Newfoundland 3, Canada

Thursday, Aug.3 , 2017 – forgot to include this with the last post about Gander

The next day we visited the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. It told of how the airport in Gander was at one time the largest airport in the world.  In addition, it told more of the events of 9/11 in Gander. There was a video that I highly recommend you watch if you haven’t already.

It’s the story of Gander and its people and the assistance they gave to complete strangers who were worried and somewhat orphaned with nowhere to go for a week in September. The museum also had a piece of wreckage from the World Trade Center Towers that NYC had given them. We were able to touch this remaining piece of devastation. It was an emotional experience for us. There are pics of us at the museum and airport. You may not be able to tell, but we were a little teary eyed.

 

After this, we headed for our next destination – Trinity. I wasn’t prepared for these lodgings, but sure enjoyed Trinity. Check out the next blog to learn about the three days of adventure we had in lovely Trinity. After that we drove to St. John’s and spent several nights in a dorm. St. John’s is a fun and interesting city.  JY

TRINITY, NEWFOUNDLAND – August 3 – August 5, 2017

Newfoundland and Labrador are one province and the last one to become part of Canada. The province is in the most eastern part of North America.

We arrived in East Trinity on 8/3. Peter had indicated we would be staying in a hostel at this location. We stayed in a few hostels when we did the Camino in Spain. Hostels can range in comfort and privacy. However the Skerwick Hostel was more like an albuguergue which we stayed in many times on the Camino. It was rustic. We stayed in a room with three bunk beds. The room was thankfully right across from the washroom/shower. It was a bit of a shock especially after staying in such nice Airbnb’s when we started our road trip in Newfoundland.

I did my best to maintain my Camino attitude of positive expectation. The surroundings almost trumped the lack of privacy and comfort. It’s a gorgeous area. We were probably the oldest people in the hostel. The first night many of the people from the hostel went to a nearby bar. We did too and played a fun game of Trivial Pursuit. It was a good atmosphere to meet new people, some also staying at the hostel. We were back to the hostel and asleep in our bunks at a decent hour as we had a whale watching tour early the next morning.

Just as I was falling asleep at about midnight, one half of a couple came to the room. She was slightly drunk. I figured her partner would eventually show up. He did, a couple hours later drunk and disorderly. Needless to say, I hardly got any sleep that night. Thankfully the couple checked out the next day. (Peter sleeps with ear plugs so missed out on most of the action.)

 

We really liked our room mates the next two nights. The next night a couple that had done the Camino two years ago stayed in the bunk across from us.  In the other bunk was a young woman from Montreal. We enjoyed their company and slept better the next two nights. The third night two women stayed in the bunk next to ours. One was a physician in St. John’s and the other was a nurse in Toronto. We really liked them and could have talked all night but we needed to get up early the next day.

The next morning we went early into Trinity Harbor to go whale watching. There is no guarantee to see whales when you do this especially when the yearly migration is coming to an end. We were lucky though.  The captain and guide for the tour knew the whales by name. In fact he travelled to the Dominican Republic at a different time of year and saw “Steve and Louise.”

Steve and Louise (and a couple of other whales) visited us for about an hour straight.

The boat ride was wet, windy and cold. We were wearing wet suits which helped keep us warm.  A part of the trip was the rolls and coffee the captain offered halfway through the trip. So, I can say I had coffee with the whales that morning.

The whales seemed to be putting on a show for us. This included flapping their flukes. The captain said that this might have been to stretch and aid digestion. It was delightful to watch especially so close to the boat. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Later that day we did some exploring around the area. This included driving to Elliston to see the puffin colony. Elliston is the Root Cellar Capital of Canada. As you can imagine root cellars are necessary for protecting vegetables so growers can use them all year round including the frigid winters..

 

We also went to Cape Bonavista where a lighthouse is located. From high on a rocky perch we were able to see many whales breeching before the sun set. It was magical.

Peter had a kayaking trip with whales the next day. While he was kayaking, I explored the lovely fishing village of Trinity. I enjoyed having coffee in a local coffee house and taking in the Trinity atmosphere. I also purchased a Couple local handicrafts including the first toque (a knitted cap or beanie) I have ever purchased. Perhaps it will be cold enough in Phoenix this winter so I can sport it. I also bought a Newfie cookbook. I tried a recipe for smoked salmon dip which was very easy and very good. If I can take the special smoked salmon I purchased in Nova Scotia across the border, I will make you some. This particular brand of smoked salmon is very special.  Purportedly it was the only smoked salmon the Queen would eat.

