Thursday, July 29, 2010

Trinity, July 23-25, 2010

Recently, a friend and I decided to spend a weekend in Trinity to tour the Bonavista Peninsula and see a few of the Rising Tide plays. It was a fabulous weekend, packed with things to see and do, so I’ll break the trip into several posts. This one will focus on the historic and scenic town of Trinity itself. In later posts, I’ll review what we found in Bonavista, Elliston, and some of the smaller communities we visited, and discuss the plays we were fortunate to see.

We took our time, having a leisurely drive up, and finally arrived to check into the cottage we had rented in nearby Goose Cove - one of “Nan and Pop’s Cottages” - around 5:00 p.m. We were pleasantly surprised to find a cozy little cottage, with new and cheerful décor and everything we needed. There was a large back deck overlooking a lovely view, and the door opened onto a combined kitchen and living room. There was a clean and modern bathroom, and at the back, two comfortable bedrooms complete with bureaus and closets - even framed pictures of kittens to make us feel right at home. The TV was small, the kitchen stove was not new, and the fridge was a small bar fridge, but the cupboards and drawers were well stocked with everything we’d need, and the couch, armchair and table set were quite comfortable. All in all, we were quite impressed and enjoyed our stay there very much. We decided we would highly recommend it. We did notice, however, that it was for sale, so if you’re interested in staying there, better go soon!


Cottage CottageView

CottageLivingRoom CottageKitchen CottageBathroom

CottageBed CottageBedroom


After a brief rest and quick supper, we headed into Trinity to drive around a little before the first play. The first thing that everyone notices as they drive into the Trinity area is the bay filled with blue and white buoys, which appear to be randomly placed from some angles, and show clearly as straight lines from others. I thought I knew what they were, having seen something similar on a tour in Prince Edward Island a few years ago, but we asked a local just to be sure. She smiled and confessed that they were mussel farms (as I had thought), but told us that is one of the three most common questions asked by visitors (the other two being, “Can I stay longer?” and “What’s for sale?”). Many of the older residents, amused at the frequent question, will apparently tell some tourists that space in Trinity is at a premium and they didn’t have room for cemeteries, so those buoys marked the hanging graves where they buried their dead.



As you enter the community, what stands out are the large red buildings of the Rising Tide theatre in the harbour. Next to the original theatre building is a new structure, built to resemble a two-storey fishing stage, and primarily intended to store the materials need for the many plays offered by the group. The nearby parish hall is also used for some of the plays. I’ll discuss the plays further in a future post.

Theatre




We drove along a couple of roads, to get acquainted with the area, but quickly realized that the town of Trinity is fairly compact, and most of the attractions are grouped in the same area. By far, the best way to see it is to leave your car in the parking area near the theatre and explore on foot. We didn’t have a lot of time that night, but I did get a really nice picture of St. Paul’s Church, and later of the smaller Holy Trinity Church nearby.



On another afternoon, we did park the car and walk around a little. Unfortunately, we still didn’t have a lot of time to explore many of the tourism sites, such as the Trinity Museum, Green Family Forge, or Hiscock House, so we focused on just walking along the streets and taking in the atmosphere - and, of course, a few pictures. We walked past the old Court House, Gaol, and General Building, which now also housed the pharmacy, and I wondered if anyone else found it ironic that you went to the jail to buy drugs. Further down the street was the marina, marked by a 300-year old building which must have been renovated, as it appeared to be in marvellous shape for its age. Behind the building was a sign advertising the tours of the mussel farm.

MusselBound


We also stopped into a craft store to pick up some hand-made items to take home, and I was happy to find several balls of boa yarn, hard to find in the city lately, for my own knitting projects. Further through town, we passed heritage buildings in classic styles that sadly aren’t used anymore as houses become largely uniform boxes, lacking the detail, artistry, and colour of the buildings of yesteryears. One house even had its own small cemetery - and an outhouse - in its yard.



