Meet Jeannie - She runs a great B & B on a hill overlooking the harbour - her property is beautiful - with sloping lawns; her rooms and common areas are spotless and beautiful. Breakfast is hearty - from homemade porridge to eggs and bacon, all done with homemade bread and jams. Jeannie worked 'away' out west for 4 years to be able to afford the property. She is buying out the fella with the meat market in a trailer across the road between her and the harbour - he spoils her view. The trailer will go and in it's place a picnic table for harbour and boat watching - "in good weather".
There are amazing views of the ocean as we swing through small fishing villages hugging the coast - lobster pots piled by the hundreds on the side of the road (winter storage). Gardens are planted along the roadside - each one belonging to a family growing mostly potatoes, rhubarb and cold weather veggies. Scarecrows and plastic bags are placed to keep away birds and moose - there is never a thought of humans stealing the produce. After all, this is Newfoundland, where a man's honour is true.
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The kms pass quickly and we arrive in L'Anse aux Meadows, but not before seeing moose, 4 caribou with a young one. We have heard from people staying at Jeannie's about a local man that works for Parks Canada as a guide - plus the Tickle Inn in Cape Onion - more later. We were told to try and get him to tour us. We watch the 20 min. video and there he is opening the door for us - inviting us to tour the site. We luck out - he is magic and capture our imagination immediately....
Meet Clayton Colborne - see pic below. He was born in one of the 3 houses seen over there across the site from the Visitor Centre. It is a harsh place - right by the ocean - flat ground - at the moment screaming winds coming in off the water. In winter he snowmobiles over the roof of the Parks Canada VC. He played as a kid on the grassy mounds - long before 1960 when it was authenticated as the first Norse site in North America. It was that year that archeologists first uncovered artifacts that indicated a Norse settlement was in this area about AD 1000. As a younger man he worked on the dig as part of the team that meticulously uncovered the many houses and buildings. He worked with the discoverer and his wife, and now regularly communicates with their daughter in Oslo. Clayton comes from a heritage of hard working fisherman - he, at the age of 7, his father and grandfather before him, fished for cod. His father was a strict disciplinarian and there were many jobs to be done to keep the family warm and fed. He talks about the 'bergs coming in and wrecking the lines' - and the painstaking mending of the nets. The twinkle in his eye tells us he is very proud of his heritage, his ruddy complexion and rough hands tells of his legacy.... and the magnificent site right there at his doorstep.
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| Clayton explaining the history of the site |
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| We fell in love with Clayton |
Tonight we stay at the Tickle Inn at Cape Onion. This is the most northern house in Newfoundland. It is a short drive from the Meadows to the Inn. We drive along the winding road and down the hill - there is the ocean and then....there is the Tickle Inn. A typical clapboarded white and blue house with white picket fence all around. David Adams welcomes us at the door. We settle in the parlor with a french speaking group - friends from Montreal and France - plus a young couple from Ontario. Wine flows and dinner is served around the traditional family table. A table where Wilfred Grenfell (the man who came to Labrador and Newfoundland in the early 1900's and brought the first medical support to all of the outports - now called the Grenfell Hospital Mission - but that's another story) sat, kitchen table talk all round with David's great grandfather. After dinner, David tells his stories in the parlour - we are mesmerized by his voice....
Meet David Adams, a retired teacher - David spent his early years growing up at Cape Onion - the family home. He has a brother called Grenfell. His brother didn't cry or move immediately after birth. Everyone in the delivery room had given up and left the room. A nurse (who's daughter has written a book about her life and from which this story was read by David) would not give up - she continued resusitation and finally the little boy moved and cried. The rest of the medical team came running when they heard the cries. The brother is now a medical doctor - he was named Grenfell - after the Grenville Hospital Mission. David and his wife now live in St. John's - David opens his family home as a B & B every summer.
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| David storytelling in the parlour after dinner |
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| Breakfast time at The Tickle Inn |
St. Anthony's is next day.....after an awesome breakfast. The tour of the Grenfell Hospital Mission takes us over an hour - we read every panel - Sr. Wilfred Grenfell was a visionary who had a deep compassion for the people of Labrador and Newfoundland. Later we went on an iceberg boat tour - we got our iceberg - maybe not as big as some - but it sure knocked our socks off - now the weather is socking in - we had 2 - 3 meter swells and the rain got real serious. What an adventure. BTW, the rain has pretty much kept pace with us all the way to Twillingate and Trinity.
