St. Anthony – pretty well at the top of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. St. Anthony depended on the cod fishery in the 20th century. Now it depends on the shrimp and crab fishery, and on tourism.

Tracey and I spent two nights in St. Anthony and made the most of the day in between. First up, a Northland Discovery Boat Tours journey where we came within squinting distance of a ‘berg before the ocean became too choppy for us to continue. Not all was lost, however, as we learned some very interesting things.

Icebergs that break off from Greenland disintegrate in the North Atlantic within a month. Some enterprising boat owners fish out the “bergie bits” which are taken to a rendering facility and turned into the purest water ever. The ‘bergs are made from compressed snow from centuries ago when there was no pollution in the air, thus the water is pristine as well.

We wondered why – once again – it was so cold when the sun was gloriously shining upon us. Our first day of sun! It seems the harbour pack ice only moved out three weeks ago so things are still a bit on the cool side.

After the disappointment of the morning, Tracey and I headed for L’Anse aux Meadows, an authenticated site of a 1,000-year-old Viking settlement, the earliest indication of Europeans in North America. The actual site has been grown over, though mounds of grass and interpretative signs explain what lies below. Several replica buildings and staff in costume give visitors some idea of what life was like.

Finally we met a Viking! And he showed Tracey how to carve out a wooden bowl the Viking way!

A later afternoon hike up the Pumley Cove Trail was next. At the foot of the trail there were instructions detailing what to do if we met a moose or a coyote. Half way through the hike we couldn’t be sure which instruction was for which animal so we retraced our steps. 🙃 It was a lovely half hour hike in the sunshine and I am pleased to say we encountered no wildlife though we did see some derelict boats looking quite sad by the side of the road.

We attended the Great Viking Feast, part of the St. Anthony Iceberg Festival 2022, for dinner and frivolity. (The event would more aptly be named the Norse Feast as none of the servers/actors looked the least bit fighting fierce!) There was an appetizer of herring and cod tongues. I turned down the herring but gamely chowed down on the cod tongues. Tasted just like cod but more chewy. Dinner was a buffet heavy on the fish/seafood side.

The entertainment was quite silly and enjoyable inprov with guests having to bring disputes before a Viking judge, their loved ones disputing the grievance, and the rest of us eventally deciding who was innocent and who was guilty. One day, three Vikings! What a sighting! What a day!

We’re travelling south on the Viking Trail tomorrow to Woody Point. See you then!