Date: 23 July, 2013 10:45:59 AM EDT (12:15 PM NDT)

Dear all:

I am leaving Newfoundland tomorrow and I’ve met some remarkable people as well as seeing incredible scenery along the way. The most unusual place I stayed in was the Tickle Inn, the most northerly residence on the island of Newfoundland at Cape Onion. The proprietor’s family had been there for generations and he and his wife had restored the old homestead to use as a B & B (bed and breakfast) a number of years ago. During the winter they live in St. John’s where he had been a high school teacher. Now retired, he is able to devote more time to the Tickle Inn. I arrived on Sunday and we had an old fashioned Sunday dinner, complete with a religious, but non-denominational, blessing over the food. We all sat together at one time around the dinner table, which made things more intimate and “homey.” The food, however, was traditional only in the sense of using local ingredients. He cooked a chicken wellington with partridgeberry sauce with oven roasted potatoes and stir-fried vegetables. It had been preceded by a lovely salad with a vinaigrette made from local berries and it was followed by a chocolate partridgeberry cake. An earlier snack had included tea plus brie and crackers with squashberry jam. I have gone into detail about the food here because while most home-cooked Newfoundland food is homemade, it is not often as “gourmet” as this was for the cost of the meal ($25). David, the proprietor, has not one extra pound on him, quite to the contrast to a lot of Newfoundlanders. Apart from the extremely interesting conversation at dinner (he was very knowledgeable and engaging), David then entertained us in the parlour after dinner by singing Newfoundland songs. At the end of the evening, he passed out the words to the original anthem of Newfoundland before it became part of Canada in 1949 called “Ode to Newfoundland.” Of course, we all had to sing the choruses of the anthem with him. Had I known about the atmosphere at the Tickle Inn, I would have spent all three nights up north there, rather than the couple I spent at a hotel in St. Anthony with the last one at Cape Onion. There was nothing wrong with the hotel, but the Tickle Inn was unique.

I would say that the most spectacular scenery I found in Gros Morne National Park, some of which I have hopefully captured in a reasonable fashion with the photos I have previously emailed. The scenery on the drive up north is ok – certainly the coast is fascinating especially as one gets close to the shores of Labrador, but it is barren and similar in nature. I am glad I didn’t try to drive more than the 3-4 hours straight that I drove this time by myself. I could have done more, but it’s a lot of driving when you’re not used to it. Folks often come here and misjudge the distances. At the Tickle Inn, David occasionally gets cancellations by those who didn’t find themselves unable to make the trek north on top of what they’ve already managed. I am glad I did get up north and I’m also pleased that I allotted enough time to do so. I did meet a couple this morning at Portland Creek (I stayed there on the way back from up north) who intended to drive up north (3-4 hours straight one way), visit L’Anse Aux Meadows, and return the 3-4 hours back to Portland Creek that night. I wish them good luck!

L’Anse Aux Meadows in 1978 became part of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sties as the first and only authenticated Norse site in North America. I did email some photos from that site a day or two ago. It is an extremely well maintained site with a good introductory video and very good guided tour. It is both an archeological site as well as a reconstruction of what had been there at the time. The advertisements many of us see on TV in Canada are from the reconstructed huts. Between the background I received there, as well as some explanation at another Parks Canada archeological site, I got a good sense of who came here, why, how they lived and who supplanted them afterwards. I have been quite impressed with the federal parks (Parks Canada) sites here in Newfoundland. The services are all well laid out and the parks staff are very helpful.

Other people I have met are remarkable in quiet ways. I spoke last night to a couple that were of military background from Kingston, Ontario. They had four sons, one of whom had been killed in Afghanistan 6 years ago, leaving a wife and young son behind. They didn’t go on about it and I didn’t ask much more, but living a comfortable and non-military life in Toronto, one is usually not that personally affected by Canada’s decade-long military affair in Afghanistan. In the US this is likely a more common occurrence and definitely in Israel, but much less so here at home. This is part of the benefit of travelling – meeting folks whom one would not normally come into contact with at home. I also met a family last night that had driven down from Labrador City and taken the ferry across to Newfoundland. The man works for an iron ore company there and makes a good living. Average homes go for about $350,000 there, which isn’t that cheap, but I suppose it’s better than flying in for two weeks to work with two weeks off to return home, wherever that may be (Newfoundland or elsewhere). I had overhead that the woman needed an MRI and had come down to Cornerbrook (mid-west coast of Newfoundland) for that purpose. I am reminded of how far folks have to go to get medical treatment when you live so far away. They are continuing down to Nova Scotia by another ferry to visit relatives and making a holiday of it. Driving these distances blows the mind of this urban Canadian. I checked the approximate distance between Labrador City and Portland Creek (where I met them) and it is 1300 km (or about 20 hours driving time). Of course, virtually no one drives 20 hours straight to my knowledge and they had a two-year old with them.

Meanwhile, did you know that the ferry to Labrador actually goes into the Quebec side, which is 1.5 hours behind? Apparently, the ferry runs on the Newfoundland time zone, which is half an hour ahead of the Atlantic time zone. Quebec is on the Eastern time zone, the same as Toronto. Coastal Labrador apparently runs on the same time zone as Newfoundland, but inland Labrador may be on Atlantic time. It’s a little confusing, but the distances are so great, I suppose it makes sense according to where the population is and who has the most contact with whom.

I am currently sitting at a cafe, Java Jacks, in Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne National Park using their wifi and drinking a latte, before heading back to Deer Lake where I fly out tomorrow evening back to Toronto. I am able to relax because I found the one gas station in town and my gas tank was almost empty. I had filled up back in St. Anthony and left Cape Onion with what appeared to be a full tank of gas. There isn’t a gas station in Portland Creek so I didn’t worry about it last night, but as I drove further south and entered Rocky Harbour, I decided I had better find out where the gas station was located. As a “centre” of Gros Morne National Park, it only has one gas station here. That tells you that travelling here still requires you to pay attention and not be lazy.

