Red Bay, Labrador, Canada

Day  4   July 16, 2014

Picture from the ship

Basque Whaling Station

Jonathon, mom and Kevin

Sittiing enjoying the view

Mystery basket chef

Day  4   July 16, 2014

Cloudy 64 degrees, sunset 9:26 pm

Red Bay is a fishing village and former site of several Basque whaling stations on the southern coast of Labrador in the Provinceof Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Between 1550 and the early 17th century, Red Bay was a major Basque whaling area. Red Bay is a natural harbour residing in the bay that gives it its name, both names in reference to the red granite cliffs of the region.

It was up and off to breakfast about 8:30 am.  Omelets and raisin rolls once again.  We had to tender at this port.  Tendering occurs when the ship cannot dock.  We anchored in the bay and took one of the lifeboats to shore.  They can take about 60 people per trip.  We waited til about 10:00am to catch a tender and did not have to long of a wait.

Red Bay is a quiet Canadian town.  They had one restaurant and no public internet. They had a beautiful church, very simple and peaceful.  We did see one dog on walk.

As you looked across the bay back toward the ship you could see Saddle Island.  There a few houses on it and lots of trails.  The Whalers Cemetery is there where 100 bodies were found in 60 graves.

The other direction was Penney Island , you could see the remains of the Basque whaling area.

We spent about 2 hours or so wandering around.  It was so nice to come back to the tender and have someone yell your name, be happy to see you and welcome you back with a hug.  Peter, our dining steward was on tender duty.  He was happy to see us.

Lunch was in the Lido, Pad Thai noodles and spicy pork with chocolate cake for dessert.   After lunch we sat outside on deck til sail away.  It was chilly but nothing a sweatshirt wouldn’t take care of.  About 4:00pm mom and I had a hot chocolate on deck.  It was tasty.

Dinner was great of course.  Peter had gotten us a plate of avocado for a pre-dinner treat.  There were 2 whole avocado’s sliced on a plate for us.  They were nice and ripe.  Then we had crab cakes, chicken and rice soup, and we all had Dover Sole.  That fish was delicious.  Peter deboned it at the table.  It was wonderful.  Dessert was skipped, we were stuffed.

We hit the casino after dinner and came home winners.  Not a lot but still winners.  The show was a female opera singer Dale Kristien from Phantom of the Opera.  We did not go.

Back to home for some bedtime reading.  Good night from the beautiful MS Veendam.