From Twillingate through Bonavista to St. John's

THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2018

Happy Independence Day to all our American friends

This day began at a dining room table overlooking a beautiful bay in Twillingate. We enjoyed an excellent breakfast prepared by our B&B hosts, Wendy and Danny. Breakfast was well peppered with lively conversation with the other guests from Orillia and Ottawa. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine and after breakfast  all of us reconvened on the deck with our hosts to continue our conversations and make decisions about what to do today.

For us, our first stop was the lighthouse just a couple of kilometres away. It was literally the end of the road, atop a high cliff with sheer drops to the amazing blue and green water below. There was a gorgeous view in every direction. The Atlantic Ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. We watched briefly for whales; we admired rock formations and the varying colours of the water far below. The nearby fudge shop also captured our attention.

We slowly meandered back to town, stopping at Sleepy Cove along the way to see if it was a possible picnic site. Another wonderful view of the ocean and rocks awaited us. The park was also home to a number of brightly painted pieces of mining equipment left behind from an ill conceived copper mine that closed in 1917. The red and yellow equipment certainly adds colour and interest to the park.

We continued our deliberately slow trip back to town and picked up tickets for the dinner theatre show we planned to attend in the evening. It was good to know where the theatre was located. We continued on to the Twillingate Museum to get our tickets for the Split Peas show on Friday night. Of course, we spent some time perusing the museum, set in an old Twillingate home and filled with period furniture, art and artifacts. It was a lovely place to spend some time and the delightful companion gift shop enticed us to spend some money as well.

Right next door was the Ship Builders’ Museum. We were greeted by a retired school teacher who had grown up in Twillingate and who was eager to share information about ship building as well as earlier days in Twillingate with us. She had some wonderful stories from her childhood and from her early days of teaching school. She was an early graduate from high school and was too young to attend university. At the last minute in August, a teacher from the local school changed her plans which left a vacancy that needed to be filled. The local school authority approached this new high school grad, aged 15, and offered her the position. So, with no training, she began to teach grades 1 and 2. Eventually she got her degree and teacher’s qualifications but, by that time, she had several years teaching experience. She never left Twillingate and continues to passionately love this community.

Our next stop was the Cozy Tearoom and Bakery for toutons and tea. Toutons is a Newfoundland specialty. We would more likely recognize it as fried bread dough. Two round pancake-like discs were placed on our plates. We were offered molasses or partridgeberry jam to accompany them. We enjoyed every morsel. So much for our planned picnic. That will have to wait until tomorrow. The toutons were not only very tasty but very filling as well.

Our next goal was to find Blow Me Down, highly recommended by hosts as a place to spend some time simply sitting by the sea. We meandered along the coastal road. The view changed at every turn and the sun glistened on the water. What a beautiful day (I know I said that before but we have had so much overcast weather that this is a glorious change.) Along our way, we found the local hospital perched high atop a rock. We passed through several fishing villages. At one of them, there was a lot of activity on the pier so we went in to find out what was going on. The fishermen were getting ready to fish for turbot which involved a lot of very strong rope and a trip 80 kilometres out to see. They would be on the water for several days at a time. We passed by broad fields and small clusters of wildflowers and, of course, stopped to take photos of all of them. We found Durrell Museum, also high atop a rock with an amazingly steep driveway to get there. This museum was filled with artifacts from the early 1900’s, all neatly displayed and labelled. There was no particular theme in this museum, simply ‘stuff’ they had collected over time. It was delightful.

The end of the road was at a hiking trail over several cliffs to French Bay but there we found the road sign for Blow Me Down. So we knew we were close. We retraced our steps and found a flat area near some distinctive craggy rock formations with two picnic tables. It was a delightful area but there was no identification or name. Then, we heard Jim’s name being called out. Surprised, we stopped and looked around. A couple seated at one of the tables was calling to us, by name. What a  surprise to find it was none other than our B&B hosts, Wendy and Danny, who invited us to join their picnic. We had a lovely visit with them. Just across the road was Danny’s family land and his childhood home although the house is gone. He told us stories of growing up in this remote place. He also showed us that, although the house has been moved to a new location, the root cellar remains and is still used for underground food storage by family members who have not left the area. Indeed, there are many root cellars in this area, each one identified by a grassy mound with a locked door in the side. The doors are painted with bright colours and designs, making each one distinctive. As we drive back toward Twillingate, it was fun to watch for the root cellars along the way. Apparently there are over 200 of them in this region.

Our next stop was at Seaside Variety / Mr. and Mrs. Scoops for ice cream cones. We sat looking out at sea while we ate the delicious home made ice cream (partridgeberry and caramel for me and blueberry and French vanilla for Jim). We may come back here tomorrow.

