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Newfoundland & Labrador

June - July 2018
Summer wanderings 2018 Read more
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  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 13

    How Far Can it Be?

    June 17, 2018 in Canada

    So, Sydney. Nova Scotia, not Australia. Let it be known that at least one person in this little ferry town has a sense of humor!(See picture #1 for my new favorite name for a hair salon)
    Photo #2 Shows the view from a park that I slept in the night before I sailed. These two ferries leave from Sydney with one, the smaller one, making the shorter, eight hour trek to Port aux Basque, Newfoundland. The larger one, the one I took, makes the longer, sixteen hour ride to Argentia, Newfoundland.
    As I watched the comings and goings from my "campsite", I realized that watching the eighteen wheelers disembark puts the size of this vessel into perspective. Basically, the hull is very much like the huge cargo ships that roll in to big ports stacked with shipping containers.
    On Sunday, I got up, had breakfast and scored a shower at a campground a little ways away.(Yes, I'm doing my very best not to spend money on campsites if I can help it!) From there, I got to the ferry and secured my spot in line. Now, as my ferry-savvy friends know, is where the flavor, the culture and the sociology of the next port starts to reveal itself. (See Photo #4). In the rows of vehicles waiting to get on the ship, I was surrounded by the following:
    1. The ATV'ers. A whole crowd of "quad riders" sat to my right. This piqued my curiosity in that I was wondering how far they planned to travel once off the ferry. I've been told that if Newfoundland were a state, it would rank just under California and Texas in size. To think of driving an ATV for any real distance didn't fit with my understanding of where I was going. Can you imagine drivng an ATV across the whole state of Texas?
    2. The "caravan". To my left was a crew of French speaking couples in my age group. Each couple had a big vehicle(F250's, Mercedes SUV's, Escalades) to haul their silver bullets, aka. Airstream RV's. They pulled out their lawn chairs, circled up, and proceeded to chit chat the wait away. These guys were obviously travel pros with a comfort level as a tribe that was clear even to this stranger. In front of me was a fancy Winnebago that looked like one of those Mercedes Sprint Campers. It belonged to a Buffalo, New York couple who were retired and travelling. They showed me inside their rig and we chatted a bit about how they had chosen the vehicle and where they were going. They asked me what I liked most about travelling alone and I said that I suppose being able to set my schedule without worrying I was impacting someone else. The man gestured to his wife and, with a twinkle of a tease in his voice, joked that she got to do that, too.
    The car in front of them was a white truck. And near it, a white haired, white mustached man with the tan of someone who is often outdoors. He had light blue, sparkly eyes that communicated a love of life with a dash of mischief thrown in. He had a Bruins jacket on(surprisingly ubiquitous up here) and was a chatter-er. He and his wife had their back tailgate popped and their Celtic music was loud enough to create a little party atmosphere around their vehicle. People walked by, stopped and talked, pet the couple's little dog and laughed. They made everyone laugh. After awhile the man gestured to me as I stood outside my truck enjoying the show. I walked over. "So what's the story with your licence plate?" "Oh. I'm a track and field coach". "So it's not on PURPOSE?"
    Sometimes I can be so dense.....Since arriving in Sydney, I have seen all sorts of signs for the Newfoundland ferry. Every one of them says this: "NFLD Ferry". I wondered why the abbreviation resonated so strongly with me?!(duh!) So this man thought I was a local. He thought my plate stood for Trek-Newfoundland.    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 14

