Joe and Lynda's Newfoundland Trip
~ July 2000

July 2, 2000: time for the 'road trip' portion of this holiday.  We got up 'early' for us (especially on holiday) at 8 am and did some last minute packing, had breakfast and got ready to go.  Traveling from St. John's to Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne National Park is a long drive -- 708 km.  With stops we were looking at abut 9 hours.  So we headed out to the Trans Canada Highway (interestingly mile "0" is in both St. John's and Victoria, BC on the other side of the country!) locally known at the TCH (or TCHaich if you have an accent).  We started out in sunny weather but once we hit the Avalon peninsula (a perennially foggy place) we were driving in gray and fog.  The scenery isn't terribly interesting but we had our new cd's to keep us going.  The radio is pretty spotty up along the highway as there's often long stretches between towns.  After a stop in Gander for lunch we resumed our journey which after we passed through Grand Falls was sunny again.

We got to Deer Lake and headed up to Rocky Harbour on Hwy 430.  Gros Morne National Park was as gorgeous as we remembered it.  We got to Rocky Harbour and found our B&B (I can't remember it's name now, but Pauline was our hostess) then went out again.  We drove around the park a little, but then got stuck behind a semi with what must have been a load of fish.  And, of course, we got stuck behind it on a steep incline with no passing as it's leaking this fishy smelling water out the back while going 20 km/h!  That was the longest 5 minutes we've ever spent on a hill.  We found the hotel restaurant in Rocky Harbour and had a nice dinner -- Joe ordered the Halibut.  We enjoyed the sunset then headed back to the B&B.

The next morning Joe woke up sick.  And the poor guy was sick all morning.  Finally after about 7 hours of it, we went to the hospital at Norris Point and spent the rest of the day there while they figured out that he'd probably gotten food poisoning from the Halibut.  Great.  But at least they got his fever down and stopped his barfing.  The nurses, Barb and Darlene, and the doctor, Dr. French, were really great.  Once they were sure that Joe would be okay and he could keep down fluids, they discharged him.  We lost our day to go to L'Anse Aux Meadows -- that was our original plan, but I got to finish a good book, Midwives, while keeping Joe company.  We made arrangements to come back the next day to pay the doctor's fee.  Having been in the states for two years, we wondered if we'd have to find a bank machine to pay, but he assured us it'd probably be around $50! Canadian dollars!!  We assured him we'd be back the next day to pay the bill once he'd figured out what to charge us.  I'd already made arrangements to stay at the B&B another night so we headed back there and Joe went to bed while I headed out for some dinner from Jackie's Take-out.

The following morning Joe was feeling better -- he came down for breakfast of toast while I had a full breakfast and chatted with the other couples, one from the Netherlands and the other from Kelowna.  We chatted about the Okanagan wine country, we told them how much we'd enjoyed our trip there in 1997.  We headed back to Norris Point to pay our bill for the doctor at Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital which came to $46.  Then off to Cow Head.  We arrived quite early, since we weren't coming down from St. Anthony but we were able to get settled in to the J&J Hospitality Home anyway.  Our hostess, Liz Page was very friendly and nice.

We went over to the Shallow Bay Motel Restaurant for lunch -- happily Joe was hungry.  We had a very nice lunch there and as we were looking around the lobby, we ran into Joe's sister, Nicole who we were there to see.  She was working as an actress at the Gros Morne Theatre Festival for the summer.  She set us up with our tickets for the shows and we chatted.  Then Joe and I decided to do a little touristing and headed up to see the Arches (which we missed by accident) and then up to Port Aux Choix National Historic Site.  It's all part of the cultural heritage of the area.  The Visitor's Centre had lots of information and exhibits on the Maritime Archaic Indians, Paloeskimo and recent aboriginals, all peoples who had made this area home over the years.  The abundant maritime resources (fish and the like) supported these people at this location.  There was also a lighthouse nearby where we walked around and took in the ocean air.

Returning to Cow Head, we marveled at the scenic beauty of Gros Morne National Park.  The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's interesting that there are small communities within the boundaries of the park.  I wonder if that places any restrictions on growth (I imagine it would) and population.  We joined Nicole at her home for dinner -- it was great to sit with her in her home and chat over a dinner she'd prepared.  Now that she's living in Korea, I don't think we'll be able to do that again soon!  She and Joe did a lot of catching up and laughing.  Then we headed back to the B&B for a while before the show.