We returned to our B&B to freshen up before going to the Twillingate/New World Island Dinner Theatre. We thoroughly enjoyed the lobster and mussel dinner. And then we laughed and clapped and tapped our toes throughout the musical review presented by local musicians. The songs and skits were very entertaining, very funny, and the cast was very talented. One man, Josh, played 8 different instruments. It was a wonderful evening to cap off a thoroughly enjoyable day.

There was still some daylight and the last vestiges of the sunset as we drove home. We relaxed in our room for rest of evening, catching up on email and, of course, this blog.

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2018

We enjoyed another delicious breakfast at our current B&B in Twillingate, surrounded by other guests from Ontario who enjoyed a lively conversation as much as we do.  We remained at the B&B for much of the morning; Jim worked on planning the next stages of our adventure and I worked on this blog as well as our ongoing photobook. The view from the front window is wonderful so we enjoyed some of the landscape and sea views as we worked.

This was our final day in Twilingate which we have loved. So we took the time to drive to some of the spots we have enjoyed the most. It was a perfect day for photos so our camera was very busy as we moved from place to place. First, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a small seaside park in the middle of Twillingate. It was a pleasure to sit at a seaside table in the sunlight and quite cool air watching the boats and the birds. It was so peaceful.

We finally pulled ourselves away from the picnic table and drove a short distance to Blow Me Down. There is eomething about the small plateau, the rugged rocks and the open sea that make this place very special. Once again, we sat at a picnic table (there are only 2 here) and relaxed in the sun. It was very windy and chilly though. The waves out beyond the shoals in the open waters of the Atlantic looked pretty wild. Yet, we were protected from all that in this sheltered place behind the rocks. The rocks clearly have a volcanic origin as large lava formations are still visible in the profile of the rock formations as they were uplifted millions of years ago.

We returned to town via Mr. and Mrs. Scoops where we stopped for another taste of their amazing homemade partridgeberry ice cream. This time we were more modest in our selections, settling for a small scoop on a regular cone. It was just as delicious as before.

Having eaten our way through the afternoon, it was time now to stop for an early dinner at a local restaurant with wonderful seaviews. It was sadly too chilly to eat out on the deck. We started with warm bread accompanied by a blend of molasses, olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dipping sauce. The sauce was so amazing that I am going to try to replicate it at home. We shared a fish and brewis, a very common menu item, but certainly not our favourite dish as it turned out. We each had a bowl of root cellar soup, made from vegetables that mostly grow underground and can be stored over the winter. The soup was pale orange in colour; our guess is sweet potato, regular potato, perhaps some carrot. It was delicious, garnished with a dollop of sour cream and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

We moved on to the Split Peas concert. The Split Peas is a group of 6 women who have performed together for 25 years. They sang mostly Newfoundland songs but threw in a couple of other Canadian pieces as well (This Land is Your Land, and Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen). They played many instruments including several percussion instruments including, of course, the ugly stick. There were many sing alongs and much hand clapping and even some dancing. Many in the audience were eager joiners.

As the show ended, the daylight was waning. We hurried back toward our B&B, actually en route to the lighthouse to catch the last rays of tonight’s sunset. But we never made it that far because a family of 5 foxes was frolicking on the road. Well, it was really the three kits that were frolicking with both mom and dad keeping a watchful eye over their brood. So were the passengers in several cars that had the same idea we had but were now stopped on the road and being entertained by the family of five. Even in poor light, my magic camera takes some pretty fine photos. We were happy.

Back at ‘home’, we called Karen and fam and spoke with each person. It was a fun call. We heard all about Ontario’s heat and how each one of them was dealing with it. Clara (3) had a new water pistol that seemed to help; Edward and Wesley had enjoyed swimming; David regaled the air con in their new trailer and Karen talked about how people from all over their trailer park sought out tiny patches of shade and made new friends because so many people ended up under the same tree. This was a great way to finish off our lovely day.

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2018

This morning began with more lively conversation at breakfast including 2 new B&B guests from Massachusetts. We will miss those conversations. Several courteous yet animated people around the table expressing their opinions and ideas on a myriad of topics. But, it was time for us to move on. We extricated ourselves from the group and pointed the car in the direction of Trinity on the Bonavista Peninsula. The rain held off which made the driving quite pleasant

Driving south from Twillingate, our first stop was at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre.  The Beothuk was a group of native people who lived in the area during the 17 and 18 centuries. They would not  interact with European explorers and kept moving further inland to isolate themselves. Finally the last Beothuk died in 1829, driven to extinction due to lack of food (too far from the sea), new diseases they could not tolerate, and death when attacked by the European invaders. It has been difficult to find evidence of their lives in this area. This is one a few places where their existence has been ascertained and excavations have occurred. An excellent film complements the exhibits in this interpretation centre.

