Thrombo-whats it?

July 7, 2009            Flowers Cove

 That’d be thrombolites but I’ll get to that in a minute.

 We’ve spent a lot more time tied up at wharves on this trip than we’d thought we would.  Since the cod fishery was closed in 1992, the government-built fishing wharves have lots of space.  Flowers Cove was no exception.  We tucked in between 2 fishing boats and out of the way of the crane used to unload catches. 

 A couple was on the wharf watching us, not an unusual happening as we’ve been the entertainment at many a wharf so far ~ definitely getting better at this though.  Turns out Irene and Mark, from Quebec, are touring Newfoundland by rental car.  It’s been interesting to notice how tourists make eye contact with each other and immediately start asking where each has been.

 We chatted about boats and sailing for a while and they offered us a lift to see the thrombolites.  Thrombolites are fossilized remains of algae dated at 650 million years old. That makes them the first known forms of life on earth.  These algae have clumped together into mushroomy like mounds which have fossilized. The only other known place that these things exist is in western Australia.

 I keep picturing them in a scene from Star Trek, the original please.  Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy beam to the planet’s surface where they’re surrounded by pulsating globs.  Dr. McCoy waves his tricorder over one and detects signals that indicate intelligence . . . cut to close up of Kirk . . .

 I agree with our guidebook that one of the reasons to go see this rarest of fossils is how low key the setting is. There’s no tourist stand nearby selling thrombolite key chains or spoons. Not even a thrombolite postcard!

 We spent a great evening sharing dinner with Irene and Mark just sharing bits of our lives, work, kids, etc.  Fellow travelers meeting on the highway, er seaway . . .