Dates travelled: August 26-28, 2018
We went to Twillingate because it’s supposed to be one of the best places to see icebergs, but before we went on our iceberg quest we found out that late August was too late. It had been a particularly poor year for seeing icebergs anyway.
That was all well and good because the airbnb was fantastic: a tiny house that was carried by over 100 people from a nearby relocated community. From the mid 1950s to the mid 70s, there was a re-settlement policy in Newfoundland to make the population more concentrated. With everything so spread out, it’s difficult for service provision and delivery. This I guess is one of the most controversial Canadian government policies, but before visiting Newfoundland, I had never heard of it.
The airbnb had its own section of beach, where we had a fire. One of my favourite things was hearing the waves through the open bathroom window every time I went pee.
We went to a berry winery, which was good but eventually I got sick of how sweet it was. The only good beer in Newfoundland was at a new brewery there (split rock), which I was a bit surprised by, since the east coast is associated with drinking. Twillingate was the first town in which I tried toutons, which I blame for a large part of the weight I gained on the trip.
The first night there, a couple dozen cars were in a parking lot off the main intersection to hear a troupe of old women sing religious songs. On the first mention of Jesus we sped off. In the same parking lot, the next day some guy parked his car and put several cans of bakeapple that he brought over from Labrador. I had bakeapple jam when there, which was amazing, but I couldn’t quite stomach the high prices for the delicacy from the hood of this man’s car.
We didn’t check out the hiking until our way out of town – we had already done a lot of hiking on the trip, and we were on our way to Gros Morne to do a lot more – but I do wish I took the proper time to undertake a full exploration of Nanny’s Hole.
No matter where I am in the world, I always seem obsessed with endings.
It was a town full of cottages and bnbs, which led me at least once to look longingly at housing prices, which were relatively inexpensive. It didn’t seem like people had much to do there other than wait for tourists, and eventually, retirement.
On trips of over two weeks like the one we had, having a spot in the middle to relax and watch the water and attempt to make a beach fire made the rest of the trip more enjoyable. I don’t know that it’s a destination in and of itself, but it’s a good spot to rest and be quiet for a couple of days, like a mid-trip siesta.
describing space 