We drove along for quite a while over relatively flat countryside and roads flanked by rock and birch and spruce forests. Our next stop was Gander It felt somewhat familiar to us and we accomplished a few errands with ease. We made a mandatory stop at Tim Hortons and then broke down and went to Subway for lunch. All in all, it was a pleasant break from the drive.

We continued along the Trans Canada highway through more rolling territory until we reached Terra Nova National Park, a large area of forest and lakes along the seashore. When we arrived we realized we had not filled the gas tank in Gander and we were now running on fumes. Happily, we made it to a nearby town that actually had two gas stations. Irving, a familiar oil company in the east, is part of the blue air miles program, so it is our go to place. We were relieved when our tank was full again. Lupines and other wild flowers bloomed all along the sides of the road. We had to stop to take some photos. Too gorgeous to pass by.

We returned to Terra Nova Park and enjoyed the interpretive center there. There was a touch pool filled with creatures from the sea, a display of the use of fire in forest management,  a display of moose management Surprising to us, moose are not native to Newfoundland but were introduced at some point. They do a lot of damage to fledgling trees as they eat the new growth, an enormous quantity each day. We watched a video about the park, interesting but somewhat repetitive since we have now seen 4 national park videos.

After another fairly long drive (2 hours or so) we arrived at our hotel called Round Da Bay. Operated for the last 10 years by Chris and Nancy, each room in this hotel has been decorated in a unique way with a particular theme. We were staying in the Hollywood room, surrounded by early motion picture artifacts and period furniture. It was tastefully done and interesting to look at the various photos and posters. Most important, the bed was extremely comfortable.  We enjoyed a picnic dinner in our room using food from our cooler. Just enough.

After dinner we drove to Trinity (about 45 minutes) to see a play called Tidy Package. It told the story of the impact of the moratorium on the cod fishery on a community and more specifically on relationships within a family. Only two people were on stage, sisters. The play demonstrated elements of suicide, depression, anger, family disintegration, failed retraining programs, interdependence, hope and moving on. It was an excellent and poignant  production. It reminded us both of the kinds of local issues that are included in the Blyth Theatre repertoire in Ontario.

We returned to our hotel after dark. We have tried not to drive after dusk fell due to the serious moose watch that was necessary as we travelled along. We travelled slowly and carefully and arrived back at our hotel safely. Home again in a new  and delightful home. We will spend two nights here.

SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2018

After a delicious breakfast at our hotel (and the beginning of a lengthy negotiation to purchase a stained glass piece that Chris had created) we spent the day exploring part of the Bonavista Peninsula. We poked out heads into many little seaside communities. The first was Plate Cove West, a cluster of homes sitting high on a cliff overlooking the water. The colourful buildings were brilliant in the sunshine. From there, we descended into the valley that house Plate Cove East. It was also a cluster of homes on the edge of the bay and at the village entrance was a swimming pool that was fed by a bubbling creek as it fell toward the ocean. The water in the pool was frigidly cold (my feet will tell the tale) and yet, there was a family who had just emerged from the water after a swim. The youngest member of the family was crying. We could not determine if he was crying because he was cold or if he was crying because his parents had made him leave the water too soon. Either explanation seemed possible.

We travelled further along the main road amid a forest of birch and pine. Wildflowers of all colours filled the roadside ditches and large boulders and rock cuts punctuated our route.  Lupines – purple, violet, yellow, white, pink, blue – seemed to cover the landscape. And purple wild irises join the rainbow of colour created by all the flowers. Elderberry flowers were abundant on large and small bushes. Lilacs were blooming along the road and in manicured gardens. There was even a lonely yellow tulip blooming among a cluster of daisies. Even though we are well into July, it is clearly spring in Newfoundland.

The next communities we visited, Red Cliff and Till Cove, were at the end of a long thin peninsula that sliced into Bonavista Bay. Fascinating boulders and gigantic cliffs, all vivid pinks and reds, emerged from the sea to form wonderful impediments to the waves as they rolled toward the shore. It was a fairly calm day so the sea foam as the waves crashed was fairly small. We could only imagine what it would look like on a windier day. Birds, mostly gulls, gathered in large clusters atop the sharp edged rocks and, not surprisingly, in places white covered the slopes creating a sharp contrast with the natural red and pink in the rocks. 