Liz really had a great set-up at the B&B, with a small house for the guests, separate from her own home.  We came up every morning for breakfast, but otherwise had our own area, with shared kitchen and living spaces.  Liz had the living room well stocked with books on Newfoundland and videos too.  We went to the theatre for the first show, Ed and Ed - Trapped! which was very funny with lots of good jokes (some of them more Canadian than others).  Nicole was in that one (there were only the two Eds and her) and man, can she ever belt out a good scream!  That night we were lucky because there were two shows on.  The second, Neddy Norris Nights, took place at the Shallow Bay Motel and is fashioned after traditional Newfoundland get togethers where everyone contributes, either in song, dance or recitation.  It was really great -- fun and poignant and silly and beautiful.  The players got me up there to participate in a "game show" although I don't remember how I did, I did enjoy myself a lot.

The following day (Wednesday July 5) we had a leisurely morning -- we started by going up to the house for breakfast with Liz.  She is so much fun, very friendly with lots of information on Newfoundland.  One of the books we'd been admiring there was called This Marvelous, Terrible Place and is a series of pictures and stories from Newfoundlanders.  One of my favorite stories was actually told to the authors by her grandmother!  After a delicious breakfast, we called Nicole and went over to the wreck of the SS Ethie, a ship that used to run up and down the coast and which ran aground in 1916.  It's also the subject of the dinner theatre that we were going to see that night.  It was cool to see the actual wreckage and hear the story on the same day.  We had a late lunch then puttered before going over to the Shallow Bay Motel for Ethie - A Dinner Theatre.  The players are also the servers so we wanted to be seated in Nicole's section and were.  She told us later that it made her nervous since she had to stay in character.  The food was really good and there was even cheesecake with Bakeapples for dessert.  The tale itself was very interesting and well told and sung.  After the show we went over to the bar to visit with Nicole some more and met the rest of the cast.  They were a really fun group.  I wish we could have stayed longer, there were a couple of other plays that they did that we could have seen had we had more time.  Plus seen more of Nicole and Gros Morne.  Unfortunately, there's never enough time for all you want to do on vacation.  We had hoped to stay an extra night, but there was no room at the inn.  A real shame since we loved the B&B and Liz.

The next morning we got an early start after breakfast.  We got to meet Liz's husband Dwight who took our picture in the kitchen (seen above).  The next time we go there we'll have to plan for more nights and more sunshine.   After our hearty breakfast, we packed the car and headed north.  I had told Joe that I wasn't going to get that close to L'Anse Aux Meadows and the Viking ruins there without going.  So we'd have to do it in one day, but we were going! It was beautifully sunny as we left.  We headed up the highway and soon came to The Arches which we had missed the last time we drove by there.  This time we stopped and we were lucky that the weather had finally cleared up for us.  The Arches were quite large, and sculpted by the sea -- there's a third arch that we couldn't fit into the picture below.  There's not a lot there aside from the arches, still it was nice to get out of the car and go down to the rocky beach and get some sea air without rain factored in!  The rain was still threatening but the sun was out too for a change.

Then we started the push to get to L'Anse Aux Meadows, and it was quite a long drive with not a lot around -- the Viking Trail. The Northern Peninsula is full of history, most notably the work of Sir Wilfred Grenfell.  We passed many small communities and the odd "Viking" named establishment (everything from Chip Truck to stores to pubs) on the two lane road.  One thing, you would think that with all the publicity for "Vikings! 1000 Years" that the government in all it's wisdom might have thought to improve the road before inviting the world to visit!  We were quite amazed at the amount of construction still underway and the poor quality of the only road to L'Anse Aux Meadows!  As we were starting to get quite hungry, we arrived in front of Smith's Restaurant in the town of L'Anse Aux Meadows.  The restaurant was quite busy with travelers who were also up to see the Viking ruins.  Lunch was okay and nicely complimented by the view of the town across a body of water.

After lunch it was time to go down to the site -- L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This is the only place in North America where it is known the Vikings landed and lived.  We spent some time at the Visitor's Centre -- they had a lot of information about the discovery of the site and what life would have been like there and a very interesting film as well as artifacts.  They were sure it was a Viking site once they found the evidence of smelting of iron -- the archeologists and anthropologists knew that the native people of the area at that time did not have the skill to make their own iron objects.

