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June 5, 6 & 7
Wednesday morning I pretty much hang out at the Inn until just past noon. Then I scoot down to the post office and pick up the parcel mailed to me via Express Post on Friday from the other side of Canada. Then I go to the bank and think to myself I’m behaving just like a local. I scoot out to the causeway to check on the iceberg and barely can see it because of the fog. Perhaps I don’t see it but know it’s there so my imagination conjures it up for me. Then I drive back to town and check out the museum which is a whole lot more worthwhile than I expected. Their gift store is worth a visit too due to many local crafters offering their knitting and art. I buy two locally made stained glass Inukshuks as thank you gifts for Melinda and the Young's. This is not my normal practice when I stay at places during my holidays but this is Newfoundland and I want to impress upon them just how much they mean to me. I’ve got a poem rattling around about Gus, another about Melinda and Kim Young is on my mind too. Gus is a tour de force who cares a great deal about what he holds dear. I like that about people because I understand it profoundly. Melinda has what I believe to be a tender heart and she sees the best in people which is a rare talent nowadays. She’s taken a shine to me and because of that I’ve reciprocated. I don’t believe I’m all that easy to like but she disagrees and I think myself lucky. I spend the rest of my day mulling over the impact these people have had on me. My plan was to only come to Newfoundland once and now I know I’ll be back. My visit with Gus & Geraldine and her sister Daisy in the evening was delightful. They bring out family photos, their antique treasures and newspaper clippings. Gus told me he travelled around the island on a seadoo. I was aghast when I discovered he meant Newfoundland and not Twillingate Island which had impressed me enough! The newspaper write up he shows me once Geraldine found it for him reveals Gus was sixty when he undertook that adventure. I doubt I’d take a ride on one of those on the Pacific much less the frigid North Atlantic. I’m gobsmacked when Geraldine tells me she’s gone out with Gus to view whales! They tell me they don’t bother with survival suits and just wear lifejackets. Geraldine treats me to home-made lemon pie [two slices] and Tetley tea which is the brand in Newfoundland. I’m a Red Rose woman myself but Tetley is a delicious substitute. I make sure I leave in good time and Gus gives me a short tour of his land which has been in his family for generations. I find my way back to the Inn with no hiccoughs. A six day stay means I’ve totally saturated myself with Twillingate which deserves that sort of focus.
June 6th
I take my leave of Melinda with a farewell that’s heartfelt and I’m away. On the causeway I stop twice for a few more photos of the Iceberg and then again for a close-up of the growler/bergie bit that’s broken off and floating right by the causeway. I choose the long way back to TCH #1 by way of Musgrave Harbour to Gambo with a side trip to Cape Freels. Several of the houses there have yard art of lighthouses and a Coast Guard ship. It’s worth the short detour for sure. The landscape along this road is a surprise because there’s miles of flat land and sand. I see one faraway iceberg that I don’t try and capture with my camera. I pull off the road to contemplate the surf and ponder on the two trailers set up on the wind blown sea grass. The place must be packed in the summer. I arrive back at the Clarenville Inn mid-afternoon and settle in happily.
June 7th
I’d planned to do the Bonavista circuit but the weather which I believed couldn’t get worse did. It’s raining hard and the visibility sucks so I decide to book another day at this comfortable spot and take a day off. During my visit many travellers I’ve met are going great distances to take in Gros Morne and L'Anse aux Meadows but I thought about travelling all those miles with faint hope of fair weather. There’s been thick fog, there’s been cold robust winds [not gales] and now there’s rain. Where I come from we’re known for out wet weather and I’m tolerant because I wasn’t expecting sunny skies and warm winds but Newfoundland has been seasonally chilly according to everyone in the know. It’s okay because I saw what I came to see and consider myself very lucky to be able to boast about it. I wasn’t stranded at the airport due to the fog like many travellers during my time here although that still might happen but I’m not tied to a timeline so I wouldn’t be too frantic. Nothing could sour me on Newfoundland and I’m already thinking about my next trip here and I haven’t even taken in St. Johns yet.
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"Tigers bloom where there's oodles of room." Zodiac Zoo
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Rock of Inspiration
