Back To The Rock Genealogically

Family

Our first trip to the rock was only ten days which seemed like plenty of time to do and see everything we wanted to do. One of our the goals was to explore my family roots and visit the small village of Moreton Harbour where my grandmother Elsie Brett was born on August of 1918. She immigrated to Canada and the big city of Toronto shortly after 1935 when she was just 16. If some of you are struggling with the term immigrated, you must remember that Newfoundland did not become part of Canada till 1949. What had planned to be a one day visit on that first trip turned into three days. See my blog “Back To The Rock For the First Time”, May, 2010. While I learned a few things about my grandmother, I was left with a lot more questions. 

Research compiled over the next ten years has provided me with the names of my great grandfather and mother, great, great grandfather and mother and great, great, great grandfather and mother.

Great Grandfather- Wilfred Brett

Great Grandmother- Dulcie

Great, Great Grandfather- William Henry Brett

Great, Great Grandmother- Susan Jane (Forward)

Great, Great, Great Grandfather- Charles

Great, Great Great Grandmother- Julia     

All who lived and died on the Rock.

Many headstones were old and erosion had worn away any chance of telling who was buried there. 

                      

The Brett family arrived in Moreton Harbour sometime between 1790 and 1818.  

Like most, they established themselves as a fishing family. 

By the beginning of the 20^th Century Moreton Harbour had a population of about 500. The census of 1911 listed 12 Brett families with a total of 40 souls. The 2021 census stated that the current population of the village is now 28 but did not provide any names. It was not an easy life in Moreton Harbour. 

Further research did not find any Brett's still living in Moreton Harbour but the name lives on by virtue of a fairly new street sign.

I did discover an interesting footnote during our trip. Nonie and I attended a shed party in Twillingate where I mentioned to our host that I had family from Moreton Harbour. Not missing a beat she broke into a rendition of “I's The B'y That Builds The Boat”, a well known  Newfoundland folk song. For your listening enjoyment, I have attached a link to a YouTube video of a rendition sung by Great Big Sea.

`https://youtu.be/AQn-2xAlu7I

I's the b'y that builds the boat

And I's the b'y that sails her

I's the b'y that catches the fish

And brings them home to Lizer

Chorus:

Hip yer partner, Sally Thibault

Hip yer partner, Sally Brown

Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton's Harbour

All around the circle!

Moreton Harbour gets a shout out. 

Our visit to Rock was a success but there are still plenty of things we would have liked to do.

Would we return, you bet but there are too many other adventures on our Bucket List and we are running out of time. 

If we were ten years younger, we would be back. 

Even foggy and drizzly, it can still take your breath away. Though that might be the wind. 

Despite driving over 1500 kilometres and with an estimated 120,000 moose on the loose, you would have thought one would have made the effort to pop out onto the highway and let us admire his giant rack. We will have to make do with this sad Irving gas station moose though you have to admit he has a pretty big rack.

"Long may your big jibs draw" everyone. 

Back to the Rock Historically

 A Whale of a Time, Bergs Not So Much with a Side of Norse

St. Anthony's is known as the centre for Vikings, bergs and whales so we booked a boat tour that promised us both icebergs and whales. We woke happy to see clear skies. It was a little breezy but in the protection of the harbour it did not seem like it was going to be a problem.

Wrong! As we exited the harbour the wind hit with such a force that had the boat rocking front to back and side to side all at once. My kinetosis was going to be tested. 

As we headed out the captain informed us that the iceberg he had visited just off shore yesterday was now 3 kilometres off shore due to the high winds. Oh, oh!

Photo: Was taken by one of our fellow passengers with a super telephoto lens 

Saved by a whale. Within a few minutes of leaving the harbour, we spotted two vapour spouts, sure signs of whales. The berg was quickly forgotten to follow the whales. Very likely the ones we had seen on our hike along the Lamage Point Trail.

I had purchased a new camera for the trip with an impressive zoom lens specifically for berg, moose and whale sightings. The auto focus works well if you are standing still but not so much when you are trying to aim the camera in a bucking boat feeling like you want to throw up.

Thanks to the marvel of digital cameras I took over 90 shots but the boat was moving so much that I was never able to capture the whale breaching in a tight frame. My first 70 shots were of empty ocean. I opened the frame wider for the last 20 and managed to catch a bit of whale in some of them, most often on the edge of the shot. Thanks to Photoshop and their cropping tool I can prove we saw some humpback whales.  

