We made it! Each year there seems to be a stop that I consider the main goal for the summer. This year, making it to the Viking Settlement gives me a huge sense of success and relief. Although this stop is no more important or exciting than any other stop on our trip, had we not made it here, I would have considered the entire summer a failure. On the flip side, I’m so relieved now, that I don’t care what else happens. I was so tense on the final stretch, praying these potholes didn’t prevent the last push. The signs here have a counter for Moose collisions this year, I was scanning so hard for Moose I almost forgot to enjoy the beautiful coastline we’ve been following. There is only one main road on the island and so we must trace back over our drive today with the coast to our right this time. There is something more relaxed about the drive today, we already made it.

We always try to participate in local traditions and try local foods and that continues here in Newfoundland. Amy ordered the local delicacy Cod Tongue, we have been enjoying Labrador Tea in the evenings, Bakeapple and Partiridgeberry pie for desert, Figgy Duff pudding, Moose burgers, and maybe a little Screech Rum. The infamous Seal Flipper Pie has eluded us thus far, but we still have about a week on the island to track it down. I love the smells, it either smells like fresh pine or ocean waves depending which you’re closer to at the time. All the drinking water here looks pee yellow, there is a huge amount of Iron in the water, when you flush the toilet the new water is the same color as the old. 

Today, we turn around and head home. There will be a ton of stops along the way, but this is the furthest from home we will make it. If I would have realized there was another ferry up here at the tip maybe I would have kept going to Labrador but there are no regrets on this island, everything we have experienced has been memorable. 

Today’s goal is a very small pocket of Gros Morne a bit outside the main park. Most casual visitors ignore it because it solely exists to protect a specific rock outcropping along the coast that geologists go crazy over.  Amy has been reading about it for a while and I have to keep reassuring her that I have it booked since we passed it on the way North.

Some locals and other travelers let us know about a caribou herd that is roaming around the Port a Choix lighthouse area. This would add about forty minutes to an already long drive but when else will we get to see a wild caribou herd. I get to pull up and park right next to the lighthouse for a cute picture before we hike out to the coast and find the herd. They were bathing in the sun and raising their newborns while nibbling at the barren ground. It was fun to accomplish another one of those goals you wonder about when planning the trip. I definitely hoped for this moment. 

We finally arrive at our campsite right before low tide. Amy has us organize and prepared in record time and quickly we are hiking off down the coast. It soon becomes clear what we are here for, those rocks look incredible, you don’t have to be a geologist to appreciate this. The rocks are so different from one side of the cliff to the other, why? That’s what makes this spot so important. The Green Point rock outcropping is one of the most studied in the entire world. On one side, all the rocks were formed during the Ordovician period and after a thin layer in the middle, everything on the other side was formed during the Cambrian. It so clearly shows the change in eras that it was chosen over all other similar sites to be the GSSP. That’s an official international reference point for the geologic time scale. Meaning that all other sites must be compared to this one and this site is considered the standard for all comparable dates. It’s really neat and you can find Grapolite fossils that predate seashells in some layers.  Amy had us in a scavenger hunt looking for specific layers with names like “bed 23”. Certain fossils only exist up until you pass a certain layer then those no longer exist, other creatures are found. 

It’s Taco Night so we scamper back to camp with a little speed to our step. Our site is right along the coast and we can’t tell whether the sound is wind or waves. Good bye to both as tomorrow for the first time we head inland to even less populated parts of the island.