Guest Blogger

Ben Whitmarsh takes a 'hike' which explores the culinary traditions and lively atmosphere of Ellison in Newfoundland - and gets to eat more than his fair share of dishes crafted by some of Canada's top chefs

Let me begin by thanking you and everyone else involved for an extremely memorable trip.

I found out I won the Great North American Moose Hunting Sweepstakes on August 14th. I remember this date because it was the same day I found out that my dominate right eye had suffered a permanent loss of vision.

The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival is celebrating its 23-year anniversary by focusing on long-form feature length films.

As I sit here sipping my tea, staring out the window at the first dreary day in weeks, I'm wishing I were back in Ferryland, sitting on the cliffs, enjoying a Lighthouse Picnic.

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.

Not since the lighthouse keeper and his family sat for meals in the kitchen, has anyone eaten in the cosy rooms of the Cape Spear Lighthouse… but this summer you can!

From May 19 to 21, two hikers from Paris, France braved chilly nightime temperatures and colder patches of snow and ice to make a rare spring trek of the Blow-Me-Down Mountain Trail. Fabien Mignot and Loris Pennacchioli took a break from their studies in Montreal to visit Western Newfoundland - formerly a part of the French Shore of Newfoundland - and hike sections of the IATNL.

It's not often that mere mortals can afford to stay in the same luxurious lodgings where royalty once slept. And when those accommodations also boast intriguing links to the ocean liner Titanic, the chances seem remote indeed.

Last year Hazel Findlay embarked on an expedition to climb the rugged cliffs of Devil’s Bay, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. The result was a trip that fully tested both their patience and equipment. Read on for her account of the expedition, and be sure to check out The North Face Facebook Page for a behind the scenes video of Hazel on the trip.

Lee Wulff used to say that to catch a salmon you have to read its mind, not its stomach. He also said the finest thing one angler could do for another was to release a fish he’d caught so someone else could catch it again later.

To find such a fine restaurant tucked into a tiny, relatively remote village, is very unusual. It’s why most of us who love food actually travel.

Last year was a pretty amazing ski year in the northeastern United States - abundant and high quality snow continued well into March for some wonderful spring skiing (which I missed out on since I was in Chile). However winter 2011-2012 in the northeast has so far failed to produce more than a sprinkling of snow, which is why I headed north to Newfoundland with my friends Bruce and Nate in search of natural snow in excess of 3 inches.

Five years ago I started snowboarding. I was 34. And I learned here at Marble Mountain. 

At the time it seemed like the perfect suicide mission. I was petrified. But it matched my criteria: face fears of heights and speed. My friends thought I was nuts.

We’ve all said things like “that meal just changed my life.” And if you haven’t, well… you might want to take a serious look at what you’re eating. I’ve eaten lots of meals that have changed my life. I probably overuse that phrase, but that’s how much I love food. There’ve been a few recipes (especially over the course of this past year) that I’ve made again and again for friends and family that I love and yeah, I think they’ve changed my life. They wake me up a little, they make me better. So… yeah. But the closest I’ve come to food tears was a couple of months ago at the Roots, Rants and Roars Festival in Elliston.

Lauren Suarez, a 17-year-old high school student from Greenwood Indiana, recently travelled to St. John's for the first time with her mom and her mom's best friend, Laura. They stayed with Laura’s relatives who made the experience so unforgettable that Lauren wrote to tell us how completely she fell in love with Newfoundland & Labrador and its people.

Karen Moores is a cities-focused travel writer who calls St. John’s, Newfoundland home. She is proud of her city’s commitment to historic preservation while retaining a hip, modern vibe. Check out her insider tips to the Canadian city.

We took a short trip with friends to Newfoundland this week and had the sort of memorable time that everyone talks about whenever they return to Moncton from a visit to St. John's, a city like no other in Canada.

I recently returned from a visit to St. John's, Newfoundland, North America's oldest and most easterly city. St. John's is known to be saturated with Irish traditional and Celtic rock music, but for a smallish city on a fairly remote island, I was surprised by its many other live music offerings.

There are so many things to enjoy when I go back home to Newfoundland. From spending time with family and friends to hiking along the rugged coast, and taking in live music in St. John's. One of the things I look most forward to is getting out in a boat to catch a few cod.

I fell in love with St. John's, Newfoundland after spending 8 days and nights there in late summer 2011.  It's North America's oldest and most Easterly city. In the 2nd installment of an ongoing series of articles about this rocky wonderland, here's a fond look back at the hiking and walking opportunities.