We've been on Newfoundland for a week now. It is only 4.5 hours time difference with the Netherlands and in terms of distance also closer to Europe than the rest of the North American continent. But it doesn't feel like that ... it really feels like we are in a remote corner of the world. Far away from all world problems such as IS, Trump and North Korea. Back to basics with a very beautiful vast nature, little traffic and very friendly people.
Simple living conditions with lots of cold and ice in winter. In the north simple fishing villages (without supermarket) where life used to be hard and maybe still is today.
With a nice balance between enjoying this island and keeping an eye on what the weather will do and what that means for the delivery of the boat. A period that we will look back on later as a special 'in between' time.
We come in the late season and the tourists we meet (especially in the eyes of the girls) are all elderly 😉 and almost all from Canada itself. Luckily the four of us are doing very well and also last week we get along very well. We also learn things about Newfoundland that we didn't know from visiting two interesting museums ... about aviation in Gander and about the seal hunt at Bonavista nearby. Unfortunately we haven't seen a 'moose' yet. We did eat (Toine in a hamburger; the meat is too tough for 'steak').
Fortunately, the past week has been a little less exciting as far as the delivery of the SeaQuest is concerned. They sail without any problems to the Azores and are since yesterday on Horta. Now awaiting what the hurricanes Maria and Lee are going to do. Next week they will be in the way on the route to Halifax. What are we going to do with them? We decide to make a change of plans ... see 😉 at the bottom of this message. First back to last week in Newfoundland.
We're already getting the hang of how to find nice places to stay. The first two days we spend in a boring hotel without a view (with two 'queen size' beds in one room). The next days we are in three very nice little houses on the coast with a sea view, with a kitchen so we can cook for ourselves, our own bedrooms for us and the girls and homeliness with seats other than the beds. We book for the first time in our lives through Airbnb ... that's highly recommended! Then you get to nice and special accommodations that are often even cheaper than B&B's and hotels via Booking.com.
The past week from day to day ....
Monday Sept. 18 we sail in 6 hours from North Sydney to Port aux Basques on Newfoundland. A great trip on a very calm sea and we even see whales, dolphins and a seal. In Port aux Basques we sleep in a cozy B&B right next to the ferry with the horn-sound of sailing away and arriving of the ferry in the evening and morning.
The next day we drive 3.5 hours to Gros Morne National Park and there we stay for two nights in a rude hotel room. It is a beautiful park but because of the rainy weather we can't do so much. There is a hot tub outside the hotel. The girls go there when we go for a walk. We eat two evenings at nice family restaurants, where Toine eats the moose burger. The second day we make a nice walk to the waterfalls; completely raining but fortunately it is not cold. There's a hairdresser next to the hotel, or all places in this small village, and that's where Toine and I both go and we get a good haircut for little money 👍.
The day we leave the park is a lovely sunny day. We drive in more than 4 hours to Twillingate, a fishing village on the north coast. With everywhere along the road signs 'watch out for moose' and also how many accidents with moose have taken place this year. In Twillingate we have a very nice little house by the sea. In spring you can see the icebergs floating by. There are also many whales and seals. For us a short stop with some quick impressions and a nice glass of wine outside in the evening sun. It is wonderful to have our own house 🏡 with time for some homely fun such as quiet internet, reading and playing card games. And we follow every episode of Heel Holland Bakt en Expeditie Robinson as soon as we can 🇳🇱.
Then another day more than 4 hours drive with a stop at the aviation museum in Gander and a walk in Terra Nova National Park. The aviation museum teaches us that from Gander the first transatlantic flights took place because this is the shortest route to Europe. In the second world war fighter planes flew from here to England. Later the first commercial planes made a stop here for flights between Europe and America when they couldn't fly that far yet. And during the cold war this was the only air route between Russia and Cuba. During 9/11, when American airspace was closed, 38 planes stranded here and were well taken care of. So there have been a lot of unknown and also a lot of famous people in Gander.
