Unfortunately, on our way back to our B&B that evening, we had a bit of an incident. Actually, a lot of an incident. As we were driving along the road to take us straight out of town, a car coming in the opposite direction decided at the last minute to turn left... right into us.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, but the hassle that ensued was a bit of a blight on our weekend away. Our rental car was no longer fit to drive and we spent the rest of the evening, and the following morning, trying to get in contact with the rental agency. Being in the small and laid back community of St. Anthony, car accidents rarely happen so they weren't set up to deal with such an event. To make things even trickier, it was impossible to reach anyone who might be of assistance until around midday the following day! Luckily, a very helpful RCMP officer (Mountie), originally from Québec, came to the rescue on Friday evening shortly after the incident; he took a detailed accident report, and gave us a ride back to our B&B (after picking up his boss and some drive thru coffee, of course).
L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland. Dated to around 1000 AD, the site is the only accepted evidence of pre-Columbian European settlement in North America. The site itself contains the remains of a Viking camp, believed to have been established by Leif Erricson (son of Erik the Red) as he made his way south from Greenland in search of resources. Based on findings in the area, it is believed that the camp served as a ship repair site, where the Vikings could fix up their boats as they explored the region in search of riches.
It was a great visit, and after our misfortune with the rental car, L'Anse aux Meadows really perked us up.
On early Sunday afternoon, we caught our flight back to St. John's with clear skies all around which allowed us to admire the rugged Newfoundland coastline all the way home... Or read our books. We did a bit of both.
Here are some more photos from our weekend on the Northern Peninsula:
And, funnily enough, two years ago we were visiting a (potential) future UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. The fossils here are of some of the oldest complex life forms found anywhere on Earth!