On Wednesday, August 27, 2003 we have a beautiful day for traveling in Labrador. We are traveling on the Trans Labrador Highway. Our first stop was L’Anse Amour, the site of a grave 7,500 years old. This was found by a group of students who thought that the rock pattern was quite unusual. Under the rock they found an enshrouded child of about twelve, face-down, painted in red with a flat rock on the lower back. Artifacts associated with the burial include a walrus tusk, a number of stone and bone projectile points, a bird bone whistle, paint grinding tools, an antler pendant, a toggling harpoon and a decorated ivory eagle.
Down the road is the Amour Lighthouse, the tallest one in Newfoundland Province. Even its presence has not stopped ships from the treacherous shores. In 1922, the HMS Raleigh, a 12,000 Ton cruiser, avoiding an iceberg, ran aground. Its wreckage is strewn on the shore. During WWII two ships collided in the dense fog in the straits, because there was a warning of a U-boat in the area. Ironically two other ships were lost in the straits that day too, but in a different area. The Strait of Belle Isle is not only an iceberg alley, but also a shipwreck alley.
Up the road at Red Bay archeologists are still uncovering the first industrial whaling factory in the world. Founded in the 1540s by the Basque fishermen, from the area between France and Spain, the whale oil was used to light up Europe. During its peak, over 2,500 whalers in Labrador, produced approximately 20,000 barrels of oil annually. Using chalupas, a boat not a sandwich, they harpooned the right whales and brought them ashore for processing. In the harbor on Saddle Island archeological digs are still in process. Many artifacts are on display in the local museum, including pieces of the wreckage of The San Juan, a whaling ship, found near the modern wreckage of the Bernier, caught in the same type of storms associated with the Labrador Coast. Many sites exist on the mainland, but have not been explored, because they are on private property. The Basque industry died around 1600, due to their involvement with the Spanish Armada.
At Red Bay, the paved road ends. A new gravel road leads to Cartwright, opening the coastal towns for tourism and commercial development. After traveling 40 or so km on the road, we parked for the night at one of the numerous gravel pits used for the construction of the roadbed.
Today we spent six hours driving the gravel road from Red Bay to Cartwright, a distance of 312 kilometers or 187 miles. The road is approximately ten yards wide and is very will groomed. The speed limit is 70 kph or 42 mph. All along the road are sweeping vistas of pine forest and mountains, something akin to driving the Northern Passage through the Adirondacks. Approximately 80 kilometers from Cartwright is the junction for the planned road to Goose Bay of an additional 250 kilometers.
Most of the towns along the route are bypassed by the new road. There are few services on the highway itself. In Lodge Bay, gas and sundry items are available at Mona’s One Stop; no diesel. Diesel is available at Mary’s Harbour at C & J’s Automotive. St. Mary’s is the embarkation point for Battle Harbour Island and National Historic District. Known as the “unofficial” capital of Labrador, Battle Harbour was a major base for salt cod fishing in Labrador during the 19th Century. The area looks pretty much like it did in 1909. The fishery continued until the 1990s and then was donated to the people. Until the advent of the highway this year the island was pretty inaccessible, except by boat. Today interpreters in traditional dress guide the tourist through a typical fishing village of the 19th and 20th centuries. Accommodations are available for overnight stays.
50 k. from Mary’s Harbour is Port Hope Simpson on the beautiful Alexis River. Restaurants, sleeping accommodations, fuel and a hospital are available there. This is the last vestige of civilization for the next 187 k. There are very few places to turn off the highway to rest. Most people just park at the side of the road. Most of the traffic encountered were construction vehicles along a 50 k. stretch.
The roads in Cartwight are in complete contrast to the highway: rutted and corrugated. We parked with other trailers at the ticket office parking lot, located near the dock.
Spent a quiet day in Cartwright. We boarded the Sir Robert (not James) Bond Ferry at 4:30 for a 7:00 sailing. The ship was full to capacity, everyone returning home from vacation or making the best of a three day weekend before returning to school or work. The ship is far from luxurious. During the night many people, who did not have a broom closet size room, slept on the deck. The strangest thing about the ship is the food service. The cafeteria was open only until 6:30, ½ hour before sailing. Only snacks and the bar were open during the sailing itself. Wanted to see the Wunderstrand, a mile long white sand beach landmark for the Vikings, a two day journey from L’Anse aux Meadows. By the time we arrived at the coast and Porcupine Point, the sun had already set. After a fun night on board the ferry, we docked at Goose Bay-Happy Valley, NF. We woke up to a typical Labrador day: overcast, wet, and cool.
Our first stop was the Visitor’s center, which was closed: only opened Mon-Fri. I guess the people forget that an influx of people comes off a boat every Saturday between 8:00 and 9:00 AM, who might like some information about the town. We had heard that RVs were allowed to park in the town hall parking lot. But we did not know where that was and our map did not show it. We decided to go to a Tim Horton’s, think Dunkin’ Donuts in the States, and get needed nourishment, a cup of Java, and some necessary directions. Having gotten both and some good advice from the locals who had been on the ship with us, we were headed out the door, when we heard exclaimed, “CHICAGO?” I was wearing my Chicago Heights Roadway Jacket. We turned around and met a couple from Chicago. He worked for Serco, weather forecasters at the air base. After spending some time in conversation, he asked us if we wanted a tour of the facilities. The Greek chorus roared out a resounding, “YES”.
