Maggie in Newfoundland Again 2016: Day 11 Gros Morne

Today was grand for a mauzy ol’ day! I understand that the Inuit have many words to describe snow. When you live on an island and make your living from the sea, in what I assume to be a very similar linguistic evolution, you have many expressions for rain and fog! Newfoundlanders would call today mauzy. It rained, it didn’t, the air was hazy with mist and fog, except when the wind blew it away temporarily – it was mauzy. The good news? We haven’t needed sunscreen since we got here!

We didn’t come to Newfoundland for the weather, no one does, or they would be sorely disappointed. That said, hearing about the 40 degree heat Ontario has, I’ll take this! We set out this morning to find the lay of the land and sort out where everything was for our Plan A and Plan B I mentioned yesterday. We had a bit of a late start because we were up at 2:00 AM to take in the awning when the wind suddenly began to gust and shake the trailer. Despite the hour and the weather, we wanted to still have an awning in the morning so…life on the road!

We are seconds from the Visitor Centre for Gros Morne National Park so we thought we would start there. A weekly pass for the park is $100 and we really are not sure how much we will use it given the forecast. A pass is required for all activities in the park, but given that the park is interrupted with many small towns (Rocky Harbour, Norris Point, Woody Point, Sally’s Cove, St. Paul’s and Cow Head) none of which require a pass we decided to go with day passes $20/day on the days when the weather will allow us to take advantage. These little towns may our salvation if the forecast materializes!

Our first stop was Rocky Harbour where we quickly discovered that reservations here are a must. There is a music show at a local pub called Anchors Aweigh. It runs three times a week so we assumed there would be no problem for a spot night after next – wrong. They offered to put our name on a waiting list. When I asked what the chance was, really, of getting a spot on the waiting list, I was reminded in truly Newfoundland practicality that, “There was no chance if my name wasn’t on the list!” My name is on the list! The same young girl was very helpful though in booking our spot on the Western Brook Pond boat tour. We figured Sunday was our best bet since that is the first day scheduled without rain! We are really looking forward to that and I’m hopeful to have much more to share about that trip in days to come!

We had a bit of a break in the rain and so spent some time following our noses as we wandered around Rocky Harbour. We literally noticed a break in the trees and in checking it out discovered a beautiful hike up the side of the hill to a lookout. Glad the rain held off for as long as it did since a little find here often leads to a significant hike. I’m not complaining, just thankful that we weren’t stranded when the next doozy of a storm hit! Lead a charmed life we do!

We continued up the northern coast to Cow Head. It’s a bit of drive but wanted to get tickets to the Gros Morne Festival Theatre. We figured that was great if the weather doesn’t get any better. We arrived to learn that the performances during our stay have been sold out for three weeks! That’s great news for theatre in this area. I’m thrilled to learn that they are doing so well. Doesn’t work well for us so much though!

Honestly even moving in and out of storms and without benefit of blue sky as a backdrop for pictures, we can’t get more than a few kilometres without a picture stop. The Long Range Mountains are spectacular on the east side and the craggy coastline of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the east mean that there is an outstanding view wherever you look!

We saw the sign in the campground when we arrived advertising the St. Matthew Jiggs Dinner. Throughout the day today, as we met and talked to people, several people mentioned that we should check it out. We arrived in the hall parking lot feeling a bit silly because we were 15 minutes early to discover that we were number 108 and 109! The whole town and many tourists who happen to be here at the moment all showed up for a big scoff! The tables were long banquet tables and we were invited to sit anywhere we liked. We joined a group by the window and couldn’t have made a better choice! There is a saying in Newfoundland that there are no strangers, just friends you haven’t met yet, and that’s certainly true. We sat with four locals, a woman visiting them from Etobicoke and a couple from Florida. The meal was delicious, the conversation lively and by the time we left the locals had talked us into joining them at one of the two local pubs for local life music and dancing (a scuff here)!

We ended up at the Fishermen’s Landing Inn to hear the local postmistress and a man “from the hospital” (we never figured out what he did there!) provide music and Newfie humour. There were a few other tourists from an Ottawa bus tour and the locals who had gone home first to round up a few others to fill out the crowd. Before the evening ended we danced, we sang, we laughed, I played the ugly stick with the band (honestly I don’t understand how these things happen to me!)… We learned that one of the woman we had dinner with worked at the kitchen in this bar. It was busy so as well as dancing and partying with us she was also lending a hand cleaning tables! She told us she had retired 11 years ago but they haven’t found anyone to replace her so she keeps working – she is 71!!! When the evening finally ended there were hugs all around and we were asked to promise to come back again next year and bring all our children with us! Only in Newfoundland! Like I said, not bad for a mauzy day!