I eventually gave up and just enjoyed the sightings storing them in my cranial memory bank. Well, at least till Alzheimer's set in.

The whales allowed us to visit with them for over an hour but no acrobatics today, they were busy feeding.  

This left us without enough time to run out to the iceberg. But they did have a fall back berg. The same one we had seen on or first day arriving into St. Anthony. It had become trapped in the bay and would likely end its day melting away there. Once we entered the bay, protected from the wind my puke meter went down a couple of notches.

Getting up close to an iceberg can be dangerous. Typically the unseen part of the berg can be quite a bit larger than what can be seen above the water line and it were to roll over the boat could be capsized so we remained a healthy distance from it. 

We were lucky to see a small iceberg roll over on our trip up Tracy Arm near Juneau Alaska. The colour of the newly exposed ice was a stunning  glistening blue  like that of an expensive diamond.

Photo: Tracy Arm Alaska 1998

I spent the rest of the day with some vertigo and queasiness. Tomorrow we head to L'Anse aux Meadows and the wind is forecast to be the highest we have seen yet. It will be our last day before we start our journey home and I think the Rock wants to give us good send off.

L'Anse aux Meadows- Parks Canada

At the tip of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula lies the first known evidence of European presence in the Americas. Here Norse expeditions sailed from Greenland, building a small encampment of timber-and-sod buildings over 1000 years ago 

Photo: Getty Images

Against a stunning backdrop of rugged cliffs, bog, and coastline, discover the fascinating archaeological remains of the Viking encampment, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

Growing up in the 50's I was taught that “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and discovered America. We now know the Vikings were the first Europeans to visit America by 500 years thanks to the discoveries made at L'Anse aux Meadows. Based on carbon dating it is estimated that the Vikings occupied the site between 990 and 1050 C. According to Wikipedia it is the only undisputed site of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact of Europeans with the Americas.

When the site was first discovered it was thought to be an indigenous site. Evidence that at least 5 different indigenous groups occupied site with the oldest dating back 6,000 years. None of which were contemporaneous with the Norse occupation. Exploration starting in 1960 and over the next 7 years uncovered the remains of 8 structures that compared to similar sites in Greenland and Iceland circa 1000 BC.

Artifacts recovered from the excavations included iron nails, tools and other sundry Norse-style items. The artifact that sealed the confirmation that it was a Viking settlement was a small object called a wood spindle and similar to ones found on Greenland and Iceland. 

Photo:themaritimeexplorer.ca

The site is on a wind swept point. Today the wind speeds had gusts of  70 kph. Made me wonder why the Vikings would pick such a miserable place? But 1200 years ago the site was a different place with stands of balsam, larch and birch trees growing around it.

Books written around 1200 C (The Saga of Erik the Red, The Saga of Greenlanders) gave accounts of Norse voyages to Vinland, thought to be the coasts of North America. A statue of Viking explorer Leif Erikson has been erected in the small town of L'Anse aux Meadows as an attraction to a well known restaurant, Leif Erikson's saga was that he had been blown off course by a powerful storm while returning from Norway to Greenland and ended up on the Rock.

Our trip is almost over and the Rock did not disappoint. It blew us away with its scenery, the friendliness of the people and its gale force winds. Will we be back? We would if we could but we are running out of time and we still have so much to see and do. 

Back To The Rock By Boat

Back to the Rock By Boat

Fjord Like

The geographic definition of a “fjord” is  "a long, deep and narrow sea inlet where the shoreline cuts into the mainland and fills with sea water. The cliffs are high and steep having been cut by glacier action".

It must be longer than it is wide or it is called a bay.

Welcome to West Brook Pond, a pretty fjord like body of water located at the north end of Gros Morne National Park.

We are booked for a boat tour on the West Brook I for a 90 minute tour of this stunningly beautiful fake fjord.

It has all the attributes of a real fjord except  one thing. West Brook Pond is a landlocked freshwater body of water. The Newfoundland Dictionary of English describes a "pond" as "a natural body of still water of any size". Hence its name West Brook Pond.

It is fjord like. It had been carved by ancient glaciers. It is 16 kilometres in length but less then a kilometre wide and 166 metres deep. It was claimed by the boat captain that some of the cliffs are taller than the CN Tower which has a height of 553 metres.

