Glamping Days

Random Passage is a 2002 CBC miniseries about early outport life in NL. Though the storyline is fictional, it is considered to be a pretty accurate representation of life at that time.  The "village" that was built for the show has been left intact & is now run by a nonprofit. The lady who showed me around grew up nearby before all of the mod cons came to NL; she went to work at the age of 12 as a housekeeper for an elderly lady & has worked for the 50 years since - she was great.  This site really spoke to me, perhaps partially because of the ambiance from the fog. The walk to the site made me feel like I was leaving the modern world behind, as it is a good distance from any other village.                My guide demonstrated a water hoop, 4 sticks attached together to allow one to carry water without the heavy buckets banging one's legs & splashing one's feet; she's worked here 18 years & never had a visi...

I'm camping 5 nights t Lockston Path Provincial Park, which is a bit inland from Trinity. The woods here is quite pretty, & there's a creek burbling under my windows. Today, I explored more of the history of Trinity, which is emblematic of the history of all of Newfoundland. This mansion was built by THE merchant in Trinity in 1767, & was used by successive merchants until the early 1900s, when the cod industry began to decline. The adjacent Trinity Bay is quite scenic.                         

Yesterday: Port Union is known as the first place where the local fishermen banned together to form a coop/union. Previously, the only place for them to sell their fish or to buy anything was the local merchant; they basically bartered their fish for everything else, so they were completely at the mercy of the merchant, as he set the prices for all goods & the fish. By forming this union, they could guarantee a fair price for their fish & the goods they purchased. Other coops have since been formed elsewhere in NL.   The town is also know for the discovery of very early fossilized life forms, earning it a UNESCO designation.   Today: I took a walking tour of Trinity given by a 5th generation local. Though he went to college & then taught school in St John's, he comes back to the family home each summer. He still goes cod fishing, & salts & dries them in the traditional way. Commercial cod fishing is extremely limited now, & personal catches are limited ...

From yesterday:  Saw a fox along the roadside this morning who seemed quite used to jogging alongside cars.   There have been almost no horses or cows anywhere in NL until today. The first 2 pics were taken in a large community grazing area, & the second 2 were in yards. Not sure why there's more livestock here on Cape Bonavista.  This area has many sea stacks, & a collapsed sea cave called The Dungeon.                                                   In Elliston, I quite enjoyed the beautiful Sealers Interpretation Centre. When reading a roadside plaque, I saw this cute church & then saw a couple of uniformed "Mounties"/Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers helping to carry in a coffin.     Elliston is know for 2 things: puffins & root cellars. There are lots of puffins elsewhere, but here you can get very close to ...