Twillingate (circled in red on the map) is part of the Newfoundland iceberg alley. In fact I stayed at the Iceberg Alley B&B – in my opinion it’s 5*+ if you ever get to Twillingate! – but alas, still no icebergs in sight. Apparently this year was not a great iceberg year. And apparently tides and winds combined to deprive the alley of any icebergs last year! At least I got to squint at one in St. Anthony.
Picturesque Twillingate is spread around a bay that does not appear to be home to many fishing boats. It is, however, what I imagined Newfoundland to be – colourful with lots of character.
Along the road from Twillingate is Durrell, itself picturesque in the early morning light. I was particularly taken by the Twillingate Performing Arts Centre, housed in an old church complete with graveyard in front and boldly advertising COLD BEER!
I spent a day with a guide on Fogo Island which the Flat Earth Society claims is one of the four corners of the earth. In the 1950s when Premier Smallwood pressed for modernization of the cod fishery, he apparently encouraged small fishers to “burn your boats” which at least one Fogo Islander did and then moved away, rather than toughing it out with his neighbours.
Now Zita Cobb, the daugher of the burned-boat-Islander, has returned and built the very exclusive, very expensive (min $2.5K per night for a minimum of 3 nights) Fogo Island Inn which feels like a poke in the eye to my guide and his ilk. Zita’s marketing has been very effective. She claims to have saved Fogo Island from certain demise and has, to her credit, put Fogo Island on the map. But my guide, at least a third generation Islander, takes umbrage at the demise claim. It denigrates the contribution of the “old ones” (my guide’s term) in creating a vibrant community before Zita’s arrival and I sense the old ones (and their sons!) feel like they are “in bed with an elephant.” Resentment vibrates off him when he talks about the Inn; he says opinion amongst the Islanders is split but probably slightly his way. I was empathetic and I confess his outlook coloured my tour and made Fogo Island less than the magical experience I expected it to be.
I will leave you with some Newfoundland music I enjoyed at the Twillingate Dinner Theatre. Tourism is indeed coming back. All 180 seats were filled.
Onward to puffins and Trinity!
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