I failed to mention that on the day we booked the whale watching trip, Peter was asked if he had relatives in town. He replied in the negative. The woman taking our reservations pointed out where the Coleridge’s lived. Trinity is a very small fishing village. So after lunch, we went to visit Eric Coleridge who owns a saw mill. He was pleased to meet us and took us to meet his mother and son. After that we went to meet his wife. The couple owns a B&B. Eric said that it seemed the Coleridge’s were a dying breed. Peter reassured them that his brothers had children. Kenneth Coleridge, Peter’s stepfather was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Who knows if there is actually a connection with the Coleridge’s in Trinity.

 

Mrs. Coleridge’s husband, Boyd, had died only a year before. We went to visit the local cemetery where the family plot is located. There was a gravestone for one of the deceased relatives, Peter Coleridge. It  was weird so we had to take a photo.

 

That night we had reservations at the Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity which is located on the harbor. The play was based on vignettes of the goings on in the town. Lots of songs and Newfie jokes. It was a dinner theater which offered cod casserole which was very good. Peter had the roast beef. I was interested in going to this play so I could experience Newfie culture. The original songs reminded me of Irish ballads. The play concluded with Mummers paying a visit to the family. One of the actors dressed up as a Mummer invited me to dance… it was an enjoyable evening, but not over yet.

 

We returned to the hostel where a group of the residents were conversing over a bon fire. By the way, the person who runs the hostel is from Scotland. After socializing for a bit, we retired to our room and met and visited with our new roommates for the night before calling it a night.

The lodgings in Trinity were a bit challenging but the surroundings more than made up for them. Trinity is a beautiful friendly fishing village. If we ever come to Newfoundland again we will spend more time there. Perhaps in the Coleridge’s Bed and Breakfast Inn. JY

Friday August 4, 2017

We got up early to get ready and drive into Trinity for our whale watching adventure.  We arrived and were given survival suits to put on which looked and felt like space suits.  This was a precaution just in case we ended up in the water.  There were 11 suited up for the adventure and then we walked through town looking like a bunch of astronauts.  We boarded the zodiac raft and headed for the open ocean – our guide Chris was telling us all what to look for and soon after we started seeing whale blows so Chris and his first mate gunned the motors and we sped off in that direction.  As we approached two humpbacks feeding they slowed the engines and shut them off.  The two whaled did not seem at all disturbed by our presence continued to feed about 30 to 40 yards from the zodiac.

We were all thrilled to death being this close to the whales but then it got better.  Apparently the whales finished gorging themselves on the little capelin fish about 20 feet below the surface and then came closer to check us out.  They came as close as 50 feet from the zodiac and for about an hour and a half swam around us flipping the tails, swimming directly towards us then diving, raising their giant arms out of the water and slapping them down with a mighty splash.  Chris and his wife have been observing, photographing and cataloging whales in Trinity for over 15 years and Chris recognized these two whales as Steve and Louise.  It was a thrilling experience to watch the whales perform that close to our raft.  They would swim upside down with both arms in the air and sometimes with their tails out of the water.  It was a site to behold – spectacular – one of those wow moments in our lives.

Steve and Louise finally got bored and drifted away so we sped off to look for more whales and came across three Fin whales and a Minke whale.  Fin whales are the second largest whales at 80 feet with the longest being the Blue whale.  The Minke are among the smallest.  Neither of these species are as playful as the Humpback which all tour guides look for because people and boats with motors don’t bother them and they like to perform or show off.  Towards the end of our 3 hour excursion Chris told us that last year he took out a 11 people from a choir from Dublin and with the whales so close they all started sing and the whales came right up to the zodiac.  Sadly the whale watching came to an end but we will never forget our experience with the whales.

