amazing thing is that these lines were all over. It truly shows how insignificant the human race really is on the entire time line of the earth. We’re just a little blip on the map.
There were also fossils all over the rocks.
These rocks on this shore are more or less fused together. It’s more like one solid surface. But up close it looks like a bunch of small rocks fused together to make one large rock. It’s really interesting.
What’s also amazing is the plant life that seems to grow right out of the rocks.
Plant Life Growing Out Of The Rocks
These plants, as you can see, are thriving on these rocks.
You know… being here in Newfoundland has been interesting. The air is so clear and easier to breathe. Theirs no traffic to speak of. Even on the main highway that flows across the entire island. It’s easy to slow down and find peace here.
David Close To Finding Peace In Newfoundland
David is close to finding that peace.
Next to the lighthouse is the foundation of the old lighthouse keeper’s house from many years ago.
The Old Lighthouse Keeper’s House Foundation
When looking at the foundation you can see where the various rooms were and the entry way.
On our way out from the lighthouse and the rocky shore there was a turn off to see the ancient dwellings.
The dwellings themselves were just rounded impressions in the ground. All grassed over and difficult to make out. They were all over this area. The parks department had a map with the various dwellings circled so you could compare what you were seeing to the map. That helped. Without that, they just looked like low holes in the earth.
The archeologists made this replica of what they believe a dwelling would look like back those hundreds of years.
Back at our campground, which was right on the ocean, we had a spectacular view.
This picture I took from our motor home, out our door. I basically was too lazy to step outside. So I just opened the door and took the picture. It was a long day.
Tomorrow is another travel day up to the Viking area. That should be totally different than what this looks like.