Newfoundland - Can you guess where we'll stay tonight?

Even though the blog title mentions our accommodations for tonight, we can report that last night's bed was very nice. The owners of the Captain's Legacy Bed and Breakfast know that it is important to have a good bed AND a good breakfast.  This morning we got to experience the good breakfast. We started with a cup of fresh fruit and a partridge berry/orange scone. Then they brought our entrees. We shared the eggs and sausage meal . . .

and the partridge berry pancakes and bacon. All were delicious, and we think John and Addie are great bed and breakfast hosts! They are glad to see that tourists from the United States are returning to Canada. Our travel to Newfoundland was enriched from hearing the stories they told of moving here from mainland Canada, as well as the banter among the other guests this morning.

Twillingate is situated on the northern shore of one of Newfoundland's most scenic peninsulas. During the spring they have boat tours that find the giant ice bergs that break off from the arctic icefield and float south. Some of those ice bergs are big enough to sink mega-ships like the Titanic. This is also a whale playground in the spring and summer. Today we are heading out to explore the shoreline starting at French Beach.

At 10:00 this morning we started out with gloves and ear muffs and coats.

We warmed up nicely as we headed up and down along the coastline for some spectacular views. We can play the "Where's Mark or Denisa?" game in each of the pictures along this coastal hike.

In the pictures above, you can find us standing on top of the cliffs, enjoying the views of the North Atlantic Ocean. On those ledges, we also saw plenty of these sea shells, and pondered why they were so far away from the water.

It wasn't unusual to see 5, 10, or even twenty of those shells together at one rock, high over the water's edge.

If you turn them over, you can see a tiny broken section in the back.

Occasionally, we would find them with dried green spikes still attached.

We googled this phenomenon, and found that these sea urchin shells hold a tasty slimy blob inside that is a highly prized delicacy in Asian markets. It must also be highly esteemed among the Newfoundland gull population. Sea gulls pluck them out of that cold ocean water at low tide, and fly them to the top of the cliffs. They can drop them like bombs to break the shell open, or peck out the bottom to get to the tasty slimy contents. So that explains why so many of the shells are found so far away from the water's edge.

Most of  this hike in Twillingate has been high above the water's edge with beautiful views! We have been wandering in another of God's wonders this morning.

We found a lone wooden tent base along the trail, and Mark tried it out. It's called "The Osprey" site and we wondered why.

We looked out over the ocean in front of us 

We zoomed in a little to see a nest perched on top of the nearest sea stack.

So that's why it's called the "Osprey Site."

In this remote location, we were surprised that we had a good enough phone signal to receive a face time call. It was a beautiful place to show our family while we were talking to them this morning.

When we got to Spiller's Cove, we got our first look at the beach below. Denisa made her way down the long series of steps for a walk on the beach.

From a picture taken from the rocky beach, you can still see Mark's silhouette at the top of the cliff on the left.

Denisa loves the sound of a rocky beach, where the rocks clatter together as they tumble back and forth with each wave.

We spent a little time on this Newfoundland beach. We usually think of warm temperatures, sand, and seashells when we are at the beach, but this one had none of those.

This is a loop hike, so it was time to leave the rocky shore to loop back through the little-maintained brushy trail. Even though it's windy, it's a perfect 21 degrees Celsius now (70 degrees Fahrenheit).

We found more of the carnivorous pitcher plants through this section of the hike. Newfoundland certainly has an unusual provincial flower.

We also found some good hiking snacks, as more wild blueberries and their fall leaves decorated the trail. We really enjoyed our time in Twillingate, but this isn't where we'll stay tonight.

After all that exercise, we needed some snacks. So at our next gasoline stop we also filled up with an ice cream cone and a candy bar for later. It is interesting that Canada has candy bars that can't be found in the United States. We have found several favorites, including this Wunderbar--"a peanut butter caramel experience."

We started the New-Wes-Valley scenic loop drive that our inn keepers recommended. While most of the Newfoundland highways are edged with trees, we finally found a highway with ocean views when we left Twillingate.

We had read about the Barbour Living History Village in Newtown, with its old historic buildings. We are past the normal tourist season, so most of the village was closed. On our drive around Newtown we crossed the "tickle." We had never seen that term before, but found it to be a short, narrow strait of water that flows through town and into the ocean. We also found this picturesque old church built right on the coast.

From that church parking lot, we saw the yard of a local fisherman with an interesting load in his wheel barrow. We found that these are dried cod fillets. (Incidentally, he pronounced it "fill-lets"--not "fill-lays.")

We walked over to ask some questions, and we got a good dose of the Newfoundland friendliness that we had read about. He explained that he was a professional fisherman, and these were cod that he had caught and then dried outside for 8-10 days. They shrink as they dry, and his hands indicates how much longer this cod was before it was dried. He also explained how to rehydrate the fish over a two day period, and then boil them with potatoes. Then he proceeded to offer that piece of fish and some garden potatoes to us to take home and try it ourselves. How kind of him!

Even though we had to decline his free fish fillet, we'll always remember that act of kindness! We'll also remember his stories. He and his wife of 40 years live in the red house by the church. They were both raised in this tiny town--him in the green house he pointed out, and his wife was raised in the yellow house a couple doors down. They have always lived in Newtown, and always will. But they pointed out that young people can't find jobs here, because "there are only so many fisheries." The village population is shrinking and getting older. While the population was 700 people when he was a boy, now it is only 200. Our travel is enriched by the people we meet! We liked Newtown, but this isn't where we're staying tonight.

We called several different bed and breakfasts to get reservations for tonight. But all of them were booked up. Then we found an interesting alternative at Homestead Adventures.

The owner, Curtis, has two different permanent tents set up on the lake, and he had a vacancy. It was a beautiful evening, and we found our tent to be quite cozy. There are two lamps by the bed for light, and rope lights by the table. We also had a charging station for recharging electronic devices. We have to say that this was a most comfortable pillow-top bed!

We had a private bathroom, even though it was a walk up the hill to get to it. The owner had finished it himself, and it was quite nice and very spacious.

The owner was a young man with a plan to a grow an adventure business on the lake property where he lived with his wife and children. They offer kayaking, ATV trips, and seafood boil ups. Just like in Newtown, Curtis told us that the number of people in this rural area is shrinking. The ranger program that helped to shape him as a child, was no longer available to today's young people. He told us of his efforts to start leadership programs for the children in the six area schools. He donates his time each week at each school, and has written his own curriculum. He told us that he was running for mayor of the town of New-Wes-Valley, and we're glad to report that he won! Again, our trip was enriched by meeting another Newfoundlander, who shared his life story with us. 

The sun was setting at 7:30. That's when the loons on the lake started calling. We love the song of the loon and it was great music to lull us to sleep! Based on the title of this blog, if you guessed that we spent the night camping in a tent out by a lake, you were absolutely right!