More Vikings and Some Loons

As previously mentioned, Canada and the provinces do a remarkable job in preserving history. The previously noted Viking Village was constructed by Parks Canada. A couple of miles away is another Viking Village operated by a local group. This one depicts a more permanent settlement, thus the different style of building construction. These buildings still had sod roofs, but the walls made more use of timber than the blocks of sod used in the transient settlement.

We were the first visitors to arrive at this settlement (not really the first, those were more likely local natives, and that happened more than 1000 years ago). So we were greeted by this guy who sure talked a lot. He kept on rambling about nothing in particular until another group of visitors arrived and we were able to slip away.

 

The next day we departed Newfoundland on the same expensive ferry. This time I was able get a picture that better demonstrates the size of the ship. It is really as big as a medium sized cruise ship, or maybe an iceberg.

So, six hours later we were back in Nova Scotia, where we will remain for at least a couple of weeks.

I was also able to get a shot of the vehicle deck we were parked on. As mentioned earlier, it reminded me of the hangar deck of an aircraft carrier.

Our current campground in Nova Scotia is right on a pretty lake, and it has several loons swimming around. I don’t know if the loon is Canada’s official bird, but it is depicted on the dollar coin which is known as the loonie. So here’s a picture of a loon family that swam by this morning.