Below is a photo of a dolphin I saw off the coast of St. Anthony. I took a boat tour there and saw both whales and dolphins. I did take some photos of whales, but they were not as close as the one in Bay Bulls on Captain Wayne’s tour south of St. John’s. This tour was in a larger boat and they did not go as close to the whales as Captain Wayne did, but the dolphins themselves came right up under the boat. They were quite curious and playful.

When I get home I may email a few more photos as I transfer them to my regular photo-editing software and do some more work on them.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a good summer and enjoying themselves.

Sincerely

Sara

Date: July-23-13 6:26 PM EDT (7:56 PM NDT)

Dear all:

Here’s hoping that this time you get to see this photo which I took a number of days ago and apparently was not successful at emailing it. I’m sort of stubborn that way (or maybe just determined).

Sincerely

Sara

Date: 21 July, 2013 8:43:56 PM EDT (10:13 PM NDT)

Dear all:

I am on a different wifi tonight at the Tickle Inn B & B at Cape Onion, so I’m trying to email a few photos I took today. I did see my first iceberg while climbing up a big hill at Cape Onion.

Sincerely

Sara

a. Replica of Sod House, L’Anse Aux Meadows

b. View of the Sea from L’Anse Aux Meadows

c. The Tickle Inn, Cape Onion

d. An Iceberg via my 300 mm lens, cropped

e. Iceberg to the right on the horizon not zoomed, not cropped

f. View from Cape Onion

g. View towards Tickle Inn (to the right)

Date: 20 July, 2013 3:32:16 PM EDT (5:02 PM NDT)

Dear all:

The sunset photo from Portland Creek seems to be giving my email a lot of trouble. I think the two small ones of the sign to the Labrador ferry and actually of Labrador across the Strait of Belle Isle did go through.

I am trying once more to email a photo I took from the “Head” of Cow Head (where I went to the theatre). I quite like the photo with the mountains of Gros Morne National Park in the background. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this photo goes through.

Sincerely

Sara

Date: July 19, 2013 8:52 PM EDT (10:22 PM NDT)

Dear all:

Well, there might not be wifi at Portland Creek, but there are other things that might be more photogenic, shall we say.

I am having some strange problems with my email, so I hope this works out all right.

I am back on wifi in my hotel in St. Anthony, the major town in the northern peninsula of Newfoundland. I travelled around 270 km from Portland Creek mainly north to St. Anthony. On the way, I passed the turnoff for the ferry to Labrador. And then I saw it, across the Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador. The mainland of Labrador is only about 18 km across the Strait, which is the northern gateway to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I must admit that I have been tempted to take the ferry over to Labrador, but it’s not a simple jaunt over and I didn’t plan for it. So this time, I’ll stick to the island and leave “The Big Land” (Labrador) for another time.

Before this lovely sunset I attended a play of the Gros Morne Theater Festival in Cow Head yesterday evening. It amazes me how there are such incredible things going on in such simple looking structures from the outside here. This is repertory summer theatre by the TNL (Theatre Newfoundland Labrador) operating during the regular season in Cornerbrook. I was really impressed with the quality of the performance, just as was the case when I saw a play in Trinity at the Rising Tide Theatre, closer to St. John’s.

The B & B without the wifi was actually a very pleasant and beautifully located large house virtually on the beach. As it turns out, we were allowed to have showers but do them quickly. The water levels are low and while I joked about it yesterday, it is a problem.

We are supposed to get some rain tonight and tomorrow and I promise not to mind.

Sincerely

Sara

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

Date: 17 July, 2013 8:08:03 AM EDT (9:38 AM NDT)

Dear all:

Given the size of the Western Brook Pond, I’ve had a few folks write me back questioning whether it was a pond or something else. Here is what a native Newfoundlander who reviewed the place for Trip Advisor said:

In Newfoundland, we call lakes “ponds”. The name of this natural attraction can be misleading – it’s a large body of water that runs through a majestic fjord. The landlocked fjord was carved by glaciers.

It doesn’t really have any runoff or way to drain itself anywhere and it is only fed slightly by some small waterfalls, so maybe it’s a pond in that sense of the word, but it certainly is large (16 kilometres long) and ponds are usually small. Having searched some definitions, all I can say that it isn’t clear. I also don’t know if fjords are usually landlocked…. the ones in Norway usually aren’t. Here’s what Wikipedia says about fjords and Western Brook Pond:

Another freshwater “fjord” in a larger lake is Western Brook Pond, in Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park; it is also often described as a fjord, but is actually a freshwater lake cut off from the sea, so is not a fjord in the English sense of the term. Such lakes are sometimes called “fjord lakes”.

OK. Clear as mud?

Sincerely

Sara

Date: July 16 7:42 PM EDT (9:12 PM NDT)

Dear all:

The fascinating thing about the pond (apart from all the geology and dramatic scenery) is how they got the boats to this landlocked body of water. The answer is that they towed the smaller ones across the snow/ice in the winter and brought the larger one in four pieces by helicopter. I haven’t included a photo of the larger one here because we took the tour on the smaller one, but you get the idea.

Sheesh….

Sincerely

Sara

Top left – On the boat in the Western Brook Pond, heading for the cliffs, Top right – The cliffs

Next left – More cliffs

Middle left – End of the Pond, Middle right – The boat

Bottom – A view of the bog we crossed with smaller ponds on the side on the 45 minute trail to get to the Western Brook Pond (which was totally landlocked)