Running late in Newfoundland

Where there's always a story to slow you down — by Lorna Crozier

Transporting sheep to Isle de Bois, Newfoundland & Labrador / Photo by Dennis Flynn

The first thing you need to know if you’re planning a road trip through Newfoundland & Labrador: double your estimated time of arrival.

Not because signs along the roads warn you of moose (there are 100,000 of them on the island) and the day is sometimes mauzy (like driving through a bowl of milk).

Not because you’re busy falling under the spell of names like Come by Chance, Little Heart’s Ease, Old Perlican and Malady Head.

Not because you slow down to gawk at the dazzling coastline.

Canadian poets Patrick Lane and Lorna Crozier / Photo by Dennis Flynn

You’re late — if you’re keeping mainland time — because everywhere you stop, someone’s got a story. Newfoundlanders are famous for saying things exactly as they are, but they also love to spin a yarn.

Like photographer Dennis Flynn, who took most of the images you’ll see here — including the delightful lead photo which was taken near a lighthouse we get to visit.

We’re standing on the East Coast Trail‘s restored suspension bridge in the ghost village of La Manche. In 1966, a tidal swell swept away nearby buildings and the bridge. Flynn points to a rocky ledge where a house used to be.

When waves punched in the front door, he tells us, his friend’s grandfather tore across the room and threw open the back door — hoping the ocean would roar out like a rowdy, rum-soaked guest on his way to another party.

Photo by Dennis Flynn

Then there’s Marnie Parsons of Running the Goat Books in Tors Cove — an enchanting village that overlooks an island bird sanctuary located just off its coastline.

Photo by Dennis Flynn

She tells us that on dark nights, drawn like chubby moths to the lights of the houses, baby puffins beat their blunt wings across the nearby channel and drop to the streets, exhausted.

Around 2 a.m., Parsons says, members of the Puffin Patrol pluck the chicks from the ground and toss them aloft so they can batter their way back to the bird sanctuary. If you’re visiting between August and October, you can volunteer.

Photo courtesy Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism / Barrett & MacKay Photo

We also meet artist Clifford George in Whiteway. At his studio, this tall, effusive man shakes our hands and asks: “What stories do you want to hear?” That’s got to be Newfoundland’s motto.

George is the patron saint of Newfoundland ponies. “There’s nothing I’d rather be than a horse,” he says. His shaggy white hair and beard could be clippings from the mane of his thick-necked stallion, Skipper of Avalon.

Skipper’s ancestors crossed the ocean with the earliest Europeans and became a distinct breed, part of the daily lives of rural families and numbering in the thousands. A mare who comes to George’s call turns sideways to protect her foal. The seven-day-old beauty is a graceful, long-legged avatar of hope. Once, there were only 60 of her kind left; now she’s one of 500 spread across Canada.

We stay that night just down the road in Green’s Harbour at the serene, salubrious Doctor’s House Inn. After a meal prescribed by the chef — a Doctor of Delicious — we meet the property’s resident ponies, descendants of those raised by George. One of them, I swear, looks into me with George’s warm, intelligent eyes.

Photo by Patrick Lane for Toque & Canoe

 

The second thing you need to know about Newfoundland & Labrador? Local talk is salted with words like scrammed (numb with cold) and scad (flurry of snow). Like mauzy, these are weather termsbut the most crucial word on this island is fish.

To the rest of Canada, fish could mean halibut or salmon or red snapper or pickerel or trout. Here, fish is cod. And if you want to eat fish — back on the menu since the inshore fishery started again — you’ll tuck into filets, yes, but also tongues, cheeks and sounds (the cod’s air bladders). All of it comes with scrunchions, bite-sized pieces of fried pork fat. Yum!

Another confounding culinary term is lobster boil. At Mallard Cottage, a celebrated restaurant set in a heritage building just outside St. John’s, we discover that “boil” isn’t only the tail and claws cooked in boiling water — but lobster bisque, barbecued lobster, mussels with cream and bacon, and a large cast-iron pan of roasted veggies, beans and devilled eggs.

Brigus / Photo courtesy Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism / Barrett & MacKay Photo

At the North Street Café in Brigus, a coastal heritage village whose charm rivals any in Ireland or Wales, we come upon another term new to our cooking lexicon — partridge berries.

Because we’re too early for the moose stew bubbling in the oven, the owner, Debbie O’Flaherty, sends us away with a small tub of her red berry jam. “A bit sour,” she says, “but I adds some apple sauce and a secret.”

