One unexpected discovery was the town of Port aux Choix and its National Historic Site. I had never heard of it and hadn't been observant enough to notice that long, thin stretch of land off the Northern Peninsula which is the home to this very interesting spot. It has been a temporary settlement for over 6,000 years for 4 groups of people, long before Europeans had thought of looking for North America. The inhabitants (all temporary) were the Maritime Archaic, the Dorset, the Groswater and the Beothuk. (now extinct) The big attraction was the travelling seals who came down the Labrador Strait on icebergs. It was a handy place to make a harvest - hence the name, port aux choix (port of choice). We'd seen the signs about woodland caribou as we wandered around on the barrens (and they were barren!) in the relentless wind. However, we did see a group of moose off in the distance busily browsing near a large pond.
Our choice of accommodation in Port aux Choix ended up being our least favourite, but I really enjoyed their turkey dinner - it hit the spot on that particular day. We woke up to another day of brilliant blue skies (and reduced wind), so we headed back to the park and this time we found the caribou! A highlight for both of us!
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