Takedown and Tablelands

Today, we took down the exhibit at the Gros Morne Inn. Time has gone by so quickly! It was good to see the artworks on the walls in that space, again. A perfect match! Now to figure out how to ship them home.

After we took down the art, we decided to head to the Tablelands for a hike. Two years ago, when John came out to meet me, we tried to hike the Tablelands but it was bucketing rain that day so we had to abandon the idea a short distance into the hike. Today looked like a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the weather was warmer than it had been the last few days. So we seized the opportunity and headed to the Tablelands.

I have written about the Tablelands before. You can check out this link to read up on why this is such a spectacular location, and a UNESCO world heritage site.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, we knew we were in trouble.

Windy does not adequately describe the intensity of the winds that were blowing around the Tablelands, today. I say around because the direction changed from gust to gust. It was intense. I learned later that the gusts were 70 kph. I personally think they were even stronger. I have never felt wind like that before.

John pulling his hat out of the bushes. He finally gave up on wearing it.

The thing about the wind, though, is that unlike wind in Ontario, although it was super strong, it did not carry dangerous projectiles with it. No tree branches broke, nothing was uprooted, and no debris was blown around (with the exception of John's hat). The wind is such an integral part of the environment, here, that everything rooted in the ground can withstand the shear and the gusts. The trees are sculpted close to the ground by these winds. They do not break into shrapnel the way they do at home if winds like this come up. 

But after withstanding these increasingly strong winds for a good length of time, we decided to cut the hike short. On the plus side, we made it a lot farther than we did two years ago. I suggested to John that the Tablelands seem to have a message for him. If you know what that message is, feel free to leave a comment.

Even in the intense winds or in the pouring rain, this landscape is spectacular!