Grey Days and Happy Trails

 For a week, we have followed a sort of morning routine. When we get up we look out the window. Is it raining? Is it foggy? Is it just grey?

This doesn't really matter as we do the same thing regardless, and that is put on almost everything we own.

Long socks, leggings, rain pants (for the wind), long quilted skirt if today's train doesn't involve a lot of climbing or clambering, long sleeved merino t-shirt, cashmere turtleneck sweater, down cardigan, quilted merino jacket, rain jacket, toque, head band, and gloves. And a sou'wester if raining.

Ready, we face the elements. We might see puffins or caribou (we don't). We might see crashing waves or even an iceberg (we do!)

A few hours later we come home, eyes streaming, cheeks fixed in a frozen grimace, happy in our hearts and tired in our limbs. Most places have showers, but when we get a bathtub, we gratefully sink our cold, tired bodies into it. Yes, the water is brown and there is sediment, but it's hot!

fresh bath water, really!

Root Cellars

Growing anything in Newfoundland is tough. Grain is impossible. The best one could hope for is to fence in a scrap of soil, enriched with seaweed or anything to provide some sort of nourishment and grow some hardy root vegetables: potatoes, turnips, onions, rhubarb, maybe carrots.

The growing season is mighty short, but there was no real need for refrigeration. If anything, harvested crops need to be protected from freezing, so an outside pantry is out of the question.

With rocks and slate in abundance, the answer is the root cellar. Dig a little, set a foundation of stones and insulate it with more stones, install a secondary door so you have a little hall between the outside and the vegetables. Cover the whole thing with sod or grass and you have a chance of keeping live-saving sustenance through the many months of nothing but fish.

There are dozens of root cellars on Bonavista peninsula. Some of them have been around for over a century. Whether they are still used or not, they are still kept in immaculate condition. And in case of a hurricane, you can close yourself in with the carrots!    

All Change Please

The blog as been AWOL for a few days as we were in Change Islands, small and remote, without wifi or consistent cell coverage.

Change Islands is actually 3 islands - 2 joined by a 30 metre bridge and the other not at all. The town of Change Islands is probably 150 people, tops. I do not know what it is called Change Islands, no one had an answer for me. It is a quiet backwater where young people move away to find jobs, and their parents work 3 or 4 jobs (home care, working in the fish plant, unloading the crab or lobster catches - whatever work there is on offer).

Owner and local legend Beulah Oakes was delayed in arriving here from her winter digs in Deer Lake, but to the rescue came two angels of hospitality, the Trudys. Here were two women with the same name, first and last, as one had married the other's brother! To us they were Trudy 1 and Trudy 2.

They didn't have the reservation book, which was with Beulah, so didn't know for sure who was arriving on this first day the Seven Oakes Inn was open for the season, which was the day we arrived. "Who are you? Ok, well, pick your room, #5 or #6. Do you want dinner? Cod ok with you?"

Inn at the top of the hill

The place, not lived in for several months, was cold, but spotless, and thankfully there was enough food for a fantastic home-cooked meal of beef soup, pan-fried cod with lots of vegetables (glory be - I've missed vegetables!) and blueberry cake in vanilla sauce. Not licensed. That's fine by us.

The outside 55km wind gusts and steel-grey cold did not dampen our stay. We duly did the Squid Jiggers Trail, which , as usual, was incredibly well marked and scenic. 

lots of this!

so windy the outhouse fell over

amusing trail signs

There being nothing else to see and nothing else open, we walked back home and greeted the few other travelers who also surprised Trudy 1 and Trudy 2. 

But did the Trudys show it? No, they did not. 

