Gros Morne, July 31st
We actually got to sleep in this morning and met at 6 AM instead of 5.30! We were headed to Woody Point and the Tablelands for the day.
On the way we stopped to take a few photos.
Woody Point is a town located in the heart of Gros Morne National Park. The town is a registered Heritage District with a population of approximately 280 people
Europeans were slow to settle the west coast of Newfoundland. The British were concentrated on the east coast and the French were on the Grand Banks. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht gave the French some land on the west coast which was extended in 1783 to the entire coast. British settlement also spread and by 1800 the first British settlement in the Bonne Bay area occurred in Woody Point. When fisherman began to stay during the winter rather than return to England, a basis for permanent establishment was laid. By 1904, the French had left the area to pursue fisheries farther up the coast. By this time Woody Point was bustling. It was pretty much considered the capital of the area with banking and customs offices, merchants and a harbour full of domestic and foreign vessels. In 1922, when the town was at its height of commercial success, a devastating fire broke out and 58 buildings were destroyed. The town never recovered to its prior bustling state.
Our group wandered around the town after breakfast.
The Woody Point lighthouse was built in 1919.
After exploring Woody Point and eating breakfast our group drove to the Tablelands. If you remember, I took a photo of the Tablelands my first morning in Gros Morne. Today we actually spent quite a few hours exploring the area. After driving on the highway, we suddenly came across a desert-like landscape with little vegetation.
The ultramafic rock (peridotite) makes this place look pretty barren. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Tablelands is one of the few places in the world where you can see the exposed earth's mantel. The rock was forced up to the surface millions of years ago during a plate collision and peridotite lacks the nutrients which allow plants to grow. Apparently because of this, there is virtually no wildlife in this area of the park.
There were great clouds today.
Jenny walking along the trail.
Georgia was another member of our group.
A closeup view of one of the waterfalls.
Bruce, another member of the group.
A couple of hikers who I met on the "trail". Half of our group went back to Woody Point while I stayed with the other half to do some hiking.
Georgia and Ivan
Heading back to the parking lot.
After hiking in the Tablelands we returned to Woody Point. This photo is of one of the colorful buildings in town.
While walking around later in the town I came across this "moving play" where actors were reading scripts while walking through the town, something I had never come across before.
On the way back to Rocky Harbour, we stopped at a beach south of Green Point to watch and photograph the sunset.
It is all about the rocks in Gros Morne.
