After my night in the church I headed north to Red Bay, a lovely little town of about 200 people which was the site of several different Basque whaling stations over a couple of hundred years starting in 1530. Apparently, the whalers used to sail over from the Basque Country (in Spain and France) every summer to collect whale oil. It’s a hell of a long trip.
Here we go.
Pretty little church.
In the distance is Saddle Island, where the Basque whalers set up their main stations and where most of the archaeology has been found.
The National Park runs a little boat shuttling people the short distance to the island. This photo is looking back at the mainland.
And towards the island.
A few spots of snow still visible on the hills but it was pretty warm.
Most of the archaeology in Red Bay is difficult to see. The main find was a sunk Basque whaling ship called the San Juan but after dredging it and studying it, the archaeologists put it back underwater “to preserve it for future generations.” Personally I think it was a stupid decision. There’s an interesting philosophical debate to be had here but I don’t think there’s any inherent value in an old shipwreck simply existing in the world. It’s only valuable in the sense that humans are interested in its history and if it’s at the bottom of the sea and we can’t look at it, there’s not a lot of point to it. But maybe that’s just me.
Looking back towards the town, with the outline of some Basque buildings just visible in the grass.
Just an incidental shipwreck. Nothing to do with the whalers.
And a more modern one.
Oops.
Indistinct archaeology or not, it’s a beautiful island.
Nice.
Don’t you just want to stroll along it?
♡ Saddle Island.
And that’s all you’re getting.
Total distance hitchhiked: 2143 km.
Total number of rides: 42.