More fun facts about Newfoundland

You're probably pronouncing it incorrectly. I was taught to say NEW-fun-lənd, with the vowel in “land” smooshed into a schwa, as in Iceland or Scotland. But Newfoundlanders say New-fun-LAND, with an emphasis on the last syllable, and no wishy-washy schwa. The hint to remember the correct pronunciation is I understand Newfoundland.

 I've also heard Labrador pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, but it varies, so probably no one will be offended if you continue to say LAB-rador.

These equally fun primary colors were also in Woody Point, in Gros Morne National Park.

Urban poetry

OK, not in any sense urban maybe, but the sign over the door does welcome you to Downtown Woody Point, so I'm going to count it.

I spent a very pleasant half hour in this establishment, sipping a coffee by the window. It was a welcome bit of down time in yet another busy day which involved a lot of geology in the rain. I did have time to explore the sights of Woody Point, which as in most Newfoundland towns consist of a lighthouse, some boats, and a lot of seabirds.

Have I mentioned the scenery?

Here's a sample -- this view, near Elliston, is typical of the rocky eastern coast.

I'm on the west coast now after a long drive across the island today. We're staying in a town with the improbable name of Cow Head, in Gros Morne National Park. It rained all afternoon, so all I've seen of the park so far is shadowy gray mountains fading into the distance on one side of the road and gray ocean on the other.

Serenity

This beautiful cemetery overlooking the sea is in Twillingate, on an island in Notre Dame Bay in northeastern Newfoundland.

It was another very busy day, with two museums, a winery, a lighthouse, and making partridgeberry jam over an open fire on the beach. I'm very impressed with myself for managing to post even one photo.

Fun facts about Newfoundland

I have probably taken a hundred pictures of the houses here. This one from yesterday was near Elliston, where we stopped to see more puffins.

I will write about my adventures in detail when I get home; the history we're learning and the culture we're experiencing deserves more time than I have right now. Last night I kissed a cod, and did the Mexican hat dance in a community center; obviously my wild Newfoundland social life is going to take priority.

So here's a fun fact: Newfoundland didn't become part of Canada until 1949. Before that it was a British colony. Labrador, the non-island part of the province, didn't get name recognition until 2001, when the province name was changed from Newfoundland to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Really, I'm still in Newfoundland

There's been very little time for posting or going through pictures, but here's a lovely pastoral scene from Trinity Bay yesterday. We had dinner there, then saw a musical from the Rising Tide Theatre company, then stayed for fireworks celebrating Trinity's annual festival.

So it was after ten when we left to drive back to Port Union. I was half-dozing, looking out the bus window at the dark featureless highway, enjoying the way my mind was wandering to surprising places, when suddenly the bus swerved and braked and there were screams from the front. A moose had suddenly appeared in front of the bus, but our unflappable driver Daphne managed to avoid hitting it. I was definitely wide awake after that.

Bonus bird blogging

Another puffin. I got better pictures of some of the other birds, but I can't resist those little clown faces.

Sunday bird blogging

A puffin in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve.

We drove up the coast from St. John's to Port Union yesterday, stopping for a cruise in Witless Bay. We didn't see any whales, but there were thousands of seabirds, including these adorable creatures.  It was overcast and the boat was bouncing around so my pictures aren't that sharp but I think the cuteness shines through.

Another view from Signal Hill

From a slightly different angle, you can't even tell that there's a harbor there.

Unfortunately we didn't get much sun today -- a forecast of partly sunny in Newfoundland apparently means that a few square inches of blue will occasionally poke through what is otherwise an uninterrupted expanse of gray. But at least it wasn't raining.

The Narrows

Here's another view of the entrance to St. John's harbor taken from Signal Hill today. You can see why it's called the Narrows. 

Greetings from St. John's, Take 2

The entrance to St. John's harbor, seen in evening light yesterday.

I resolved my technical issues, and there will be photos when time and wi-fi allow. Tonight the wi-fi is barely two bars, and after two long bus rides across parts of St. John's tourists rarely see, I'm also pretty feeble. I did not expect that the highlight of my first day in Newfoundland would be a Best Buy.

Greetings from St. John's

I'm in Newfoundland -- or am I?

You'll have to take my word for it, as there won't be any photographic evidence, at least for today, possibly not until I get back to New York.

I'd been congratulating myself on how smoothly this trip had gone so far -- how clever I'd been to fly to Montreal last night and stay in the hotel in the terminal before continuing on to St. John's today, how I'd managed to pack enough clothes for a two and a half week trip into a carry-on sized suitcase. So of course it turns out I managed to forget one tiny but critical piece of equipment -- the adaptor that connects the USB ports on my Mac to the USB plugs on every other electronic device. (Because of course the newer Macs aren't compatible with the rest of the world; even my iPhone needs the adaptor to connect to my laptop.)

I'll try to find an adaptor here tomorrow. If I can't, photo posting will be limited to phone pictures until I'm back home.