Early this morning we set out to find a dentist. David has
been pushing his luck with this loose crown and this is the first place where
we found a website that claimed a dentist. We took a little detour to Trinity
before heading to the dentist in Bonavista. We wanted to score tickets to the
Rising Poor Tide Summer Theatre and since we haven’t had huge luck with such
things since we arrived we adopted what we hoped was the book early enough
policy!
Poor David! The town of Trinity is so pretty! It really was
very cruel to bring him there just for tickets and make him leave without
pictures to go to the dentist! The tickets were no problem and I promised him a
return trip to Trinity, so with just a few “I have to stop here for one picture”
moments, we were on the road to Bonavista.
As it happens he could have taken all day. After a short wait
(the sign said I’m with a patient and
will get to you as soon as I can) we learned, the website is very out of
date and they “have to get to that”!! The second dentist in the practice who
covered the outport offices, left for Halifax. The main dentist only get out here every few weeks for a day. This wasn’t
his day or week! Oh well! He says he will just keep chewing on the other side
until we reach St. John’s!
Bonavista is beautiful so it certainly wasn’t a wasted trip!
We set out for the water and local wharf as we so often do. There is a reason
the wharf is central to these outports. While it may not have been originally designed
to quickly orient us to the
surrounding town, it always does such a great job of it we certainly don’t mind
taking advantage! When Giovanni Caboto first laid eyes on this spot in 1497, he
called it Buena Vista. A beautiful sight it certainly is! Still a busy fishing
harbour, many of the buildings are being restored and there is plenty to see
and do to learn about Cabot’s discovery and the early days of the community.
After some time on the wharf we wandered over to the Ye
Matthew Legacy, a museum dedicated to retelling Cabot’s tale and now housing
the replica of The Matthew created in celebration of the 500 year anniversary! The
ship sailed from Bristol, as Cabot had done, and is now in permanent drydock in
the museum. You can board her though, and we spent a long time on board with a
local expert who was happy to provide the private tour complete with loads of
background story. Now this is the way we should be teaching history in school!
We weren’t sure initially whether we would bother going in. It’s another
glorious, sunny day and there is so much we want to see and take pictures of we
hesitated to spend time indoors! So glad out instincts served us well with this
one – well worth the visit!
Before leaving there we asked for directions to an art
studio that George and Valerie had suggested we visit! Paddy Barry was a local
photographer who worked with the Fogo Island Inn and was a friend of theirs. He
left Fogo some time ago to open his own gallery in Bonavista. We found it
without much trouble but it was closed. As we were pulling out of the parking
lot a man drove in. When asked, he confirmed he was indeed Paddy Barry and the
next while past in wonderful conversation about Fogo Island, Bonavista and his
incredible photography! Newfoundlanders are such incredibly open and friendly
folk. Spend time with a stranger here and leave richer for the experience! Paddy
set us on the way to Neil’s Yard for lunch! He told us to follow the water and
the signs for free Wi-Fi and we couldn’t miss it!
I can assure you we missed nothing by heading to Neil’s Yard
for lunch. Newfoundland had become such an eclectic mix of people like Neil
Shah. He is British, came from London on holiday, fell in love with
Newfoundland and never left! He had thought he would love a place on the coast
of Cornwall but discovered the price was out of his reach and little was
available. He travelled to Newfoundland and discovered Bonavista which reminded
him of the Cornwall coast. Sweeten the deal with government subsidies that were
available at the time for someone with a proposal that would support tourism
and Neil was sold!
The menu was small like the little café/gift shop that was
right on the beach. The building, originally a store when it was built in 1830,
has been lovingly restored. Our lunch of fresh crisp salad and homemade crepes
were absolutely delicious with a cup of tea. Lunch was so delicious in fact
that by the time I remembered to take a picture, there was no lunch left to
photograph! The only criticism I could imagine anyone leveling is, like all
Newfoundland buildings, there is no air conditioning and the day was hot! Neil
looked after that quickly though by opening the door to the ocean and
announcing Newfie A/C with a lovely ocean breeze! David commented that Neil was
the perfect “front man” for a place like that. Friendly and unassuming, he
chatted happily to everyone and created a bit of a kitchen table atmosphere among
the tables. The people at the table next to us had been visiting from Nova
Scotia and had been in every day since they arrived – apparently once even
twice in one day, when they came back for an afternoon tea and dessert crepe!
