We are not keen on reservations, as a general rule. Reservations force us to arrive somewhere at a certain day or time – what if we find something interesting along the way there!?! So, even though we didn’t make reservations on the ferry making the crossing from Blanc-Sablon, QC (2 km/1.2 miles from the Labrador border) to St Barbe, Newfoundland, finding that there was no room for another RV on the day we arrived planning to cross was not a cause for distress. To the contrary, yay! We have an extra day to explore this tiny corner of Quebec.
We made our reservation for the next day, found a (free!) town campground, and started to explore. First stop was a walk to the visitor center where we exchanged info. They happily and capably addressed all of our questions (we always come in with a list) and eventually the conversation morphed into us answering their questions about our RVing experiences. And a tour of our RV. And a taste of their bakeapple preserves. (Bakeapple is a berry that looks like a peach-colored raspberry with a tart flavor. They grow in the marshy lands of this area.) Oh, and don’t miss Mont Parent, they said.
The hike to Mount Parent was beautiful! The entire mountain is tundra – dwarf shrubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens – due to climate and soil. And Fernald’s Milk Vetches. We learn about these tiny purple flowers that flourish only within 1 km/.6 mile of the easternmost reaches of the St Lawrence River. This is their special climate!
Mont Parent was tall enough to give us a view of the surrounding area and for us to see that on the easternmost edge of the Canadian Shield, the rock was slightly different, giving a different character to the mountains. The views of course included their entire town of Blanc-Sablon (pop 1,000) as well as icebergs floating down the river.
The ferry crossing was uneventful. Much of the Strait of Belle Isle was in the fog. We landed in the evening, ready to begin the Newfoundland portion of our adventures.
For anyone who’s interested, more Blanc-Sablon and ferry pix…