The sod houses were surprisingly large -- somehow we hadn't expected them to be so big.  There was a fire inside to cook over and the reenactors were around too.  A 'Viking' woman showed me how a spindle whorl is used -- I had always wondered.  If you notice new sod on the top of the house, it's because they had a fire the week before we got there -- a spark got up into the sod and smoldered there for hours before anyone saw it.  I guess that's the hazards of having a true to life display...  Of course, Joe had to inspect the boat...  On the subject of boats, we were disappointed that we didn't get to see the Snorri -- the replica Viking Ship that was sailing around Newfoundland and had sailed over from Greenland to Newfoundland in 1998.  But I can't complain, I did finally get to see "Vinland".

We also spent some time just walking around the site and down by the ocean.  The plant life showed some of the same characteristics as we saw at Cape St. Mary's -- low to the ground and shaped by the wind.  The coastline was rugged and beautiful.  I am so glad that we got there, even if we didn't have a lot of time to spend, and at least the sun was out.  It made a world of difference -- even though it's July, we were quite far north and it was cool and of course, windy.  You can see in the photo to the left how low the brush is -- those are not just shrubs, but full grown trees!  The land mass you see in the background is the shore of Labrador!  There are many more pictures we could share with you if only there was enough space for them all.  Overall it was an excellent visit, we learned a lot about how Leif Erikson discovered and attempted to colonize the area.  The story is told in one of the sagas that tell the history of the Norse people.  They lived here and explored from here and they even had a baby born here.  Unfortunately they couldn't communicate with the native people of the area, whom they called Skraelings and they were eventually driven out.  Luckily the sagas survived and eventually led researchers to the site.

We still had a long drive ahead of us to Corner Brook where we stayed with Joe's Uncle Bud and Aunt Mary, so it was time to say good-bye to the past and the incredible history of L'Anse Aux Meadows.  So we did the drive back down the coast.  Joe was still tired from being sick so he snoozed as I drove.  We reached Deer Lake around dinner so stopped for Tim Horton's (mmmm chili with donuts for dessert!) and called Uncle Bud to let him know where we were and when we'd get to his house.  Joe drove the rest of the way since he was far more familiar with how to get there.  When we got there, we had hugs and kisses all around and spent the next few hours chatting and catching up.  We hadn't brought photos of the wedding and Bud mentioned that there wasn't that much about the wedding on our page so I vowed that I'd add some more stuff for him when we got back (and I did!).  We reminisced about the last time we'd been there and how there was a riot in Vancouver when they lost the Stanley Cup to New York!

Corner Brook is a lovely little city of about 30,000 on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland.  It's very scenic down that way and all of Joe's aunts and uncles on his father's side live there, so we always try to make it out that way.  The morning after we arrived Joe and I slept in late.  When we finally arose, Uncle Bud made us a hearty breakfast and we got some more visiting done with Joe's cousin Sarah.  Then we headed off to Joe and my favorite place in the whole world -- Uncle Bud's cabin.  Uncle Bud, Aunt Mary, Joe and I piled into the car and headed down the coast past the Bay of Islands and along the Captain Cook Trail.  It was another gorgeous day -- the sun was shining and the drive was beautiful.  We'd been there before when we visited in 1994 and it was just as lovely as we'd remembered.  In fact, that's where we'd love to retire when the time comes.  There are pretty little fishing villages (sadly not doing much cod fishing, but still catching lobster) dotting the coast and mountains all around.  Having been raised in Vancouver, I love mountains and water together, it really reminds me of home.

We arrived at the cabin early in the afternoon and it was just as we'd remembered.  Aunt Mary had some friends visiting there so we joined the party.  Uncle Bud had big plans for dinner -- that man is a barbecue demon!  Joe and I headed out to do some exploring -- we wanted to hike the Captain Cook Trail and see  the marker at the end.  Captain James Cook mapped the coast of Newfoundland (no small task) for five years and charted the Bay of Islands.  It is thought that he gave the names to a lot of the geography along the Humber Arm and that Lark Harbour is named after his boat.  It was a beautiful day for it -- the sun was shining and we were pleased to have such great weather again.  When we emerged from the trees and got to the marker, we found there was a great view of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on one side and the cove and the cabin on the other as we were quite high up on a peninsula.

We headed back, walking along the beach this time.  The beach there is actually sandy, unlike most beaches in Newfoundland (at least in our experience) and made a lovely walk.  As we headed back, we could see that Bud was starting to get the barbecuing going.  He had moose and caribou sausages, hamburgers and chicken.  A regular carnivorous feast!  We watched the master at work, visited with Aunt Maryand her guests and I wrote a couple more postcards.  It was just the kind of weather and view to put you in the mood.-- feeling thankful to be in such a gorgeous place.