 

And here’s the final need-to-know in our travel guide. You may think you’re driving to the edges of the earth, but you’re not. You always end up at the start of something grand.

At the northern-most wind-scoured point on the Avalon Peninsula, we discover Grates Cove Studios and café owned by Courtney (originally from Chauvin, Louisiana) and her artist husband Terrence Howell.

They met in South Korea while both were teaching English, eventually lived together in Louisiana and then, post-Katrina, moved to the village that was Terrence’s great grandfather’s home.

For lunch, we order an inspired cod couvillion, a saucy marriage of New Orleans and Newfoundland with home-made bread to sop up the juice.

Photo by Dennis Flynn

The Ferryland Lighthouse is another surprising find. At the highest point of the cliff that lifts us above soaring gulls, we dig into a picnic basket a loving mother could’ve packed.

Ferryland Lighthouse Picnic employees / Photo by Dennis Flynn

In the dangerous waters below, a ship called the Torhamvan went aground in 1926. Ferryland fishermen saved the crew, but the cargo — soap, paint and macaroni (so much of it the beaches turned white) — was lost. At least that’s what the locals said.

A year later, all the houses gleamed with new paint and the townspeople, it was noted, had developed a taste for macaroni with their fish.

Towards the end of our visit in Newfoundland and Labrador, we stroll through a small village en route to catching the ferry to Fogo Island for our final two nights. A sign on the cutest post office in the world says: “Left at 10ish. Be back tomorrow.”

Maybe not tomorrow, but we’ll be back. We didn’t get our fill of fish and scrunchions, we’ve yet to meet a moose and, more importantly, what is it with those sea-faring sheep, noses to the air, in that small boat?

I’m dying to know the story.

 

 

Editor’s Note: This post was produced in an arms-length collaboration with Legendary Coasts and Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism. They did not review or edit this story before publication. For more stories written by Lorna Crozier, a Governor General Award-winning Canadian poet, check out Sidney B.C. by the Salish Sea, A Poet in the Great Bear Rainforest, Exploring Light’s Birthplace and Gobsmacked in Newfoundland & Labrador.

Founded by two Canucks on the loose in a big country, Toque & Canoe is a blog about Canadian travel culture.

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  1. L Lyons commented:

    Though it was this quote “Left at 10ish. Be back tomorrow.” at the end of the story that reinforced my desire to visit they lovely part of our country, the whole piece by Lorna Crozier gave me such a strong feeling of the beauty of this part of our country.
    Many thanks.

    Reply

  2. L Lyons commented:

    Though it was this quote “Left at 10ish. Be back tomorrow.” at the end of the story that reinforced my desire to visit this lovely part of our country, the whole piece by Lorna Crozier gave me such a strong feeling of the beauty of this part of our country.
    Many thanks.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Yes, at least one day this week, let’s put that sign on our doors.
      We need to go out and find our stories!

      Reply

  3. Jane Johnston commented:

    Fun read! Newfoundland is an enchanting place, somehow out of time, with stunning landscapes and friendly talkative people who delight with their unique use of language. The photo of the puffin reminded me of a shared laugh with a local who informed me puffins are also called ppf’s – piss poor flyers. This article is a fabulous reminder of why I loved going there – and why I very much wish to return.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks, Jane, for this new name for puffins. I won’t look at them the same way again.
      Wouldn’t you love to go to Tors Cove to help rescue them? I know you love art books. You have to go to Running the Goats Books to see their wonderful designs. For such a small press, they do amazing things.

      Reply

  4. Alma Lee commented:

    I have only been to Newfoundland once – this piece makes me want to go back and do more exploring. Very good piece and great photos.
    Alma Lee

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Newfoundland’s too big to visit only once. We just drove up the Avalon Peninsula. There’s a whole other side!

      Reply

  5. Charlene Diehl commented:

    Newfoundland has been on my wishlist for over three decades, and now I’m even more convinced. The photographs are spectacular, the lore is lively, and Lorna’s storytelling is a match for this storied part of the country. Thanks! I’m gonna share this one…

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Don’t wait another decade, Charlene. Newfoundland is like no other place I’ve ever been to.

      Reply

  6. Carol A. Stephen commented:

    Newfoundland sounds a colourful place both in its bright-painted villages and in its language. I’d love to go, perhaps when there’s no faffering wind, or mauzy weather. Then again, I imagine even the storms have their own beauty at times.

