We have heard a number of reports about Twillingate, a beautiful fishing village on an island in the north central part of Newfoundland, and all of them were good. Our Boomer friends, Chet and Gaye, had been writing, telling us how much they loved it, and as it turns out, loved it so much that they bought a Victorian house and fish market!!! They will live up here during the summers, and spend their winters in their RV in California with family. We had to get up there (or as the Newfies say, down there – no matter what direction they are going, it is “down” there). We had been told that there is lots of boondocking, as there is all over the province. We ended up on a gravel lot right on the water, next to a Foodland Market. This week is the annual Fish, Fun and Folks festival, so the town is crowded for all the activities. Another small RV was in the lot – two women from Vancouver, the “Grannies from BC”. This is their 5th week in Twillingate, and their 4th year to come here. Just after talking with them, there was a knock on the door, and it was a couple who had seen our Escapees sticker, so we invited them in for happy hour. Meanwhile, we had bought tickets for a performance that night by “The Split Peas”, a local group of women who sing both original and cover folk songs. When we got to the concert, we already knew four people! Newfoundlanders have so much pride in their province and their people. Survival up here has never been easy, and the cod moratorium in 1992 just about brought them to their knees economically. The Split Peas’ music reflected all of that, as well as the joy of being a Newfoundlander – while much of their music was simply entertaining, there were very moving moments as well.

Twillingate is called the “Iceberg Capitol of the World” in that all the icebergs that break off in Greenland and Arctic Circle make their way through the waters by Twillingate. In the last few years, they have had few, if any, icebergs, but this was a banner year! Our friends, Chet and Gaye, Twillingate’s newest residents, came by to tell us about a huge one by the lighthouse. Actually, by the time we got there, we could see two more on the distant horizon. As I said before, I can’t believe the time you can spend watching them. As they get smaller and the winds pick up, you can watch them turn and move. There are boats, both tourist and private, circling, but none too close, because as they melt and break away from the base, they can turn over, and no one wants to be near that! As the week went on, and we were out exploring little towns and coves, it was not totally unusual to round a curve and see a huge iceberg right in the bay. On one occasion, a local took us out in his boat. It was a very hot day and the whole iceberg was shiny as it melted – just fascinating. Seeing icebergs is one of the goals of everyone visiting this beautiful place, but we were told that July would be too late, and usually it is. What a bonus for us.

We also rediscovered geocaching, and remembered why we enjoyed it. In search of caches, we discovered a number of hiking trails and scenic sites. Another thing we enjoyed, giving us a great way to meet locals, were the local church and Lions Club dinners. The church was serving good fish chowder and split pea soup with homemade pies, and for Sunday brunch with the Lions, we had salmon, the always present mashed potatoes, really good fish cakes, peas, and some kind of sweet berry cake with syrup.

As we moved west, we stopped at a park just past South Brook on Goodyear Cove. It is a strip of land with a pond behind us and the bay directly in front of us. There were only a few other rigs – it is a beautiful place, and we enjoyed three nights there. The hiking trails in this province are amazingly well maintained, complete with stairs (lots and lots of stairs) and boardwalks. We spent most of our time here geocaching and hiking, including to the beautiful Rattling Falls. There are so many coastal trails yet to be hiked, but our poor legs need a day off.

As I post this, we are now in Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne National Park – I actually have a wifi signal in the rig, albeit slow and spotty – yea!!!