From Gander, we drove to Twillingate, also known as the Iceberg Capital of the World.

Although we were told that the size of the moose population in NL is so huge it’s a problem, we still had to spot our first moose.  Chicken though, found one that would give him a ride.

Wooohooo! Just kidding! 😉

As we got closer to Twillingate, we started spotting icebergs, they were much easier to find than the moose!

Small icebergs near Twillingate

And another one!

The grass was growing, the icebergs were slowly melting, this girl was in paradise!

Of course, Twillingate has its own lighthouse

The lighthouse is still working today!

The town of Twillingate is located on Twillingate island, in Notre Dame bay.  The town’s population is about 2, 448 people, according to Wikipedia.  People here used to fish for a living, but after the collapse of the cod fisheries, they are now relying on tourism as the main source of revenues.  We had a great time at a dinner theater called “All around the circle” in Crow Head’s community center.  The 6 performers cooked dinner for about 150 people and after serving us, went on the stage and performed a mix of comedy, vaudeville and songs for our great pleasure 🙂

The day after we arrived, we drove down the island, to see what we could see.  Each turn in the road brought a new vista.  We could not imagine a more picturesque area.

Sea birds having a conference on a rock 😉

We drove to a place called Herring Neck, and the road dead-ended in this guy’s driveway.  After talking to him for a little while, I just had to ask permission to take a picture of the view he has from his driveway…

That's what he see every day!

Along the way, Chicken found himself the perfect little house

The people of the village had access to this "cellar" built underground to keep the temperature cool

Even a pile of garbage looked picturesque in these surroundings

Moose antlers and other refuse

We saw a lot of little fishing shacks with piers along the way

And old boats that looked abandoned

This place is a photographer's dream!

Even whale skeletons!

Tnis is one huge skeleton!

And some of the most amazing wild flowers, like these wild iris growing near a little pond.

Nature is such a talented gardener!

And these gorgeous pink ones, growing in a field.

I wish I knew their names!

I climbed a trail up a small mountain in Pikes Arm and the view took my breath away (the climb did too by the way)

View from the top of the hill

View from the other side of the mountain

Back in Twillingate, we went to the beach to wait for the sunset

Town of Twillingate

A perfect end to a perfect day!

And of course, seen along the way…

Huh... only in Canada!

After St. John’s, we drove to Gander to spend the night.  In the morning I woke up and looked at a pamphlet my friend Lana had picked up for me.  She knew it would interest me because it was all about knitting in Newfoundland.

I called the number provided to find out where and when I could go visit and see Newfoundland knitters.  Maureen answered and together, we planned the day.  First Bear and I would go take the ferry in Farewell, to go to Change Islands.  Then we would meet with her and she would have called the island knitters so they could come and knit with me for a few hours in the afternoon.  After that, we would go to Maureen’s house for tea.  It all sounded like a good idea.  We mentioned our plans to the other in the group and David and Lana decided to tag along.

While waiting for the ferry in Farewell, Chicken got caught in the lobster trap!

Oh nooooooo!

Being a knitter is an official job in NL

Knitters wanted! How cool is that?

Finally, the ferry arrived and we prepared to drive onboard

Ferry to Change Islands and Fogo Island

Change Islands has a lot more than knitters going for it, it is a gorgeous place!

View of the town on Change Islands

Change Islands consists of two islands separated by a tickle (narrow strait in Newfoundland English).  The Islands are located in Notre-Dame Bay on the North East coast of Newfoundland..  The south island contains marshes and bogs and is where most of the residents live,   the north island is barren and contains most of the public buildings.

I met with Maureen (no good pics) and she introduced me to the knitters

From left to right, Edith, Margaret and Sadie

We spent a few hours talking, sharing knitting tips and laughing while having tea.  They mostly knit for the american market.  They knit reproduction of items dating from the civil war for re-enactments.  They also knit socks, hats and mittens which are sold throughout NL, even in grocery stores.  Most of their yarn is from Briggs & Little in New Brunswick although they had a small quantity of yarn from PEI.  All of it is pure wool.  They were curious about what kind of fibers we used in Florida to knit.  Needless to say, I had a wonderful time.

Bear walked around and took pictures, David and Lana went to visit the only museum in the island.  They were raving about the museum, saying it was one of the best, if not the best one they had ever visited.  The owner of the museum even played accordion for them.

After knitter’s time, we went in search of the NL pony herd that lives on the island.  We’d hear that they just added three new babies to the herd.  Unfortunately, we were not able to find them, but we did find this one near a barn.

We had supper at the Burgundy Squid Cafe.  They serve sandwiches and fish cakes.  We had soup and fish cakes.  Everything was home made including the bread (yummm delicious!).

Does not look like much, but the food was delicious

All that food was served by the owner/cook who spoke with the typical accent of the island.  Priceless!  When I needed ice for my water, she went in her freezer and broke off a piece of ice from an ice block a friend had brought her.  He’d broken it from an iceberg that was floating off shore!  I ended up with an iceberg in my glass!

25, 000 year old ice in my glass of water! Chicken is in awe!

After supper, we went to Maureen’s house and sat on her porch while having tea and admiring the view of the tickle.

Tickle view from Maureen's house

Maureen is an university teacher in Ottawa and her husband Bill is an engineer.  They spend their summers in NL in this house, from June to late August and they live for the rest of the year in Ontario.  From their house, each night, they have a spectacular view of the sunset over the ocean, since it faces west.  What a life!

Maureen hopped in the car with us to go see the iceberg floating off shore.  Although it was quite far, we were very excited because that was the first iceberg we saw and it was huge! The size of a small island!

Our first iceberg

It was time to say goodbye and make our way back to the ferry.  We took Maureen back to town where her friends were waiting for her at the pub to have a beer 🙂

On the way back, we spotted a big beaver dam

You should have seen the size of this dam!

As always, I am amazed at the variety of wild flowers growing by the side of the roads.  Here they make you feel like you are in a Monet painting.

I love wild flowers!

Back at the ferry port, Bear and David had a good time talking.

The odd couple 😉

The water was so clear, I was able to photograph tiny star fish walking on rocks.

Can you see them?

Alas! the day was over and it was time to get off the ferry and drive back to the campground.

Going home...

A killick is a homemade anchor fashioned from young and pliable tree stems that are lashed around a heavy stone.  These were made using material at hand, symbolizing traditional resourcefulness.  This coast’s long fishing history dates back to the 1500’s, when French, English and Portuguese fished off Conception Bay’s rocky beaches.

Today, this shore is St. John’s seaside playground.

Typical pebble beach of the Killick coast

Sea fog still clinging to the back of the cliffs

Coastline, with 2 waterfalls in the distance

Fishing boat in the town of Flatrock

Cliffs meeting the sea, how inspriring!

We just drove around and took pictures, it was a nice sunny afternoon 🙂