    Not the Bella Coola Ferry

    June 18, 2018 in Canada

    A number of years ago I was travelling with a friend. We got trapped by wildfires on the British Columbia peninsula of Bella Coola. No one could drive in, no one could drive out. We eventually, as I was pressured to get back for the start of school, took the only available option: a 22 hour ferry to the Vancouver Islands. It was bare bones. Basically a cargo ferry put into service because of the fires. I remember blowing up the air mattresses for a snooze on the floor alongside a bunch of other people. This ferry ride, though similar in distance, was not that. It was actually a little comical. Ten floors. Two restaurants with white table cloths. Sleeping berths with showers(I was too cheap to splurge on that). A game room. A business office. Three small gift shops/snack shops. And a lounge.(photo#1 is where I slept) And a beautiful sunset with a dolphin pod serenade that I watched while bundled up like a bank robber on the deck. I was the last one off the deck and when I got back inside, I realized the reason. Live entertainment! (photo#3 back left corner is the "stage" and dance floor) From the moment the ferry left the port, until right around midnight, there was music. And dancing. And drinking. Not surprisingly, the man with the white mustache and his wife closed the place down.
    And then it got quiet as people slept. We were gifted with amazingly smooth water as you can see in the photo of me on the deck as we arrived in Newfoundland. Within minutes of driving off the ferry I was in this wide-open space of carribou habitat. My first day on Newfoundland was spent driving across this beautiful, barren land that was occasionally punctuated by little seaports. Almost everyone who was local in these little ports were driving four wheelers! Big rain and wind was forecasted for overnight into Tuesday so I made my way up to St. John's where I planned to do some history snooping for the day.
    Over coffee the next morning, I met Maureen. She quickly jumped in to correct me when I mispronounced Newfoundland. .."Just remember this", she said, "Understand. Newfoundland. That's how it's pronounced." UnderSTAND. NewfoundLAND.    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 15

    Fishing, so much Fishing!!

    June 19, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    As predicted, the weather was terrible today. Sideways, no actually, literally, sideways rain. It felt like sleet but it was simply the force with which the rain drops were being driven into my face! I laughed right out loud as I turned a corner at a building and was literally blown back two steps. I looked around and noted that people were walking at an angle as they leaned into the wind that made it look like a giant, real-life Michael Jackson video. A perfect day to delve into some history. Preferably indoors. (please note that there is a 6 photo limit on posts. I will likely divide this post into sections so I can share more in the way of pictures) As it happens, I bumbled onto The Rooms. Part Museum, Part Library. A spectacular building with a cool name and a cool logo. When I asked about the name's origin, the curator said that once I learned how the cod was historically processed, it would make more sense. I should have known it had something to do with fishing. And specifically cod. It is impossible to avoid the influence of the sea here. And why would one want to?
    So cod fishing....
    1.The fisherman used hand nets to haul in the fish.
    2. They rowed the dories, laden with fish, to their families' fish houses. With long hooks they lifted the fish up onto the wooden dock. (Room #1)
    3. Here, men and women would filet the fish in stages. The first person would loosen the gills. The second would notch the belly. The third would reach in and pull the guts up to the head and take the head off(save the liver for cod liver oil). The fourth would slice the belly to tail. The fifth would take the spine out. On to Room #2.
    4. In an adjacent house, the fish would be placed in salt to cure for 7-10 days. The salt was part of a trade with parts of the Mediterranean and Brazil. It was in these places that salt water was dried to form salt crystals and traded to the Newfoundlanders for fish.
    5. After salting, the third station was a rinsing of the salt and further drying in the wind and sun.
    6. Finally, the fish were stacked and brought to market in their new, dry, hard, last-forever state.
    To eat the fish, it had to be soaked for a long time to re-hydrate it. Often, a similar state of hard bread was also soaked and then the two were mashed together.
    "The Rooms". Now it does make sense!    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 15

