In Norway, tales of voyages west of Greenland lived in oral tradition, passing from generation to generation until the Vinland sagas were written down in the late 1200s. The legend inspired a quest to discover this Viking base in North America. In 1960, Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad came upon the site at L’Anse aux Meadows. Local fisherman George Decker led him to what local’s called the “old Indian camp”. The overgrown ruins were 11th-century Norse buildings, which combined with a few small items left behind by the Vikings, have proven the historic nature of the only recognized authentic Viking site to date in North America. It is now a Canadian National Historic Site.

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This is the location of one of the smaller buildings on the site. The locations of ten buildings have been determined, some are small huts and others are multi-roomed halls.

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Several buildings have been reconstructed. There are two smaller huts in front of a larger multi-roomed hall. The buildings are deemed 90 % accurate.

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The front entrance to the hall.

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One of the rooms in the hall.

The Birchy Nuddick Trail took us along the shoreline and inland over bogs and barrens.

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Not sure what this plant is but I thought is looked interesting.

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Zaph enjoying the view of the bay still filled with ice from the ice pack that floated in a couple of weeks ago. Even he wasn’t interested in going for a swim.

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Even though sun was nice and warm today it couldn’t win over the cool air rising from snow still on the ground and the cool breeze coming from the ice filled bay.

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Ed thought this was an interesting looking piece of ice.

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Not far from L’Anse aux Meadows we could see ice bergs beyond the ice pack.

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Quirpon is advertised as Newfoundland’s Most North East Community with a population of 77 (Some days), at least that’s what their sign says. The ice pack has filled this harbour preventing boats from getting out.

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One more boat, water and ice photo because I really like it.

By the way, I added a roadside garden photo and changed the wood pile photo in yesterdays blog.