Goodness knows how they found enough food to put together big breakfasts and big dinners for 7 people from the little local shop that was open for 1.5 hours (Beulah was bringing supplies in her U-haul). There are no other restaurants or even cafes open on the entire Change Islands, which has all of 180 inhabitants. 

a little treacherous!

view from our room

And yet, the road was excellent (no potholes that seem to plague the whole of Newfoundland) and the ferry - my goodness the ferry! How did this tiny community merit a ferry - large, cheap and four times a day. If the ferry didn't stop on its way to more populated and prosperous Fogo Island I imagine this place would be deserted within a year.

the ferry line up and interesting signage
- it cost us $13.50 for two, plus car

ferry held in place with 3 ropes, attached by 1 guy driving from bow to stern 4 times a day - hope he has a good book with him!

Time slowed. We 7 chatted in the sitting room, ate together in the dining room, and laughed each other up to our bedrooms for a quiet night. No wifi meant great conversation - it was like going back in time. 

Newfoundland pony refuge on Change Islands

         

For the Birds

 As soon as we left St John’s we started seeing wooden boxes at the side of the road, one in front of each house. Hexagonal mostly, almost round. what could they be. A composter? The wooden slats are too far apart and compost would fall through. Mail? They are too big. 

Then we noticed that most of them are painted in bright colours, matching the house they belonged to, although some really old ones were starting to fall apart. It was clear that these barrel shaped boxes were a thing.

We examined further. Two garbage bags would fit in each.  Ah, garbage containers! They are attractive and have personality, but what are they protecting the garbage from?  

In St John’s there were no boxes. On garbage day, plastic garbage bags would be left on the street covered in something akin to a thick fishing net. We did see signs advising to beware of foxes. So does St. John’s and the whole of Newfoundland have a fox-eating-the-garbage problem? 

In Vancouver, raccoons or coyotes are the problem with garbage left out. In other parts of BC it is bears. 

Sometimes you have to ask an expert, and bed and breakfast owners are experts. Seagulls! The garbage boxes protect the bags from seagulls. Mystery solved.

yes Roberta, you too!

Trinity by the Sea

This tiny village looks like some giant hand sprinkled brightly coloured dice on the peninsula, so square and random do the buildings look. 

 

It's charming, and is not surprisingly popular with tourists. In the 18th century there were more than 1,000 people living here. Now maybe 40 make it through the winter, but the summer season sees thousands. 

It's still very early in the season though. Things are still closed. The famous theatre sadly proclaimed not a large enough audience to perform tonight. We are beginning to see a pattern that brings a rueful smile, as we are constantly told, "everything opens up (insert date which is always the day after we leave)"

But we get the place more or less to ourselves.

Our room looked out at the winking lighthouse and the far bluff, gold in the setting sun. Later we walked that bluff and looked back at the harbour, realizing just how protected it is. Although I would not want to bring a large ship in here.

The whole area, on Bonavista peninsula, is typical Newfoundland tourism brochure-worthy. There are great trails and hikes. One of our favourites was the Skerwink, a must do. We were lucky - it was supposed to rain, but instead it was sunny and actually warm!

on one side of the trail,
lots of healthy young trees

on the other side of the trail,
trees growing too tall get ravaged by the winds

There is Elliston point not far away, where there is a puffin colony although midday there are very few puffins there as most are off somewhere fishing. But we did see about half a dozen puffins nesting alongside seagulls and cormorants on a grass-covered island cut off from a peninsula by erosion. We have binoculars with us, but only our phones for taking photos, so nothing here is going on the cover of Natinal Geographic that's for sure.

puffin!

Another hike took us along another peninsula. The Cape Shore Trail was good, but this one was better, as there was virtually no one else walking it and it afforded two great sights. A startling chimney-sized rock, and our first iceberg! 

chimney

iceberg

both together!

We were able to get up close and personal with the Atlantic ocean

And saw the seafood platter leftovers of a happy gull

Although cold in the wind, it was actually warm when the sun came out, and we had a glorious two days of walking and eating. 

And we saw puffins and an iceberg. Our lives are now complete.  

Even the landscape says "I heart Trinity!"

A Day of Twos

 It is June 2.

2022

And it's 2 degrees

Minus 2 with the wind