Storm Day

 Travelling in NL is recommended in September.  It's supposed to get good weather.  And overall, that was true for us in 2026.  Our third day at the top of the Northern Peninsula did bring a storm, however, and we stayed at our Snorri Cabins until just before we HAD to leave and headed over to the "other side" of the North which housed the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve.  Before leaving, however we found "Aunt Bride's Lookout" trail which we hiked to get some exercise and stay out of the tiresome wind.  The Lookout part lasted a few seconds!  Our second hike was at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park which was basically a walk around the campground, but it was relatively calm in the area.  When the parks close in NL, they are CLOSED!  Nary a sign in sight.  

Our accommodation was full into the wind at Burnt Cape Cabins and we admired watching the gannets riding the wind currents.  Once we got inside, we pretty much stayed there and it was a very nice accommodation.  

By next morning the wind was "reduced" and we took a hike over the very barren land of the ecological reserve.  We went to the "high point" and there really wasn't all that much to see.  It was also the first day that really felt like fall.  

It was time to head south so we took the "alternate" route (the one that does not follow the coastline) and we think we saw many moose hunters out that day - trucks parked along the roadside with no one in sight.  And NL does have a moose overpopulation.  Port aux Choix pleased us so much that we returned and had another close encounter with the woodland caribou.  Marvelous.  We stayed at the sister village called Port Saunders and stayed in our favourite accommodation of the trip right on Ingineaux Baie.  It was called 'A Wave From Home. ' It even had a washer/dryer so finally got some laundry done.  

 

 

St. Anthony

We were staying in the area of St. Anthony, but knew that we'd only make one trip to the "city" - it was about 50 km away.  We stayed in a tiny spot called Saint Lunaire-Griquet (which I had earlier interpreted as being "Grigate" from a NLer) and we both looking forward to having some REAL seafood in the big city of the Northern Peninsula.  We were sorely mislead.  Any place that was selling seafood had closed in early September or did not open until 5 pm.  We planned to be back to our Snorri "cabin" by mid-afternoon.  I was interested in having the "Grenfell experience" so I bought a ticket for the "museum" and house.  The video machine wasn't working, so I listened to a spiel about Grenfell's life and admired the Labrador needlepoint work on the walls of the "theatre room".  Then I walked around a space with lots of pictures of the early days. What I needed to have done was head right out to Grenfell's house which was absolutely FULL of paraphernalia that he either collected or was gifted during his time in the area.  And he did make a huge contribution to the medical needs of the people of the area, particularly in Labrador.   A person could spend a week in that house.  It was a lovely home with a "surround" veranda looking out over the harbour.  I didn't actually get out to the "docks" - road works were earnestly being attended to before the harsher weather arrives.  

Here's the house - well worth a visit.  Dave, meanwhile, had lost the sole of one of his hiking boots and was able to get a "good" pair at a shoe place in St. Anthony.  Probably the only place to buy something like that on the Northern Peninsula.  

L'Anse Aux Meadows

 I've been curious to see L'Anse aux Meadows since first hearing about it in university days.  But I've been to NL twice and had never gotten to that part of the province.  And it is remote and not easy to get to....but not difficult, either.  We had gorgeous weather, along with the relentless wind.  I took a tour led by an excellent guide - she was the granddaughter of the guy who showed the 2 Norwegian archeologists where they might want to start digging back in the '60s.  

Here is a replica of the "lodge" recreated for the entertainment of the tourists.  The "actors" were engaging and fun.

 

This is a very important place in the world because it is the first known European settlement in North America and dates back to 1000 AD.  We know that the Norse were there because a Viking cloak pin was found by the archeologists in 1968. Although the Norse did not spend much time at this location (off and on for 10 years), they did an amazing amount of work to use some of the resources that they found and the very fact that they could locate the place from a "rowboat" several times over continues to astound me.     

 I took a walk along the coast and encountered a large group of creative mini "lodgings" with a Norse theme.  It was a delightful discovery.  

This one was the most elaborate of the creations.  

 

Big Discoveries

One unexpected discovery  was the town of Port aux Choix and its National Historic Site.   I had never heard of it and hadn't been observant enough to notice that long, thin stretch of land off the Northern Peninsula which is the home to this very interesting spot.  It has been a temporary settlement for over 6,000 years for 4 groups of people, long before Europeans had thought of looking for North America.  The inhabitants (all temporary) were the Maritime Archaic, the Dorset, the Groswater and the Beothuk. (now extinct)  The big attraction was the travelling seals who came down the Labrador Strait on icebergs.  It was a handy place to make a harvest - hence the name, port aux choix (port of choice).  We'd seen the signs about woodland caribou as we wandered around on the barrens (and they were barren!) in the relentless wind.  However, we did see a group of moose off in the distance busily browsing near a large pond.  

