Our ferry, M/V Kamutik W, was scheduled to leave at 2:00 PM on Sunday. Upon check-in, we learned that the ferry was delayed and would not be departing until Sunday night at 10:00 PM. So, we decided to make the best of this delay by having some breakfast somewhere, do some “discovery” shopping, and finding a trail to hike.
The breakfast and shopping activity was “nothing to write home about” – the breakfast was nowhere near as good as what we had the Friendship Diner. We would have eaten there, but they didn’t open until 11:00 AM. The best part of the day was finding a pleasant 2.2-mile boardwalk loop trail along Birch Island Creek in Happy Valley for us to saunter along.
Traveling from Goose Bay to Rigolet is a 6.5-hour journey on the ferry, putting our arrival into Rigolet at approximately 4:30 AM. Since we were fast asleep at that time, we didn’t get to experience the port or the 8km long boardwalk, which is the longest boardwalk trail in the world.
Because of the late start, almost all of the stops happened after hours, so we opted to enjoy the rugged and asymmetric topography of the Labrador coastline. The weather during this trip was cold and rainy. We caught glimpses of snow patches along the coast. Although we’re told whales have been seen on this trip, we weren’t fortunate enough to have seen any.
Just to be clear, the Kamutik W is a working boat that delivers supplies and transports passengers to and from the six Nunatsiavut (“Our beautiful land”) communities along this part of the Labrador coast. These six communities are the ancestral home of the Labrador Inuit. This particular boat is not designed as a pleasure boat or cruise ship. The Labrador coast is rugged, and the waters can be rough at times, but we found it exhilarating.
People:
The staff on this boat are most efficient, very helpful, and pleasant. For cafeteria style food, kudos to the kitchen staff, as they make two specials every day (lunch and supper), which have been rather tasty. We were personally and deeply touched by the people we met in the communities, and do hope to return someday to visit when we can spend more time there.
Next up, Expedition 51, part 2.
Travel often, stay safe, well, and joyous!
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