Canadians often refer to Newfoundland as "The Rock," and they aren't kidding about that nickname. Those rocks along the coastline of the island are a big part of the story of this part of the world, which is located on the Eastern end of Canada by the Atlantic Ocean.
At the start of the last Ice Age, glaciers came down from the Arctic region and swept across Newfoundland. As they headed south toward the Atlantic, they collected much of the soil from the ground of the island and carried it along on the top of the frozen sea. Then, when things warmed up a bit about 11,700 years ago and the glaciers receded, they left the dirt behind in the water.
That had two effects. Newfoundland had lost a chance for a few eons to be much of a agricultural area. Only rock was left, more or less. (Some of the dirt was piled up to make way for roads, and ingenious gardeners turned that extra soil into growing space in front of their house. Every little bit helps.)
Meanwhile, the dirt in the Atlantic raised the ocean floor quite a bit, making it relatively shallow. That attracted plankton, and that attracted fish. Lots of fish. When people finally turned up in Newfoundland in any numbers, they found the waters around the island filled with fish. An early explorer wrote that you could walk from a ship across the cod in the water to the mainland.
Therefore, the fishing industry and Newfoundland - as well as its co-partner as a province, nearby Labrador - always have been linked. The European countries started turning up in earnest when John Cabot arrived in 1497, and others followed. With that, the world had become a smaller place in a sense. It took a few hundred years and the use of giant nets before the once unlimited supply of fish shrank to the point where regulation was needed.
Meanwhile, the winters are tough, so it takes a certain type of person to live in this part of the would. Buffalonians would understand. The people in Newfoundland are hardy. They also love a drink, and they love to sing - usually something that sounds like an Irish folk song.
Maybe that's why the friendliness of the natives here is legendary. They trip over themselves to be helpful to visitors. In our case, when we stopped in downtown Corner Brook while looking for a restaurant, a couple of people came over and asked if we needed any help. Some artists in a museum in St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland, had a sign up that said, "Please bother." We did, and must have chatted for 15 minutes.
We were asked "Why Newfoundland?" before departing on this vacation. I usually responded by saying that I had been to the other nine provinces (the territories up North are a little too empty for my taste), and maybe I'd be allowed to vote in Canada if I went 10 for 10. I was joking a bit, but three others in our group make the trip for that exact same reason.
But then I said that I was told that Newfoundland was something like one big national park, which sounded rather appealing. That was true, and it's also a quirky land that hosts characters like the ones that inhabit the touching 1983 movie "Local Hero." That's the story of a businessman who goes to a small Scottish village and finds the place to be quirky, eccentric and charming. It could have been set in this part of the world.
During the 13 days of the trip, we saw much of what the area had to offer ... especially trees. It sort of looked like Lapland in Northern Finland. The number of "attractions" is somewhat limited - a population of only 500,000 on the island is a good reason for that - but there's plenty to see and experience. As usual, this essay covers the trip as a whole. Then the individual locations will be reviewed elsewhere on the blog.
Vocabulary Lesson One
"Come From Away" became famous when the play of the same name arrived in Broadway. It's about the time on September 11, 2001, when several planes had to make an emergency stop in Gander because of the closing of air space. Seeing the story of that unique circumstance first-hand was a highlight of the trip.
By the way, we ran into a couple that was flying from Toronto to Newfoundland just so that they could see "Come From Away" performed in Gander. Hope they liked it.
The itinerary
Yes, this map is a little faint, but you'll get the idea. We once looked at a driving vacation of the region and soon realized that that it would be difficult to fly into Newfoundland and make a circle of the region with a rental car. A guided tour was a much better idea - especially one that had different starting and end points.
It's not easy to have a series of one-night stands when traveling by bus, but it was the best solution in this case. Traveling in a small group of 15 helped, since we weren't sardines on the vehicle, and in terms of personalities there were no bad apples coming along. This was without question the best group we'd ever had on such an outing.
We picked Globus for the trip because it had the best itinerary for our needs. It seemed to have fewer frills than some of the other travel companies we've used, and that wasn't always because we were in some unpopulated areas where tourist services aren't exactly plentiful. But it was quite satisfactory.
Vocabulary Lesson Two
It's tough to guess what upalong might mean. For whatever reason, it translates in Newfoundland to any part of mainland Canada.
That plays a role in one of the most unique aspects of the trip - a ferry to reach Labrador via Quebec ...