After we shed our space suits we went to a local restaurant for a lunch of fish and chips.  It was cooked perfectly and there we other people there from our excursion.  After lunch we drove back to the hostel to find we had two new roommates.  A couple who had walked the Camino a year ago so we had lots to talk about.  They were the only other people in our room that night so it was a better sleep night.  After a short nap we headed off to Elliston to look at the Puffin colony.  It was a nice drive along the seashore and we learned that not only was Elliston the location of one of the largest Puffin colonies it was also the “root cellar” capital of the world.

Some kind people allow people to walk through their property to the edge of the cliff overlooking the colony.  Puffins burrow into the ground and make a nest which would make them very vulnerable if they were not on an island.  There were thousands of them on two islands and many would flight right in front of us on their way out to sea to catch capelin.  We watched them for about 45 minutes and aside from the puffins were mesmerized by the scenery and the crashing waves on the cliffs and fractured rocks of the rugged coastline.

We left the Puffins and on the way back peeked into a root cellar and were surprised to find that the people who owned it had decorated it for tourists.  They had placed about 50 bottles on two long large tables.  Each bottle had a preservative liquid in it along with a single plant or flower.  The bottles were lit up by an LED which was under the bottle.  The person who owned the root cellar had drilled holes in the tables and inserted LED light to illuminate the bottles seated over them.  It was very pretty.  I shut the root cellar door so that the only light was from the bottles.

 

From Elliston we drove to Cape Bonavista to see the lighthouse.  We arrived and walked out to a point where there was a bench overlooking the ocean.  We could see and hear the whales feeding right below us.  Off in the distance (on the horizon) what looked like a ship was actually a large iceberg once you looked at it through the binoculars.  Up a hill by the lighthouse were hundreds of rock cairns – it was impressive to see the size of some of them and the effort that went into creating them by visitors.

After Cape Bonavista we had dinner in a little café in Bonavista.  We drove home in the dark back to the Hostel in Trinity.  We kept our eyes peeled for moose and drove slowly.

Saturday August 5, 2017

This was the day I was going for a 4 hour kayak trip in the open ocean and with a little luck meet up with some whales.  The trip started at 8:00 – we were using sea kayaks and were dressed warmly with T-shirt, shirt, wet suit, wind jacket and life preserver.  Our guides where two young very healthy women who wore shorts, a sports bra and a sleeveless wet suit.  Made the rest of look like wimps – the cold air and water didn’t seem to bother them at all.   We kayaked along the shoreline and stayed away from the waves crashing against the cliffs and rocks.  On a couple of occasions we came across some sea caves and tunnels – our guides said it was our option to venture into them or through them – of course we did everyone we came across.  We were making good time and the guides asked us if we wanted to kayak out into the open ocean to a point off in the distance – of course we did and away we went.  The waves were high enough so when you were in the trough between the waves you couldn’t see the kayak in front of you. It was an adventure even though we did not encounter any whales.  We finally made it to shore and carried our kayaks to the kayak racks.

 

I met up with June Yvonne and after the careful selection and purchase of some jewelry we decided to go and meet some of my relatives I didn’t know existed.  When we signed up for the whale watching the lady there asked if we had relatives in Trinity – I said no – she said do you see that house over there – that is where the Coleridge’s live. After a lite lunch we walked over and I asked the man running the saw mill if he was Mr. Coleridge – he said yes and what can I do for you – I said I am also Mr. Coleridge and his eyes lit up with surprise.

His name was Eric – we talked for about 10 minutes and he said you have to meet my mother.  Her house was right next door to the sawmill and was she glad to see us.  She came right out and gave me a hug and then we started working backward on the genealogy.  Her husband of 50 years had died the previous year and she was still suffering from the loss – she was encouraged to learn there were more Coleridge’s out there and the name wouldn’t die out.  Eric, her son, told us there were other Coleridge’s in the newer cemetery so on the way out of town we stopped to check it out – there were indeed other Coleridge’s and it looked like I was one of them.

From the cemetery we drove back to Trinity to take a shower and get dressed for a dinner theater at the “rising tide theater”.  It was an OK dinner put on by the community and the show after was a combination of music, singing and skits.  It all ended with a group of “mummers” coming out amongst the audience and dance with the guests.  June Yvonne was one of them.  We headed back to the Hostel and we had three new roommates.  It was a peaceful night sleep.  In the morning we got up early and headed out for St. John’s.   PRC