Twillingate
is known as the “Iceberg Capital,” but this year the icebergs went elsewhere and
by now most have melted. Glad we spotted them in other places.
Twillingate
is also known for coastal hiking trails. As we got out of the car at Lower Little
Harbour Trail a woman chatted with us and said she was born “down there.” In
the 1960s the Canadian government mandated that people in remote locations
relocate, so her father moved his house by boat(!) to a place more accessible
to town services (i.e. electricity and roads school buses could traverse). And
in 1992, the Canadian government issued a moratorium on cod fishing to allow
the depleted fish stock to repopulate, ending almost 500 years of cod fishing.
This devastated these coastal fishing communities, so the government also gave
grants to out-of-work fishermen to build hiking trails to attract tourists. Now
all that remains is hiking trails, dilapidated remnants of a few houses, and a
recent summer home powered by generator.
We
loved hiking this spectacular trail system. Barbara took the two spurs to the Natural Bridge and Jones’ Cove while Bill took
the more rugged trail between those two points. Here’s Bill at the Natural Bridge.
And
here are some other pics from the trail.
Bill
was amazed how quickly the trail changed from grassy headland, to mossy
rainforest-like woods, to cove.
The
rocks on the pebble beach were speckled.
We
met 2 families along the way: a B&B owner hiking with his visiting family
and a local taking his granddaughter on a boat ride. Newfoundlanders take the
time to talk.
We
topped off our day at a restaurant overlooking the harbor. Barbara had cod as
it’s the thing Newfoundland
is known for and Bill got a scallop sandwich. All the dishes had layers of
flavor -- here is our tasty salmon appetizer.
You
can see the water through the trees at our campsite, reminding Barbara of her
vacation home she had growing up.
A
beautiful spot!