As Neil looked after everything but the cooking (his partner in back did that)
I couldn’t help but notice his face was set in a perpetual grin! Whether out
front to personally greet every person who came to the door, delivering food to
the table, behind the counter steeping tea, or in the back kitchen plating food
(I could see him there from where I sat), not once did I see him without the
kind of grin that might suggest he has a secret! I suppose, in a way, he does.
Clearly he loves the spot where life has landed him - what better secret than
that could you possibly know!
We spent a happy few hours wandering the back streets and
shores of Bonavista with David filling his camera with images I can’t wait to
see. When mine are good, I know his will be spectacular! By late afternoon we
were heading south once again when David wanted to detour to Elliston Point. We
have seen signs for a Puffin Festival, and also information on a bird
sanctuary. Puffins are crazy little sea birds that are very cute and colourful.
We have seen them on boat tours and when we have gone whale watching here but
that often makes them difficult to photograph. David wanted to see how close he
could get and while I suspected he was to be disappointed, I’m always up for a
road less travelled so Elliston it was. We weren’t overly interested in the “festival”
part but when we hit the road we doubted there would be many people there. We thought the highway was bad, that was
only because we hadn’t yet visited Elliston! I suggested David brace his tongue
against his loose crown if there was to be any hope of it still being there for
the trip out!
Elliston was a sealing community way-back-when and a stop at
the local visitors centre and a pretty walk out along the bluffs paid tribute
to the local men who lost their lives in that treacherous industry. At the end
of the bluffs we discovered three young girls sitting in the long grass
watching the shorebirds. One was taking pictures of the birds as they dipped
and dived in their noise dance, one was weaving crowns of wildflowers, and one
wearing one of those crowns of wildflowers was singing and accompanying herself
on a mandolin! I stayed it this idyllic spot savoring the moment while David
snapped pictures of the incredible coastline here.
The boy was on a puffin quest though! I masked my annoyance
(mostly!) of having to leave on what I thought would be a fruitless pursuit, by
suggesting we ask someone if there was any chance of getting up close and
personal with a puffin. Without the bat of an eye, a young girl in the visitor
centre pulled a hand drawn map and gave us instructions for walking to the
local puffin colony!!
Oh my!! A short hike along another bluff, just down the road
from where we were, and we were surrounded by hundreds of puffins! Even with
the small group of people who shared the spot with us, one flew and landed
about 10 feet from us! David later said, “How freaking amazing was that place?
Puffins land 10 feet away and then stay and pose for you!” Good thing I decided
to stay quiet about my thoughts of our chances of seeing a puffin!
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| Rising Tide Theatre in the early morning fog. |
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| Bonavista |
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| Bonavista harbour |
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| Bonavista harbour with the town in the background |
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| Museum dedicated to John Cabot`s voyage |
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| The mast of The Matthew. A beautiful ship but honestly, sailing in this from Bristol It`s a wonder he ever found us!! |
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| David taking advantage of Wi-Fi while waiting for lunch at Neil`s Yard. Notice the Newfoundland tartan tablecloths! |
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| Neil`s Yard Café |
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| Typical saltbox and barn design |
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| Pretty walk around Old Day`s Pond |
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| Still colourful washing flapping from a clothesline in every yard! |
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| Memorial to the men who died in the seal hunt. This is a man holding his dying son on an ice flow. |
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| Across Elliston harbour |
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| The shore here has countless sea caves |
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| The little islands full of sea birds |
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| The 3 young girls we happened upon - taking pictures, weaving crowns of wildflowers and singing and playing the mandolin |
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| Fog danced around the islands all afternoon - something very calming about fog! |
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| Puffin lawn chairs |
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| Elliston is apparently the `root cellar`` capital of the world??? |
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| Islands maggoty with puffins!! |
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| Puffins constantly taking off and landing |
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| This was the best picture I could get but David's should be incredible |
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| The colours are just beautiful, and because these are my pictures, there is no enhancement or colour adjustment (because I don't know how!!) |