Goose Bay Airport was once one of the most significant military airbases in North America. The US built a mega-runway, long enough to land any aircraft and once employed 16,000 personnel as a SAC base until 1991. In the 1980s one of the space shuttles used the runway for a landing strip. We were escorted to the weather forecasting tower and given a cook’s tour of the facilities. The facility is divided into three sections,: observation, military briefing, and forecasting. They are responsible for the weather observation and reporting of a 240 K diameter area, the size of New England minus Maine. We were unable to go up into the adjacent air tower. The RAF, British Royal Air Force, was planning to start low flying maneuvers in a few minutes. We had missed the take off of a US AWACS plane a couple hours ago. We went out on the deck and watched as Tornado fighter planes took off from the runway, afterburners on and a thunderous roar in their wake; a pretty exciting spectacle. Between take offs a RCMP jet landed and taxied in front of us. Other smaller commercial planes also shared the runway. In other words, Goose Bay is a vibrant living entity. Also using the facilities are the German Air Force (Luftwafte), and the Canada 5 Wing.
On base is a Canex, like a PX in the States. Anyone can shop here. What makes this place unique is the wide selection of food available for Labrador. Specialty items are flown in from Germany and Great Britain, giving the servicemen and women a feeling of home. The German club has a restaurant open to the local citizens, but is closed to them until after tourist season in mid September.
A sunny day in Labrador. We saw some hiking trails in a brochure for Birch Brook Nordic Ski Club. The trails are well groomed and go through different types of forest ecosystems. One aspen tree has the scars of where a bear tried climbing it. At the top of one of the hills, called Lookout Rock, we were able to have a scenic view of Lake Melville and the environs. Along the trail we saw fresh piles of black bear scat. We knew it was black bear, because of the preponderance of blueberries and crackerberries in it. There were enough of them to make jam. NOT!!!
We continued the drive to North West River and Sheshitiu further along Lake Melville about twenty-five miles down lake. The towns are separated by a river and a chasm of cultural differences. Sheshitiu is Innui and is a resettlement community of the hunter/gatherers from Northern Canada. They hold the land in common and have little concept of private possessions and permanency of residences. It is a town you travel through, but do not want to stay. Your possessions are assumed to be communal property and so are treated as thus. On the other side of the river live the Innuit and Metis. Surprisingly there is no restaurant in town, just a grocery store. What the town does have to offer are beautiful beaches and trails. There are also two important museums there: the Labrador Museum and the Labrador Interpretation Center.
The Labrador Museum is divided into four sections: hunters/gatherers lifestyle, Hudson Bay Trading Company, Grenfell’s Medical Mission Work among the population, and the Hubbard Expedition of the Interior of 1903. We spent about one hour there looking at the exhibits.
The Labrador Interpretation Center was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. A modern building with artifacts thousands of years old from the different peoples settling Labrador. On display is a 100 year old sealskin kayak, which still looked pretty serviceable. The mannequins’ models were real people from Labrador. The Center also has a large auditorium which shows two movies about the different sections of Labrador.
On the way home we dropped by the Aurora Hotel and picked up the satellite phone for our journey to Churchill Falls tomorrow. This is a free service, secured by a credit card, on a twenty-four hour basis, whereby you can contact the RCMP in case of an emergency.
Before leaving Goose Bay on our trek to Churchill Falls and beyond, we had heard about the art work at the Labrador Medical Center about one hundred yards from us. The people were right. The art work is beautiful. Diana Dabinett, an artist from St. John’s did a series of painted silk hangings depicting different aspects of Labrador: birds, sea life, animals, and scenery. These are hanging in the cafeteria along with large oil painting of different scenes of Labrador: coastal, waterfalls, tree lined mountains. Along the corridors are folk sculptures done by the Innu and Innuit peoples. All of the signs in the hospital are written in three languages: English, Innu, and Innuit.
With satellite telephone in hand, off we went for the 180 mile adventure along the gravel road of Rte 500. The speed limit is 70 kph (42 mph). The road is well maintained but still rough. We saw two graders working on different parts of the road.. The views are of black spruce forests with aspens, birches, and other fir trees interspersed. The ground cover is primarily Caribou Moss; really a lichen. Near the East Metchin River is the ORMA Caribou Hunting Zone. Off to the side of the road you can see the remains of caribou, which have been killed for sport: hooves, bones, etc.
We reached Churchill Falls after six hours of driving. We averaged about thirty-five miles per hour. This included frequent rest stops. We did not want to race through the area, because of the presence of potholes, etc.
We went on a tour of the Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Underground Plant. This plant is the largest underground plant in the world, seventh largest electrical producer in the world, using eleven turbines to produce enough 60% of the electricity for Quebec Province and all of Labrador. We took an elevator over nine hundred feet into the bedrock, where the rock is over 3,000,000,000 (three billion) year old, some of the oldest rock in the world. I cannot fathom that number. The trip to Labrador is worth just taking this tour of the plant, an unknown wonder of the world. The reservoir of water used for the production is the size of the province of New Brunswick. It takes three days for the water to flow from it to reach the underground turbines.
