DAY 3: Makkovik and Hopedale
Posted by Terri
While I slept like a princess without a pea, Dale and Michele got up at 5am, beating the sun by a full half hour to catch the magic light over Makkovik. After some beautiful scenics of the harbour, they wandered over to the fish plant where folks were hard at work processing Turbot.
They were already back to the hotel and knocking at my door before my head left the pillow. Which is exactly why no one ever gives me a camera.
After a quick breakfast we headed up the road to the airport, returned Barb’s truck, and chatted away with Captain Benny before take off. As the day’s cargo was being dispatched, we talked about the changing landscape from South to North. And once up in the air en route to Hopedale, you could see the dramatic shift into barren rock, rolling hills, and a sprinkling of tiny islands.
Hopedale
After we landed, we hung around the airport to capture the take off. Within a few minutes, it seemed to be just us and our endless line up of heavy gear left. We thought maybe this was a good time to figure out a way to the hotel. All of a sudden, we were asked if we needed a ride into town by a random voice. It turned out to be Tina, our transportation angel. She even agreed to take our picture climbing up a hill to grab a photo with the ‘Welcome to Hopedale’ sign. A kind introduction, indeed.
Once we dropped our colossal assortment of bags at the hotel, we headed out in search of the story of the day.
Being in the Legislative Capital of Nunatsiavut, we visited the incredible Assembly Building, complete with stunning Labradorite floors and blue sealskin chairs. (Thanks to Ian for the tour, by the way, sorry we couldn’t get hold of your mom.) Here, the story of Nunatsiavut continued, as we were once again welcomed with open arms.
We also met up with David of the Agvituuk Sivumuak Society at the Hopedale Interpretation Centre. We learned about the Moravian history of Hopedale and roamed throughout the 150-year-old buildings where the stories still felt very much alive.
Later in the day, Sarah of the Hopedale Moravian Sewing Circle opened up her workshop. Minutes later, Michele and I opened up our wallets, unable to resist the beautiful moose hide mittens and hand beaded slippers.
As we sat down to put our daily post together, the fog hung low over the ridge over Hopedale. Would we be travelling on tomorrow? Would we be fogged in? We didn’t have the answer but we were happy to roll with it either way, being in no hurry whatsoever.
Thanks to Barb, Carla, Benny, Dillon and Inez at Air Labrador. Thanks to Tina for the lift, Danielle, Matilda, and Maria for the truck and the phone numbers, David and Ian for the tours, and Sarah for the mittens and slippers.