    Food Report

    June 19, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    So one of the things that people always say when they travel is that they look for the "local secrets". I'm no different. So far however, in Newfoundland, things have kinda backfired. Tim Horton's is their version of Dunkin Donuts. Every truck stop has a "Tim's". (I've used them for their free wifi). And throughout my travels, I kept hearing people talk about "oatcakes". So I tried one knowing that from a chain, it wasn't going to be very authentic. It was actually okay. The history also surprised me. Apparently these oatcakes were a Scottish staple that is kind of like a less sweet oatmeal cookie but cooked on a griddle. And usually eaten with ale. Hmmm. That seems like an odd combo.
    I also had the experience a few nights back of finding a food place where there were a zillion cars in front. Actually, mostly trucks. I walked in and it was totally like the scene in Animal House where everything just stopped for a second. There were literally twenty five or thirty men all gathered around tables. Eating, talking, enjoying each other. All that activity was currently stopped and every eyeball was turned to me. Since I had no food in my truck and I was already three steps in the room, I leaned into the discomfort, forged ahead, and sat myself down in the corner of the room. A waitress came over and said, "Don't mind if they stare. They are just wondering who you are". Now THAT'S a small town! She told me that just added "Rappie Pie" to the menu for the summer. I asked what it was and she said it was a traditional Acadian fish cake. Served with chow-chow. Say, what?! It was incredible. And I don't mean that in a delicious way. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to eat pretty simply. Not much in the way of processed food or carbs or things that are fried. So when two big fat cakes arrived I dug in only to find that it was mashed potato with a little cod mixed in. Slathered in green pickle and onion relish(that's the chow-chow). I was all about having a couple of bites to enjoy the experience. Just a couple of bites was more than enough!
    Because I'm such a quick learner(haha), a couple of nights later I saw a huge line outside a little food truck. I admit, I got kind of excited. Turns out, it was hamburgers and onion rings. Hamburgers with "all the fixins" in Newfoundland means mustard, ketchup, sauted onions, lettuce and tomato. On this 39degree night, it was really good. But here I was eating this food, again! I only felt a bit guilty.
    Strike three came a night or two later when I again followed a big crowd into a diner. Everything, literally everything, was fried. So my new vow is to assume that, in Newfoundland, crowds are like seagulls at the beach. They always go for the french fries. (Unless there are peanut butter crackers, right Vaughan?)    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 15

    Time Travel(1)

    June 19, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Many. many people can trace their roots back to Newfoundland. It doesn't make it any less powerful to do so. At the urging of two of my sisters, I specifically started this trip near Conception Bay. It turns out that the museum I visited had a whole floor of Newfoundland and Labradorean archives. I started with the knowledge that our Grandmother, Ella Stevenson Hall, Mother of Anson Louis Hall, was born in Harbor Grace, an outport of Conception Bay.
    The archivist was really helpful and pointed me to the baptismal records. Not knowing Ella's religion relegated me to pouring through a few books but I eventually found her record! It is the last one on the page pictured below.
    Ella(as in sister, Marcy ELLA Hall) Stevenson was born to Mark and Hannah Stevenson. (This was who Shannah was named after). Ella's birthday was October 5th 1886. She was baptized, in St Paul's Anglican Church, on November 7th, 1886. They lived in a neighborhood called "The Hill". Mark, ironically, was a listed as a fisherman despite some family folklore that has him as a mail boat captain. I looked five years in either direction of Ella's birth for siblings but found none.
    According to dna testing that Shannah has done, there is also an Inuit influence in our genes from Dad's side. This museum was filled nods to the impact of the native tribes that inhabited this place of extreme, though austere, natural abundance.
    A little silly story is that almost everyone I've run into is enthusiastic and warm. Traits I love about the Halls! When a woman selling me tea referred to me as "sweetie", "love" and honey-dear" in the span of two sentences, I said. "I've been wondering... How do you all elevate these freely flowing endearments for someone that you actually love?" We had a good giggle.    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 15

    Just because....

    June 19, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Rainy, windy, cold in St John's. I took a good nap after the time in the archives. I woke up and decided that I would start heading toward Harbour Grace. I kept driving and driving until I found myself pulling into this hardscrabble little town of Harbour Grace at dusk. Though it has a history of production and aviation, it seems that things have now slowed down quite a bit and it has more of a look of "hard times". A few teenagers darted out into the street on bikes. A couple of ATV'ers were rolling around. Only one gas pump in this whole town. One corner store. There were a few ships in dry dock. And then I spotted a church and decided to check it out. It was St Paul's Anglican Church. The one that Ella Stevenson had been carried into by Mark and Hannah Stevenson to be baptized. Apparently, the oldest stone church in all of Newfoundland. Built in 1835. I touched the door with the weird knowledge that my Great Grandparents had touched the same door in November 1886. One hundred and thirty two years ago as they carried my then infant Grandmother in through this doorway. Cool, powerful energy. It was getting dark and cold but I wanted to maybe find the neighborhood that was "The Hill". There was really only one section of town that made geological sense and even though all the houses appeared to be new, I think this might have been our Grandparents' neighborhood.From the elevation you can see the steeple of St Paul's between The Hill and the harbour. .Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 16

