Friday, August 30th – in Maine
Finding myself at the Blue Hills Library again for a few hours today. I’d prefer stay overnight here in Blue Hills but there are no viable inexpensive places to stay. And parking on a side street in small towns can draw attention. It’s just a half hour drive from Ellsworth so I spent a second night at the, yup, it’s true, the Walmart parking lot in Ellsworth last night. Which affords me to splurge and spend two nights at “Oceanfront Camping at Reach Knolls” further down the peninsula on this Labor Day Weekend! Now, back to Newfoundland:
Wednesday, July 31st – in Newfoundland
Darn! Scraped a bit of orange paint onto Lulu as I maneuvered out of the rain-rutted road at Sea Breeze Park. But onward ho: I wanted to drive the Road to the Beaches coastline route today even though I’m not terribly fond of sandy beach walking. Therefore I didn’t mind that rain came down all morning as I drove past the lovely-to-look-at beaches. The small towns along this drive were mostly just a gathering of homes, perhaps a small grocery or hardware. The rain did not cool the temperatures from yesterday and last night. It became 85 degrees at 3pm with 96% humidity. An uncomfortable day. Nevertheless I wandered into Newtown and the Barbour Living Heritage Museum around noon. I enjoyed a short nap to the sound of soft rain on the rooftop before venturing out for a look-see. And waa-la! it stopped raining! So I took a tour.
Photos are of the “Restored heritage properties of the Barbours, a prominent merchant family in the coastal Province of Labrador and Newfoundland” It was a ‘guided’ tour with the guide dressed in period costume. However, the young guide appeared to be there just to make sure visitors didn’t touch anything. I was the only visitor on this tour.Although she answered as best she could my initial questions, it was apparent she’d rather be somewhere else 🙁 It was all rather strange. Old homes, no matter how well they’re restored, can sometimes feel creepy. This one felt creepy to me. Hmmm. I’ve heard Newfoundland & Labrador is a province steeped in a rich tapestry of ghostly legends. Intriguing.
There appear to be different points of views regarding merchants in the 1800’s fishing industry. They credited fishers and their families with all the goods needed for fishing and living and were paid at season’s end in fish. If fishing wasn’t lucrative – whether it’s a low catch or the going prices were low – the fishermen might not see any profit from a season. Or worse, the season wouldn’t produce enough to cover all the costs in which case the family became indebted to the merchant which could be difficult to overcome. Yet without the merchants much needed supplies could not be secured. There is no doubt being a merchant was lucrative business.
Tickle is an endearing term and is used throughout the island to identify certain types of waterways. Also some businesses use it in their business names, like the raincoat I purchased from Dark Tickle. However, when referring to waterways, one can imagine the danger for transiting vessels and the necessary adherence to tidal fluctuations it demands.
TICKLE: In Newfoundland English, a tickle is defined as: “A narrow salt-water strait, as in an entrance to a harbour or between islands or other land masses, often difficult or treacherous to navigate because of narrowness, tides, etc; or a ‘settlement’ adjoining such a passage.” This photo is of a tickle taken at high tide.
Photo is of Saint Luke Anglican Church and cemetery in Newtown, an easy walk from the Barbour properties. Beautiful, charming, historic. This type of sight can be found all over the island of Newfoundland.
It was getting to be late afternoon when I began to consider where Lulu and I might spend the night. Departing the Village of Barbour I stopped at a small grocery to replenish ice where Randy struck up a conversation with me in the parking lot. He was attracted to Lulu as he and his wife had just purchased a Roadtrek, similar to a Pleasure-Way van like Lulu and it has problems: with the transmission, just like Lulu. We had much to discuss and he was a talker. Ultimately, prefacing it with “I don’t want to sound creepy but” he invited me to park in their driveway for the night. The conversation was great, and I was tempted. Newfoundland hospitality is well-known. But I was much too hot and sticky from the day and exhausted with talk so had to decline. But we have kept in touch. I hope there’ll be a next time!
Newfoundlanders are friendly, interesting and interested, informative, helpful and some of them REALLY love to talk. This cup sums it up!
Those who have roots on The Rock continue to be in large part a reason visiting Newfoundland is so gratifying and memorable.
The day ends at a campground in Terra Nova National Park. It’s still humid but there’s enough of a breeze at my campsite to keep mosquitoes from landing. And there’s showers here to get refreshed and cool off!