Starting off our 2 week trip to Newfoundland, I have found that life here is just a bit different. Our trip is in the height of ‘Sprinter’ this year with the average temperature in St. John’s being a balmy +3C for the first weekend of June. The strength of the wind at the most eastern part of the continent was enough to knock you over and the drizzle from the wind and the rain really made you consider what things are like here the other 10 months of the year when the sun isn’t shining, and the whales aren’t frolicking in the waters off the coast from late June to mid August.
It is a sober grey here, which explains a lot about the houses we’ve see. Houses are made of wood and painted in bright beautiful colours. This tradition was started because the fishermen wanted to be able to see their house against the onslaught of fog, and now that the fishing off the coast of Newfoundland has been heavily restricted, it is just a town tradition. Along the shore we would see houses that had vinyl siding be stripped away and broken from the pure force of the wind.
St. John’s however, is a pretty good place to be in the rain, the pubs on George Street are enough to lighten anyone’s spirits and there are a number of museums if we need refuge from stormy days. We spent our time getting ‘Screeched – In’, with the Newfoundland Steak (Bologna), rum (Screetch), and kissing the cod to become honorary Newfoundlanders, hung out in some pubs, attempted to see Signal Hill but the fog really limited our views, so we ended up hanging out in at the Johnson Geological Museum.
Everyone always say that Canadians are nice, but Newfoundlanders are probably amongst the nicest of our breed. They are known for hard work, a strong sense of hospitality, and never being one to turn down a good gathering.
We are headed West to Grose Morne National park and are looking forward to exploring more of the unique blend of what makes Newfoundland tick.
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