Someone had said something about the first white child born in North America being Virginia Dare in 1587. I replied that that was nonsense as there is evidence in the Norse Sagas to show that at least one child was born to the Viking settlers in Vinland.

The counter argument to that was that Newfoundland is an island – to which led the next and most logical question “and Roanoke Island is what?”.

So then we degenerated into some other discussion that terminated with “well, you can’t see the mainland from Newfoundland”.

The distance across the Straits of Belle Isle is only 18 miles at its narrowest part – less than the English Channel between the UK and France – and so that statement sounded like absolute nonsense and so I was determined to go along and see for myself, and this is how all of this started. I’ve spent 5 years planning for this

And so here I am at sea level in Red Bay on the southern shore of Labrador and in the distance are the hills of Newfoundland way across the Strait of Belle Isle.

And if you don’t believe me, just click on the image and see for yourself.

The … errrr … ship on the right of the image is the MV Bernier, a collier delivering coal to the bay in 1966 that slipped from its moorings in a November gale and ran aground on the rocks.

But I had a most amazing stroke of good fortune at Red Bay.

Red Bay was the site of a Basque whaling station in the 16th Century (and there is strong evidence to suggest that it was operational long before then – maybe even before Columbus sailed the Atlantic). Not only are there the ruins of a whale-oil distillery, but 4 sunken galleons and several small whalers, one of which has been recovered and put on display

They also rediscovered a cemetery containing the graves of basque whalers who had lost their lives jn the 16th Century, and this can be seen to the left of the Bernier.

Of course it is all closed up at this time of year but the Canadian Government has submitted it as a potential UNESCO World Heritage site and today there were some visitors from this being shown around. Of course, Yours Truly blagged his way onto the guided tour and was given the full VIP treatment.

It was truly remarkable

I forgot to take a photo of my hotel last night but this is the town in which is is situated – Mary’s Harbour.

This is a “new” town, being officially founded in the 1930s. Prior to that, everyone lived on an island called Battle Harbour but the settlement burnt down in 1930, so it was decided to create a new community for the inhabitants here on the mainland.

From here, it was to my startling discoveries at Red Bay.

And that wasn’t all either. Down the road at Point Amour is Canada’s second highest lighthouse.

It was of course closed when I got there but a lady was loading up her car and so she took some time out to explain things to me. She even told me where to go to see the remains of two ships stranded on the coast just down here.

So off I went for a wander along the coast to see for myself.

These are probably bits of HMS Raleigh, a British light cruiser that ran aground here in 1922, having swerved to avoid an iceberg in the Strait of Belle Isle. It was so well aground that it was impossible to move it and so they decided to dynamite it.

They calculated precisely the amount of explosive that they needed to split the ship into manageable portions, but totally forgot to take into account the quantity of ammunition that remained on board.

Consequently, huge portions of the ship were hurled many hundreds of yards inland where they remain to this day.

But some of the remains that you see relate to HMS Lily, a British man-o-war that had gone aground 50 years earlier. However the remains are so mixed up due to the explosion that it’s hard to tell which is which.

So that was my day really – and what a day it was.

And coming into Blanc Sablon there was a ferry moored in the harbour with steam up. Further enquiries revealed that it was the MV Apollo – the Newfoundland ferry, and it was leaving in half an hour so I had to get a move on if I wanted to catch it.

And so here I am in St Anthony, Newfoundland just 20 minutes away from L’Anse au Meadows and the Viking remains. Yes, I had a quick thrash through the dark right the way up Newfoundland to get here.

But what a cheesy place this B&B is – it’s furnished in the worst possible taste – all chintz and lace and nothing practical and all gone to ridiculous extremes.

It’s like something out of a bad 1920s novel and I can’t think what must have gone through the minds of the people who fitted this out. There are 7 pillows on the bed, for heaven’s sake, all laid out with military precision. One look at this place and the phrase “obsessive behaviour” sprang straight away to mind.

Still I’ll be gone tomorrow, I hope.

But that’s not definitive. There are some ominous rumblings in the distance. It seems that the ferry to Sydney, Cape Breton, may well have broken down. And the only other way off the island is back the way I came, and then to retrace my steps all the way over the Trans-Labrador Highway. And the weather has broken!

The road from Blanc-Sablon to some weirdly-named town beginning with N … "Natashquan" – ed … has not yet been built so I can’t get round to Sept Iles and then Baie-Comeau that way.

One other possibility is to have Casey shipped in a container by sea freight to wherever it is that Highway 138 begins – and when they told me how much that might cost (STARTING AT $400 – heaven alone knows what price it will finish at) I nearly fell through the floor.

But on reflection, if you think about it – the hotel at Labrador City, the one at Goose Bay, the one at Cartwright and the one at Mary’s Harbour came to almost twice that – and then there was the fuel and so on.

I shall have to look carefully into this. There’s a freighter leaving for there from Blanc Sablon next Friday.