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On our most recent trip to Central Newfoundland we were focusing on seeing places and doing activities that we had not done before. We had been very impressed with the Barbour Living Heritage Village in Newtown and were blown away with the scenery, hiking and beaches on the Eastport Peninsula (see previous blogs). We then turned our attention to Terra Nova National Park (http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/terranova/index.aspx) and decided to head to the Visitor’s Centre where the staff suggested doing the 3.5 km hike (1 way) to Buckley Cove.

Central Newfoundland is a huge area of scenic coastlines and large inland rivers. One place we have spent very little time is the Eastport Peninsula adjacent to Terra Nova National Park (TNNP). Our only other previous visit was restricted to a night of camping at Malady Head in TNNP many years ago so we decided that another visit was in order. So in early August, 2012 we arrived the Prints of Whales Bed and Breakfast (www.theprintsofwhalesinn.com) in Sandringham around 5:00 pm.

Daniel Payne is a well known musician from Cow Head who is in demand as a performer across the province. In fact, when we saw his Gros Morne Summer Music performance on Tuesday, August 7 he told us he had just arrived from the St. John’s Folk Festival just before the show was to start. He had planned on getting to the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre earlier than 7:50 pm (for his 8:00 pm show!) but there was fog on the Avalon Peninsula to which he said “That is no surprise” but then he got a flat tire just outside of Grand Falls “and that was a surprise”.

Over the past several years we have been making more trips to explore Central Newfoundland. Last year we enjoyed our first ever visit to Conne River and seeing other places on the Connaigre Peninsula along the south coast of the province. This year we decided to head to Newtown on the northeast coast with the specific goal of visiting the Barbour Living Heritage Village. Not only had we never been along this shore but the Barbour Living Heritage Village is also featured on the cover of this year’s Newfoundland tourism map and booklet.

The Salmonid Interpretation Centre is located just outside Grand Fall-Windsor on the Exploits River. The Exploits River is 246 km long making it the longest river on the island and it has a large salmon run. There is a fish ladder at the Salmonid Interpretation Centre which was built to help salmon bypass the falls on the Exploits River. Here they have an interpretation centre which features underwater viewing windows so that you can see the salmon swim past. Outside of the centre you can walk over grates that cover the fish ladder and you can watch salmon leap up over various obstacles.

One focus of Gros Morne Summer Music (GMSM) for this year is Andrew Lloyd Webber who is best known for creating some of the best known musicals of the last 40 years. Musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat are just some of his creations....

“Elvis and Mavis” has many themes that will resonate with people from Newfoundland where the tug of the big city dreams runs full tilt into the living in the province’s rural areas. And in the 1990’s when this play is set, the cod fishery is gone so trying to earn a living in Newfoundland’s outports is harder than ever. Elvis (Colin Furlong) has just lost his job at the Roddickton fish plant and is frustrated with the general loss of control of Newfoundland’s resources so he decides to blow up the dam at Churchill Falls unless the unfair contract with Quebec can be renegotiated.

On our most recent trip to Central Newfoundland, we decided to bring our golf clubs to check out the golf courses in Grand Falls and Gander. Over the past few years we have begun to make more trips to Central Newfoundland since we have realized it has much more to offer than you might think. Our first stop was the Grand Falls golf course which is conveniently located right on the Trans Canada Highway just outside of town.

f you want to go cod fishing from a traditional Newfoundland dory then you need to contact Darren Park. Darren is a top notch guide and operates 2 Newfoundland dories for tours of the Goose and Penguin Arm and is based in Cox’s Cove at the end of the North Shore highway (highway 440) near Corner Brook. His dory fishing trips are unique in the province and are very popular during the recreational cod fishery which runs from July 21-August 12, 2012.

The Central Newfoundland whale pavilions, a truly beautiful place, revealing the absolute beauty of our back yard mammals. With twenty-two different species of whales living in our waters, the Central Newfoundland whale pavilions in Triton and Kings Point take full advantage of what nature has brought to our shores. The Huxter family takes a quick dive into what is offered and takes time to investigate the marvelous creatures.

Gros Morne Summer Music (GMSM) has just started its summer season and has a full schedule of performances that will run until August 26, 2012. On Mondays in Corner Brook and Saturdays in Woody Point you can catch the show “Sherlock Holmes and the German of Bonne Bay” which is styled after radio drama which was popular in the 1930’s and 40’s. On stage you see an announcer, a sound effects specialist and 2 musicians which provide the superb background music and even advertisements for such things as kidney pills!

Tonight I spent a magical evening amongst the subtle glow of lanterns at the annual St. John’s Lantern Festival. The festival is a fundraiser for Victoria Park in St. John’s historic west end and runs for one day on the last full weekend of July every year.

“My goal is to create memorable performances about this place –Cow Head and Newfoundland in general -that will appeal to both local residents and visitors alike” Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s artistic director Jeff Pitcher told us recently. And the dinner theatre performance of “Sinking of the S.S. Ethie” fits this philosophy to a tee. This is the show that started it all for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador in Cow Head and it has been running to full houses since 1996.

It was a clear, cold early May day on a familiarization trip to tourism sites on the southern Burin Peninsula, with John and myself the only men among the 30 or so aboard the bus. We were trying to find shelter from the wind, but it found us wherever we strayed. It was John’s first visit, but I’d visited cousins here in the 1960s, had toured the area in the 1990s to update the Newfoundland and Labrador travel guide, and had been here for tournaments when my kids played soccer. I have roots here going back at least to a fellow named Richard Kirby who held letters of marque from the British admiralty during the American Revolution that granted him the right to take French and American ships, at gunpoint if necessary. It’s the kind of assignment that probably required some previous experience.

“I love my office” grinned Ryan Young above the roar of the motor as we skipped over the small waves of Trout River Pond. “This southern part of Gros Morne National Park is undiscovered by many people and it is too bad since it is a spectacular area.”

We were doing a new Ocean Quest boat tour (http://www.oceanquestadventures.com/services/tourist/gros-morne-national-park) that started on Trout River Pond, and we had to agree - Trout River Pond is amazing since it is surrounded by steep cliffs 550-600 meters high and it is 15 km long.

On a still evening in Central Newfoundland, upon the beaches of Little Bay, these tiny fish paid a visit to the shores. Patience, speed and laughter; all key components in the act of "catchin' capelin". Watch and see the excitement and joy that these tiny creatures can bring to young and old alike.

We think Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s new show “Newfoundland Vinyl” is a must see for those people who are interested in Newfoundland music from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. The backstory for the show is that Gros Morne Theatre Festival regulars “Ed and Ed” are throwing a musical fundraiser – for themselves! The music has a definite country flavour and includes hits made popular by A. Frank Willis, Roy Payne, Joan Morrissey, Harry Hibbs and Tom Cahill.

We are big fans of traditional Newfoundland music whether it be “I’se the Bye” or a song from the Northern Peninsula that we might never have previously heard. Neddy Norris Night is Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s popular musical night and it takes on a different flavour depending on who is the musical director that year.

The Alexander Murray Hiking Trail in King's Point is 9 kilometers long and features both ground terrain and board walk. There are 2,200 stairs going up to, and down from, the summit, which are a great help when traversing the inclines.

The names Cathy Jones, Mary Walsh, Greg Malone and many of the original Codco crew are now synonymous with well known Newfoundland comedy. In 1973 they were just getting started in Toronto when they were distressed by the stereotypes that Ontarians felt applied to all Newfoundlanders. So they fought back with the play “Cod on a Stick” which pokes fun at Torontonians and Newfoundlanders alike.