The town itself is one of the few company towns still in existence. All of the housing and other facilities are owned and operated by the CFLCL, except the only gas station, and the hotel restaurant complex. The library for a town of only 650 people is quite extensive and is opened more than any library in Newfoundland Province, including St. John’s. The town is a great place to work, but not retire. The winters are quite challenging: -40° F and up to fifteen feet of snow annually. Most people plan to stay only five years, but remain because they become enamoured with the North Country living. Most people purchase pickup trucks, snowmobiles (one per family member), canoes, motorboats, and other adult recreational toys. To get away from meeting the same people while working, shopping, praying, etc., they build a cabin out of town. Everything is subsidized by the company, including food (same prices as St. John’s), housing, and freight transportation costs.
The tour guide mentioned about getting a sheet on the road conditions to Labrador City, which completely slipped our minds. We did remember to pick up the next satellite telephone, for which we are truly grateful. The road to Labrador City was an adventure. Some places you could go fifty mph, but then, almost immediately you hit a series of washboard road, which reduced your speed to less than fifteen mph. There are graders out to improve the road, but there is nothing to improve since most of the top layer has been already scraped off
We were very fortunate during our 160 mile trip. We only lost the cap to our sewer pipe connection and broke one wine glass. Everything was covered with a fine layer of dust. We wanted an adventure and our wish was fulfilled. We could still speak to each other fairly civilly–with a bit of effort.
We went touring Wabush and Labrador City, both towns were built in the late 60s and early 70s because of the iron deposits. First came the railroad from Sept-Iles, PQ. Later the road was built from Baie Comeau.
All of the mine tours ended the Friday before Labor Day. Once again we were a few days too late. We did see a couple of blasts. The Wabash mine set one off at 12:15. It was small. The ICC mine, however, set off a large one about an hour later.
John and Maggie Pelley are Geriatric Gypsies. Both of us are retired from the rat race of working. We are full-time RVers, who ran away from home. We began our travels on the East Coast and, like the migrating birds, seek the warmth of the seasons. No more shoveling snow in Chicago. We have discovered volunteering with the National Park System. During our travels we have found that each town has a story to tell: some are more interesting than others. Both of us enjoy good listening music as we go. John has a CD he has recorded of Native American flure music. We have learned that RVing has a learning curve. We want to pass on some advice the help others avoid this trecherous curve. Life is an adventure. We are living it to the utmost.
Need For Speed Underground 2 my customize cars Im uploading all my cars from all the NFS games i have my best here i think is the Nissan Skyline Mitsubishi Eclipse and Honda Civic my worst got to be the Mitsubishi GT 3000 let me know what you think about my cars check my other videos too please rate and comment
If you are looking for free online car games? You can find easily, but if you want to find some clean game site without too much ads in Google. It is not easy. Most sites have a lot of banner ads, special boring pop-ups ads. Now you have a great site with funny games, and no too much ads. That is CarGames60.com.
Car Games Only
Not like other sites, there are many different kinds of game in one site, but only car games – yes only one kind of game in CarGames60.com. At CarGames60.com, you can play car games, bike games, dirt bike games, motorbike games, truck games, taxi games. You can race, park, pimp your car and do some bike tricks in the games. You can race your car in many different condition such as street, desert, mountain, ice, moon and other tracks.
Games Popular in one Week and Month
Have collect many popular games including racing and parking games. It is easy to find which car games are cool and popular in one week, one month and two month. So you can easily to find a popular car games that other people like to play these days. For example: On the Run Game, Drag Racer V3, Driving Test, Moto X Freestyle, Free Rider, and NFS Underground.
New Car Game Everyday
new game every day. So just stay with CarGames60.com, enjoy new car games every day in your play time or boring time.
CarGames60.com has collected hundreds more car games that all playable free and online by your browser. Enjoy them in your play time, and not more than 60 minutes everyday!
CarGames60.com offers cool free online games, including car games, motorbike games, bike games, truck games, bmx games, racing games and parking games.
It’s the belief that the United States is destined to become the grandest and greatest empire in history. It’s the idea that we as a people are inherently Right and selected for greatness. And it is the manifestation of a principle at the core of our society: Bigger is Better.
Whether it’s our nuclear weapons program or a Big Mac, Americans lust for grandiosity. It’s a fundamental American ideal and can be found throughout our culture. But when it comes to sheer gluttony, self-importance and hyperbole there is no single event on the American calendar that can match Super Bowl Sunday, which will take place this year on Feb. 4 in Miami.
Don’t be fooled. Over budget commercials and avocado dip won’t be at the heart of this annual orgy of Greed, Excess and Consumerism. The true soul of the event may be our desire for total world domination but the spirit of this Lord’s Day lies in the fervor and anxiety of millions of rabid gamblers across the nation.
“You will never get the NFL to publicly admit it, but the league would not be the most popular sport in the United States if it weren’t for the ability of people to wager on it,” said Ross Benjamin, a long-time professional handicapper. “The NFL realizes that the gambling that goes on is an integral part of the popularity and success of (the Super Bowl).”
To some the Super Bowl represents a fourth down Hail Mary pass; some weak-hearted last gasp attempt at Redemption and salvaging a season lost to bad luck and hubris. To others The Big Game represents a sort of pagan celebration of their good fortune and cunning throughout another long, bizarre NFL year. For them it’s the coronation of their inherent superiority and a chance to run up the score against the oddsmakers.
But regardless of your level of fear or desperation, the Super Bowl gives folks one last instance to press their luck in a very public duel with the Gambling Gods. It also symbolizes one final day to worship at the Altar of Speed and Savagery that is the NFL.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board the state’s licensed sportsbooks processed approximately $94.5 million in wagers on Super Bowl XL. Nielsen television ratings claim that last year’s contest drew around 90.7 million viewers in the United States alone. That averages out to nearly $10 bet per viewer. Also, estimates including offshore betting place the game’s total handle in the range of $1 billion. That only represents the sums of money gambled legally and the true scope of this event can’t be quantified.
So, since every heretic and lunatic that’s ever seen or heard of football is looking to lay a little green on the title game, how can seasoned gamblers find value in the lines? It’s a tricky situation, but I’ve done a bit of research and come up with a five-point plan for gambling success Super Bowl Sunday. There are no guarantees, except that if you follow this blueprint your odds of winning increase exponentially:
1) When betting the Super Bowl, understand the line.
“Most people don’t realize that we make most of our lines during the course of the year geared toward ‘wise guy’ or ‘professional’ bettors,” said Jay Kornegay, the former Executive Director of Racing and Sports for the now defunct Las Vegas Hilton. “The Super Bowl is the one line that is geared or made toward how the public or novice bettor views the game.”
During the regular season the goal for the books is to balance the action. Lines are posted not in an attempt to predict the actual outcome, but to prompt an equal or near equal amount of wagering on each side of any particular game. However, the public overwhelmingly bets the favorites in the Super Bowl. This makes it a kamikaze spot for the books: either the chalk covers and John Q. Public can afford that new flat panel television or the underdog covers and books can pour their winnings into hookers and blow.
In response to the square bettor’s infatuation with public favorites, the books shade the spreads even more than normal. The idea is to entice the sharps to back the dog at a premium price or through a key number. The result is that favorites since 1990 have gone 13-4 straight up but a modest 8-7-2 against the spread. Overall, the chalk is 26-14 SU but just 19-18-3 ATS in The Big Game.
Mob rule is the operative logic in any country as savage and ruthless as ours. Betting the Super Bowl is no different. The public is a drunken, lazy, brainwashed fool when it comes to football. What do you expect from a crew that gets its information from Chris Berman or Michael Irvin? So by falling in lock step with the public you could be unknowingly walking off a bridge.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t back the favorite. Last year I cleaned house with Pittsburgh as a four-point heavy over Seattle. I knew they were a better team and was able to get them at a favorable number. But while the 21-10 final may have appeared to be an easy cover, the Seahawks actually drove to the Pittsburgh 23-yard line with less than a minute left. If they had managed a garbage touchdown I would have pushed and all those poor souls who took the Steelers at -4.5 would have lost a heartbreaker.
If you are going to play a favorite you should go into the game with specific number in mind. If the opening spread is in that range you should hit it early and often because the longer you linger the most likely it is that it will move against you. Conversely, if you’re eying the underdog you want to wait while the money pours in on the chalk. There a good chance you can steal a precious extra half-point or point before kickoff.
2. Know your coaches.
If you had to bet your mortgage on an NFL game, which coach would you want leading your team?
“I always personally evaluate each head coach in respect to how well prepared they have had their teams in any big game situations they have been involved in,” Benjamin said. “Does the one extra week of preparation time favor one head coach over the other?
“It’s also very important as to how well disciplined each team is with all the distractions that go on in the two weeks leading up to the game. Discipline of a team is a direct reflection of the head coach. Discipline in this type of environment equals focus and attention to detail. These factors can’t be underestimated.”
Discipline in pro football can mean different things to different people. To you it could represent taking care of the ball and not committing crippling penalties. To me it means taking particular care to ensure that your players don’t end up drunk and babbling in the corner of some Mexican bar or that they don’t attempt to solicit sex from local law enforcement. That stuff has a way of disrupting a team’s karma, and you can usually get a read on it by scouring a coach’s history.
3. Are you experienced?
Experience is a cousin of discipline. And when the Hype Machine comes looking for victims I’ll always side with the guys who have been there before and are used to victory.
My own personal Big Game-Big Program Corollary states that if you have an organization or city making its first Big Game appearance – Seattle – and they are facing an organization or city that is used to titles – Pittsburgh – then you have to lend significant weight to the championship pedigree.
This may seem like another one of my wild and baseless theories born out of some horrid meth binge, but history actually supports it. First-time Super Bowl participants are just 7-19 in the game’s history. That includes a 1-6 mark by virgins since 1993. Conversely, teams making five or more appearances are a robust 9-3.
4. Know who’s playing, and know where they’re from.
I’m not talking about knowing a team’s mascots or where its tight end went to college. I’m talking about some solid, empirical analysis. You need to scour both teams’ schedule for common opponents or opponents that play a similar brand of football. You need to note how these teams have been playing lately and who seems to have the momentum going in. And finally, you need to note which conference each team played in and how that group did against their counterpart throughout the season.
Domination by a particular conference has been a cyclical and reoccurring theme throughout the history of the NFL championship. Initially, the AFC won 11 of the first 15 Super Bowls tilts, followed by an obscene 15-1 run by the NFC. In those 15 games the NFC averaged a 16.5-point margin of victory.
However, the pendulum has swung back toward the AFC in recent years. They are 7-2 straight up and 5-3-1 ATS since Green Bay was beaten by Denver in 1998. What this tells me is that the NFC has two or three humiliating losses left in it before regaining its perch atop the NFL totem pole.
