more Bay de Verde

First up today was Cable Station Provincial Historic Site. I expected to find this a bit ho-hum & to rush through it; to the contrary, it's a very interesting story very well presented. Prior to 1858, most of the modern world was connected by telegraph cable, & Newfoundland was already connected to Nova Scotian & thus New York. The last big link was to lay a cable across the Atlantic, which took several tries, each a huge, multi-year effort. In 1866, the boat laying the cable from Ireland to NL arrived here in the little village of Heart's Content, the only NL harbour deep enough & wide enough to accommodate the big ship needed to carry & lay all that cable. The cable station here grew until it employed 300 people, all of whom needed to be highly skilled & were then very well paid. This created a group that lived a very different life style next to the existing locals, who were just about able to feed themselves with fishing.  

           

This rabbit hangs out around my campsite morning & evening, & this snail  was crossing the boardwalk in Salmon Cove.

           

The landscapes in the area are quite varied. 

The old courthouse & jail in Harbour Grace has been converted into a lovely funky restaurant. Even the outside spaces, including the walled exercise yard, have been made into event spaces. 

           

                     

Some of the buildings from the boom days of the Harbour Grace fishing industry have been preserved. 

                 

In the harbour at Harbour Grace are a number of boats in dry dock (during the peak of fishing season) due to the fishing moratorium, though one big boat was obviously active. 

A roadside stop had info on the shipwreck of the SS Kyle, & Amelia Earhart's famous flight, which originated here. 

                                       

           

The beautiful sand beach at Salmon Cove enticed a few folks, even on this rainy day.