Punts, piers and boat launch ramps are a part of every community. In the past, most families would have had some sort of fishing vessel, whether large of small. But with the serious fishing restrictions now in place, many families have given up their boats and acquire and ATV and a snowmobile in its place. Both these vehicles provide a form of recreation as well as support for the ongoing quest for wood for winter heating. Often, along the roadway, there would be a narrow bridge built across the ditch and a narrow trail leading deep in the forest, a path that would accommodate an ATV or a snowmobile that would pull logs out of the forest, ready to be cut for firewood. Often cutting racks were positioned at the entrance to the forest, a rack on which a log would be placed with measured markers that would guide the cutting of the log into firewood.

We travelled back to the main road again and deliberately ventured down the next narrow peninsula to a hamlet named Keels. We travelled past two or three other villages along the way, but we really wanted to visit Keels for a couple of different reasons. Maud Lewis is a Canadian painter who has recently gained much acclaim in the artistic community. A friend of ours has accumulated quite a collection of her paintings so we have followed he rise to fame with some interest. Well, a major motion picture named Maudie has been made telling the story of her life and work. And some of the scenes in the movie were actually filmed in Keels. It was fun to visit the Mesh General Store which was featured in the opening scenes of the movie. Some of the movie props were left behind when the film crew packed up and they are on display in the store. We had a lengthy conversation with the proprietor of the store, Selby Mesh, who has lived in Keels all his life. He has a vision for making Keels a go to place for tourists and has already begun to work on a tea room overlooking the cove behind his store.

We met another entrepreneur in Keels, also a man who has lived his entire life in this hamlet. In 2002, he set up a chip wagon in his backyard. You have to admire a person who believes that if you sell chips in your backyard in a tiny hamlet 10 kilometres off a secondary highway, you will attract tourists to your village. And, indeed, it did work. He sets up a sign at the junction of the highway and the road to Keels. And he sets up another sign in Keels directing people to his chip wagon. In the time that we were there, a dreary Saturday in July, five people arrived to buy chips. And they were superb!!! Freshly peeled potatoes deep fried in oil and served hot in a cardboard container. Yum!!! Since 5 additional people increases the population of Keels by about half, it can indeed be considered a successful venture. I love the way the folks in Keels love their hamlet.

There are very few permanent residents in Keels but there is an extensive list of summer folks. In fact, two of the homes in Keels are owned by people from Waterloo who come for the summer every year. Other summer residents come from the USA and Mexico as well as several provinces in Canada.

We continued to meander along the highway, driving onto each peninsula to explore the tiny villages and the rugged cliffs dropping into the sea. The town of Bonavista is quite a bit larger than other villages in the area and offers a range of activities for tourists. Whale and puffin tours were quite popular although we did not indulge. Ryan’s Premises is a national historic site that focusses on early settler life and the beginnings of the fishing industry in Newfoundland. There were many buildings that had been refurbished and open to the public. A short distance out of town, at the tip of the peninsula, was the lighthouse and other associated buildings. It is considered a provincial historic sight and offers great vistas of the sea as well as several information boards connected to navigation and shipwrecks in the area. Bonavista is considered the site that John Cabot first landed in North America. A very large and handsome statue of John Cabot is located in an adjacent municipal park. All worth seeing.

We headed off to Elliston but our time was running out. We stopped for a quick bowl of soup at a restaurant called Root Cellar. It turned out to be a very slow bowl of soup and by the time we finished, it was time to head back to our hotel (a 45 minute drive) for dinner. We did not make it to Elliston.

But dinner at our hotel was delicious, especially the appetizer, pan-fried scallops served with an exquisite Thai sauce. Jim had true root cellar soup and I enjoyed a fishcake and salad. We shared a piece of  blueberry cream pie for dessert. And continued negotiation about the purchase of the stained glass piece I had fallen in love with. We discussed price and the challenge faced by Chris, the hotel manager and the creator of the stained glass, about whether he could bear to part with it. We’ll see how this story ends in the morning.

And another great day came to a close.

SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2018

We enjoyed another delicious breakfast at Round Da Bay Hotel. No mention was made of the stained glass. Jim paid our bill and I acknowledged to myself that I was not going to be taking the stained glass home with me. But, as I paid for breakfast, I decided to address the elephant in the room one last time. This time, Chris acquiesced, increased the price by a reasonable amount and I left the hotel with the stained glass safely wrapped under my arm. And a smile on my face!!

Our plan today was to take in two villages that we had missed yesterday – Elliston and Trinity. We made two stops in Elliston, the first to see the puffin colony that lives on an isolated cliff top. We were there in the early afternoon and most of the puffins were out at sea fishing. But there were enough that were close to shore that it made the excursion worthwhile. The second stop was at the Puffin Gift Shop where puffins came in every shape, size and purpose that you can imagine. It was fun to peruse the range of products, all of them made by members of the same Elliston family. Woodcraft, crocheting, photography, stitchery, jewellery and more. We resisted temptation … almost.