Conference totalitarianism seems to be a direct contradiction to what has become the crux of the league’s stability and popularity – parity. The historical data doesn’t lie, but recent statistics actually indicate that the disparity in the championship game is shrinking. Between 1987-1996 the average margin of victory in the championship game was a coma-inducing 19.4 points. But from 1997 to 2006 that margin slimmed to 10.7 points. Further, three of the past five games were decided by a field goal, with four underdogs covering and two winning outright.
5. Defense wins championships.
Everyone knows this – it’s Gambling 101 – but it’s worth repeating. Since 1990, defensive units ranked in the top three overall during the regular season are a perfect 9-0 in the Super Bowl. Five of those nine victories were by a top-ranked unit, who were a pristine 5-0. Teams boasting the league’s No. 1 offense went 6-3 in the championship game, but not of the half dozen victors had a defense ranked lower than No. 6 during the year.
Over the past six years we’ve seen a dominating defense take the title and finish in the money. Pittsburgh (2006), New England (2005, 2004, 2002), Tampa Bay (2003) and Baltimore (2001) were all rough and rugged units that featured whiplash-wielding, concussion-causing, bone-breaking defense. The result was that they went a combined 4-2 ATS.
Keep all of these suggestions in mind when you are betting the Super Bowl and remember: go for it all. It’s what being an American is all about.
Our destination today was Terra Nova National Park, on the East Coast of Newfoundland. We were very surprised at the fees they charged: $5.00 per day per adult for use plus $21.00 per day for camping with no amenities (electricity was $5.00 extra per night). The area boasts arboreal forests reaching to the sea. There are many hiking trails, most between four and ten kilometers in length.
We went to the marine interpretation center. A ranger explains the different aquatic animals they have in their touch tank: stars, scallops, various crabs, barnacles, etc. It was very informative. They also have tanks with local fish in them: cod, caplain, etc.
Monday, July 21, 2003
Took to some of the trails today to view the wildlife and the scenery, which Terra Nova has to offer. We saw three plovers, a herring gull, a whiskey Jack (a gray jay), and squirrels, which are not indigenous to Newfoundland. We saw moose tracks and droppings and bear tracks, but no moose or bear yet.
After a day of hiking, it was early to bed.
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Drove to St. Johns, the capital Newfoundland. We parked at Pitty Park in St. Johns. This is located close to Memorial University.
Until 1948 Newfoundland was an independent country. On July 22, 1948, they voted whether to become part of Canada. The first ballot was noncommittal. After some negotiations with the Canadian government and necessary concessions, the people voted confederation by a very narrow margin. Many Newfoundlanders, even today many wished that confederation never took place. The other options they had was to become a member of the USA or remain independent.
Drove down to La Manche (French for the sleeve) Provincial Park. We were put in the overflow section, which is perfect for us, because the area is wide open. There is no electricity or water, except for boiling available in any of the provincial parks. So we are happy to pay $13.00 Canadian per night. We are spitting distance to the lake, which has water the temperature of bath water. There are hiking trails. One leads to a picturesque falls, where swimming is allowed, but not recommended. Another leads to the ruins of the town of La Manche. After the Confederation in 1949, the residents of the town were given the opportunity to resettle to a larger town, because it was too costly to maintain roads and offer other services, such as electricity. Most refused. After a major storm hit the area in the 1960s, the town had been wiped out and so the people were resettled anyway. Only the foundations of the buildings remain today of this once prosperous fishing village. Similar stories exist for many of the fishing villages on the island. When the fisheries died from dredging, the life expectancy of the Newfoundland fisherman was also terminal. Many chose to give up the old ways, which originally had brought their families to this abundant island, and moved to larger towns to find less meaningful work.
Friday, July 25, 2003
Today we were going to go whale watching. We found out that Gatheralls in Bay Bulls charged $50.00 per person, but someone recommended Seabird or Ocean Adventure Tours out of Bauline East, closer to the Park, for only $20.00 per person for a one hour trip. We decided top check them out and see what they offered. We met Jerry, the owner operator of Seabird, who had just returned from a trip out to Great Island, the Puffin Sanctuary. He said that they had seen about six humpback whales out on the briny. By the time we left our small group of four had increased to over twenty people. There was plenty of room on board for all. Three Islands comprise Witless Bay Ecological Reserve: Great, Green, and Gull. Great is the largest and lays just off the coast of Bauline East. The first bird pointed out was the Northern Fulmar, a rarity since there are only twenty pairs on the island. Then there were the little puffins skimming the waters, wings beating almost as fast as hummingbirds, their colorful beaks contrasting to the black and white bodies. Also in abundance were terns, or Murrs in Newfoundlander, and black-legged Kittiwakes, a smaller member of the gull family, who has dipped its wing tips into bottles of India Ink. Enough of the birds. Off for larger prey.
Everyone on the boat was scanning the horizon as we headed out to sea. Finally someone shouted, “Thar she blows, starboard.” Off on the chase we went and there was our first humpback whale, complete with a dive with a wave of his tail fluke. All in all we must have seen about a dozen whales. The number might have been more or less. It is very hard to identify them unless you get pictures. We got a couple of their flukes, which usually have the identifying marks. Some of the whales were even vocalizing to us. Everyone on board acted like eight year old David, full of enthusiasm and awe at these magnificent persons. Sometimes we were less than five feet from the whale. Somehow I believe that they were having as much fun as we were, like the porpoises in Charleston, SC Harbor. Our trip on the sea was over an hour long and we hadn’t even started to return to Great Island or to the wharf.
