Newfoundland Arrival- Part I

 

Lots of travel over the past two days! First off, good news- there no ghosts in the Custom House, at least not in our room. We had a great breakfast at the R&D Diner where we got to listen in on a group of regulars talking about all the Pictou gossip, then hit the road for Cape Breton.

We crossed over onto the Cape Breton peninsula at Port Hawkesbury after a short delay while the bridge opened to let a sailboat through. The drive took us along the eastern shore of Bras d’Or Lake which is a listed UNESCO BioReserve and a beautiful huge estuarine lake along the northern coast. Our destination was the Fortress of Louisbourg, a Parks Canada National Historic Site and the location of a reconstructed 1740s French fort built on its original location on the eastern shores of Cape Breton. The site was originally a cod fishing village populated by Acadians, and by the mid eighteenth century cod was so important as an import that the French government sent soldiers to fortify and protect the settlers and their product.

The site was reconstructed beginning in the 1960s using more than 750,000 pages of historical records and 500 plans and archaeological excavation. The British demolished the fort in 1760, so the bulk of the site including the earthen and granite fortifications, building foundations and other ruins were preserved. The bulk of the construction and restoration work was completed by out-of-work Canadians who were re-trained to do masonry, carpentry, ironworking, and every other trade needed to recreate an 18^th century community.

The site includes a Mi’kmaq interpretive center with indigenous text describing how the First Nations people helped the French, and included an exhibit focused on the lasting effects of the genocidal Indian Boarding School system in Canada.

Costumed interpreters describe life in 1740’s French Louisbourg but (thank god) don’t pretend as though they are living in 1740. We enjoyed a pint in the tavern during a brief burst of rain- it looked like it was going rain most of the day- then hit the self-guided Ruins Walk. Obviously. It takes you out of the fort proper to some of the buildings that have not been reconstructed and along a grassy path towards the exposed rocky point of the harbor. There were placards along the way telling us where this or that house used to stand, but our keen archaeologist eyes spotted all the tell-tale signs and even a recently backfilled excavation area.

The site was super interesting even for someone who doesn’t normally get into military sites! Parks Canada does a really great job!

We were only about 45 minutes from North Sydney where we headed next for our 11:15 pm overnight crossing to Newfoundland. As a veteran Martha's Vineyard ferry rider who's made dozens and dozens of trips I thought this would be familiar territory. WRONG! Everything about this was different. Passes, security checkpoints, getting in line a minimum of two hours before the departure. The ferry is HUGE and seemed more like cruise ship (wait til we get inside). 

The boat hold more than 400 cars, 1000 people, and 90 semis. Most of the semis were loaded by employees backing them up a ramp onto the upper vehicle deck. It was crazy to watch the whole boarding process. Like ants scurrying around back and forth. Once we boarded we made our way to our cabin on Deck 8, which were were lucky to score for the 8-hour overnight passage. Surprise, it IS just like a cruise ship! 

We dropped our gear and headed straight to the bar for some Canadian. We were told that's how you order a Molson in Canada so you don't sound like a tourist. Possible someone told us that as a joke precisely so we would sound exactly like tourists, so we'll try it out at our next pub stop and see.

It was close to midnight and the ferry had just left the harbor so I climbed into my bunk and fell asleep almost instantly- boat motion (and airplane turbulence) put me right to sleep! Woke up for the sunrise at 6:30 and the 7:15am arrive in Port aux Basques.

Have just arrived at our hotel in Corner Brook so Part 2 after some drinks and dinner!