The other claim to fame for Elliston is the largest collection of root cellars anywhere in the world. Simply by driving along any road in the area and watching the landscape, we found dozens of root cellars. Doorways leading into cavelike structures in grassy mounds. Why here? This is a rare part of Newfoundland where agriculture is quite successful. It became equally important for the residents around Elliston to preserve their land grown food as it was to catch and preserve fish for the winter. Thus, root cellars to store the food.

We continued south along the coast of Trinity Bay on the east side of Bonavista Peninsula. We enjoyed the landscape and the vistas we drove. Our next stop was in Port Union. It was the only union-built town in North America. It was built between 1916 and 1921by the Fishermen’s Protective Union to which, in 1914, half the fishermen in Newfoundland belonged. The premise of the union was to escape the control of the fish merchants who controlled largely fish prices and trade. Port Union, when it was built, has a retail store that served 40 outlets in other communities, a salt fish plant with electric dryers, a seal plant, its own spur railway line, a pier for the government coastal steamer, local shipping, worker’s row housing, coal and salt sheds, a hotel, a movie theatre, a school and its own electrical power generating station and, of course, a church. But after the cod moratorium this community began its decline. Sadly, now most of its buildings are abandoned and deteriorating. A foundation has been established to raise funds to refurbish some of the buildings as a historic site. There is still much work that needs to be done.

Next we headed for Trinity where we had attended a play on Friday evening. We wanted to visit it in daylight to enjoy the picturesque setting and the quaint buildings. We wandered a bit, took several photos, and enjoyed the drive in and out of the village. We also found a lovely park where we pulled a picnic out of the car and enjoyed it, relaxing in the sunlight. We do enjoy picnics and, if I do say so myself, we are pretty good at creating them.

We also experienced potholes galore and a serious stretch of chunky gravel as part of a new road construction project. We were grateful to make it through that area without a punctured tire.  We did see a bald eagle in the road ahead of us indulging in some sort of roadkill. He flew off just in time. What a large and majestic bird.

We turned out attention to arriving at our Bayside B&B in Bareneed.  We travelled through Morley’s Siding on the way, a memory of the days when Newfoundland had a railway. All that is left now is the sign. Our arrival time at Bayside was a bit touch and go as we sat on the Trans Canada highway without moving for about an hour and a half. We needed to arrive in time for dinner as we had ordered a meal from their scrumptious menu, moosemeat pie and a house salad. We were eager to try the moosemeat pie. Whew!! We got there just on time. And the pie was absolutely delicious!!

And soon it was time for bed. We have had a couple of very busy days and it just seems that we need some sleep.

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018

It was difficult to pull ourselves away from our beautiful B&B today. The sun was shining; the sea was blue. Bayside B&B sits atop a high hill near the end of a skinny peninsula with vistas of water and cliffs in three different directions. Our hosts are gracious; the house is well appointed and the bed is extremely comfortable. There are brightly coloured and very inviting Muskoka chairs at the edge of the slope heading down to the sea. It would have been very easy to stay here all day long and simply drink in the view. But, drive away we did as we are explorers at heart, always wondering what lies around the next bend or over the next hill. The great news is that we get to return to this piece of paradise at the end of the day.

We first turned east and followed the winding and hilly road to the end of the peninsula. We were surprised to come upon a port as large as the one that is there. In fact, there were effectively three ports, all crowded with fishing vessels and private watercraft. The largest boats were in the first harbour. Many had just come in from a fishing excursion and were using large vacuum-like machines to empty the hold of whatever fish they had caught. Huge nets were in various stages of being mended, cleaned and dried. We were certainly entranced by the size of the winches and cranes on each vessel, by the size of the nets themselves and how this major fishing port is quietly tucked away at the end of such a narrow peninsula. We enjoyed watching the operations for a while before we ventured over the next hill.

There we found some delightful homes and some that had totally fallen into disrepair, many of them abandoned. Some smaller fishing boats were in the water. There were also many boats that had been hauled out of the sea and sat ,unused, on dry land. We speculated that some of the abandoned homes and boats on land were a direct result of the cod moratorium in 1992. The hope that fishing would resume the way it was has never come to fruition. Lives of so many have changed. New generations have moved on to jobs in the city or in other provinces but much of the older generation has waited, sadly. Nonetheless, from our perspective as tourists, Newfoundland’s newest and fastest growing industry, we were fascinated by these little outposts, trying to imagine what life would be like in the dark days of winter.