Our choice of accommodation in Port aux Choix ended up being our least favourite, but I really enjoyed their turkey dinner - it hit the spot on that particular day.  We woke up to another day of brilliant blue skies (and reduced wind), so we headed back to the park and this time we found the caribou!  A highlight for both of us!

 

 

The Arch

 The Arch 

I didn't spend a lot of time following the paper map loaned to us by Mary and Gerald except when I was in the car and I followed it ALL the time.  I saw this place called The Arch on the map and it was a provincial day use area.  We hadn't seen much of that at any spot in NL and this was our first introduction to a provincial "park".  It was a popular spot and I'm pleased that I managed to get a picture without other tourists in it.  We had a good conversation with some other BC folk who had  driven to NL from Richmond.  There was a car load of women who were in despair over a lost "bag" - we searched while there.  The location of The Arch is nearly half-way up the western side of the Northern Peninsula.  It's worth a stop.  Catch it while you can!  

Twillingate to Lewisport

 Neither of us had ever been to Twillingate so this was our opportunity.  It you want to see icebergs, because it is part of the "iceberg alley", you won't see any in September.  It's still a beautiful place to visit.  On our route to Twillingate, we stopped at the Beothuk Interpretive Centre which was somewhat interesting, but I did feel that the displays still paraded our "colonial past" to a considerable degree.  They did have a note about in the building - it's something that I noticed at provincial sites - everything is only in English and that English isn't always politically correct.  There were lots of dream catchers hanging in the trees - not sure how good that is for an environment that gets lots of wind!

Our afternoon along on the Twillingate coast was a highlight.  We had beautiful bright skies and the coastline is dramatic.  We spent the afternoon walking near a large trail network in the area.  All of the towns of rural NL appear to have very good trail networks and I believe that they are locally maintained.  Every place that we visited had a "society" which was creating and maintaining trails in the area.  Those Newfoundlanders are stalwarts!  They do not have "easy" terrain.    Here is an example of Twillingate coastline.  

In Twillingate, we did stay at a "regular style" B and B (The Mermaid Inn) and at least had the opportunity to have conversation with a real NLer.  We did find that with most of our accommodation, it was operated by someone who was not "on site" and we received a door code and no interaction.  A dismaying turn in travel, to my mind.  We hiked several short trails in the area and managed to hike a trail near our B and B that demonstrated trail work in action.  The volunteers had been doing lots of work in the area - it was a rainy morning and we did not meet anyone other than one other pair of hikers.  We then headed to Lewisporte, a fairly large town by NL standards, where we had a very nice apartment and were able to purchase the last rotisserie chicken in Lewisporte on that particular Monday! 

 

 

And we did Come From Away

 I've been hearing about this play for nearly 20 years and it's been part of my plan to get to see it for a number of years.  But I didn't search very hard.  I'm sure I could have found a production of it while in the Maritimes in 2025, but last summer was all about "Anne".  This year, I wanted to see Come From Away after hearing it was playing in Vancouver (but I do anything to keep from driving to Vancouver).   An extra performance in Gander  was announced at some point in early August and I looked online early enough to be able to get two tickets for the matinee performance that had been added to the roster on Sept. 12/26.  This was the day after all the "dignitaries" had come to Gander to celebrate the huge world events of September 11, 2001.  I did love the performance (we saw it at the Joey Smallwood Theatre in Gander, NL) and it also seemed special to be watching it in the place where a good part of the story  actually happened.  The performance had a very "homey" feel to it and I enjoyed meeting my seated neighbours who had come up to Gander from St. John's to see the play.  Before our arrival in Gander, we stopped in Appledore which we'd heard about on the CBC TV news covering the Sept 11th events of 2026.  Here is located the largest beam recovered from the Twin Towers, given to the town for its part in welcoming so many citizens to the town in 2001.  

 

It was perhaps a bit "rah, rah USA" for the current times, but the entire Come From Away experience is an emotional one. 

 

 

Visiting the Gander airport is rather fun.  It's not a very active airport any longer but played a significant role in aviation in Canada.  And I was surprised to learn that the Beatles stopped in Gander on their first trip to the US because Gander was the refueling spot for basically everyone coming from Europe.  The folks at the airport have done a good job of hyping the celebrities who were here in years past and of honouring its role in 9/11.