Torchbearer Nick Shantess Penashue holds the Olympic flame in Sheshatshiu, N.L., on Wednesday, Nov. 11. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

The 2010 Olympic torch continues its journey across Labrador on Thursday, before crossing over to northwestern Newfoundland to begin its trek across the island.

The torch, destined for the Vancouver Winter Games in February, arrived at the airport in Wabush, Labrador, on Wednesday morning. Seven torchbearers carried the flame along a route around Wabush and then Labrador City.

It was later flown to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, to the cheers of military cadets who gathered to welcome the torch on Remembrance Day.

Joe Goudie, a former politician and honorary colonel at the Canadian Forces Base in Goose Bay, said the torch symbolizes Canada, as do the people whose lives are remembered every Nov. 11.

"What more of a symbol of our country can we have than those who've gone before us," Goudie said after his short stint carrying the torch, "who've given their lives to ensure that we're able to do exactly what we did today."

As the torch was carried through a park in the community, children waved flags in the cold evening temperatures.

There were cheers as the last torchbearer, Sgt. Max Peddle of the Canadian Forces, climbed up onto a stage to light a community cauldron. Peddle, who is retiring this month after decades in the Armed Forces, said he wasn't thinking of his own career at the time but rather of those who've died in wars.

"I just felt that I couldn't hold it high enough," he said. "My arms were only so long."

The torch relay will continue on to Coastal Labrador and the Northern Peninsula in western Newfoundland on Thursday before being flown to St. John's to begin its trek back westward.