    "Bon Vista", said John Cabot

    June 20, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    I understand that not everyone would enjoy traveling this way. Long days of driving. The wandering around at dusk trying to figure out where to sleep. But for me, right now, it's working. I am starting to wonder if there will be a time here where I feel like staying someplace for awhile. It happened on my last big trip when I got to Jasper, Alberta. So far, it hasn't happened here. We'll see.
    The landscape here is best described as a mix of boreal forest and arctic tundra. And though I have continued to get to experience late spring over and over again, it is finally summer here. At least according to the locals. Summer means 18 or 19C...mid 60's. People are literally in tank tops and shorts. There are still frost warnings for some areas overnight. And speaking of frost...the big news is that yesterday I saw my first iceberg! AND my first puffins!
    After a foggy morning spent writing(lots of posts yesterday!) I drove to Bonavista. I had heard that this was a possible whale viewing spot. I was not prepared for the sight I saw as I drove around a corner in Bonavista. The day had cleared to puffy blue clouds. The ground was all tundra-like with grey rocks, and orange and green lichen, and small flowers I associate with things I've seen above treeline. The water was green-blue and then, as if under a huge Broadway spotlight, was an iceberg. The contrast of the blue-white iceberg against all the other colors was stunning. I felt a lump jump into my throat. And I felt a wave of emotions that ranged from, "aren't I SO lucky" to "oh my god, my grandbabies may not have a chance to experience this". I took a bunch of pictures and then just sat and soaked it all in. After awhile I moved on. I walked around the town which was a classic Newfoundland fishing port. Kids were getting out of school. I got tourist-heckled by three bored fourteen year olds who needed something to do. And then I stopped at a little outdoor patio that someone had opened near their house. I sat and sipped some ginger tea and thought about what I had just seen.
    The day wasn't over, yet! I drove back down the road to a small town I had passed on the way in. This was Elliston. Root cellar capital of Newfoundland. And puffin viewing site!
    I've attached two links for fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWMpN0uk30
    http://www.rootcellars.ca/attractions/the-puffi…

    I left Elliston with the idea of finding a place to sleep. Ideally with a shower. I pulled into two little RV parks, but no showers. I kept driving. And then I saw a sign for free overnight camping in a municipal park near a lake. Bingo. I could shower in the lake if I had to. I got down to this site and found about fifteen big rv's all set up. But, strangely, there were no signs of humans anywhere. It seemed like a weekend spot that was abandoned from Monday-Friday. I parked near the lake and started to gather my gear for a bath but my radar was up. It just felt sketchy. I followed my instincts and knowing that I wouldn't be able to relax into sleep here, put the soap and towel away and started to drive away. Just then, one person came out of an RV a few yards away. So glad I have good instincts and so glad I listened to them. I pushed on, knowing that the sun was lowering, but was able to get all the way to Terra Nova National Park. Long story shorter, I drove down a lane toward the campground. I saw two cars. And one bear. A black bear who didn't seemed too fazed by the rumble of my truck. I think I could have gotten some photos but decided not to let him associate a calm experience with humans. I will say that it is weird to see black bear with their tan faces who in real life look just like the stuffed versions we've all held. Important to remember that they are wild and strong and unpredictable. I didn't pitch a tent and I was careful to lock food up in the car, not in the bed of the truck where I sleep. I found a good campsite but it was so early in the season that there were no fire rings and, aargh, no showers. Finding a hot shower will be the goal today. Headed to Fogo Island.    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 18

    What was I just saying?

