Komu Blessth!
The shore in this area is high rolling hills, covered in lush green, like velvet. There are no trees. The edges are of rough, jagged rock giving the appearance that they have broken away from some other place. We can see some trail markers on the closest hill but not how to access it from the water. We are about to walk the 5km to Norstead, so we’ll save another trail for another day.
Norstead is the Viking Village separate from the UNESCO World Heritage Site at L’anse aux Meadows. The larger site is the only known Viking site in North America, as it was to be 1000 years ago when a Viking expedition landed here. Norstead, the smaller site, has costumed interpreters, depicting life as it could have been in the Scandinavian countries from 790-1066 AD.
As we had visited L’anse aux Meadows on our road trip in 2017, we decided to visit Norstead in the short time we had ashore.
We had just secured the dinghy onshore when a gentleman appeared and offered us a ride to wherever we wanted to go. He is from New Hampshire but has a summer home on Quirpon Island. He is here meeting friends to go cod fishing for the afternoon. Of course we accept the offer and jump in the car!
The drive is short, the chauffeur friendly and the scenery is pleasant in the afternoon sun.
The village is busy today, mostly with families as several games have been set up for children - some with a Viking twist. This is part of the area’s Come Home Year celebrations.
The interpreters stay in character as they chat with us, asking from where our boat brought us to the village today. How did they know? Then we realize everyone is asked the same question as back in 1000 AD, none of us would have been visiting by car!
Albruna tells me my fortune, told in Runes which was a series of characters used by these people to share messages with each other. I am told I was led here by my ancestors and my intuition, challenges lay ahead taking me down a new path resulting in victory.
We visit with weavers and knitters, the black smith and his horrifying display of dental tools, and step inside the church with its dirt floor and “green” roof.
The Knarr boat, Snorri, is a replica of what would have been sailed by the Vikings, but this one was sailed here by its builder, Robert Stevens, and eleven men in 1998. He was following the 1500 mile passage from Greenland to Newfoundland that Leif Erikson was to have taken over 1000 years ago, settling at what is now L’anse aux Meadows.
The vessel constructed of oak, pine, tamarack and locust wood is an open deck boat, 54 feet long, 16 feet wide and 6 feet deep. It was propelled by wind in the square canvas sail, or by manpower on oars. There was no shelter for the men on this journey on the open sea - we just can’t imagine.
It’s been a sunny and warm afternoon to be walking with the other tourists, but now we set our sights on The Norseman restaurant, remembering the lovely meal we had there 5 years ago, recalling it as a Place to Eat In Canada. The walk is short but we are thirsty when we arrive to find it is closed until 4:00pm so the short-handed staff can have their dinner.
The owner does offer us a drink on the patio which we enjoy until I get a message from my bank telling me there has been a suspicious fraud attempt to withdraw funds from my bank account. An hour later, holding the restaurant’s landline to my ear while eating my lovely cod dinner, the issue is resolved.
Even here…in this idyllic setting, we are not removed from the realities of life!
During our dessert of well-deserved figgy duff, we start a conversation with the table of three behind us. They are here from Sudbury in a motorhome. We share stories of their home region and things we have all seen on our two very different trips this summer.
The long walk back to the dinghy finds us enjoying the lovely evening air, and me feeling very relieved that I have not lost $1000 at the hands of a fraudster. Half way back to Spillard’s Cove, we hear a beep and there is the Sudbury motorhome and the driver asking “are you going my way?” We jump in and once again find ourselves grateful for the kindness of strangers.