The Wall in Fermont, Quebec. Fermont is a small mining community with famously bad weather. Many of the city’s houses, schools and businesses are contained within this one giant structure, the idea of which is to reduce the cold by blocking out the wind. It’s kind of a weird place and the strippers start in the bar at 4:30 in the afternoon, which seems a little early.

This is either Manic-Five or Manic-Cinq dam depending on what language the person you’re talking to speaks. It’s totally gigantic and produces a lot of power which gets sold to the US.

Close-up, through a damp windscreen.

Then skip four days cause I didn’t take any photos and I’m on my way to northern Quebec and the weather is good.

Waiting for a ride at the edge of the town of Chibougamau, Quebec. The building is the local hospital.

Then I enter Cree Nation Territory and get picked up by this guy, Varley.

He asks me if I’m going to Mistissini. I say no, mainly because I’ve never heard of it. “It’s the biggest Cree community,” he tells me. “You should come.” So I do.

Varley turns out to be a lovely guy and takes me for a tour around town, which is located on the shore of a gigantic lake.

Float plane by the bridge.

Structure of a teepee.

Later on, Varley tells me, there’s going to be a church meeting in a giant tent. It only happens once a year, he says, so I go along. There’s a fire-and-brimstone preacher from Montreal, being live translated into Cree, who corners me near the end, discovers to his displeasure that I’m an athiest, puts his hand on my forehead, says “O God help him. Change him in Jesus’ name”, gives me a significant look and then wanders off.

It’s raining like the end of the world outside so they let me pitch my tent inside the giant tent.

So long, paved road.

Better be careful.

You know there’s a lot of bugs when three giant ones fly in front of a single photo. Good grief, there were swarms of them and it was horrible.

Damp night in a junk yard by the highway.

Bear bear bear bear bear.

Quizzical.

*sigh*

I did have one night of good weather, down by the river in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Very nice.

Making dinner.

Beautiful in the twilight.

Just cause you camp, doesn’t mean you can’t game.

Everything’s far away.

Truck rides.

Truck stops.

Camped by a sports field in Labrador City, with only a fake bear for company.

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.

Here’s a statue of the man himself, outside the museum honouring him.

Inside the Grenfell Museum was a sign indicating the confusing way people round here talk directions. Down North?!

It was a rare sunny day, too.

Then I went to take the ferry to Labrador. Looks nice out but it was crazy windy.

Straight of Belle Isle between Newfoundland and Labrador.

For some reason the ferry actually docks just inside the province of Quebec, right by the Labrador border, hence the Quebec flag flying here. I crossed the border soon after.

It was a clear, bitterly cold evening and I couldn’t find a good place to pitch my tent. After wandering around for a while, I found this church hall, empty and unlocked. All welcome it said…

…so I went in. Blessedly, and somewhat wastefully, the heating was on and I found this little side room to unroll my camping mat.

Well, it seemed like a better option than sleeping in here.

I got up early the next morning and snuck out with nobody the wiser. Thanks, church hall!

What’s that coming over the hill? Is it some Vikings?

Yes, it’s some Vikings.

The site doesn’t look like much…

…but the sagas reveal that they chose it because it was distinctive and easy to spot from the sea so other Vikings could join them.

And it does have a certain bleak beauty to it…

…along with a plentiful supply of fish in the streams.

Outlines of the remains of buildings.

And a reconstruction of one of the longhouses, with sod roof. Doesn’t look like much but it’s deceptively large on the inside. A few dozen people could comfortably sleep around the inside edge of the walls.

This is summer.

Here’s the first of two terrible photos of a huge reconstructed Viking ship. It fits around 30 people…

…who would sleep in the open whatever the weather. It took the Vikings less than ten days to sail from Greenland to L’Anse aux Meadows, which I find pretty amazing.

Icebergs off the coast.

A little reconstructed sod church.

And a bonus moose on the way out.

The old couple who lived at this spot called me in for a much-appreciated cup of tea as I walked south from the camping spot I showed at the end of the last post.

View out the back of their place.

But down on the coast the weather wasn’t so good.

Visibility wasn’t great.

And though it made the boats look really pretty…

…the weather got gradually worse and I gave up on the idea of going to the bird sanctuary.

And ended up a couple of hundred kilometres away in a proper campsite near St John’s for the night instead.

Then my camera had some technical issues and by the time I sorted them a couple of days later I’d arrived in St. Anthony, which is basically as far north as you can go in Newfoundland.

With a few more icebergs for company.

Some buildings associated with the lighthouse…

…which is very pretty.

Basically it’s just a nice part of the world.

A bleak, black beach down in St Vincent’s.

St Vincent’s is only a little place.

But it’s beautiful.

Up the northern part of the peninsula in the town of Brigus.

Brigus church.

Isolated roads.

People round here keep telling me it’s summer. The icebergs keep telling me otherwise.

Got dropped off by The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland in the town of Winterton so I popped in. There was a boat-building class in progress.

Getting there.

The sleepy little town of Heart’s Content has an amazing claim to fame: the first ever transatlantic cable came here, way back in 1858!

The first cable laid in 1858 failed but the 1866 one lasted, and this is the remains of it!

There aren’t many dirt roads in Newfoundland but I found one.

And ended up having to spend the night by it.

A view out to sea from the driveway of a guy who gave me a ride.

Typical highway round these parts.

Hiked inland a little way with four people who picked me up, to find this nice spot.

Looking out to sea from the same place.

Waterfall.

Nice coastline.

Stopped for the night near Trepassey water tower.

Home for the night.

Cooking spot for the night.

Middle Cove Beach.

When the waves got high.

Cliff above Middle Cove Beach.

In the harbour beside downtown St John’s.

Looking across the water at Signal Hill.

Lighthouse at Cape Spear, the furthest east place in North America.

Cliffs behind the lighthouse.

Lighthouse again.

The actual furthest east spot. Next stop: Ireland!

Cabot Tower on top of Signal Hill.

Wouldn’t want to attack that harbour.

Sure is nice.

View back towards St John’s.

This scenic carpark is specially for Frank. Don’t think it makes the top 10, though.