Portugal Cove South

Saturday, July Fifth We arrived in Aquaforte in the later part of the afternoon yesterday, and we left Aquaforte this morning around ten thirty. At this moment I am biding my time here in Portugal Cove South, waiting for our free tour to the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve to begin. This fog is our destiny for the day.

Mistaken Point is on the south eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula--that slash of green on the lower right-hand end of the island. Portugal Cove South is sitting on the coast at the bottom of Route #10 just above Drook.

Our guide and geologist, Gretel.

Mistaken Point is one of the world's most significant fossil and geological sites with fossils dated from 575 to 542 million years ago.

"In 1967, geologist S. B. Misra, who at the time was a graduate student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, discovered and began to document some unusual fossils of late Precambrian age, found in great numbers on exposed rock surfaces along the southern coast of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. The most famous locality where these fossils can be seen is at Mistaken Point."

From what our guide is telling us, on a clear day we could see forever, but today... is certainly not one of those days.

You as a viewer you will never witness the hordes of microscopic biting black flies we had to deal with on this 2 1/2 hour jaunt. One person had a dozen such bites on her face alone.

This is a leaf of the cloudberry (or bake apple as it is locally called), a berry used in desert and jam recipes.

Because of the delicate area we are about to enter, our group was divided into two at this point. My bunch are crossing this stream first and are heading into the fog and to the end of the slope on the right.

This is what you will be seeing today.

Gretel is pointing out a particular fossil on the page while her assistant is pointing it out on the rock face.

No Helping

There is another one. Where is there another one?

Ah, there it is.

Time to head back so the second group can come in.

This interesting rock kind of stood out from all others surrounding it.

This day has come to an end. See you on Day 26.