A cool start to the day at only 2°C and lots of sea fog. Icebergs that were visible last night are not this morning. The parking area was quiet and we both slept very well.
Today we start by heading to the Parks Canada National Historic site in L’Anse-aux-Meadows. It is the only authenticated location of a Viking Norse settlement in North America and dates from around 1000AD and quite possibly founded by Leif Eiriksson (son of Eirik the Red).
“Not all Norsemen are Vikings, but all Vikings are Norsemen.” – Our tour guide
As you approach the historic site it becomes very evident very quickly how remote this part of the island is. Our tour guide told us that this past Winter (2025/26) they had 16feet (4.88m) of snow. Now try to imagine yourself living in Norse village in a sod building in this climate. These Norse settlers had to have been incredibly tough individuals.
L’Anse-aux-Meadows is thought to have been a trade port from which goods would have been collected from further expeditions southwards before being sent back to Greenland, Iceland & Scandinavia. The thought is; however, that the settlement only lasted for a few decades before it was decided to shut it down and all settlers returned to their homelands.
We are both very glad we came to visit this wonderful place and hear about how it was discovered in 1960 and what the archeologists have found over the years that allows us to have an insight into how it came to be, how it functioned and probably why it was abandoned. It was a long drive to the Northern tip of Newfoundland, but one that we feel was very worthwhile and educational. The scenery ain’t half bad either.
From L’Anse-aux-Meadows we drove South to St Anthony where we spent a quiet afternoon relaxing in our fog enshrouded van at Fishing Point Park. We had heard that there were a couple of smaller icebergs near the entrance to the harbour and were hoping to see them.
Our patience paid off! After a couple of hours the fog lifted enough that we could see the ‘bergs clearly. A few photos are below.
At 7:00pm we attended The Great Viking Feast dinner theater that is held in a unique sod roofed restaurant. We were well fed and thoroughly entertained.
After dinner we retired to our van and stayed in the parking lot of the restaurant having previously obtained approval to do so. However, given the sea fog we were lulled to sleep by the soft bass tones of a foghorn from the lighthouse that is just the other side of the restaurant.
Tomorrow we head back toward the South.