We were lucky enough to find ourselves in Newfoundland on Canada Day (1st July) which celebrates the confederation of independent Provinces into a self governing country and has also become the day when Canada observes Memorial Day to honour the devastating losses during the Battle of the Somme by the Newfoundland Regiment (801 went into battle only 68 survived)

On the day we visited the archeological site at Port aux Choix where we were welcomed with coffee and cup cakes by the staff at the interpretive centre whilst watching the national televised celebrations

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The importance of the site is that the unique environment of a rocky limestone plateau sustains a large number of plant life only found in this part of Canada, as well as providing excellent feeding grounds for a variety of land and sea animals.

The archeological excavations have revealed what is considered a crossroads of settlements by at least four distinct civilisations over thousands of years ( Maritime Archaic, Groswater, Dorset and an early indigenous Indian group) all with the skills to convert the natural resources into food, shelter and clothing.

It was also our first sighting of Canadian wildlife the Caribou.