Canadian Maritimes July 13, 2019

Day 34 Saturday July 13, 2019 We awoke to a rainy drizzle for our bus tour of the area of Newfoundland we are in. We boarded the bus at 9AM. Doug was our bus driver and Alice was our local guide. Alice and her husband own the campground where we are staying. Her family has lived in this area for 7 generations. Some people call Newfoundland “The Rock” because it is so rocky. The mountains in this area are part of the Applachain Chain. In 1942 during WWII the US erected and operated telephone and repeater stations in the Province and we saw where one was located on top of Table Mountain just a few miles from our campground. The province of Newfoundland/Labrador was a British Colony until 1949 when it joined the Canadian Confederation.

This area is called the Codroy Valley and covers 100 square kilometers but only has a population of 1700 people. It is surrounded by the Anguille Mountains to the Northwest and the Long Range Mountains to the Southeast and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the Southwest. Newfoundland was the first province to respond to the distress signal from the ill fated Titanic. A few facts: They have the oldest street in North America, the oldest city in North America  and the oldest running radio program in North America.

The area we are in is made up of 15 communities and no municipalities so a lot of what gets done is by volunteers working together. Our first stop just down the road was to a Wetland Center and the Grand Codroy Estuary. Then it was on to Chap's Museum, where the owner (Chap) has what most would call a “Man Cave” where he had a lot of old unique items on display in what might have been a large one car garage. He had his pride and joy, a 1957 Ford, on display outside. Alice said he don't normally have it out in the rain but since we were coming he put it out for us to see. He had won many awards for it at car shows.

John & Chap

We drove through a section named Wreckhouse, so named because of the high winds that blow down from the mountains. The railroad came through this area many years ago and there was a man named Lochie MacDougal that live there along the road with his wife and 12 children. He was nicknamed the “human wind guage”. He had the ability to determine when the winds were too dangerous for the trains to come through.
Winds of 120 MPH have been recorded there and have been know to blow trains off their tracks. On one occasion when the railroad didn't listen to him 22 rail cars were blown completely off the tracks.

We stopped at the Heritage Train Site to view the train that ran through this area a few years ago. It was called the Newfie Bullet.

Then it was on to the Sea Horse Cafe for another great lunch. I had a sandwich filled with small popcorn shrimp and Lena had Cod ( which the locals just call “fish” – any other fish is called by its name but Cod is just fish). Then we had Partridgeberry cake for dessert.

The landscape is really rugged, very hilly and there are hundreds of small ponds of fresh water in the low lying areas.

Our most breathtaking stop was the Rose Blanche Lighthouse. The original was built in 1871 but after it was abandoned it fell into disrepair. But reconstruction started in 1996 using 70% of the original granite. The lighthouse keeper lived in the lighthouse. The views around it were quite breathtaking.

Rose Blanche Lighthouse

We returned to the campground and Lena and I took a walk down the 1 kilometer Inspiration Trail. There were signs all along the way with wise old sayings on them.

At 7PM we met for our drivers meeting followed by a “Screech In” to make us all Honorary Newfoundlanders or (Newfies). The campground owners did the ceremony along with a three piece band signing Newfoundland music and songs. We were brought up front in groups of 5 couples, had to wear a bright yellow rain hat, say a bunch of silly sayings, drink a shot or Screech Rum and “kiss” a cod (yes a real fish) right in the mouth. It wrapped up about 10PM with our official certificate of being a Newfie. It was kind of a silly thing but a lot of fun.