We drove further along the road which was getting narrower by the minute. It was scary to climb steep hills to a blind peak, knowing that there could be another vehicle coming from the other direction. We made it to the top unscathed and enjoyed the vista overlooking the cliffs, the sea and the ports. True Newfoundland.

We finally turned around and headed along the same road which would now take us to Highway 80 heading north. So many peninsulas in this area and not enough time to explore them all. Today we were going to travel to Grates Cove, north on the west side of the peninsula and then south on the east side. We crossed the peninsula on the most rugged road we have seen to date. We have often seen the sign, Potholes Ahead, but this entire road needed to be labelled. We actually stopped on the road and opened my door to take a photo of a pothole that was about 30 cm across and 10 cm deep. We had no inclination to travel quickly here.

Our self-made tour began in Dildo. There was no particular reason to go to Dildo other than its name. The village was named after the word had the dark meaning. Who would name a town Dildo, knowing that? We did find an interesting store in Dildo called The Inside Scoop. We went in expecting ice cream but found bulk food instead. Who would have guessed? They also served ice cream but we chose a couple of other snacks to take along with us.

The next three towns were interesting because of their names. In this order we passed through Hearts Delight, then Hearts Desire and finally Hearts Content. A love story in the making. Hearts Delight and Hearts Desire were both tiny coastal communities that had once been bustling fishing villages. Now they were tiny towns with many abandoned houses and boarded up shops. There was a well-maintained church in each community, usually high on a hill.

Hearts Content told a different story. This community was home to the Cable Station where the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable came ashore in North America. The cable was laid across the Atlantic from Valentia Island, Ireland to Hearts Content, a distance of about 4500 kilometres. The cable was laid as one continuous line, carried by a retired luxury passenger liner which was too large to enter most ports of call but just the right size to carry the entire cable on its repurposed deck. When the cable came ashore in Hearts Content in 1866, international communication across the Atlantic was possible for the first time. The Cable Station is open to visitors and has displays, original equipment, a very interesting video and some hands-on activities. It was a true place of history with many stories of how the community grew and flourished once the cable arrived.

We continued along west coast of this peninsula to Grates Cove where there was substantial agriculture in the past. The fields were protected from wild animals by building stone walls. Many still stand today although agriculture has diminished over the years. It is now a National Historic Site. There was a spectacular view from atop the cliff in Grates Cove.

Having rounded the top of the peninsula, we began our drive down the east coast. Our first stop was Salmon Cove which has a wonderful grey sand beach surrounded by imposing cliffs. The wind was so strong while we were there that the air was filled with the fine sand making it very unpleasant to be outside. We took a couple of photos, scooped some sand and drove on our way. We continued along the highway, drinking in the shoreline view, and regaling in how many fresh water lakes exist in Newfoundland. It is a somewhat inhospitable landscape, yet at the same time beautiful and fascinating, covered with lakes, large and small, rocks, rugged cliffs, forests of pine and birch both thick and thin, wildflowers along the edge of the roads, and red and yellow lichens growing on the rock faces.

The day was wearing on and we had a deadline guiding our return to Bareneed. Dinner was awaiting us in the dining room of Bayside B&B. Tonight’s feature was cod bites and fresh crab accompanied by a crisp garden salad. We did not want to be late!

Once ‘home’ and settled, we made our way to the dining room. We were alone in the space, enjoying the views from the clifftop. Dinner was absolutely delicious, starting with a crisp and tasty garden salad, moving on to piping hot cod bites and finishing with about 3 crabs – legs, pincers and other bits. Basil provided a special tool to cut through the crab shell, garden snippers. They worked brilliantly although we had to be careful not to get out fingers in the way. We approached the meal in a very leisurely manner, thoroughly enjoying every last morsel of the food placed before us, but especially the crab. The combination of dinner and the view was a perfect ending to another wonderful day in Newfoundland.

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018

We said farewell to Judy and Basil at Bayside B&B and headed south toward Witless Bay. We made two quick stops, the first to take some photos of an entire field of multicoloured lupines, the second to pick up some coffee and lemonade at Tim Hortons. We planned to visit two villages on our way to our next destination. The first village was Cupids, not far down the road on the next peninsula. From Cupids we could actually see our Bayside B&B across the water.

Cupids is considered the first English settlement (1610) in Newfoundland (now Canada). There was an excellent interactive interpretation centre there with a myriad of audiovisual presentations and many, many stationary displays outlining the history, culture and lifestyle of the early settlers. Nearby is an active archaeological dig that is still finding artifacts from 400 years ago. The summer student guides were very helpful and explained many of the story boards. We thoroughly enjoyed this museum, including the views from the rooftop garden and deck. The second village was Brigus, a small fishing community adjacent to Cupids. It was settled in 1612. Brigus is a well maintained and attractive community with several shops, a small museum and a lovely waterfront park complete with picnic tables and benches created from sheets of slate.

