Harrington Harbour
8:10 pm local time

Today was definitely the best day of the trip thus far – which was hard to top after Friday in Southern Labrador. Up at 7 am to get breakfast, which was French toast, hashbrowns, fruit and brown bread with spreads, grapefruit juice and coffee.

First stop in the morning for me was La Tabatière, since I was enjoying a well deserved sleep when we passed through Saint-Augustin. We had roughly one hour to do as we wished – so I headed out and snapped a few pics. Seems the road has recently been put through to Saint-Augustin.

The day was bright and sunny, with a mild temperature – but pleasant. I actually had a faint hope of finding an open witreless signal – but soon abandoned that idea.

We departed on schedule, and then lunch was served at 1130. (linguini with ham, and noodles with chicken soup) I had a shower afterwards and readied myself for a highly anticipated tour of an old Church on an island near Tête-à-la-Baleine, where we would be stopping at 1 pm. A tour to la Providence was available for $25 – and we would be shuttled over by motorboat.

The ride over was awesome – going 52 kmh per my GPS. The topography was most enjoyable – rock formations covered with moss jutted out of the water in jagged yet lyrical fashion.

We arrived at Providence in 10 minutes – it was 8 km away from where the Nordik Express rested. I was stunned by the immense simplicity of the homes on the rocky island. The Church was the destination – and the 1895 structure looked well cared for. An active congregation assembles here. Inside we were treated to ‘bakeapple’ tarts. Now here’s an interesting story. ‘Bakeapple’ is really just the english pronunciation of what some french-speaking people called these berries. They were called ‘baie qu’appelle’, which means ‘what is the name (of this berry)?’. And actually, these berries are commonly known in Scandinavia as ‘cloudberries’. You can get cloudberry preserves at Ikea the last time I checked.

I signed the visitor book, and made reference to Romans 1:20: ‘For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made…’

Then I departed for a little more exploration and picture taking. I found a few quiet and reflective moments to enjoy.

It was now 2:15, and time to head back to the ship in Tête-à-la-Baleine, so I made a point of taking back the other motor boat – which was slightly larger. A brisk pace of 61 kmh was most enjoyed. Surely the best $25 I’d spent in a long time.

Back aboard the ship, I took more pictures, and talked with some new friends about how great this glorious day was. I ran out of space on the camera disc – and had to rush back to my cabin to retrive the spare. Had been using GPS to let others kow we’d be passing right by the Church again on the south side. (We got within 2 kms.)

We were served dinner just as we arrived at Harrington Harbour, which is where the film La Grande Seduction was made. Dinner was most enjoyable – smoked salmon, then tender pork roast with fried potatoes and carrots, and for dessert – ‘bakeapple’ pie.

We finished in good time and made our way into Harrington Harbour – the boardwalks are nothing short of incredible - truly a ‘twilight zone’ experience.

ATV’s are used to travel - as there are no vehicles here at all.

The highest point just north of where the boardwalks end was immensely captivating. (You can view a 20 second panoramic video clip here.)

I headed back ‘downtown’, and met up with Mike and Marnie. We visited a local shop and Marnie left Mike and I to tour the shop and scavenge for souvenirs. I was talking to the storekeeper about my car – and he said ‘oh, like this one’ – and pointed to a lottery ticket.

At this point, Marnie returned with news. We were going to spend the night here. A storm was brewing, and we would now wait 10-14 hours hours before carrying on.

I headed back to the ship to grab my laptop and a few more dollars. I am now at the local pub, working on the laptop, as other laugh and play pool. At one point there was a mostly French speaking crowd, but now it seems a decent mix. Some of the crew from the ship are now here as well, dressed casually, and making the most of the moment.