    Another great article, thanks, Lorna, and Toque & Canoe.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Carol. Don’t wait for perfect weather! There isn’t such a thing any more, is there? And you’re right, even in a fog, if your eyes can’t see, your heart takes over.

      Reply

  7. Kelsey Attard commented:

    Well, now I really need to go to Newfoundland. Can’t wait to discover some of those stories… And the scenery! Also, now I’m hungry.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      I’d like to meet you for another lobster boil at Mallard Cottage outside of St. John’s. I can’t get that meal out of my mind. And I didn’t even mention the desert! I thought readers would have to do an intervention and enroll me in an eats-to-much program. Good wine, too.

      Reply

  8. Rena Upitis commented:

    Now I REALLY have no excuse not to travel to Newfoundland, with this enticing description (OK, I admit, I’m a sucker for locally prepared food, and there are certainly no shortage of food “stories” in this piece!). On the heels of Gobsmacked in Newfoundland & Labrador, I’m thinking Lorna and Patrick must love it very much — two trips in close succession, when many of us don’t manage to see this beautiful part of our country even once. Time to check the calendar…

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Check out the photo of the suspension bridge again. It’s on the East Coast Trail–wouldn’t you love to hike that! I know you and your daughter are avid walkers. Maybe Newfoundland should be next on your list.

      Reply

  9. Liz Philips commented:

    Lovely, and word and story obsessed–all poets should tour Newfoundland and write love letters back to the rest of us.

    Reply

  10. Birgit Fuerst commented:

    LOVED Lorna Croziers article about Newfoundland. My longtime desire to visit there has been given an enormous boost with her colorful insights into the people, places and habits of Newfoundland. She had me right from the beginning with her descriptions of what might “slow you down”

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Next time, I’d like to slow down even more and stop at some of the must-see sites we had to miss. Like the famous gannet colony at Cape St. Mary’s. And the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, where you can see some of the oldest fossils on earth. Our one-week tour should have been a minimum of two. That’s what I’d recommend.

      Reply

  11. Lise Rochefort commented:

    Great article by Lorna Crozier! Makes me want to return to Newfoundland & Labrador ASAP. Even though I spent three weeks traveling, camping, visiting (& eating lots of lobster & cod cheeks) just a few summers ago, it makes me realize there’s still so much to see & experience. St Anthony & L’Ance-Aux-Meadows are great fun, amazing & educational as well. Still, Fogo Island is definitely on the list. Wonderful people and natural story tellers.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      I know what you mean, Lise. There’s still so much to see. One thing I want to do when we go again is take a boat to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve (where you have to try extra hard to keep your wits about you) to see the nesting puffins. Apparently sightings of minke and humpback whales are common.

      Reply

  12. Catherine Hunter commented:

    This travel piece on Newfoundland is like a luxurious little art gallery with a poet as tour guide! Thank you!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Oh, and the art in Newfoundland is so various and rich and found even in out-of-the-way places, like the work of Terrence Howell in Grates Cove Studios, a place we loved visiting. While you’re devouring the Newfoundland and New Orleans- inspired cuisine you can soak up the art all over the cafe and later buy, at the very least if you’re travelling light, a t-shirt with one of his designs.

      Reply

  13. Yen Lane commented:

    Brigus is absolutely breathtaking! The pictures and the wonderful piece by Lorna makes me want to visit and explore the East Coast. Especially given Canada’s special 150th celebration this year, it’s lovely to be reminded of our beautiful and diversified country!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks for this note, Yen. I’d like everyone from our far western Vancouver Island to make a pledge to go to Newfoundland and everyone from there to promise to come here. That kind of island-to-island journey might spin a long unbroken thread (maybe made of Pacific and Atlantic kelp and seaweed) to bind us fast together.

      Reply

  14. Susan Wismer commented:

    I have a hard time explaining to people who haven’t been there why I love this big island, where it is pouring rain on the west coast, prone to bitter winds on the east, a little bald across the middle, and prone to unfortunate encounters with giant land mammals in all places…..This article will help me….Oh, and I recommend highly a trip to Conche to see the French Shore Tapestry – so many stories, not only in the tapestry itself, but also in its provenance – one display case holds the scissors and needles of the local women who put in hours, days, weeks, months of work to create it ….
    http://www.frenchshoretapestry.com/en/intro.asp

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks so much, Susan, for bringing up Conche and the French Shore. Your description of the tapestry display is very poignant, the history of women made palpable. We have so little of that–I’m glad it’s preserved there.