Time Machine
Newfoundland is in a world by itself when it comes to the clock. While the entire Eastern part of the United States is on Eastern time, Canada offers a couple of wrinkles. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are on Atlantic time, which is an hour ahead of Buffalo. But Newfoundland is another 30 minutes ahead. So if it is Noon in Buffalo, it is 1:30 in Gander.
There must be a story with that, and there is. Newfoundland is entirely east of the halfway point of the Atlantic time zone, and traditionally used solar time (noon was when the sun was straight overhead) as its basis for time. That put it at a half-hour different when its Canadian neighbors. When the province was admitted to Canada's dominion, it got to pick its own time zone. It opted to say with a half-hour ahead of Atlantic time.
To complicate things further, most of Labrador is on Atlantic time ... but the portion closest to Newfoundland (which we visited) jumps ahead a half-hour so that it matches the radio and television coverage from the island.
The time zones made television-watching in hotels rather interesting, since stations from a variety of places were carried. It was tough to know when the six o'clock news started. WUTV in Buffalo popped up on a couple of Western Newfoundland carriers as the designated American Fox outlet. CHCH of Hamilton was available at virtually every location.
Vocabulary Lesson Three
Watch out for nippers during a visit to this part of the world. No, that has nothing to do with the dog that was the mascot for RCA advertising back in the day. It's a mosquito.
Technically, black flies are in a different class than mosquitos, and they are more of a problem in this part of the world. The bugs land on untreated skin and stroll around a bit before taking a bite that can draw blood. Black flies are said to be worse in Labrador than Newfoundland, but some insect repellent should be packed for any summer trip to either place.
Strike One, Home Run
Want to see a group of anxious tourists in Newfoundland? Tell them the flight attendants of Air Canada have gone on strike, bringing the airline to a halt.
There are two ways to enter Newfoundland: ferry and airplane. All of our group flew into the province and were planning on exiting the same way. When the news spread in the middle of the trip that negotiations weren't going well, there was some anxiety - but there was still plenty of time for a settlement. Then the attendants went on strike (leaving the airports looking like the one in Gander shown here) rather empty. Soon the strikers were ordered to return to work in the national interest by the federal government. But that was followed by the decision by the attendants to ignore that offer.
That's when anxiety levels started to spike. There were still four days before most of us were leaving, but everyone quickly figured out that alternative departure options were few from St. John. The other airlines in Canada saw their flights fill quickly. No trains run from Newfoundland to the mainland, so that was out. In our case, our car was in Toronto, since it was much easier to drive there and fly directly to Corner Brook. (Otherwise, we''d have to fly from Buffalo to somewhere to somewhere to Corner Brook.) But even if we had a way to fly to America, we still had to get to Toronto. Sigh.
The story has a happy ending. The two sides worked well into the night that Monday/Tuesday and reached a tentative agreement. I had the pleasure of telling my fellow tourists as they entered the bus that morning - seven minutes after the announcement - that the strike was over. Once a newsman, always a newsman. Air Canada was up and running quickly after the announcement, and our flight to Toronto was gleefully uneventful.
Footnote: our flight attendants were very grumpy about the terms of the labor deal, and indicated that there might be more fireworks to come.
Vocabulary Lesson Four
A tickle is a small body of salt water that serves as a straight or passage. It's usually shallow, but small boats probably can make it even if it's not an easy trip. The tides and the waves can be tough to navigate in such circumstances.
The origin of the phrase is obscure, although some have guessed that someone once described a difficult trip as "ticklish," and we moved on from there.
If you go deep into Labrador, you'll find the village of "Leading Tickles" - population 296 at last count. It's on the northern shore. Supposedly the place has a great view of passing icebergs in the spring.
The Name Game
Newfoundland and Labrador deserve big props for their place names. The province is the home of domr of the best-sounding locations in North America.
Leading the way, naturally, is Dildo, Newfoundland. The place is located near the middle of the island, although the unique geography puts it on the waterfront. The name has been producing sophomoric giggles for decades. Talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel was named honorary mayor of the town in 2019. We didn't make into the town, but the Dildo Brewing Company has a store in downtown St. John's. So feel free to stop in during a visit sometime and pick up some glassware.
One of my personal favorites was Blow Me Down Provincial Park, near Corner Brook. I was sad to find out that it had nothing to do with Popeye, but was named because the winds are constant and strong there. At least it still looked pretty from the road.
We passed Goobies without any warning on the Trans-Canada Highway. It was a bit south of Clarenville, and it is considered a "designated place" by the government. You mean it needs a promotion to become a village?
