Oh, Bonavista!

Newfoundland and Labrador seems to have more than its fair share of beautiful little towns and villages, but one of the most striking is Bonavista. Located at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula, less than two hours north of the Trans Canada Highway at Clarenville, the town sprawls over 31 square km (12 sq. mi.), much of it mixed residential and commercial. Its busy harbour, protected by a breakwater, is used not only by local fishing boats but by pleasure craft as well -- it's well sheltered, making for some wonderfully scenic reflections. Located at the edge of the harbour is Ryan Premises National Historic Site , a group of restored fish processing and storage buildings that provide an excellent look at the history of the town and the fishery that drove its economy. 

A short distance away at the tip of the cape lies the historic Cape Bonavista Lighthouse with its distinctive red and white paint pattern. From the cliffs here, it's possible to see feeding whales in summer, or observe nesting puffins at close range.

The rest of the Bonavista Peninsula is as welcoming and as scenic as the town itself -- places like Trinity, Port Rexton, Amherst Cove, Spillar's Cove, Keels, Red Cliff and Plate Cove are waiting to be explored!

The Horses of Cape Bonavista

Until relatively recently, common grazing ground was found in most of the small communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. Horses and ponies, sheep, goats in in some cases cattle all grazed on community pastureland, ranging at will. If fences were constructed, they served not to keep animals in, but to keep them out of the immediate areas around the houses or vegetable gardens. Today, with less reliance on family farms and fewer people following a traditional rural lifestyle, that community pastureland is fast disappearing. There are a handful of communities, about thirty, where the practice continues and Bonavista is one of them. The community pasture is located on a small peninsula or cape, and a public road leading to the Dungeon Provincial Park runs through the middle of it. The area is fenced, and at the points where the road goes through these fences, cattle grids have been installed. Cattle, sheep and horses all graze here: the curious horses sometimes approaching people who stop for a photo -- like these three.

Iceberg Season Drifts Into View

April, May and June are prime iceberg-watching season in Newfoundland and Labrador,since this is the time of year when these northern giants drift south on the Labrador current after spending the winter frozen into the sea ice.  They'll gradually break free as the ice begins to break up, and move with the current to the shores of Labrador and then the island of Newfoundland. Their pace is slow and stately, befitting to the offspring of glaciers, and like most youngsters they move much more quickly than their parents. They move at the speed of the current, getting the occasional boost from favourable breezes if the berg is tall enough to act as a sail. They come in all shapes and sizes, from growlers the size of a cottage to massive,

floating islands of ice like those that calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier in 2010 and 2012. They heave into view in the distance and inch to the south each day, but changes in wind direction can play tricks: one berg that had grounded on the south side of Bay Bulls (near St. John's) last spring suddenly freed itself drifted out of sight to the north before abruptly changing direction and moving south, ending up in Ferryland by the next morning. Bergs are often at their most spectacular as they begin to break up; the centre of gravity shifts as a result of erosion from sun, wind and water, and suddenly the massive weight of the berg can no longer support itself and a huge section will crack off, or the entire berg will roll and chunks of ice will fly in arcs to the water. It's important to treat these ice giants with respect, but they can certainly provide some wonderful viewing opportunities.

Courage and Patience and Grit

Songwriter Mark Walker was born in Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, in 1846. A fisherman who also served as the first postmaster in the community of Sweet Bay, Walker penned several of modern-day Newfoundland and Labrador's favourite songs, among them "Fanny's Harbour Bawn", "The Girls of Sweet Bay", "The Antis of Plate Cove" (about the forces that opposed Confederation with Canada), and "Down by Jim Long's Stage", but perhaps his best-known and most-beloved song was "Tickle Cove Pond", a song that tells the tale of an incident that took place in Tickle Cove in the spring of the year.  It was first recorded by Canadian folksinger Allan Mills in 1963. To listen to a recording of the song performed by Jesse Ferguson, click here. The lyrics follow. 

In cuttin' and haulin', in frost and in snow

We're up against troubles that few people know

And it's only by courage and patience and grit

And eatin' plain food that we keep ourselves fit

The hard and the easy we take as it comes

And when ponds freeze over we shorten our runs

To hurry my haulin' with spring coming on

Near lost me a mare out on Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus:

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William White

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And give me a lift with poor Kit on the pond

I knew that the ice became weaker each day

But still took the risk and kept haulin' away

One evening in April bound home with a load

The mare showed some halting against the ice road

She knew more than I did as matters turned out

And lucky for me had I joined her in doubt

She turned round her head, with tears in her eyes

As if she were sayin', "You're riskin' our lives"

All this I ignored with a whip handle blow

For man is too stupid; dumb creatures to know

The very next moment the pond gave a sigh

And down to our necks went poor Kitty and I

Chorus

For if I had taken wise Kitty's advice

I never would take the shortcut on the ice

Poor creature she's dead; poor creature she's gone

I'll ne'er get my mare out of Tickle Cove Pond

Chorus

So I raised an alarm you could hear for a mile

And neighbours turned up in a very short while

You can always rely on the Overs* and Whites

To render assistance in all your bad plights

To help a poor neighbour is part of their lives

The same I can say for their children and wives

When a bowline was fastened around the mare's breast

William White for a shanty song made a request

There was no time for thinkin', no time for delay

Straight from his head came this song right away

Chorus Final

Lay hold William Over, lay hold William W

Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might

Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can

And with that we brought Kit out of Tickle Cove Pond

 

*It seems the surname Oldford, often associated with this song, is not one of long standing in Tickle Cove.  The name Over, originally Ovier, was referred to in the song when it was penned by Walker.  Reference.

A Place Called Salvage

At the northern edge of Terra Nova National Park, Route 310 leads along the Eastport Peninsula to the town of Salvage. This little community is noted for its red-ochre sheds and outbuildings, often reflected in the still waters of its harbour. The name is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable: sal-VAGE. Like the other communities on the peninsula, this village was settled in the late eighteenth century by emigrants from the West Country of England who came here to pursue the Cod fishery.  Icebergs are frequently sighted from here in the spring, and in fact they often ground close inshore when conditions are right. Salvage is an especially picturesque little community, and located on the shores of Doctor's Pond are two typical "saltbox" houses that are among the most-photographed buildings in the province. There's something quintessentially Newfoundland about these houses, and they seem irresistible to almost anyone who arrives with camera in hand. I love the smaller details of Salvage, though, like the simple, utilitarian rope latch on a rough-hewn door
or the stacks of lobster and crab traps on the wharves. There's a fish plant that's a bustling hive of activity during caplin or squid season, and a small museum that recreates the life of a fisherman's family within the context of the community, but apart from a post office, few other services can be found here. No matter: a side trip to Salvage is well worth the drive, and the quiet beauty of its simple architecture clinging tenaciously to the rocky shore will find a way to capture the heart.