      Reply

  15. Callista Markotich commented:

    I want to hear all those stories! A road trip in Newfoundland has been on our bucket list too, and this clinches it – a place where volunteers help little puffins back home!

    And I’m just thinking that recently macaroni is appearing with lobster in some great restaurants in my home town…where did they get that inspiration?

    Reply

  16. Jane Munro commented:

    Delightful! A captivating piece, and fun to read. Makes me want to go back — with more time to listen and look, taste and enjoy. If you haven’t already seen it, you might like Marlene Creates book: Brickle, Nish and Knobby: A Newfoundland Treasury of Terms for Ice and Snow. It’s full of photos and quirky words.

    Reply

  17. Jan Zwicky commented:

    Lorna, your delight in the spirit of the place is infectious. The deep humanity of Newfoundland culture, as well as its wry intelligence, shine in your account.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks for your comment, Jan. I know as an environmentalist you’d particularly enjoy Newfoundland’s wild culture, the puffins and the gannets and the whales. Let’s go together sometime and take those other special trips.

      Reply

  18. Angela Dillon commented:

    So enjoyed this superb article by Lorna Crozier. This is travel writing at its best—I feel as though I have been transported for a spell, clear across this great country of ours. More, please!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      It’s always great when someone asks for more. Like we did at the Doctor’s House Inn, even though we were full to the gills. Such fine dining on that island. Especially if you like “fish.”

      Reply

  19. Claudine Potvin commented:

    Very inspiring. Pictures and words made me feel like being there, meeting the people, feeling the air, smelling the sea, enjoying the colours of the “end of the world” or the beginning, touching the stones, hanging on the edge for centuries, above all savouring these mussels with cream and bacon.
    So beautiful, so full of promises. Lorna, the poet, makes it real.

    Reply

  20. Peter Coffman commented:

    Lovely evocation of a magical place and its people, thank you. It takes me back to a day about fifteen years ago, when Diane and I were in Nippers Harbour (‘nippers’ are mosquitoes, and, alas, ‘Nippers Harbour’ not just a picturesque nick-name). I was taking photos of the church for my research, and I noticed one of the locals checking us out from across the street. As he got closer and closer, I expected he’d come and interrogate us, and braced myself for some resentment of these nosy CFAs who were poking around.

    Wrong. His name was Cyril Fudge, and he had an accent as thick as a Newfoundland fog. And – you guessed it! – he had stories to tell. Next thing you know he was serving us tea in his house, offering us half of his dinner, and taking us to visit his late wife’s grave. If there is a more generous, open-hearted soul on earth I haven’t met him/her.

    We’ll be back, too.

    Reply

    • Carol A. Stephen commented:

      Story made me chuckle. Just last night on Just For Laughs, one of the comedians, Sean Majumder I think, was telling the audience about the stories and how easily they come. Even when you just ask for directions, there might be three stories about the folks who live between you and where you want to go!

      Love it!

      Reply

  21. John Lane commented:

    What a marvellous journey. What a beautiful province. I am hoping to be able walk those rocky headlands and tiny outposts some day.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, John. You’ll be pleased to know that not once did Patrick say, “This reminds me of the Okanagan.” He’s said that about almost every other place we’ve been.

      Reply

  22. Linda commented:

    Oh my! Thank you ever so much Lorna Crozier for this lovely story of Newfoundland. The prose and photographs conjure up images of Newfoundland’s interesting and charming people and its magnificent landscape. This is what is so great about Toque and Canoe – we are reminded of just how beautiful our country is and even though we might not able to visit Newfoundland, Toque and Canoe brings this story along with its accomplished writers and photographers to us wherever we live.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Toque and Canoe is really filling in a gap, isn’t it, bringing Canada to Canadians. I so admire the editorial decisions and the places Kim Gray brings to us. I also admire the new connections with First Nations tourism. There are so many places we can go to within our own huge country!

      Reply

  23. Carl Tracie commented:

    What an amazing account. Lorna’s beautifully evocative words and Dennis Flynn’s stunning photography combine to whet the appetite for a slow tour of this striking landscape and its friendly folk.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Carl. I know you’re from the Prairies as I am. Do you think Newfoundlanders “outfriendly” Prairie folk. I’m afraid the islanders might win.