We returned to the leeward side of the island and saw the nesting sites of the Kittlwakes, with adults and babies. We passed by numerous caves, one called skull cave because it looked like one, and natural arches etched from the rock by water and wind. The entire trip took almost two hours. Everyone got their money’s worth, plus some.
After a quick sandwich we left for the twenty minute drive to Ferryland. We wanted to see the Colony Avalon and other interesting sights there. We would be returning to Ferryland for the Shamrock Festival tomorrow. When we arrived, they were still setting up the venue. Colony Avalon is right there too. We joined a guided walking tour, which had just begun, outside the visitor’s center. Jennifer Carter was our guide. If she did not know the answer to our questions, she was in constant communications with someone who did.
Colony Avalon is an active archeological site of a four acre plus community founded by George Calvert, AKA, Lord Baltimore, in 1621. Situated on the banks of a naturally protected harbor, the colony thrived throughout the 17th century, cod fishing being the primary industry. Thousands of artifacts have been found on the site, some dating back even further to the Beotuck tribes and 16th century Basque, Portuguese, French and English seasonal fishermen. The Avalon Colony, however, had cobblestone streets, sewerage system flushed twice daily by high tide, forge, wells, warehouses with doors on the harbor, palisades, a manor house, plus many other buildings. Excavations are still underway, with new artifacts found daily. On the day we were there, they had found part of a crystal goblet and a gold coin.
Lord Baltimore abandoned the settlement to Sir David Kirke and went on to found the colony of Maryland. Kirke did so well in building the colony, he was put on trial in England and convicted, most probably of embezzlement of funds which should have gone to the crown. His wife took over for another twenty-five years. Most people have never heard of this prosperous settlement which predates Plymouth Rock. St. Augustine had been founded in 1565 and Jamestown in 1607.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Went on a hiking trail to the ruins of the town of La Manche. The town was started in 1840 and built on the side of a steep hill, at least fifty feet above the shoreline. Living there had to be pretty tough because everything was up and down the steep hillside. Even though it was almost a mile from the closest road, the town prospered. When confederation with Canada took place in 1949, the government wanted to relocate the town so that services good be given. They refused. But their decision was reversed when a storm wiped out the town. It had to be one heck of a storm, because the town was so high from the water’s edge. All that remains are foundations, some with basements, the cables from a suspension bridge traversing the river, and a doctor’s house in ruins across the river and up the hill.
We saw a humpback whale frolicking in the bay. On the return home I found an old stone spearhead and gave it to Jordan, a ten year old boy who was taking the hike with us. Tanya Herlidan was our naturalist guide. Later she brought to our trailer pictures of the town as it once had been.
Monday, July 28, 2003
‘Tis a fresh lovely Irish day to tour the Irish Loop: foggy, rainy, and windy. Our first stop was to Ferryland to the historical museum. We wanted to hear about the German W.W.II burials. The young people who were at the museum knew nothing about it, but had heard stories of U-boats in the area. We had been told that the Germans brought the body bags ashore and the local citizens had services for them and then buried them in their cemeteries. We were told that it was possible, because of the solitude of the local lighthouse, presently shrouded in fog, would be a good place to dump the bodies. They could not confirm the story, however. We asked where the old cemetery was located. We found it. As you can see in the picture, it was quite unkempt; many of the headstones were illegible and broken. Whether the story is true or legend, it still is a great story.
Drove through Renews, where the Mayflower stopped for supplies while on the way to Plymouth Rock. Then off to Portugal Cove South. The landscape was fairly open at this point, a great place to view the caribou herds, which number in the thousands. Arrived at the visitor center at Portugal Cove South in the fog. We were told by the young ladies at the center that the fog had lifted and it was quite nice outside. For the past week, they could not see across the road. Portugal Cove South has 158 days of fog per year, which is almost ½ of the time. When asked for the reason why they were so blessed, they said that it was because of the confluence of the Labrador, Gulf of Mexico and St. Lawrence Currents. In the visitor’s center were exhibits on the Titanic and on fossils. The lighthouse men at Cape Race were the first ones to hear the SOS from the ill fated Titanic in 1912. The wireless and the old house were demolished for a new on a few years later. So some historical artifacts lay buried. Along the road to Cape Race is Mistaken Point, a treasure trove of 575 million year old fossils. Because the cod industry of the area has been destroyed, the local citizens have become the self-appointed keepers of the fossils offering tours and chasing off the poachers. Today was not an optimal day for viewing them, because they turn into a slip and slide into the North Atlantic. When I asked the young ladies what was available in the area to keep them here, they said, “Nothing.” Both were college students at St. John’s majoring in Social Work and Physical Therapy and were home only for the summer.
Off to Trepassey we drove. Trepassey was the liftoff point for Amelia Earhart’s Transatlantic journey in 1928. We were in a driving rain storm. We took refuge in a restaurant, ate lunch and watched the storm. Off to St. Shotts to see some caribou. They were all hiding behind the fog. We saw zero caribou on the entire trip. We were told that the numbers have been severely reduced due to disease. There are very few left on the Avalon Peninsula.