HouseonHill Cemetary


BlueHouse Fishing


The history and tranquility of the area was soul soothing, but by Sunday morning, my friend and I were in serious internet withdrawal, and were delighted to discover that the Twine Loft at the Artisan Inn offers free wireless access to visitors. The Twine Loft restaurant has been recommended in the 2010-2011 edition of “Where to Eat in Canada” and is one of the few places to have its own sommelier. It had a charming back deck built out over the water, with a beautiful view of the nearby fishing structures and the bay. Inside, there is the small restaurant downstairs, and upstairs is a rustic lounge, decorated as the loft of a fishing shack might be, but with comfortable chairs and tables and the incongruous, but welcome, benefit of modern wireless access. So we settled into the large red armchairs with our netbooks and a cup of coffee and checked in with friends and family and sent news of what we had seen and done on our trip to date. The proprietor was very friendly and helpful and introduced us to her website, http://www.trinityvacations.com, in which she has compiled an excellent collection of information about the area that I strongly recommend visiting before making your arrangements. As it turned out, it was one of the sites I had used myself in planning our trip.

TwineLoft


We would have loved to have had more time in Trinity to explore in more detail, but it’s definitely a place to go back time and time again. The scenery is breathtaking, the people friendly, and the heritage of the town is full of stories yet to be discovered.

Trinity

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Bell Island, July 9, 2010

On a warm, summer afternoon, I boarded the Bell Island ferry at Portugal Cove with a friend and her two children for an adventure on the island. The cost is very reasonable at $12.00 for two adults and two children for the round trip. As we stood at the rail and watched the shore slip away behind us during the 20-minute ride across Conception Bay, we marvelled at the colours of the water as it was churned up in the wake of the boat and the sight of the houses nestled into the hill, watching the ferry as it crosses back and forth across the bay several times a day.


The ocean was calm and the air warm on that day, so we let the gentle wind blow through our hair and watched the island getting closer, as I snapped pictures of the rocks, caves, and beaches that made up the shore. There were many caves indented in the side of the sheer cliffs, and I longed to be able to explore them in more detail. But today’s trip was for exploring an underground of a much different type.


Before heading on to our primary destination, however, we stopped for a visit to the rocky beach and gathered some beach rocks of different sizes and shapes, marvelling at the sparkles and colours in the rocks, worn smooth and round by the continual motion of the water slowly shaping and polishing them over the years. I gamely packed the kids` newly found treasures in my backpack, wryly amused that I was carrying with me an actual bag of rocks. I did have to stop and take a photo or two of a couple of rowboats lying upside down on the beach, a reminder of days when they may have been the primary mode of support for some of the residents.


Loading ourselves - and the rocks - back into the car, we continued on to the Number 2 mine, an iron ore mine begun in 1902 and closed in 1949, a part of which was re-opened for tours just a few years ago. The museum at the top of the mine shaft is full of artifacts from the mines, boats, and people living in the area. Four of the six mines on the island went not only underground, but roughly two and half miles out under the waters of Conception Bay. Standing in the mine just a few hundred feet down, it was hard to imagine the incredible depth and breadth of the mine in its prime, and the feeling of knowing that unknown tonnes of water were weighing down on the ceiling just a couple hundred feet over the heads of the miners. The tour guide explained how pillars were left at strategic places to support the roof, and the “rooms” were laid out in a pattern and numbered so that the miners could always tell where they were and where they needed to go in the vast maze of the tunnels in darkness broken only by a few candles or kerosene lamps lodged in small niches in the wall or attached to the helmets worn by the workers.



The guide led us to the underground stables where she explained that the horses which pulled the ore carts to the surface lived most of their lives entirely underground, never going above until they were ready to retire, and then they had to have their eyes covered and slowly adjusted to the light as they had lived in darkness for years, and the bright, unfamiliar sunlight would have caused them great pain. Children of just eight or nine years of age would be charged with working in the mine many hours a day looking after the horses. To illustrate the effect of the darkness in which they toiled, the guide left us in the stables and turned off the electric lights which had been installed for the sake of the tours, plunging us into complete darkness. She then walked slowly back, the light from her flashlight casting shadows on the rock, as she sang the haunting words of Rita Macneil’s, Working Man.