      Reply

  24. Sandra Davies commented:

    Good to see your face, Lorna, and bits of Patrick. Newfoundland and Labrador is my favorite place on earth and I dream of returning soon. The photos have captured everything I love about this mystical, magical land of sea, cliff and forest. And PEOPLE – the fisherman who tossed us a lobster, wishing us a successful effort “at the boil”; another who took us fishing (yikes) on the busy ocean and gave the first-caught cod to us (it was delicious!). And all at no cost – just fun, including very specific directions for the cooking. The stunning views of whales breaching, The pubs in St. John’s. Church suppers with people we didn’t know, then did. But, like you – not a moose to be found. It is my dream to return. Thank you for this beautiful piece of story – written and photographed. It got my heart.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Sandra. Oh, I’m envious of your seeing whales breaching. Where were you? I need to get there.

      Reply

  25. Margo Farr commented:

    Oh Lorna, Your captivating words, along with the images, are so evocative of this place I’ve never been. Thank you so much for capturing the culture and the environment, and for sharing it in all its raw beauty. I am left hungry for more, and longing to be there!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks for your note, Margo. It’s a long flight from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, but it’s worth it. Spend more time than we did,though, or you’re longing to see more will never go away.

      Reply

  26. Pam Terry commented:

    Fabulous travelogue with amazing photos. I definitely will make a plan to visit Newfoundland soon. Thank you so much for this excellent article.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Pam. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Isn’t Dennis a great photographer? He’s a good storyteller too.

      Reply

  27. Anne-Marie commented:

    I’ve wanted to visit Newfoundland for so many years, but have never made it further east than the Gaspe. This country is so huge and beautiful! I’d love to do a road trip to Tors Cove to see the puffins. Thank you so much for this article. What whimsical, lovely descriptions!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Ah, yes, the puffins. And don’t forget Runnning the Goats press and books store in Tors Cover too. And you’ll want to walk at least part of the East Coast Trail,which runs near.

      Reply

  28. Annie Deeley commented:

    Oh my. Words and photos that awaken all the senses. I am now chilly, hungry, and very much wanting to be in those photos! Thank you Lorna and Dennis ! And Toque and Canoe!

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Annie. Toque and Canoe sure opens up our country for us, doesn’t it? It has put so many places on my must-visit map, including the human rights museum in Winnipeg. Have you been there yet? Check out the article listed below. Last time I was in Winnipeg I just saw the outside of it–what amazing architecture–because it wasn’t open yet.

      Reply

  29. Phyllis Nakonechny commented:

    Lorna Crozier’s words create a warm and magical place. I have added scrammed to my list of weather words… here on the Saskatchewan prairie I know what it is to be numb with cold. One of my favourite lines: Clifford George’s “There’s nothing I’d rather be than a horse.” I have long remembered the scene in the classic Little Women film when June Allyson as Jo says much the same thing: “I wish I was a horse.” Thanks, Lorna, for taking me on this visit to Newfoundland.

    Reply

  30. Fiona commented:

    What a wonderful description of a wonderful trip! I’ve wanted to go to Newfoundland & Labrador for years. Loved the descriptions of the lingo and especially the fish, the lobster, the partridge berries and the yet to be tasted bubbling moose stew….

    Reply

  31. Angie Abdou commented:

    Two of my favourite authors in one of my favourite places – great article! Now I want to go. Can I go with Lorna and Patrick? Thanks for the great work you do, Toque & Canoe.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Angie. And you live in Fernie. After all the things I’ve read about it in Toque & Canoe, I can’t wait to see it for real, too. In your company.

      Reply

  32. maxine commented:

    I am a Newfoundlander living away as we say, I go home lots, my brother catches the cod and cooks for us I miss home, we have such a beautiful Country I have seen lots of it, every person should go to Newfoundland at least once, you will be amazed.

    Reply

  33. Bonita commented:

    Interesting read, born and breed in this beautiful province,, I never get tired of stories about My home..

    Reply

  34. Ruth McKinney commented:

    The more I read, the faster I want to get there. Newfoundland, the only province I’ve never visited. Looks like I left the best till the last. That’s Ok,now I have more time.

    It just took the look on the sheeps’ faces to make my blood pressure drop. They look like they are out for a usual Sunday drive!

