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Capital: St-John's
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The first settlement built by Europeans anywhere in the Americas was founded in the year 1000 AD by the Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. The Genoan explorer Giovanni Caboto claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony after landing at Bonavista in 1497. From 1610 to 1728, Proprietary Governors were appointed to establish colonies on the island. John Guy was governor of the first colony, Cuper's Cove. Other colonies were Bristol's Hope, Renews, South Falkland and Avalon which became a province in 1623. The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir David Kirke in 1638. In 1842, the elected House of Assembly was amalgamated with the appointed Legislative Council. This was changed back in 1848 to two separate chambers. In 1854 Newfoundland was granted responsible government by the British government. Newfoundland rejected confederation in the 1869 general election. It remained as a colony until acquiring dominion status in 1907 along with New Zealand. Newfoundland did not become part of Canada until 1949 when it joined confederation under the premier Joseph Smallwood. Until then it was a separate dominion of the British Empire except for a small period it was a country referred to as the Republic of Newfoundland. There are still some in the province who wish to go back to being a separate nation. |
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Crossing the 800 km Davis Strait took a day and a half steaming on a calm sea through a pea soup fog. There was nothing to see and little to do except attend lectures and watch video movies.
This is the kind of weather in which the Titanic ran into an iceberg and sank with the loss of 1500 lives, on her maiden voyage to New York in April 1912. Watching for an iceberg or a ship to loom into this limited visibility bubble must have been exciting in those days but now it is boring on a ship whose modern radar can see through dozens of kilometres of fog by night or day.
The sky was clear the next morning as we approached the small town of Nain on the Labrador coast. Nain is an Inuit community established by Moravian missionaries in the 18th century. The Inuit here used to live poorly, fishing and sealing on the coast in summer and hunting and trapping inland in winter, but now the development of a nickel mine at nearby Voisey Bay provides them employment.
According to the local people, other cruise ships manage to tie up at this wharf but we did a zodiac landing. Some of us wondered if it was a necessity or a personal preference of our expedition leader. By now, her bossy girl scout chief tendencies were becoming annoyingly evident.
The 18th century Moravian church is still a major landmark in Nain.
The nearby mine has brought some employment but most of the Nain Inuit have remained poor.
Life must be difficult in this isolated village in winter but the children seem happy and carefree nonetheless.
This hut houses both the local bank and post office.
This fine building, looking somewhat out of place, is a regional school funded by the federal government that is responsible for Canada"s autochtonous populations.
Wharves, ports and airports are also a federal responsibility in Canada.
Leaving Nain...
The Orlova's catering staff organised a Russian song and dance show as we sailed south along the Labrador coast on our seventh night aboard.
I had seen this show nine months earlier in Antarctica and I enjoyed its simple charm once again.
Here are a couple more pictures of the Russian party.
It ended with many passengers joining them on the small dance floor. Good healthy fun.