MineRoom UndergroundStable Mining


Continuing on, we visited another part of the mine to review some of the tools left behind as if dropped by the miners at the end of a shift, only to never be taken up again. She described the incredible noise that would have been caused by the sound of the pickaxes and shovels continually chipping away at the solid rock, extracting the ore from the very walls and ceiling around them, all by hand. It was hard work, long hours, and low pay, and dangerous at times, but the miners would also find fun in the midst of their toil, playing pranks on each other and teasing newcomers to bring cheer to the dark, damp, and deafening environment.


The mine tour is highly recommended for visitors to the area to get a sense of the history and importance of the industry to not only the people of Bell Island, but to the world. The ore would be carried across the island in carts, and ore carriers would take the ore to places as far away as the United States and Germany. Four of these ships were sunk on the shore of Bell Island by German u-boats during World War II, and one of the torpedoes also struck the iron ore loading dock, making it the only location in North America to suffer a direct attack by German forces during the war. The wreckage can still be seen in the area during low tide.

Despite the fascination of the tour, it felt good to emerge above ground and into the heat and light again. The temperature drops to about 10 degrees Celcius at the bottom of the mine, and the bright summer sun seemed blinding after the darkness of the mine, even with the benefit of the electric lights. After a brief visit to the gift shop, we headed out to find the lighthouse at the end of a very narrow lane. As we drove, we noted the many fields and natural landscapes, still unspoiled by the developments and subdivisions which now exist in the similar places where we had played as children at home.


Just behind the lighthouse is a large sea stack which I had photographed about five years before. It wasn`t until the picture was viewed later, that I noticed that there appeared to be a face in the rock. The really strange thing was that, to my mind, the face held an uncanny resemblance to the photo of a real-life miner from the island which was posted in the museum. So on this trip, I went back to see if I could see the face in the actual cliff or if it had just been a trick of photography. Sadly, it appears that many of the features had worn or broken away in the intervening years, and the face was no longer clear even on new photographs, but I did manage to get a picture of the photo of the miner to compare with the earlier shot. There was definitely a distinct similarity in the features, although the formation was clearly natural and carved only by the elements of wind and sea.

Face of Bell Island


After a brief lunch, we boarded the ferry again, and made the short, enjoyable trip back home, watching the mainland get larger and larger as we once again approached Portugal Cove. There are so many other things to do and see on Bell Island, I strongly recommend planning a day to explore it in more detail. Just be sure to arrive early, as the line up for the ferry can be long, to ensure that you maximize your time. Then sit back and be prepared to go back in time to a place where life is simpler, time is slower, and people remember what it is to be a community that works together and be proud of their roots.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Canada Day Boat Tour

On Canada Day this year, I was fortunate to do a special tour with O’Brien’s Boat Tours in Bay Bulls. We left St. John’s at around 9:00 a.m., with our coffee in hand, anxiously watching the sky to try to determine if the fog was lifting just a little more than the minute before, and full of excitement about our upcoming adventure.

We arrived at the dock about half an hour later and wandered around while we waited, taking pictures. There was a collection of whale bones and driftwood behind one building and a mermaid guarded the shore, beckoning the happy travellers home.

Whalebones & Driftwood Mermaid


Occasionally, the sun would find a break in the clouds and shine through and give us some hope, but sadly, the sky would cover over again, and it never did come out completely during our trip.

Once all our group was together and ready, we donned our lifejackets and climbed carefully into a smaller boat for our personalized tour with co-founder Joe O‘Brien. The normal O’Brien’s boats will hold 46 to 83 passengers, but our boat held the eight in our group quite comfortably. I made my way to the front, and settled myself right in the prow with my camera hanging from my neck, ready to shoot whatever we might see.

As we headed out of the harbour, the gentle rocking of the boat became more pronounced as we got into the ocean swells. For a while, it was like riding a roller coaster as our boat skipped over the waves. Although I grew up within sight of the water most of my life, it’s only the last few years that I’ve been able to go out on these boats, and I love it. Every time the boat would come down the side of a swell and bounce in preparation for the next one, I would laugh in delight, despite grabbing the rail just a little bit tighter. As we got further out and the wind got stronger and the air colder in the fog, however, we were very glad we had remembered to don our heavier jackets and sweaters before we left the dock. The north atlantic is a beautiful place, but the temperature can drop quite significantly on the open water, so if you’re going, be sure to dress accordingly.