    All this and stories too. See you soon.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Ruth. I know you’re going to Fogo! Let me know how it turns out. I still have dreams about our room at the Inn. It’s as if you’re sleeping with your feet in the ocean.

      Reply

  35. MarissaDW commented:

    I’ve had neighbours visited Newfoundland but they haven’t convinced me to go, until I read your story. You have a way with words and photos to match your storytelling. We’ve been, as far east to Prince Edward Island and I’m thinking it’s time to slowdown and plan a trip to Newfoundland. Your storytelling is beckoning me to Newfoundland and Labrador.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Ah, Marissa. Thanks so much for your words. Wait till you hear the stories you’ll come upon when you get there.

      Reply

  36. Laura Apol commented:

    Another wonderful marriage of photos, story, and place—this time particularly strong on story about stories. It’s always such a pleasure to read Lorna’s accounts at Toque & Canoe. Each time, she adds another place to my ever-growing list of Canadian “must-visits.” (Except that bridge; it looks terrifying.)

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      The trick with bridges like that is not to look between your feet, but keep your gaze on the far shore. Then anyone can cross, unless you have a serious phobia, of course.

      Reply

  37. Darrell commented:

    Colourful writing, really enjoyed it.
    Not sure about these sheep but, in Newfoundland and probably in other parts close to the ocean, animals are brought out to nearby islands to graze for the summer, fencing is cheap that way. 🙂 Here in Lumsden on the Northeast coast several goats were brought out to Souther’ Island last week and not sure if the cows are out there yet, will have to look tomorrow. 🙂

    Darrell Goodyear

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Darrell. So the animals get a seaside vacation on one of the beautiful islands in the world. Doesn’t sound bad to me.

      Reply

  38. Colleen macBean commented:

    Toque and Canoe is a most amazing site – full of wonderful stories about our beautiful country. I hope thousands of folks will become acquainted with it – it is indeed a celebration of Canada. Thanks for what you are doing!

    Reply

    • toque & canoe commented:

      Hi Colleen. Our base of followers is growing steadily by the day so we are indeed reaching thousands of Canadians on all of our platforms. We turn 6 on Canada Day and we’re going strong! Many thanks for your comment and for following along on our adventures. Toque & Canoe

      Reply

  39. Karen W commented:

    Great article on Newfoundland by Lorna Crozier. I look forward to visiting that area of Canada one day.

    Reply

  40. Zhao Si commented:

    Whoa! What a nature place in this world but with so many interesting human stories! Thanks for tell us all these things, Lorna. I love the island motto “what stories do you want to hear?” “Any story,” I’ll say. In this Sep, I’ll start from Beijing and go to participate Trois-Rivieres international poetry festival, and it seems not so far away from wonderful Newfoundland in vast Canada. But since I hope to hear many stories, hehe, I’d better go next time and purely enjoy island life there.

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Thanks, Zhao Si, for dropping in from Beijing. I hope you get to make it to Nfd. but Trois-Rivieres will tickle your fancy, too.

      Reply

  41. Anne Green commented:

    I loved this piece on Newfoundland; it’s several years since my last visit and I have been fantasizing about a late summer trip so this couldn’t have been more timely! So captured the spirit of what I remember in Lorna’s inimitable way.
    I was happy to be introduced to Toque and Canoe and look forward to the chance to delve into it in the future .

    Reply

    • Lorna Crozier commented:

      Hi, Anne. What I love about our country is that we can stay home in our own provinces and discover amazing things ( as I know you can in Alberta), but if we want to roam, we don’t have to leave the country to be spellbound by what’s here.

      Reply

  42. Renee Woodsend commented:

    I just love Lorna’s conversational, story telling style! It’s like hearing the highlights of a friend’s travel adventure over a leisurely cup of coffee together.
    I’ve longed to visit Newfoundland. This may be the year.

    Reply

  43. Linda MacKinnon commented:

    Lorna Crozier uses words to carve a scene to tangible you can touch it, taste and smell it and be there yourself.

    Reply

  44. Doris Magwood commented:

    I have wanted to visit Newfoundland mostly all my life. I remember when Canada took your Island into our loving care. I know many Newfies and I love them all. One that allures me is a trip on a luxury cruise from one point to another. I am to old to go now. I am a widow in my eighties. But, I am not to old to dream. My email is
    Doris.magwood @gmail.com Thanks

    Reply

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