It has a stunning hanging water fall.

Just one waterfall of many.

The trip is not a simple one, it required a three kilometre stroll on a well maintained path to get to the boat launch but worth every step. We had made the round trip twice. We had booked the morning tour the previous day but it was cancelled due to a thick fog that the weatherman promised would be gone by departure time. But only after we had walked the three kilometres in during a pretty good rainfall did we find out it was cancelled. 

As you can see from the pictures the second trip was the charm. 

Sun was shining, no wind so the pond was placid and calm. I suffer from kinetosis and wind and boats are not my friend. 

Back To The Rock Walking A Lot

Hikes 

Despite its 1,000 year history, Newfoundland has very little to show in the way of historical sites, monuments or buildings. Settlement for the first few hundred years was seasonal followed by several wars which meant that the Rock did not become an official Crown colony till 1824. The Great Fire of 1892 wiped out most of the capital of St. Johns, the Great Depression of the 30's caused the economy to collapse and the cod fishery closure in in 1992 has kept the Rock from reaching its full potential.

What it does have in spades is scenic views and the friendliest people in Canada and some would say the world. Tourism is a 1.2 billion dollar industry and employs over 20,000 people with the majority of the industry operated by small local businesses. Our plan was to take advantage of a many of those scenic views as we could fit into our timeline of 3 weeks.

Our first morning in St. Johns greeted us with fog and a thick wet mist. Not quite pea soup, more a tomato bisque. Breathing it in felt a little like what being water boarded must feel like. The plan for the day was to hike the North Head Trail which would take us to Signal Hill a place we visited on our first trip but drove there in a rental car. 

Photo was taken during our trip in 2010

Signal hill is famous as the location where Guigielmo Marconi sent the first radio signal to reach England. My plan on the first trip was to call a friend in Poland to mark the occasion but surprisingly, cell service was sketchy. I am sure Marconi would have been disappointed. 

The trail head was a five block walk from our hotel. The trail is not long but strenuous. It takes you from the harbour along the base of Signal Hill before taking you up to the top climbing a 500 step staircase. We had trouble finding the trail head in the fog, could barely see the trail when we found it and Signal Hill was completely whited out by the fog.

Photo: explorewithdora.com 

Perhaps plan B was in order so it was a quick hike around Quidi Vidi lake with a visit to Quidi Vidi brew pub for a pint of their beer made with 10,000 year old iceberg water. It was okaaay, different, perhaps a bit fizzy for my taste. After some thought I believe that given the waters age, perhaps it was missing the pollution that flavours our so called fresh water today.

Twillingate- from twillingate.com website

Nestled amidst the rugged beauty of Newfoundland’s coastline, Twillingate is an experience waiting to be embraced. Our charming town boasts a timeless allure with unspoiled landscapes. 

Twillingate is the largest town on South Twillingate Island and located about 150 K north of Gander. The town sits in the middle of the island giving it easy access to hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of coast line. They have taken advantage of this and created numerous easy, moderate and hard hiking trails called the Rock Cut Trails. There was even the possibility of an iceberg siting if the fog ever decided to let up.

Website: rockcuttrails.ca/history 

A rock cut is an overhang in the cliffs or a cut in the rock that offers shelters from the wind that consistently batters Twillingate island. Back in the day, older people in the community would hike up into the hills and tuck into a rock cut to check on the water conditions, the ice flow, or to see their sons coming home from sea. 

This was such a frequent occurrence that these rock cuts became regular local gathering spots. Over time, these paths were beaten down and now form the incredible coastal hiking trail system known as the Rockcut Twillingate Trails.

Most of the hiking trails on Twillingate Islands were roads and walking paths to abandoned or resettled communities, berry picking and wood cutting paths, or animal grazing paths (many people would allow their sheep and cows to roam the island freely and graze in the summer months). Other paths, were beaten down over time by fishermen, sealers and older folks walking to look out over the sea. 

As you can see from the pictures our time in Twillingate could be at times foggy and damp. The weather was very unpredictable but never so bad as to prevent us from doing what we wanted to do. 