We headed out along the shore, going approximately north, and explored some of the little coves and bays along the way. It was, unfortunately, difficult to get pictures due to the rocking of the boat, but I do have some products featuring the cliffs and the caves along the route, including one of a waterfall over the gaping mouth of a cave, which was an amazing sight. The colours of the water were breathtaking. The fog stayed just drifting along the top of the cliffs, which allowed us to have good visibility, thankfully, but gave a misty and grey background to many of the photos.


We also saw the Spout, an interesting phenomenon whereby a freshwater geyser shoots 20m up from the rocks with the pressure of the waves and looks very much like a whale’s spout - high above the water on the cliffs above. This area is visible on many of the boat tours in the area, and can also be visited by a hike along the East Coast Trail.

Spout


Having explored along the coastline for a while, we headed back to more open waters, where we could see the gulls hovering in a particular area. I learned that a collection of gulls generally means that there are fish in that area - in particular, the capelin that roll along our shores this time every year. And where there are capelin, there are likely to be whales enjoying the feast with the birds. You could also see the occasional puffin or tern fly by as well, enjoying the bounty.

Sure enough, soon after we got to the area, the first “real” spout was heard, and we all turned to see that dark fin of the humpback whale move through the water next to the boat. There were a number of whales in the area that day, and they were quite happily feeding close to the boat. One gave us a great wave of his tail, as he dove a little deeper into the water, but unfortunately, the boat chose to rock in the opposite direction at the same time, and I got great pictures of the sky instead. Sadly, this was the best shot of it that I found on the camera afterwards.

WhaleTail


However, one whale did get particularly close to the boat, and I was able to get a couple of good pictures of it. This one, I made into a souvenir magnet, and will later add to a number of other products as well.


Eventually, we decided to leave the whales to their dinner, and we turned back to head towards shore. Our tour guide, Joe O’Brien, was wonderful and most definitely went over and above to please the customer. If you ever have a chance to do one of these tours, I highly recommend it. There’s nothing like the smell of the salt water, the wind blowing through your hair, and the spray of a whale’s spout drifting over your head as you watch the majestic creatures glide through the water. If you’re really lucky, you may even catch them in a playful mood when they’ll even put on a show for the tourists. You wonder sometimes, who’s watching who, as you watch them come up again and again around the boat. You leave with a profound feeling of peace and joy as you realize you’ve just been given a special and rare glimpse into the wonders of nature.

Patricia
PR Prints

Splash

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Found in Newfoundland!

Welcome to the first entry of the Found in Newfoundland blog.

I’ve always loved exploring this beautiful province, and there are many places I go back to time and time again. However, this year, I decided to also visit some places that I’ve never been before, particularly around the central part of the province. I decided to write a blog to share my travels - and the wonderful things I find along the way - with others who do, and always will, love Newfoundland.

Part of the reason for the interest in traveling around the province this year is to collect more photographs for my online store, selling Newfoundland souvenirs, prints, and other gift items featuring photographs of Newfoundland. So this blog will also feature some of the products which arise from my travels as well. Want to take home a memory or piece of Newfoundland? Now you can. But no photos will ever completely capture the splendour of the landscapes and seascapes you’ll find here.

The next few entries will be descriptions of some of the trips/adventures I’ve had already this year. So far, I’ve been to the Salmonier Nature Park, Signal Hill, Fort Amherst, Bell Island, and the Cape Shore. I’ve also been fortunate enough to do one boat tour out of Bay Bulls, with another one coming up this weekend.

So please come back often to see where I’ve been and where I go next. And if you decide you want to know more about a particular area, then why not plan your trip here?

There are still many who don't know where Newfoundland is - but most who have been here long to come back. To most, no matter where they now live, it will always be “home.” I hope I can bring a little of the wonder of this amazing place to life for you.