Newfie News

July 6, 2015 Day 21

What a beautiful place Newfoundland is!  (I keep wanting to spell it Newfoundlund—wonder why?)  We are in Port aux Basques, where the ferry connects from North Sydney, at the Grand Codroy Campground, on the western side.  Newfoundland is an island, with no bridges that connect it to the mainland.  The ferry runs twice a day, every day of the year except Christmas, and you must make a reservation to travel.  Although it seems like we are really far north, we are at about the same latitude as Seattle Washington.  But, the land is remote, and we are beginning to lose cell service, and experiencing weaker internet, and spotty tv…that could be awful! 

Newfoundland’s nickname is “The Rock” named for the rocky glacial landscapes and craggy coast.  We saw snow on the top of the hills when we drove off the boat (I don’t think the hills are high enough to be called mountains). 

Newfoundland and Labrador are one province, added to Canada in 1949, and there are less than 500,000 people in all of the area.  If it were an American state, it would come in fourth behind Alaska, Texas and California.  It is the 15th largest island in the world…larger than Japan, half the size of New Zealand.

The provincial flower is the pitcher plant, where the leaves are actually little pitchers and you can really pour water out of them!

Our tour today took us through the city. and around the Grand Codroy Valley.  We stopped by the fish  plant, and were able to buy more scallops.  They did not have any cod (darn!)  But we enjoyed a delightful lunch of seafood chowder and fresh cod at a local restaurant. 

We visited the Rose Blanche Lighthouse, a rare granite lighthouse that was built in 1871 with granite from a local quarry.  It overlooks a beautiful harbor, and to add to the beauty of the scenery, there was a cruise boat anchored just offshore.

 

Other interesting info about the area:  there is no property tax; residents pay $100 per year for water which comes from a community well! 

Everybody knows everybody!  Our friend Diane bought a sweater from the gift shop at the campground, and the lady that sold it to her is the sister of the campground owner, but also the lady that made the sweater!

Another thing we noticed was all of the laundry hanging outside.  The locals love the fresh air, and we saw quite a few who had laundry day today!  It’s been so long since I’ve seen laundry hanging on a clothesline that it struck me as something different!

We have a long day of driving tomorrow—285 miles, estimated to take 6-7 hours.We are heading to the northern part of the island, so everyone is packing up and getting ready for an early start.