While on our recent McCarthy’s Party Tour in Newfoundland an unexpected connection arose. CBC Newfoundland news reporter Jessica Singer contacted Cambridge Today editor Doug Coxson, regarding my column from June 5 about our upcoming trip, asking if he could please put her in touch with me for an interview.
Once in St. John’s at 7 a.m. one morning, Jessica Singer, picked me up from our hotel. We sat together in a park overlooking a garden of tulips and daffodils (yes in June!) as she asked me questions about our trip.
It was a short, seven-minute segment for their morning show, like the one Craig Norris airs locally. I had at least an hour’s worth of information to share as this trip far exceeded my expectation. I hoped to see icebergs, puffins and whales and eat a lot of fish. There was so much more.
Our McCarthy’s Party tour guide, Leo Converse, had a packed agenda for us. Be on the bus by eight am each morning; that's 6 a.m. Ontario time when many of you were still abed. Our group of 36 came from Texas, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the U.K.
We went up to the Northern tip of Newfoundland to St. Anthony’s. It was the coldest June in 83 years, rain, fog and 60kph winds. Most of our group layered up wearing half the clothes we had brought. No- one cared about looks as we battled the elements.
We saw the Viking settlement L’Anse aux Meadows with the grass huts built by the Vikings when they landed about 1000. Inside the hut they held a re-enactment around a raging fire, which we enjoyed as we’d walked what felt like miles in rain and strong headwinds to get there.
We saw ice bergs, white antlered caribou, moose by the dozen (which made me laugh as on annual trips to Algonquin searching for them, I have only seen one at a distance)
We went to small fishing village of Conche where at the French Historical Interpretation Centre we were treated to viewing a French tapestry that is 227 feet long.
It tells the history from early 900s to early 2006. Jean-Claude Roy, an artist who visited annually to paint and his wife Christina had the brilliant idea for the project. Christina, inspired by the famous 11th century Bayeux Tapestry persuaded her husband to sketch the assembled history. It took three years to complete when a few talented women in the tiny outport of Conche began their embroidering odyssey.
This colourful linen and wool mural tell the history of that region’s French Shore, from the pre-historic animals that roamed the forests and shoreline, to the moment in 2006 the local women in this small Newfoundland village began their work to commemorate a lost way of life.
As we moved along the tapestry, a parade of historic and colourful characters brought the events to life and the legends that make French Shore history unique. It is magnificent piece of history.and a bonus to have seen it.
We enjoyed a boat tour of Bonne Bay with BonTours, with the renowned Wayne Parsons as the commentator. His dry wit, clever comments, humorous stories, and detailed information kept us well entertained.
At the end of a tour where the sun almost shone, we were invited to take part in a screeching in ceremony to become accepted as a Newfies. Kissing the sacred cod, dancing a jig (not easy on a rocking boat!) consuming Newfoundland Screech and reciting the oath were necessary part to become qualified and earn our certificates.
Later that evening we enjoyed Wayne Parsons, this time as the leader of Anchors Away, a band that has a reputation that could take them world-wide, but all prefer to stay on the island. Money is not their objective, sharing their talent and having fun is what they like and for 27 years they've been doing exactly that.
We walked in Gros Morne Park, a UNESCO heritage site, supposedly the centre of the earth as Teutonic plates east and west meet here. There are lakes edged by spectacular cavernous fjords.
Up in Twillingate we saw small fishing villages, and huge icebergs. At at Boyd’s Cove we visited the Beothuk indigenous Centre. Their Spiritual Garden, set n a forest of pines and wildflowers is a peaceful spot. We were gifted small tokens of feathers, beads, silver birch bark to assemble with ribbon to tie the completed token to a chosen spot. It was suggested we write the name of someone dear to us for whom we wished peace and healing, a very moving tranquil place. I tied my named token to a tree and wandered down to the nearby lake where I heard the lone call of a loon. A magical moment.
We ate delicious fish chowder, a wide variety of cod dishes and fresh salmon, moose pie, cheesecakes and shortcake topped with partridge berries, which grow in Newfoundland only, on small bushes, like blueberries.
Hoping to see a puffin or two we were taken by O’Brien Boat Tours to Gull Island where thousands of bird’s nest annually. We heard the puffins had arrived early this year for their nesting season.
Captain Joe O’Brien motored slowly around the island giving us ample viewing time while his grandson Noah’s informative and humorous commentary kept our attention. It was cold 4C with wind blowing and as we shivered, again the warmth was supplied by the welcome.
On Gull Island we saw thousands of puffins, learned interesting facts about their habitat and migration patterns. The Common Murres, who look and walk like miniature penguins, and gulls galore also inhabit the island.
At one point two bald eagles flew down and suddenly the sea and sky were filled with thousands of birds who sought safety. It was an incredible sight, reminiscent of a scene from the Hitchcock classic The Birds.
The tour group is a family run venture begun by Regina McCarthy who recognized the importance of having locals run the business rather than people from away (mainlanders).
Over the years this business has come to be widely considered one of the very best tours with excellent well trained tour guides, superb drivers (our driver Gary) could reverse a bus with an inch on either side, around a comer up a steep hill skillfully with no hesitation.
One evening we were privileged to have Brian Mosher speak to us. He was the TV host on Rogers Cable TV during 911. He played an important role in Come from Away, has traveled internationally to share his perspective and he gave us background stories that brought us to tears.
These are only a few of the many sights we saw. It was cold, rainy, and foggy but that did not deter our intrepid group. We travelled in close quarters for twelve days with a caring intelligent group and laughed so much, largely sparked by Leo Converse, a retired English teacher and actor who was our excellent tour guide.
The overall impression I am left with is of a province of hard-working people who care more about sharing the good things in life. They are strong minded, practical, not in the least materialistic, mindful of one another. They go out of their way to help no matter how it might inconvenience them. Never have I been among such caring, thoughtful people. Surrounded by their music, their creativity, every small restaurant, and hotel had original art, their laughter, wit, and a respect for others was a privilege to have witnessed.
I was pleased to have the opportunity to verbalize some of these thoughts on the radio interview. Once back at the hotel many of our group and the hotel staff who had heard it knew of my enthusiasm and thanked me, However the thanks should go to Cambridge Today, McCarthy’s Party, Leo Converse, and our unforgettable cohesive 36-member group, not me.
Today as I sit in the sun overlooking my small flourishing rose garden, I am filled with the warmth and generosity of spirit of the best of humanity. Long may recollections of Newfoundland and its people last, no wonder Newfies like to return home as often as often as possible. It’s a wonderful place to visit.
