Newfoundland
3 - Unique and Unusual
Much in Newfoundland is unique
to the Island. This tour guide and map are SO helpful in finding it all. They
are as good as the Milepost for going to Alaska and better than the AAA tour guides.We
found them at the visitor center after we disembarked the ferry.
Thrombolites
This one is the most unique … Thrombolites
… critically endangered microbial structures … 650 million years old.They resemble
the earliest forms of life on earth. They are the growth of millions of tiny algae
and bacteria. These unicellular critters have left a good size trace of their existence
in the fossil record. They are 650 million-year-old fossil structures. These are
found on the shore of Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland ... in Flower's Cove. Science/Ecology: Fact: These structures are very,
very rare. There is only one other place in which they grew. Query: Where is that
other place? Answer: Lake Clifton, Western Australia.
Woodpiles
All along the secondary highways
we noticed many piles of wood … not near any villages or homes. What we found out
is that residents are allowed to cut up to 8 cords of wood free and then stack it
near the roads for a year to allow it to dry. The trees are fir and spruce. Hundreds
of these wood piles are along the secondary roads. Most interesting is that everyone
knows whose stack is whose and none of them disappear over the year.
Little Boxes
Another distinctive sight in the
villages is little boxes at the end of each driveway. Each a little different from
the last … all had slats for air and are never square. Think really high winds,
glacial ice, deep snow, hungry animals, and dreadful humidity. These boxes are perfect
places to stow your large black trash bags for the waste collector so snow and ice
would not pile up, they would not rot, be carried off by the wind or be strewn about
by animals. Ingenious!
Other fascinating dis & dat … (We saw a store labeled "dis & dat")
· The clouds don’t always fly aloft
… check out these late afternoon lazy ones we saw leaving Gros Morne heading
south.
· We Boondocked a lot. This night
we headed for a visitor center at Hawke’s Cove… which was closed for the season
… which didn’t stop us from staying overnight in the parking lot and catching this
sunset at Hawke's Cove.
· The wind blows all the time … sometimes
gale force, sometimes a gentle breeze … but never absent.
· Colors! They explain … “They are
a bit outlandish, but other cities are mostly brick, not wood. And because our world
can be so grey, we like to add bright strong colours.”
· Note the sign on the side of the
building. We know a Pollyanna.
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