We left Gander and are now in Clarenville, and have about 200 more tour bus miles behind us. We spent a little (too little) time in the beautiful Terra Nova National Park, a boreal forest ecosystem on the Clode Sound.
At the overlook we grazed on wild blueberries which are in great abundance (Yes, our park guide actually encouraged us to do so!). The berries are Newfoundland’s homegrown candy, and we have not had a day without one or another of the berries in a meal or dessert. I wish we’d had time to hike or walk a little further into this park because it really is spectacular. The interpretive center did give me a chance to take a photo of cod, though they in an aquarium:
These two are pretty small. Just as I’ve eaten berries every day, I also think most days I’ve had cod for a lunch or dinner.
We drove to the quaint town of Trinity for lunch and an afternoon history stroll. Trinity has a beautiful setting too, on a sheltered cove that made it a safe harbor for a major British fishery starting in the 1500s. The most wealthy merchant of the town, with 28 ships, would spend summers in Newfoundland, but return to Britain in the off season each year. The town once had 2000 residents but is small now, and only began to realize its potential as a tourist destination in the past few decades.
We learned about the town and their efforts to restore some of the historic buildings. We walked to St. Paul’s Anglican Church, which was hand built by volunteers who were more familar with buildng ships than churches. The inside feels like the hull of a beautiful ship.
As you can tell, we had a beautiful, late summer day for the visits today. To me, the landscape of Newfoundland is spectacular because of how vivid the colors are. The rock is dark, the sky is deep blue and big, with white clouds, and the plants are dark green. I’ve been struck by how neat and clean the houses look– not weathered at all. In some areas they must have been sided in vinyl pretty recently– all the siding looks similar and really neatly trimmed without visible seams. But even painted houses look really clean and in good repair.
Our lodging tonight has a hot tub, and it felt really good to be in the warm water with the cool night air moving in, after the long hours on the coach.
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