After leaving Brigus, we joined the TransCanada Highway and drove directly to Witless Bay to get tickets for the O’Briens Whale Watching and Puffin Boat Tour. We had the option of going on a very crowded 2 pm boat or waiting until 4:30 pm when the crowd would be much smaller. We decided to wait so we went to our new B&B in the meantime. Elaine’s B&B By the Sea, another lovely place to hang our hats for a couple of days. Picture windows seem to bring the sea right into the living room. Whales had been visible frolicking in the waves earlier today.

Returning to the dock at 4 pm, we quickly realized what a good decision waiting for this boat trip had been. Whereas at 2 pm there were over 200 people on board, this time there were only 60 passengers. Room to move around and to see the water on every side of the vessel. The sun was shining; the sea was calm. Everything was perfect!! And we had an incredible experience. First, we motored out of the bay, passing by some majestic and tall red rock cliffs. They were beautiful. Then we made our way into more open water, a bit rocky at times, on our way to Bird Island to visit the Witless Bay ecological reserve where we would see many species of birds in large numbers. And so we did. First, we saw seagulls by the hundreds. There were many varieties of seagulls on this protected island including the black-backed seagull, one of the largest and most aggressive species of seagull.

Then the air was filled with small birds flapping their wings hard and fast to stay in the air. These were the puffins, thousands of them in the air or on land. Cute, hungry and fast. This is the largest puffin colony in the world but for the one in Iceland which we have also seen. Puffins live on cliffs, burrowing holes into the landscape to lay a single egg each year. They then spend all their time protecting the egg from predators like bald eagles and black-backed gulls. The male and female puffins take turns guarding the nest. Puffins eat from the sea, diving far under water to find food. They love capelin, just as the seagulls, turres and whales do. Puffins are not able to take off from land to fly. They can only take off from water, propelling themselves forward until they get enough momentum to become airborne. Sometimes it takes several attempts, pretty comical to watch. Otherwise, they are somewhat like albatrosses in that they run to the edge of a cliff and leap into the air and begin flapping their wings to fly. Once again, my magic camera did its job and we got some amazing photos.

Then we saw the turres, again thousands of them, clustered in very small spaces on the nearby rocky cliffs. Turres are larger than puffins with similar shape and coloration, black and white but no yellow. Turres live in colonies in large numbers in close quarters. On average, a turre would have about 8 square inches of space to call its own.  The crowded conditions were amazing to see. Again, my camera was able to capture some amazing images.

After leaving the birds behind, our boat headed out into more open water to search for whales. Although the sea was quite quiet, there were occasional larger waves that could knock a person off his/her feet. The guideline on the boat was always to have 3 anchor points – 2 feet on the floor and one hand on a railing. Even so, we were tossed around a bit. But it was all worthwhile when we began to see one, no two, no four ….. and more humpback whales. Spouting, rolling, occasionally slapping a tail or a fin. We saw it all!! And we counted a minimum of eight humpback whales and one fin whale (second in size to the great blue whale). Atlantic humpback whales differ from Pacific humpback whales because their fins are white. That is how we could track where they were going. The white fins just below the surface of the water cast an aquamarine light so it was easy to spot them when they were within range of the boat. They stayed and they stayed and the crowd on board the ship roared with delight at every appearance. The whales were gathered in this harbour because the capelin were in and the whales could open their mouths, strain the water of the fish and enjoy hundreds of capelin with each gulp. The birds and fish (specifically cod) eat the capelin as well so there is much competition for this food source.

As we headed back to shore, a strange fog rolled in and Bird Island and the shoreline were obliterated in grey. We slowed to a ‘crawl’ as the captain worked his way slowly toward the dock. It was daunting to think how quickly conditions changed around us. And, as we rounded the corner to enter the harbour, the fog lifted entirely and the sun shone down warmly upon us.  Once again, how could that happen so fast? We arrived back at the dock right on time and the happy passengers disembarked and scattered.

We had a reservation at a nearby restaurant for dinner, The Captain’s Table. The menu featured a lot of seafood and it was tough to choose. We decided to share a plate of shrimp in garlic butter as an appetizer. Jim ordered cod au gratin for his main dish and I had pan fried cod. They were both delicious!!!  Because we had not had lunch, we decided we could share a dessert. Ice cream with caramel sauce and chopped nuts on a pecan/graham cracker crust. Whipping cream was used as a garnish and topped with more chopped nuts. It looked beautiful and it tasted delicious!!!

