newfoundland & gander

We went to visit family in Newfoundland.

An uncle was the doctor here for years and years. He built this house when he started his medical practice.

There is much to say about Canada's newest province, Newfoundland and Labrador (the island of Newfoundland and a slice of the mainland of Canada - Labrador).

You can fly there. But we drove our car onto a ferry. 

 

3 things about the land of Newfoundland 

1. it is an island in the North Atlantic ... there are rocks, lots of them! 
2. it is an island in the North Atlantic ...colder temperatures, rain, and lots and lots of fog
3. it is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

What do people do in Newfoundland?

Most families have lived off of fishing, logging, or mining. Many still do.

Small fishing boats catch fish and lobster close to shore.

Trawlers scoop up the fish in nets.

Overfishing, mainly by huge trawlers from other countries, have literally scraped and scooped up all the good from the sea. Fishing was stopped by the Canadian government in the 1990's. 

Read more about fishing in Newfoundland .

Cod stocks are only just starting to return.

A lobster trap - they crawl in to eat the bait and get stuck.

Newfoundlanders like to hike, fish, hunt, camp, swim, sail - pretty much enjoy the beautiful outdoors. 

There are many gorgeous parks to visit.Tourists love this too. 

Europeans love to travel to Newfoundland for holidays.

Visitor's Centre of Terra Nova National Park

 

We hiked a trail through  bog. Egypt does not have bogs.

Peter researched places to see. Glassy Beach was on his list. 

We stopped and asked the locals how to get there. They said, "You drive down the paved road to the end. You drive down the dirt road until you come to a blue ribbon, then walk down the path down to the water."  

That's how you sight see in Newfoundland. 

We found it! Here is what Glassy Beach looks like.

We collected glass from the beach. 

video

Driftwood and whale bones. Egypt does not have driftwood either.

People in Newfoundland are warm, friendly, fun loving and creative. 

They have their own culture.  

Newfoundlanders speak in a thick accent,     almost impossible to understand. 

They have many sayings, words, and phrases unique to Newfoundland. 

They even have their own dictionary.

Art made by rug hooking. This one shows a Newfoundland tradition called mummering.

Most things for the house were made by hand. This is a piece of painted linoleum to make a colourful, but practical  floor.

We also stopped at a museum about the history of aboriginal people in Newfoundland. This is a sad, sad, sad story. 

The Beothucks and the Eurpoeans never figured out how to communicate with each other. They just fought.  In the end. the Europeans with their guns and European diseases won. 

All of the Beothucks died. 

The last Beothuck was Shanawdithit. She died in 1829.

Animals and wildlife of Newfoundland

A Newfoundland dog is actually a breed of dog. This is not one.

eagle

baby bear

After the family visit we drove to the west side of Newfoundland.  Stay tuned....