We proceeded to the West side of the Irish Loop. The shroud of Brigadoon lifted to reveal a beautiful Kelly Green landscape with small farms dotting the hillside. We broke into song, happy to see the remaining seventy miles of the Irish loop.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Went to Cape Spear, the Easternmost point on the North American Continent. Even though Newfoundland is an island, it is still considered part of the North American Continent. Just as Nord Cap in Norway, also an island, is considered the Northern most point in Europe. Besides an 1835 lighthouse, one of the oldest in Newfoundland, the cape is also the emplacement of battlements erected by the US and Canadian Armies during W.W.II to protect the St. John’s shipping lanes from Nazi submarines. While there we saw minke whales breaking the surface. They were pretty far out to get pictures. Nevertheless it was exciting.
Returned back to the city and drove through the city. We stopped for ice cream at Moo Moo’s, a favorite spot for their 88 flavors of hard packed ice cream. After the cones we went to the Basilica of St. John’s, where the diocese keeps their archives. We were told by the historian there that most of the Pelley clan settled in Anglican communities. St. John’s was the closest port to Ireland. From St. John’s they traveled to Halifax and then to Boston. Many Catholic Irish came over and settled in protestant towns because the Catholic Church was not well established in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The research which has been done is now being catalogued. I will send more information on to those who are interested in their genealogy.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Today we drove the Killick coast. A killick is an anchor made out of long stones enclosed in pliable wooden sticks tied at the top and with crossed ones at the bottom to dig into the seabed.
Along the way are towns with names like Torbay, where the English landed to retake St. John’s from the French.
Further on is Flat Rock, where the cod was laid out on the flat rocks to dry. Pope John Paul II was there to bless the fleet. It is also home to a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes, which is visited by many pilgrims.
Further on is Pouch (pronounced Pooch) Bay, founded earlier than 1611, which was the first documented date. Although permanent houses were taxed by the Crown in the 17th and 18th Centuries, neither the Royal Navy nor pirates dared to enter the dangerous waters of the harbor. So the town thrived.
We then took a side track to St. Francis Point, via a gravel road with barely enough room for passing. At the end of the road is a helicopter pad and light beacon to warn sailors of the rocks. To the North are Baccalieu Peninsula and Baccalieu. The view is breathtaking.
The Sierra Club must also think this too, because we met a group of hikers on tour of the East Coast Trail having lunch on the pad.
Finally on the trail is Portugal Cove, the terminus for the ferry boat to Bell Island. Bell Island is noted for its iron mines, which go under the sea. During W.W.II, the German Government hired the local boat captains to man their U-boats, because they were familiar with the area’s waters. Newfoundland, at the time was an independent country. One of the ferry boats recently had a collision with a Russian trawler, in restricted waters ,putting it out of commission. The government does not know whether to prosecute or reward the ferry captain. We had lunch at Beach Cove Café, part of a B & B by the same name. The fries were superb, a large platter of thick wedges.
Drove to the Cape Shore loop, which includes Placentia, the original French Capital. We took the overland route via a gravel road. The Fradshams have a summer home on this road, called Misty Mountain. No one was at home. So we left a note. The road passes by the Cataracts which cut a sixty foot gorge through the hills; a pretty sight. We parked at the beach where the Placentia Regatta takes place in July, part one of the Triple Crown of Newfoundland.
We visited the town of Placentia settled in 1662 to protect the French interests in North America. Castle Hill overlooking the city is a National Historical site. It successfully protected the city from invasion, but not from blockade. The ground was not conducive for farming and rival factions slowly doomed the colony. The French then built the fortifications Louisbourg, NS, leaving Placentia to the British.
Also in Placentia are other archeological excavations happening at the base of the harbor. A dig is being done at Fort Louis, a military post, and at Fort Frederick, across the harbor inlet. The former can be visited and you can see the process at work. The latter is less accessible, but a better quality of artifacts is being discovered there. They can be seen at the archeological treatment center in town.
Drove to St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve, which is strictly for the birds: gannets,
On the return trip to Placentia we stopped at different towns along the way. First was St. Brides, whose population doubled in 1941, when the Americans set up a listening base for German ships in the area. More than 400 GIs stayed for the war years. They were able to relay messages to the US Naval base at Argentia thirty miles to the North.The military medical staff also took care of the locals since their was no other medical care available to them.
Next we stopped at Gooseberry Cove, a small cove with a blackish sandy beach. It was quite peaceful, watching the wave come on the sand. Sand is unusual in Newfoundland, since most of the beaches are rocky. Some rocks strewn the beach, but most had been pulverized into sand by the action of the currents.
Our next stop was Ship Cove, which had a man made stone breakwater. On the breakwater people erected cairns. I added mine to the collection. Meanwhile Maggie collected drift wood to work on her carving.
Home to Placentia and a stop at the Archeological Center. They had just found a silver coin, slightly smaller than a dime, with a cross inscribed on one side. The opposite side was more difficult to read. The lady also show us a copper coin, recently found, with three fleur d’leis on one side.
Off to the O’Reilly house, built around the turn of the century for the local magistrate. It has been refurbished with donated items. The house also contains exhibits regarding the resettlement of many communities in Placentia Bay. The stories are quite sad. All of the towns were fishing villages, independent from each other. As long as there was fish, there was work. When fishing was forbidden to them, their way of living was taken away. This is somewhat reminiscent of the destruction of the buffalo and the resettlement of the Native Americans.
John and Maggie Pelley are Geriatric Gypsies. Both of us are retired from the rat race of working. We are full-time RVers, who ran away from home. We began our travels on the East Coast and, like the migrating birds, seek the warmth of the seasons. No more shoveling snow in Chicago. We have discovered volunteering with the National Park System. During our travels we have found that each town has a story to tell: some are more interesting than others. Both of us enjoy good listening music as we go. John has a CD he has recorded of Native American flure music. We have learned that RVing has a learning curve. We want to pass on some advice the help others avoid this trecherous curve. Life is an adventure. We are living it to the utmost.
2008 is the year that âcloudâ captured the imagination of the technology early-adopters. And the interest is not just in Silicon Valley or the U.S. ParaScale, for instance, has had hundreds of software download requests over the past few months from around the globe. But vendors should be under no illusion at this point that mainstream IT shops understand all the hype.
However, âcloud-wareâ is more than the next shiny thing on the IT roadmap. Cloud applications/compute/storage is driving the next generational shift in the evolution of IT. Over the next decade, IT deployments are going to include a blend of mainframe, client-server, and 3-tier-apps with cloud configurations becoming an increasing and very significant part of the mix. Even with the bottom falling out of the market, cloud technologies have continued to generate interest as it is seen as a way to optimize IT costs.
In 2009, users will be presented with a lot of choice, especially with cloud computing and cloud storage. When users thought of cloud-ware in 2008 they were thinking about cloud applications like SalesForce and Google Apps, cloud computing services like Amazon EC2, or cloud storage like Amazon S3. These are all public cloud services in that the offering is delivered across a public network. The private cloud option, where infrastructure services (i.e. IaaS â Infrastructure as a Service) like cloud computing or cloud storage are made available as a service over a private network, became strongly established in the vernacular in the latter half of 2008. But it will be 2009 before customers have enough vendor choice and adoption starts taking root.
In the cloud storage space, 2008 saw announcements from vendors like EMC (ATMOS hardware + software offering) and ParaScale (software on commodity hardware offering) about packaged cloud storage technologies. With the excitement around cloud storage, there was also activity from vendors making forays from adjacent storage segments, as they announced âcloud-likeâ storage. Overall, these various packaged options are going to enable both businesses and service providers with their deployments, as they donât have to undertake custom engineering projects as was the case in 2008.
In 2009 we will see two driving trends: 1. The arrival of private cloud storage options with increasing choices for businesses looking to deploy their own storage clouds inside the firewall 2. A rapid proliferation of public cloud storage service options, with many service providers coming to market with varied services, competing with a market-leading Amazon S3.
Letâs peek through these clouds.
Many early-adopter enterprises, especially in the U.S. and Europe, will start trialing private storage clouds in 2009. They are going to discover that cloud storage is a very effective way to constrain burgeoning tier 2 storage needs especially in archival applications. By starting small, these IT shops will be able to take measured steps into the cloud. Enterprises will also discover that private clouds will allow data-access via familiar enterprise protocols like NFS, FTP, CIFS allowing drop-in to existing enterprise IT, versus public clouds that typically work with newer web-friendly protocols like WebDAV and REST. On a different note, many rich content businesses (delivering applications like image hosting, video streaming), where storage is a very material cost of doing business, will also be looking to see if cloud storage can make the underlying economics of their businesses more robust. These kinds of businesses typically look to monetize eyeballs (in a weak advertising market), or are trying to get to affordable subscription models, and anything that contains their cost-to-serve in an uncertain economy can only be good.
Looking at the second key trend, 2009 will be the year that public cloud services really breakout. Today the storage service buyer is faced with a few limited choices (Amazon S3, Rackspace, etc). Amazonâs S3 is a very credible solution, but it is a 1-size-fits-all-cloud. With archiving application and streaming application, you have one cloud. Many customers like what S3 offers, but it is a case of âyou can have any color so long as it is blackâ.
In 2009, the many service providers of all sizes, observing the success of Amazon S3 and looking to compete, will be able to leverage packaged cloud storage platforms to enter the market. They can avoid undertaking an open-ended engineering project with unknown scalability challenges, as was the situation in 2008. Instead service providers and hosting companies will be able to focus on that which they do best – service creation and service delivery. Expect to see the following dynamics in the service provider-driven public cloud storage space:
* Real customer choice! Providers creating different kinds of storage clouds by selecting different kinds of underlying commodity hardware. Deployments of archival clouds (cheap CPU, less memory, many SATA disks) versus. streaming media clouds (powerful multi-core CPU, more RAM, SAS drives). * Smaller providers getting into the cloud storage service business, with focused CAPEX outlays, and satisfying the needs of local SMBs and regional businesses. Customers could even drive down to the local hosting company and get TBs for a fast emergency recovery. * Service providers building many small and mid-sized (50-200 node) clouds, vs one uber-cloud, thus ensuring better stability, more isolation, and flexible DR-options across multiple locations. * Hosting providers getting into the business by offering managed cloud storage services for enterprises by bringing up mini-clouds for enterprises in their own racks. Now hosting providers have a way to participate in the wave of interest in private cloud storage.
Recessions in many cases assist in the adoption of cost-saving technologies. This seems to be the case with the various cloud technologies. The brakes are being applied for non-urgent infrastructure projects, yielding more time for IT staff to focus on ways to be frugal in must-spend areas like storage. On current trajectory, 2009 is definitely going to be the break-out year for private and public cloud storage in the early-adopter segment, with 2010 starting the penetration into the mainstream market.
Sajai Krishnan is CEO of ParaScale, a Silicon Valley startup focused on addressing the exploding bulk storage requirements for digital content and archival data.
Gracias V3NOM por el cochesito ;D