Greetings from Newfoundland! Affectionately known as “The Rock”, Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Regular readers may be aware of my connection with Atlantic Canada. I was born and raised in Nova Scotia and my husband hails from Prince Edward Island. We still have family in these locations so we visit regularly. As a result, these locations figure prominently here on FanningSparks. This week, though, is the first time I’m sharing photos and stories from Newfoundland.
The below map shows the provinces of Atlantic Canada including Newfoundland and Labrador. Note the purple pen is pointing to St. John’s, the province’s largest and capital city, where we started and ended our visit.
During my visit to Newfoundland, I’ll share a series of carefully curated daily photos with minimal context. These mini-blog posts will be like a series of postcards for my readers. It’s the same approach I used during my recent visit to Japan—the abbreviated format allowed me to share my adventure as it happened.
We flew into St. John’s and rented a car for our Newfoundland road trip. With the sun shining and the skies clear, we decided to make the most of the fine weather and head out to Cape Spear on our first day. It is the most easterly point of the North America continent. The favorable weather held but a heavy blanket of fog was clearly visible.
We also visited two St. John’s classics–Quidi Vidi and Signal Hill. Quidi Vidi, commonly pronounced “Kiddy Vidi”, is a popular neighborhood with a picturesque harbor known as “The Gut”.
Cabot Tower, which sits on the top of Signal Hill, and the surrounding park area provide spectacular views of St. John’s Harbour including Fort Amherst at the mouth of the harbour.
Next we ventured up the Bonavista Peninsula to explore the colorful, historic town of Trinity. These photos show a few of the brightly painted houses for which the town has become known.
The next major highlight was a visit to the Puffin Viewing Site in Elliston. We were not disappointed! I’ll share more photos in a future post but here’s a teaser for now.
The Bonavista Peninsula coast has some incredible sights such as this one in Dungeon Provincial Park.
At Cape Bonavista, we visited the lighthouse. We were delighted to spot humpback whales just off the shore although they were too far away for good photos.
Next, we headed to the charming town of Twillingate located along the northern shore of Newfoundland.
We were hoping to see icebergs despite the fact it was mid-July and temperatures were soaring at a record-breaking 32⁰C (90⁰ F). Yet, there they were—huge blocks of dazzling white ice floating in the harbour!
We stayed at various places throughout our trip but Daisy’s Place, by The Old Salt Box Company, in Merritt’s Harbour was my favorite. A saltbox house, according to Wikipedia, “is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It … takes its name from its resemblance to a wooden lidded box in which salt was once kept.”
Daisy’s Place is a fully-restored, old saltbox house packed with personality, an incredible picture window view and a stunning, secluded harbor only a few steps away.
Before I wrap up, I’d like to express my gratitude to two special people. Thank you, Vicki for sharing this adventure and being an enthusiastic, curious and generous travel companion! A big shout-out and heartfelt thanks to Ted, my long-ago high school classmate, for all the great travel advice, coffee and dinner meetups, and lively, local insight.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini-blog post from Newfoundland! Check back next week for photos from the second half of our Newfoundland road trip.
Comments are closed.