Return to Fleur de Lys
The day is young, the sun is out and it is relatively warm. We are hungry so we make the fifteen minute walk to Sam’s Place for lunch. Today’s special is beef barley soup and sandwich. Carrot cake for dessert.
Over our lunch, on the patio, we are chatting about weather, tides and dock position when a fellow from a nearby table asks if we are from the sailboat. They are from Gander and are on tour with a lady visiting from South Africa. An hour later, we have finished our lunch and our conversation. We all extend best wishes for a safe journey and we leave with an invitation to Gander, to stay as long as we’d like.
Unfortunately, what we gave them was misguided information about the location of an ice berg. Their guest really wants to see an ice berg but unfortunately the one we thought we saw off Cape St. John was actually the very pointed rock structure of North Bill. I do owe these fine people a very humble apology. (We later learned there is still a berg in Coachman’s Cove, just a twenty minute drive but too late for us to share this information.)
The wifi isn’t working for me at Sam’s Place so our next stop is Lambert’s Lounge - Harald drinks beer and I prepare a blog update.
Sunday arrives after a very quiet night on the wharf, the sun is shining and we are longing for a good walk.
After checking in at Sam’s Place for information on local hikes, we head up the hill toward the Dorset Eskimo Interpretation Centre, only to be stopped by a gentleman asking if we were given any fish today. He seems to know we are from the sailboat and tells us to stop by his house later to pick up some fish. Bonus! (We cannot buy fresh fish. It is all processed and sent elsewhere or kept by the local fishermen for their own food supply.)
The stop at the Interpretation Centre is informative with much detail around the Dorset or “Palaeo” Eskimo, believed to first appear in Fleur de Lys approximately 1600 years ago.
From the information handed us at the museum: “The Dorset peoples were hunters who spent the spring hunting seals and the summers fishing and hunting caribou further inland. In the fall they would again hunt the harp seals as they migrated southward and in the winter they picked out sheltered areas from which to hunt the occasional caribou and to live on stored food. However, something else had the Dorset peoples returning to Fleur de Lys for a period of several hundred years. Soapstone.”
We visited the soapstone quarry during our road trip here in June. This Registered Historic Site is the only known Dorset quarry in North America and one of a handful in the world. This soft rock was easily manufactured into cooking pots and bowls, and seal-oil lamps. After viewing samples of the old cutting tools, pots and lamps, we make the short walk back to the quarry site for another visit.
Passing by the quarry we begin the hike to Spotted Point, which we are told is well worth the walk. We find the odd blueberry in the wet grass where the sun has warmed the bushes. The view from the top doesn’t disappoint. We see the Northern Peninsula to the west, the Horse Islands to the north and Cape St. John to the east. No ice and no whales but we are mindful of moose, black bears, coyote and lynx - all known to share this space.
We stop at Sam’s Place for a cold drink and a quick chat with Mary. She shows us a video she has prepared of the wild animals she has had visit her home on the hill above the village. A call comes in from two little grandkids who we are very happy to see and hear from. The two-year-old is doing “oga” in the driveway and three-year-old cannot go on holidays tomorrow with his parents as he has to work at the “police place”. “He isn’t a policeman, he just works there.” But he wears the suit and hat. These moments are so delightful along our journey away from home and family.
Back at the boat we freshen up and head to the described house where we are to pick up our fish. Ernie invites us in after we marvel at the lovely view from his porch. The seal plant, now closed for two years, blocks a bit but otherwise we can see right out the channel.
He grew up in this home with his 12 siblings. He now lives in St. John’s but summers in Fleur de Lys, fishing and enjoying the quiet life. We hear much of his history, in his kitchen, over a cup of tea and a sampling of smoked squid. His playlist is awesome! The conversation, as usual, comes to the fishery and the current situation for the small fishermen trying to make a living. He tells us the seal plant here cleaned pelts and produced seal oil tablets. The structure and equipment remains but is unused today.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with Ernie who sends us on our way with a meal of mackerel and at least two of cod. He tells us he’s going fishing again later so we’re welcome to come up to use his shower if we’d like. The door is never locked. Ernie gives me his email address and asks me to send our contact information and the address of our website.
What a grand day we have had! Harald prepares “salsa cod” for a late supper after another stop at Lambert’s for a beverage and some wifi. We will leave in the morning after a very relaxing, friendly stay in hospitable Fleur de Lys.