    June 22, 2018 in Canada

    Did I seriously just yesterday morning say that I hadn't yet found a spot where I wanted to stop? Well that's just a little ironic. Ironic because just after writing those words I drove, in the rain, to Twilingate. Specifically, to Crow Head. I had heard that there was a pretty walk here and it didn't disappoint. Sleepy Cove is Magical! I parked, sat on the tailgate because everywhere else was still wet, and ate a big salad. You can see in photo one that the sky was starting to clear.
    I spent the next five hours wandering the cliffs of Crow Head. Blown away by the scenery. Entertained by the locals..by that I mean the Ganets and Seagulls doing a crazy aerial dive-bombing fireworks show as they plunged into the water snagging capelin and herring. A pod of more than 30 harp seals attacking the small fish from below would rise to the surface every three or four minutes.I couldn't stop watching. But, just as I was getting ready to retreat, a mother humpback and her calf came right around the point (pictured in photo#4) into the cove! the weather is forecast to do the same wet morning-sunny afternoon shift and I know where I will spend another afternoon. On the cliffs near Sleepy Cove, scanning for whales!    Read more

  • TravelerNewfoundland & Labrador
    Day 18

    Backtrackin'

    June 22, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    I fell asleep while parked in a little spot at the bottom of Crow Head Hill. Lulled by the wind whiffling against the truck and the mournful bellow of the fog horn from the lighthouse sitting on the hill above me. The fog was indeed thick. As appears to be the norm, the fog rolls in around dinnertime and then clears at some point late the next morning. After a good sleep I woke up early thinking of whales. I drove up the hill to the lighthouse and was gifted to a show. Humpbacks right in the cove below the lookout. They were behaving in a way that seemed odd to me in that they were literally surfacing on the edge of the rocks. The bright white outline of her fin was visible in the clear water. She finally left this cove and headed back down the coast where I had walked the day before. I hopped in the truck, drove back down the hill a little ways, then on foot, scrambled up the steep incline to get to another overlook. I was still only about 6am so no one else was around. As I panted up the hill, dressed in twelve layers, and rubber boots, all topped by my huge patagonia deep winter coat, I was surprized that the exertion didn't really generate enough heat to get warm. It was that cold. Low 30's was my guess by the looks of my bright red hands. It wasn't much of a deterrent when motivated by whale searching. I climbed up to the top of the rise just in time to simultaneously see and hear a big blow of spray/air as the humpback surfaced. I had timed it just right! I sat and watched for as long as she was feeding there and then followed back up to the lighthouse one more time when she backtracked down the coast. There were a couple of women there this time to share the experience with.We oooed and aahhed together until the whale left and then I went in search of coffee. Once caffeinated, I went to a little lecture at the Boat Builder's Museum! I learned about the boats and why they were built with really low sides to make for ease of hauling nets. They would actually use two boats in tandem that would each take a side of the net eventually bringing the boats side by side with just a little pocket of net, filled with fish, in between them. From there they would scoop the fish up into the boats to finish the catch.(see photo #3).
    Now it was about 1:30 on this beautiful warm(high 60's), sunny day. I was hungry and decided to stop at the Crow's Nest Cafe which was perched, pun intended, halfway up the hill overlooking the town of Crow Head. They were out of lentil soup so I settled for a cup of chili that was warm and filling. While there, a couple sat down and we began to chat. The banter between tourists seems to flow from the starting point of "Are you travelling from the east or the west?". When we established that we had both come from the east, the woman said, "Well I can't recommend places for you to go but we can share what our highlights have been so far." That quickly moved to them telling me that the little pennisula, the one I had skipped in my hurry to get to Twilingate, was their favorite spot so far. They raved about a tiny little town with a tea shoppe where they had watched whales from the patio. So the beauty of the way I'm traveling?...I just hopped in the car and backtracked, like my humpback friend had done that morning, back down the coast to Greenspond Island. I've included a picture of the road I traveled which is Newfoundland's version of rush hour. Five o'clock, Friday afternoon. First weekend of summer. It's not quite always this desolate but there are definitely big stretches of quiet between "Outports". The radio stations actually report animal sightings as part of the news.(And during this stretch the "top 40" station was playing traditional Irish music and sea shanties.) "Moose sighted on the off-ramp to Gander. Be careful out there folks". What a lovely contrast to Fox News.    Read more

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