Gros Morne National Park- from the Parks Canada web site

Soaring fjords and moody mountains tower above a diverse panorama of beaches and bogs, forests and barren cliffs. Shaped by colliding continents and grinding glaciers, Gros Morne’s ancient landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Most people I talk to about Gros Morne have heard of it, but other than the name knew very little about it. 

The park has a dozen or more trails and we spent three days exploring as many as we  could and could have used another three days. A place we could easily visit again.

The Tablelands Trail- Parks Canada

Half a billion years in the making – formed deep in the middle layer of the Earth, in the mantle. It was thrust up as ancient continents collided, building the Appalachian Mountain chain and assembling a supercontinent called Pangea!

More that 400 million years of those towering mountains eroding were needed to reveal what we see today: a surreal barren, orange landscape -- the Earth's inner soul: the mantle - exposed to you the way few have seen it.

Walk upon the Earth’s mantle - normally found far below the earth's crust. This walk reveals some of the earth shaking ideas that changed how we understand our planet. Parks Canada guides will help you explore this bizarre and beautiful landscape, the glacially carved valleys and the unique plants and vegetation that call the Tablelands their home! 

We were blessed with a few hours each day when the sun came out to play. 

And play we did. 

But the wind and fog were still our constant companions as we woke each morning. But as in Twillingate the weather did not hinder us in the least. The least being 60 kilometre wind speeds. 

The foghorn was getting a good workout today. 

The Viking Trail- from the explorenewfoundland.com web site

An automobile cruising the Viking Trail is really a time machine that takes you to the beginnings of our planet and the 1,000 year old Viking settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows Historic Site. Travel through wooded valleys, over mountains, along a windswept seacoast. This tour can take from two to 10 days. Take your time, for time will tug you gently along the Trail, urging side trips to fjords and falls, sand dunes and fields of wildflowers.

We took their advice and planned for 4 days which we filled with adventures. Wooded valleys, over mountains, and along the wind swept coast and I do mean wind swept. But on the plus side it kept the fog to a minimum.

We are on our way to village of St. Anthony's which will be our base to explore the Viking Trail. 

Waterfalls

Wind swept coasts. 

The wind swept seacoast is so windy it can blow holes in the landscape. 

There will be more about our exploration of a Newfoundland fjord as it deserves it's own blog.  

Photo- West Brook Pond

Arriving in St. Anthony's we  drove immediately to the Visitor Information Centre as we had heard from some tourists we had met at our hotel the night before that there was a berg visible from the Centre. Nothing to see today. We queried the staff and they directed to a trail located nearby. 

A 25 minute walk brought us to a viewpoint and our first Newfie berg.  It seems that the bergs can be moved very quickly by the wind and currents and today we experience gusts of over 40 kph. 

The next morning started out foggy, windy and wet. Our plan was to hike the Lamage Point Trail as we heard there was another opportunity to see more ice bergs.  With the hope the rain would slow down so paid a visit to the museum to get a picture with a local dignitary who came to visit St. Anthony's and never left. 

On occasion the St. Lawrence Sea Way freezes over allowing all kinds of critters to cross over from Labrador. 

  

We arrived to the trail head just as the rain turned into a drizzle but still windy. "We won't melt." The trail will take us up a  steep hill for a view point promising us unsurpassed views of the area. The trail would then continue on for another 2 kilometres to the next bay over from St. Anthony's which is where we had been told more icebergs might be hiding out. The views as promised were pretty good.  

We were gifted with two whales that seemed to be following us as we made are way along the trail. Breeching every few minutes to allow me to capture one of them. 

I thought they were Orcas but told but people who know more than me and looking at my grainy picture said they were Humpbacks. 

As we reached the top, the wind hit us with gusts that would stop us in mid-stride. While it wasn't raining very hard, at 60 kph it was being driven right through our rain proof (hah) gear leaving us completely soaked within minutes. 

From the viewpoint, we were able to see into the neighbouring bay and through the fog could see at least three icebergs. At this point we were  faced with a gale force head wind and a 4 kilometre round trip to get to the viewpoint and the possible chance for better views of the bergs. 

Our mantra "We won't melt" died that day and with our soaking tails between our legs, turned around and headed back to our car and a warm shower.  

We are headed for L'anse aux Meadows tomorrow and have booked a trip on a boat and berg tour the following day. Weather for tomorrow is the same as today but a little sunnier for our boat tour day. Fingers crossed.