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| 2 -3 metre waves, but we got our iceberg |
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| There she is - not the biggest, but good enough for us |
We head south - away from the Northern Peninsula. The rain pretty much keeps up with us - off and on - but the ocean scenes are dramatic - lots of wind and surf. Hawkes Bay is our stop for the night at Gloria's B & B. It is a spur of the moment - call ahead and book - kind of thing. We arrive and our room is in the basement - sharing the bathroom with our hosts. The house is lovely and beautifully kept with lots of dolls and stuffed animals here and there. They have a good view out to the water. The entire upstairs of the house is turned over to the B & B operation. It is a 20 min. walk through the wind and rain to a basic restaurant attached to a motel - there are 4 truckers in getting a supper. We turn in - looking forward to moving on early next day......
Meet Gloria: She is one of 21 siblings, born to a Mom who is now 88 and still living in her own home alone. Mom still has a huge, completely full 'stock room' - meaning salmon, cod, vegetables, fruit in jars. There are many 5 gal. pails of various beans and rice. It is full to the rafters. The door to Mom's house is always open and she feeds many people, including friends and family, every single day. When Gloria was young, there was nothing in the living room but the oil drum for heat. Nothing at all. As each turned a teen, they went to work - finding work was the primary focus for everyone. Gloria's husband worked as a trucker for Bowater for 30 years until it closed. When that happened, he bought one of their trucks and is hauling for himself now. Gloria has 2 daughters, and "a son that she took", we assumed she adopted. One of her daughters has a hair salon in one end of the house and the other daughter comes to help with the B & B. Hard work has been the driver for the family, and it shows. They have a house that is full of lovely things, soft leather sofas in 2 sitting areas - and 5 B & B rooms that are decorated beautifully, lovely wedding photos on the walls of both her daughters' weddings......a far cry from the growin' up years.
Another thing about Gloria: she is one of the women that was tested incorrectly for breast cancer here in Newfoundland. Remember the scandal that broke a few years ago. She has a breast and many lymph nodes removed. Later testing, after investigations about faulty diagnosis, it was proven that she didn't have breast cancer after all.
Now it is time to head East. It is a long driving day on June 21 - summer solstice - it is raining so we don't feel too bad about the driving. We stayed in Grand Falls for the night - a very good B & B called The Carriage House.
June 22 and another driving day to Twillingate. Everyone we have talked to back home recommended it and we are booked for 2 nights. We are excited about seeing the place - hmmmmm - seeing the place is difficult with wind, rain, and fog. We did drive out to the lighthouse - and the scene looking out over the screaming ocean must be awesome - we look down at the crashing surf below and get vertigo - but the fog closes in on us - are there whales out there?? Are there icebergs out there?? We decided to have our first big feast of lobster tonight to sooth our cold bones and fog shrouded brains. Off to the fish market - we chose 3 (three) and the lady cooked and cracked them for us. A prepared salad from Foodland and we are set. Happy hour is in Kathy's room (they didn't have any rooms with 2 beds so we got one each for a change). The wine flowed and we warmed up - our spirits lifted. Our camping plates and utensils came out of their snug boxes in the van and we set up shop for our feast in the breakfast room of the B & B. Up to our elbows in shells, butter, and lobster - the owner walked in and declared "he didn't allow lobster". Apparently a gang of guys did the same thing a way back and made a huge mess. We promised to clean up - the remains of the day were dumped into the garbage outside, and the room was clean as a whistle by the time we headed off to bed. BTW, Twillingate and it's mystery and magic didn't quite resonate with us - not sure what it is all about. Maybe the weather.
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| Fog/Wind - so where are the 'bergs and whales? Twillingate |
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| Feasting on guess what? |
Thanks to all that gave us hints and tips about the trip. We are following your footsteps. Hugs to all, K & M
Wow!!!!!!! You are really experiencing the people --and you will be so glad it is written down. Maybe that's the blessing of the weather. You could be outside looking at cliffs and sea and trees, but you are inside gabbing. :-) --and eating! :-)
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