In Terra Nova National Park we make a one hour walk around a lake. In the shorts because it is nice and warm and sunny. At the end of the afternoon we arrive at our cottage in Bonavista, called 'Sea Kissed Cottage' (see picture above). What a very nice gnome like cottage. Very tastefully decorated with nice colours and decorations and low ceilings (Toine has to be very careful not to bump his head). We have sea views from all rooms. Really enjoy to be here for two nights.
We'll make it a quiet day. Eline spends quite a few hours completing paper 4 (profile paper in english). Toine does his future work, Mira does the financial administration and Marinthe mainly watches movies. In the afternoon we have dinner at Neil's cafe, a very nice little tent at the coast with a cook from French-speaking Switzerland who can make very tasty crepes. It starts blowing quite a bit and for the evening and night storms are predicted. At the end of the afternoon we make a short trip to the lighthouse and there we see a black wild coyote. Probably fed by people before because he is not afraid and follows us. A bit of scary though. We have dinner at home and play card games while the wind is blowing around our house. That goes all night long and it is not possible to open a window because then you blow away.
It is Sunday (Sept 24) and it seems to be a somewhat boring Sunday without any plans. But that turns out very different. The wind has subsided but because of the north wind it is quite cold (7 degrees brrrr). By coincidence we take a side road from Bonavista to the next place and arrive at a very interesting museum about seal catching ('sealing'). This has been a huge business here in previous centuries, for oil and fur. Starting in the 18th century, culminating in 1844 and only strongly regulated in 1982 after environmentalists started to object especially to the catching of puppies for their white coats. For many years it has been the main source of income here under extreme conditions (walking on ice floes in wind and cold) with much loss of life. In the 70's of the last century the hunt grows enormously by increasing commercial hunting from Europe (especially for fur) and with that to a very controversial hunt. Newfoundland suffered a lot from this. They are proud of their history and feel it is an injustice that it gets so negative publicity. We have lunch in Trinity, a picturesque village. There we book a theatre show for the evening in 'The Rissing Tide Theatre', a small wooden building.
Our little house called 'Sam's Nest' is located south of Trinity at the end of a deserted road by the sea. Again a super nice house and this time via Airbnb. From all rooms overlooking the sea and for the first time since Canada for the girls each a private bedroom. The theater performance is very impressive. A 1.5 hour monologue of a lady about the hard life of a fisherman's wife 50 years ago. While she does the laundry in the kitchen she tells about her life with great emotion. It really suits this day. And so it's going to be a very exciting Sunday.
The first thing we always do when we are awake (and also before we go to sleep) is to check the weather in relation to the route the PYD crew has to take to get to us with the SeaQuest. Especially the app 'Windy' is useful for this. Also the official hurricane-site of America. This morning as well. And then we can only conclude that the hurricanes Maria and Lee are going to get in the way for the next 1.5 weeks. That will probably be a week of waiting for the Azores and then the necessary uncertainty to get here. And we will surely be in Canada one more week? That doesn't feel right.
It's an extreme hurricane season this year. If we hadn't had a collision the crew would have been in Halifax but we wouldn't have been able to sail to Florida. As long distance sailors we are used to let the weather determine our plans. That is why we decide to let the crew sail to Bermuda where we will take over the boat ourselves. That is just as far for the crew as Halifax and in terms of weather much better to do. For us it is no problem to fly to Bermuda (is only 144 euro pp from Halifax?!?!). And sailing from Bermuda to Florida is also shorter for us with more chance of good weather. And so a bigger chance that we will be in Florida before the end of October.
We immediately book the flights to Bermuda for next Saturday. Then we have time to go back to Nova Scotia and spend two days in Halifax. After that a small week in Bermuda because the crew is expected to be there around October 5th.
A big 'change of plans' that we have to make sound today. Fortunately the weather is nice and sunny and a nice walk along the coast at Trinity (Skerwink Trail) does us good with lunch in the sun. We just had a nice phone call with Inge and the whole family (congratulations 🎉🎉🎉) and a BBQ with a steak. The decision Bermuda feels good with the whole family. Life is good!
This is the route we drove on Newfoundland:
