NEWFOUNDLAND – SOCIAL BUTTERFLIES.
Day 110 – We went to bed early last night hoping to get up & out early today. There’s lots to see around here & we’ve happily been just hanging around at the campground. It rained hard during the night & there was lots of lightning, not much thunder. Rob took a hike this morning on a trail that goes from the campground to the top of the hill and got to see a couple of juvenile Bald Eagles fly by at eye level. We were working at getting ready to leave for some exploring when Whales were spotted & change of plans, it was whale watching time.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
At least two Humpbacks were right off the harbour & not far from us. He ran out with the camera; I hadn’t finished getting dressed yet so I watched it all from the dashboard of the RV. They were sometimes just below the surface, cruising along. There were many blows. And a breach or two. And when they breach, it causes a huge splash and big waves around them. Awesome. From last night’s storms the sea was rough and the waves were crashing across the harbor from us. Very pretty.
This all made us later to leave than planned, so we ended up taking a shorter drive today. We visited the village of Tilt Cove, known as the smallest town in Canada (population = 4). This was once a booming mining town with a population of 2500 people. It was located on a dirt road about 10 miles from La Scie. Copper, gold, and zinc were once mined there. It was the first mine in Newfoundland. It was opened in 1864. It’s gone through both boom & bust cycles and it is still operating today for gold mining. Two homes with two couples live there now full-time. There are a few small homes for summer people visiting. We liked this town. It had a great beach and it was pretty, surrounded almost on four sides by huge rock cliffs. The road was quite rough; we could never get the RV down there.
We also visited side roads to see the villages of Seal Cove and Wild Cove. Both were great. We ate our lunch at a picnic table in Wild Cove overlooking the water. In the larger town of Baie Verte we went to the post office and Rob got a haircut.
After spending time chatting with people practically everywhere we went, we drove back to the RV and made dinner, retreating to the screened tent afterwards. We listened to the waves breaking on the shore below us. Sea spray made it seem almost foggy at times. And of course the sunset was good once again. The high today was 71 degrees, partly cloudy and windy at times.
Regarding those butterflies: Those of you that know us well are aware that we’re not super-social. We like to be alone. We like peace and quiet. And we really don’t go out there and instigate conversations with everyone we see. Don’t get us wrong, we like to get together with friends & family, with people we know, but not all the time. We are basically homebodies; that’s what we like best. So why are we attracting people like flies? Rob, who is basically quiet, has been like the Pied Piper. He goes out to take a picture of the sunset and I begin to wonder what’s taking so long, look outside to his last known location & he’s surrounded by people. They finally release him from their hold when they see he’s shivering with cold & turning blue – he only went out for a quick sunset pic so didn’t wear a sweatshirt or shoes. We went in to Baie Verte, about 45 minutes away to visit the Post Office to pick up our mail. While we were there, he decided to get a haircut and stopped at the only salon within 100 km (not really but almost true). Practically the whole town came by to chat. He met a couple who later came outside to talk to me. They invited us over for a visit and a meal. The owners of the salon came out and chatted with them and me. A lady from town stopped by & hung out at our car. We were almost not allowed to leave. And the barber & his wife told Rob where they lived and said to stop by any Sunday to visit. It is crazy how nice Newfoundlanders are. We have a Bernie 2016 sticker on our car. People talk about that. We CFA (come from away) and this excites them. The NY license plates attracts them. They talk about the Empire State Building. Ah, you’re from the Big Apple, they say. Where have we been? What have we seen? Where are we going? D’ya like it here? Are ya enjoyin’ it here? Ya know in Gander we took all them people in at 9/11, such a shame it was. And smile? It’s the happiest bunch of people we have ever encountered. Just amazing.
I love your description of the people of Newfoundland. Very similar to what I read in the book When the World Came to Town.