Trinity Bay - North and South and on to Avalon

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Looking at today’s map and route might make you think we are crazy (crazier!) than you did already. Though it did involve a number of detours they were a crucial part of our Newfoundland experience. The weather which had been lovely all weekend was now predicted to be wet for a few days, and today it really was. While the temperature stayed in the 65 region it was raining for most of the day. Drew’s view is that Newfoundland looks best in the rain, the consistent dampness fits with the hilly terrain and seashore. It is the basis of hundreds of shanties sung by people left to look after the home while their sailor partners risked their lives in the wild waves.
As mentioned in an earlier post there were two focal points to Drew’s desire to come to Newfoundland, one Gros Morne, where we spent two lovely days,

the other the book and film ‘The Shipping News’ which shows Newfoundland in its winteriness and tells the story of a family returning after years away. Therefore Trinity, in Trinity Bay, was one of our don’t miss destinations. It was worth the significant detour because the bay itself was spectacular and many of the scenes from the film were clearly evident, including the house the Coyles lived in during the film. Evocative in a way only standing there can achieve.
The next detour was even odder, you might think, since Drew has been focused on coming to Newfoundland he has kept up with the weather and conditions by monitoring a webcam, outside Larry’s place in, Hants Harbour. So that became our next destination. A nice drive took us through some strangely named places among them,

our favourite, Dildo. According to the town notice the town got its name from the nearby Dildo island with the name originating from a group of Basque settlers from Spain in the 1500s. It is in no way associated with the product of the same name, though I bet it gets lots of its tourists for this reason. The town had a lovely harbour and beside it a restaurant called the Dildo Dory Grill. This turned out to be a real surprise. A simply laid out restaurant it served an excellent selection of food, including some local delicacies. As we weren’t expecting to eat this evening, the menu here determined we had a two course lunch. I started with Newfoundland Pea soup while I’d read about it, the reality was much better than the description. A strong flavoured soup, unlike any British pea soup I’ve tasted. It included (please note my vegetarian friends) smoked bacon, turnips, carrots, onions, potatoes and yellow split peas. It was peppery in flavour, and this version was dusted lightly with paprika. It went down a treat watching the rain fall down the windows between us and the harbour. Drew opted for French Onion soup, the menu amused me as it stated the French Onion soup was made with Spanish onions!! Anyway it came with large croutons and mozzarella, a bowl full of rich flavours and very filling.
We moved on to the main course, this is where Drew decided to trail something new, by opting for the Moose burger. Seeing all the warning signs for Moose on the road, and having seen two in Gros Morne park, I was interested to know what it tasted like, Drew tells me it is very similar to venison in texture and flavour, so I’ll wait for my opportunity to try some. This one was served with cheese and fries (these were skin-on). I opted for pan-fried cod and scrunchions, based on Drew’s rave review from last night – he was right it was delicious, it was served with sautéed veg: carrots, broccoli and courgette and a baked potato. It was lovely and really set us up for the rest of the day.
We left Dildo and went on to Heart’s Delight, Heart’s Desire and Heart’s Content – yes they really are named this! Indeed Heart’s Content has a famous cable museum as the first transatlantic cable was landed in Hearts Content on July 27, 1866 – the other end being in Follhummerum Bay, Ireland.

The house with the webcam

We got to Hant’s Harbour and Drew was able to take a photo of the house with the webcam – final obligatory task of the holiday done, now it was time to turn around and head to Pouch Cove. This also took us through pleasant places with strange names, Conception Bay, Portugal-St.Philip’s, Bauline until we joined the Pouch Cove line and came to the village of Pouch Cove. A couple of hundred yards further and we found Sullivan’s Loop and Points East our home for the next four nights.