Date: 18 July, 2013 2:27:05 PM EDT (3:57 PM NDT)

Dear all:

Welcome to rural Newfoundland…. Tonight I am staying at a lovely B & B in Portland Creek, a small village north of Gros Morne National Park just off the highway called the Viking Trail. I’ve already been there around noon and left to tootle around and see the sights. They have dial up access to the internet, but no wifi, so neither my small laptop nor my iPhone will work. I will be totally disconnected. I suppose I couldn’t manage it yet, so I stopped at a restaurant here in Cow Head (yes, that’s the name of the place) back in Gros Morne National Park. Actually, I am returning to see a play here tonight at 7. Portland Creek is only about half an hour north of here, so I’ll head back shortly and have an early dinner before returning for the play.

Meanwhile, since there’s been virtually no rain until last night/this morning for the past 5 weeks, there might not be enough water for showers. Apparently, there is a partial boil advisory and while the locals are still brushing their teeth in the tap water, they are boiling it for us tourists. It’s amazing how quickly one recedes back in time – pre-wifi and now possibly pre-shower…. I’m fine for a night. It’s not as hot as I understand it is in Toronto (over 30C) and it’s not humid, so I’m not complaining, just observing. Re the water situation, now that’s pretty serious for the locals. Newfoundland appears to be chock full of water, but maybe it’s not so accessible for the small communities and they depend on the regular rainfall they usually receive. As a tourist it’s been wonderful to have the non-rainy weather for the past couple of weeks (excluding the smoke from the Quebec and Labrador forest fires which were raging out of control and wafting many kilometres away depending on the wind), but it’s not great for the locals.

Apart from the above, Newfoundland is appearing reasonably prosperous. Certainly, I’ve been very impressed with the roads and parks and all the facilities. I had originally thought they were struggling in the rural areas and I still don’t think they have it easy. But I was speaking to a couple the other night and they had also gone on Mr. Miller’s boat tour (Rugged Beauty Boat Tour). While impressed with the tour, they discovered that because he does a cash business, he virtually isn’t paying too many taxes. I think they mentioned that he paid $12 per month for garbage service and that was it. So, while $40,000 per year isn’t a lot to earn, when that’s a net figure, that’s not as bad as I originally thought.

However, that doesn’t diminish the great distances between any major communities. Locals appear to relish telling tales of tourists arriving here thinking they can “do Newfoundland” (the whole island) in a week. They tell the tales with good humour and a lot of patience (one person works at a B & B and regularly gets calls cancelling due to folks not realizing how far things are.

Tomorrow morning I will be heading up the northern peninsula to St. Anthony and possibly to icebergs. I have been told that they take about a year to get down from Greenland once they break apart and start floating southwards. Of course, there was the chap who swam around the iceberg a week ago. I only want to see one, not swim around one.

So, to all, enjoy your wifi and showers. I am going on a non-wifi no-shower “cleanse” or maybe not.

Sincerely

Sara