After our wonderful delicious dinner, we headed back to Corner Brook, and on the way stopped at Joe's other Aunt and Uncle's place, Dave and MaryLouse's.  We we out of luck for seeing our last aunt/uncle set, Tom and Loretta as they were out of town.  Back to Uncle Bud and Aunt Mary's after a good visit and more catching up.

The next morning we got another delicious breakfast, courtesy of Uncle Bud and then we headed out to the cabin again.  We stopped at the Corner Brook Mall on the way out to pick up the new Harry Potter book which had been released that day.  Joe and I are both fans, so there was some dispute about who'd get to read it first!  We also picked up some salad fixings and then back on the road again.  We arrived at the cabin early enough to get a little reading and napping and lunch in before we needed to start on the salad.  Uncle Bud and Aunt Mary arrived a little later and then Joe's cousin Kieran arrived with an  American tourist he'd been guiding around.  We all had another fantastic barbecued meal courtesy of Uncle Bud.  That man sure can grill up a dinner.  We sat around chatting for a while then everyone headed out and Joe and I had the cabin to ourselves.  It's so amazingly tranquil there -- it's like you've reached the end of civilization.  There's very little light, you can see the stars so well and it's sooooo quiet.  Such a treat to be able to stay there.  Thank you Uncle Bud!

The next morning we had to clean up and pack up and head back to St. John's.  Sadly our trip was almost over.  We stopped in at Uncle Bud and Aunt Mary's on the way out of town to say good-bye and stock up on hugs and good wishes.  Much as I love our house here and our lives here, it does seem to be a shame to be so far from family.  Back on the road again -- for a fairly boring drive.  Now that I've done the drive four times, I've decided that it's just one of those drives you have to get through.  Like driving back into Texas.  There's not much going on, so you just have to drive and wait for the fun stuff at the end.  This time we had something cool to look forward to -- we were going to be arriving just in time for Aunt Fay and Uncle Geoff's annual family reunion.  Aunt Fay is Joe's mom's little sister and she and Geoff live in a small town not far from St. John's.  Lyn and Joe were there as well and Nanny and Nathan and many of Uncle Geoff's relatives.  We finally got to meet the cat we'd heard so much about, GT, Esq.  It was a very nice afternoon, with lots of delicious potluck dishes.  I think that was the first time I'd had Fish & Brews.  Nanny went all out with the cooking -- she's really an amazing cook.  After dinner we headed back to the house in St. John's to get ourselves organized for our trip back home.

The following day we slept in late again then headed out to Signal Hill National Historic Site.  Signal Hill, Cabot Tower, the Narrows and the Battery are all parts of the same area, the high hill overlooking the narrow channel into St. John's harbour.  Because of the narrow entrance, the Narrows is aptly named and very easily defended.  Chain rock is at the foot of Signal Hill near the battery and in defending the harbour a chain would be tied across the narrows, thereby blocking the harbour entrance.  Cabot Tower, at the top of Signal Hill was built in 1897 to celebrate the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot (or Giovanni Caboto, depending on your perspective) sailing from England and discovering Newfoundland.  In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio transmission in a hospital nearby.  You can walk all around Signal Hill down to the town called "The Battery" below, at times clinging to a chain in the rock to keep from falling in the water!  Joe and I went up Cabot Tower -- from where you can get a great view of pretty much the whole city, but declined to do the hike as there was still lots to do before we left.  We'd had a wonderfully sunny day to hike it the last time we were here, so we just looked around and took a few pictures.

This time we were lucky as we were just in time to see the Signal Hill Tattoo.  This is a 19th century re-enactment presented every summer by the Army Cadet League of Canada.  The last time we were here, we were too early in the season to see it.  The troops come out in their very red uniforms and their precision marching and fire off their guns and a cannon.  Quite cool, and free.  There's also the signpost with signs pointing to cities all over the world and the mileage to each of them.  That was our cue, we had to go home.  Our trip to Newfoundland was a wonderful time -- a chance to see friends and family, explore this storied province, from the Martime Archaeic past to the modern present.  Still, you always have to leave something for your next trip -- I still haven't seen Regatta Day at Qidi Vidi or kissed a cod and been screeched in!  So there's still lots to do on our next visit.  We'll be back -- soon, I hope.

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