Blogs

From the time the first colonists settled in Cupers’ Cove (now Cupids) in 1610, Newfoundland culture, heritage, and survival has revolved around the North Atlantic and its bounty. Spending time at The Wooden Boat Museum in Winterton gave me an idea of what life was like in the outport communities back when people relied on the land and sea to survive.

The past has a strong presence in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Trinity is no exception. Located on the Discovery Trail, Trinity is a rare gem preserved in an ever-changing world. Known for its history, friendliness and strong fishing culture, this beautiful town gives new meaning to the word authentic.

Nestled at the top of the Bonavista Peninsula is the tiny community of Elliston – the root cellar capital of the world. People flock here from all over the world for its many tourist attractions, such as the breathtaking coastline – complete with roaring shoreline and fascinating rock formations.  

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.

Newfoundland and Labrador has an enduring Irish culture, which is why we go all out celebrating St. Patrick's day, but some of our Irish history is really quite mysterious, stretching back thousands of years...

There’s one place I’ve always wanted to visit on St. Patrick’s Day. Not because I expect to find a jolly little leprechaun with a bountiful pot of gold, but because it's the closest you can get to Ireland right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.

It was a day ripped straight from a Star Wars movie. There we were, heading into the wild unknown aboard our airship, all seemingly unaware of what may lay ahead.

Last weekend, hundreds upon hundreds of people in St. John’s paraded through the streets. Men were dressed as women, women were dressed as men. Underwear was worn as outerwear and even small children were merrily sporting bras stuffed with socks over the tops of their various layers. There were lots of ingeniously creative hobbyhorses prancing around and it was almost impossible to count the number of ugly sticks and accordions.

It’s all just another Christmas in Newfoundland and Labrador.

It’s almost Christmas. Have you heard?

I for one tend to get a bit twitchy when November starts to gallop towards December and public places set their sound systems to Jingle Bells 101. So I find it helps my Christmas spirit (or lackthereof) to remind myself of the good things about the season. The things that don’t involve frantically running around malls full of people mowing you down to get better spots in cash register line-ups so long there should a surprise pop-up concert by Adele waiting at the end.

St. John’s is a city that has been on the go for over 400 years. That’s a whole lot of life, death, love, murder, passion, intrigue, treachery and… did I mention death? That’s a whole lot of history, spilling out into the twists and turns of the narrow streets. No wonder it’s a hotbed of hauntings.

On the last leg of their adventure, the hikers from TrailPeak.com saw the wreck of a ship from the early 1900s, whalebones, and a slew of icebergs.

This week, the hikers from TrailPeak.com saw 10,000-year-old icebergs, and visited historic Battle Harbour, a restored fishing village that thrived over the last three centuries.

From waterfalls to ancient coastlines, the hikers from TrailPeak.com have seen it all over the past three days, while trekking through southern Labrador.

Check out the latest blog from Kurt at TrailPeak.com to read about the scenery, history and culture they’ve discovered along the south coast of Labrador.

Pope’s Point in Badger, central Newfoundland, bears archeological evidence of nearly every culture that has ever inhabited the island: Maritime Archaic Indian, Groswater and Dorset Palaeoeskimo, Recent Indian, Beothuk and Mi’kmaq artifacts and features have either been recovered or historically recorded to have existed there at one time.

On the May 24th weekend, our family took a trip to the Port au Port Peninsula. We spent the night in Stephenville and then started our adventure looking at the petrified forest just outside the town....

There is no shortage of hikes to take in St. John's. One of my favorites is around Signal Hill - the North Head Trail. Before starting our hike we went to the Park's interpretive center. There we learned about the many battles between the French and English that have taken place on its rocky slopes.

In late August, my sons Ronan, Cormac and I took a visit to the Port au Choix, Hawke's Bay area of the Great Northern Peninsula. We started our day with a visit to Parks Canada's National Historic Site at Point Riche. The visitor center there contains many artefacts dating back over the past 5000 years. After learning about the cultural history we set out for the point's light house to take in some of the area's natural history. The shoreline at Point Riche is littered with fossils and the lads had a great time playing palaeontologist "discovering" many different kinds of petrified life forms.

The first thing you notice is the air, scrubbed by a thousand miles of ocean and a hundred miles of evergreen forest. The spruce-scented breeze wafts along the shores of western Newfoundland filling the billowing sails of our tall ship, Concordia, and simultaneously purging our lungs of city smog. Even the tap water in Newfoundland (affectionately known as "the Rock" by locals) is so pristine you can fill your car battery with it.

An hour on a small boat in not too calm seas brings us to the centuries old fishing villiage of Battle Harbour, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We walk around for hours not seeing another person, and it is difficult to imagine that this was once the unofficial capital of Labrador. Battle Harbour was an active fishing village from the 1770s until the east coast fisheries closed in 1992.