Back at the B&B, we had a very lively and entertaining conversation with a couple from Hamilton. Lots of laughter, stories and ideas were exchanged. It is too bad that they are leaving tomorrow.

And now it is off to bed!!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018

After a wonderful breakfast, we spent this morning at Elaine’s. I was working on this blog and our photo book and Jim was doing some planning for our trip home. We were both enjoying the vista of the sea from the picture window. Yesterday there had been whales well into the bay and visible from this window. We were hoping for whales today but had no luck.

We left Elaine’s in the early afternoon and drove about a half hour to Calvert where we attended Sullivan’s Kitchen Party. Sean and Angie Sullivan opened their home to about 25 guests who spent two hours together singing and dancing and clapping and toe tapping while Sean Sullivan and Sheldon Thornhill played guitar and accordion and sang many, many Irish/Newfoundland songs. We have really learned to appreciate Newfoundland music, both for its rhythm and for its lyrics. Every song from ballads to silly songs tells a story about life on this island. Some are sad tales about change or loss; some are love songs; and some are simply silly and you cannot help but chuckle at them. We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Jim has an app on his phone that enables him to find the lyrics of any song, either by title or by lyrics. So, he was well positioned to sing along with all the music that was played. Our hosts loved the fact that he so willingly participated.

Sean told us that he was going to be playing in a bar close to St. John’s on Friday night. Since we knew we were going to be in St. John’s we made a tentative plan to go and hear him again.

On our way back to Elaine’s, we stopped at a small local restaurant in a village along the way. We each had a bowl of seafood chowder and a mooseburger. We know that we will not be able to get moose in Ontario and we are enjoying it here.

We poked along a bit on our way home, stopping to take some photos, of course. One interesting thing we found was a pond that had an entire marina set up in using models of buildings, ocean liners, fishing boats, piers, and an oil rig. There were many other components as well. The owner of these models had clearly put a lot of time and money into creating them. And there they floated in a pond alongside the highway, no house anywhere nearby. This speaks so much to the trust and respect that Newfoundlanders demonstrate in their interactions with one another and with visitors. We stopped and took some photos and left a contribution in the box that was posted for that purpose.

Once back at the B&B, packing became a priority as we were moving on in the morning. We also spent some time with a couple from England who had been to Newfoundland several times as well as other parts of Canada, including Churchill, Manitoba, one of our goals. We seemed to share a spirit of adventure in identifying travel destinations and means of transport. It was fun to share stories with them and also gather some ideas and information for future use.

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018

Another delightful breakfast and animated conversation started our day off on the right foot. Then it was time to pack the car and head off in the direction of St.John’s. St. John’s was only about 50 kilometres away but we wanted to make a couple of stops en route. Our first stop was Tim Horton’s. We have gone several days now without indulging ourselves. It was time.

From Tim’s, we ventured off the highway onto a secondary road that led us back to the sea. The server in Tim Horton’s told us there had been a pod of whales frolicking in the water in the cove at the end of the road just 12 hours earlier. So we went to see if we could find them. Alas, there were no whales to be seen. But there was a very rocky beach and a small creek that was rushing to the sea. There were also some wild irises growing in the nearby grass. It was quite picturesque. It was there that we discovered that the fog that hovered over the land and water the night before had seeped through the open window in our bedroom and into our camera. The viewfinder was totally fogged up and there appeared to be moisture, and even a drip of water trickling inside the glass on the back of the camera. Needless to say, it was non-functional at this point. We simply had to put it away. Thank goodness for I-phones with cameras.

The beach where we had stopped was covered with fist-sized rocks of many varieties. We picked up several – some pink, some grey, one yellow, some blue, some mottled and one striped. I have a project in mind and I think we may have found the perfect rocks for it.

We left the beach and carried on to Cape Spear. Cape Spear is the point of land furthest east in North America. It has markers and trails and an impressive view. That is, it has an impressive view when it is not foggy. But today, it was foggy indeed. Well, we could not take photos anyway so we were not totally disappointed by the fog.

It was shortly after lunchtime that we reached St. John’s and checked into our new accommodation, a renovated Victorian home with delightful guest rooms, each one filled with Victorian furniture and artifacts. It was a great place to hang our hats for a couple of days. As a major storm was forecast, we stuck pretty close to home. Except for going to a Filipino restaurant for dinner (we have never tasted Filipino food … and we loved it), we stayed in. We, of course, made use of the wifi and we caught up on news as broadcast by CBC News.

Fortunately, the storm seemed to move away from St. John’s. A little wind, a little rain …. And it was over. A good night’s sleep awaited us.