There are plenty of ponds, coves and bays in Newfoundland, and they all have names. OK, maybe one doesn't. Nameless Cove overlooks the Strait of Belle Isle and has a population of 69. It also has to grow a bit to earn village status.
Vocabulary Lesson Number Five
Gowithy is one of the highlights of Terra Nova National Park, which we visited. In fact, there's probably some of it right down this trail, which is close to the welcome center. One trail in the park is named after the stuff, according to a Facebook post.
Warning: I've also see this word around as gowiddy, so you can take your pick of spellings.
Random Observations
* The concept of travel as a political statement came up quite often during the trip. It started with our taxi driver from the Deer Lake Airport, who spent some of the drive to Corner Brooks complaining that the current American government had forgotten what a good friend Canada had been to the United States over the years.I'm not about to say that the reason many in our group who were Americans (it was about 50-50) came to Canada to spend their travel money was to pick a side in the current tariff wars. But they didn't mind the assumption. It should be noted that the people didn't take out their frustration over the current regime's policies on the tourists.
* Turning to the sports page, Newfoundland is in an interesting spot in terms of hockey fandom. It's not near an NHL team, but it's in Canada, so it has to pick a favorite team. I asked a couple of residents about that, and the province is split between backers of the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs.
St. John's now has a team in the Quebec junior hockey league, and it also has a minor-league basketball team. How minor? It plays Jamestown, New York at times.
It's worth a note to say that there were a lot of Asian restaurants in some locations. The natives said that was a reflection of the immigration patters of the regions in recent years. In other words, just about anyone is welcome to help fill in the open spaces here.
If that means having pizza at a Thai restaurant in an isolated shortline town to stay open, fine.
* There was no easy way to get to France from where we were in Newfoundland - a statement that doesn't sound as silly as you might think. France controls a pair of islands off the southeast coast of the province -Saint Pierre and Miqueloare are considered "overseas territories." If you've wondered why France is considered to be in more time zones than any other countries, it's because of places like these - leftovers from the colonial days. You can take a ferry or plane there, although those who checked said it's not a trip you can do in a day.
But moose are a different story. They were introduced to Newfoundland in 1904, and they have thrived there. Predators are few. There are more than 120,000 on the island today, which means if collected in one place they would outnumber people in every individual city in the province.
Moose are part of the culture in this part of the world, and so are unexpected encounters with them. A sign on the Trans-Canada Highway reads - "855-89-MOOSE - Report Moose Accident." Running totals of accidents involving moose in the part are kept on signs in Gros Morne National Park. But not only do moose increase the food supply for people, but they are part of the province's identity.
* The joke in Buffalo must apply to Newfoundland. There are two seasons there - winter and road construction. Lots of repairs were taking place on the many roads we used, and it's not as if there were a great many paths to fix. And speaking of winter, there were stacks of cut wood everywhere we saw the area. Cold temperatures will be arriving soon, and the residents will be ready.
* It turns out that Canadian wildfires aren't reserved for the Northwest Territories. There were some fires in the Atlantic provinces including Newfoundland, although we didn't see any. Yet some evacuations took place of people leaving near portions of Conception Bay, which isn't too far west of St. John's. Happily, residents returned home shortly after we left the province.
Labrador also had a fire that was out of control. As the sign at Terra Nova National Park indicates, thoughts of conflagrations weren't far from the residents' minds.
Meanwhile, you could see the haze hanging over Toronto when we arrived in that city to start our trip - but that's no different than most cities along the border this summer.
Final Vocabulary Lesson
Here's how that works. Screech is a rum-based drink that can hit the user hard a few seconds after consumption. The applicant is handed a shot of the stuff. Then the officiant - who has to be a native of the province - asks, "Are ye a screecher" or "Is you a Newfoundlander?"
The response required goes like this: "Indeed I is, me ol' cock! And long may yer big jib draw!" The translation works out to "Yes I am, my old friend, and may your sails always catch wind."
A codfish (usually frozen) then appears, and the applicant must kiss the head of the fish. From there, the screech must be consumed quickly, usually followed by a scream.
And that's it. Honorary Newfoundland status has been bestowed. Fourteen members of our travel ground were sworn in together (one opted to walk out instead of participating); we had been asked along the way by natives if we had been initiated yet.
It's an honor to reach that classification. And I'm in good company.
Thanks, Budd! It was just like being there.
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