Cape Bonavista Lighthouse

During that first trip to Newfoundland, we took a day trip to the town of Bonavista, a 45-minute drive from our lodge in Port Rexton.

Like Trinity, Bonavista was once a vibrant commercial centre. We first spent a couple of hours at the Ryan Premises, a National Historic Site. Our first lesson was that premises referred to the waterfront property of a merchant or a fisherman or (another new Newfoundland term for us) a planter. The property would include the stores (storage), wharf, flakes (for drying fish) and other facilities.

James Ryan was the owner of these premises. He and his brothers built his business into an international trading company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At one time he owned a fleet of schooners which brought dried salted cod to ports around the world.

The Ryan Premises is a restoration of the operation, with the proprietor's house, a carriage shed, a retail shop, a retail store, a fish store, and a salt store. As mentioned, stores can mean a place to buy things or a place to store things. We learned a lot about the history of Newfoundland’s fishing trade.

After a lunch, we drove to the lighthouse. We were experiencing what we would later learn was a mauzy day, or “rdf” weather - rain, drizzle and fog. The Cape Bonavista Lighthouse has always been a real favorite of mine. It is painted with red and white stripes. We have always referred to it as the “Kentucky Fried Chicken” lighthouse. Like at Cape Spear, we were able to visit the lightkeepers house and go up into the light structure. The lighthouse was first commissioned in 1842.

It can be quite windy at the lighthouse.

We have visited Bonavista several times over the years, giving me the chance to take many lighthouse photos in good lighting.

The Dungeon Provincial Park with its great rock formations is close by.

The area’s history goes back long before the fish merchants of the 19th century. Back in 1497 John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) set out from Bristol England on his ship Matthew on his second of three trips to find a westward trade route. He landed somewhere in Newfoundland. Different communities, including Bonavista, claim they were the place. He did discover one great treasure, the great numbers of cod in Newfoundland waters.

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of that 1497 voyage, a full-size replica of the Matthew was built in Bristol. The replica sailed across the Atlantic and arrived at Bonavista in June 1997, where it was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II and 30,000 spectators. The Matthew was docked in Bonavista at the time of our first visit to Bonavista. We were able to visit the ship in 2009 as it sat in the harbour. A couple of years later, suffering from a major rot issue, it was moved inside, where it has remained ever since. The are questions as to whether if will ever be outside again. I am lucky to have some photos of it in the harbour.

Bonavista has seen a bit of a revival in the past few years. Many of the old houses have been restored. There are new stores, restaurants, and cafés. Luckily, the old houses were never torn down. It is still a very picturesque fishing community.

We stayed at a B&B in Bonavista in 2009, on our way back to Pouch Cove for the summer. We asked our host about a boat tour to see icebergs, thinking that there might be a company that specializes in such outings. Instead, he took us out the next morning in his open motorboat. We were accompanied by the other two guests. I had a few doubts as we went out into the North Atlantic in what seemed like a small boat. He replenished his ice supply while we were there, no plain ice cubes for his guests.

Newfoundland is the only place where we have spent most nights in B&B’s. We have usually been treated like long lost family members who have come back for a visit. It is an experience that you might love, or perhaps hate. I think it depends on your need for privacy on your travels. Are you the kind of person who is bothered when a fellow plane passenger talks to you? I have mentioned in my main blog, “Searching for Magical Moments”, that I tend to converse with my seatmates. I try to judge if they really prefer quiet, but I have always found it part of the strangeness of air travel to be stuffed into a plane next to people and not talk to them.

One reason we went with B&B’s was that the alternatives in most places were basic roadside motels, the kind where you can share the evening with your neighbours, without leaving your own room. You find out if they are watching TV or perhaps engaging in other activities. That has now changed with the proliferation of vacation rentals. You now can check into your accommodations without ever meeting your hosts, just enter a code to get in and shut the door when you leave. By the way, we have a vacation rental in Pouch Cove. You have to meet us to get your key. And we may knock on your door to see if you need anything. Message me if you plan to visit. I will give you a discount.

A twenty-minute drive to Upper Amherst Cove will take you to The Bonavista Social Club. There you can get a great pizza. They grow their own vegetables.

Elliston is a short drive in the other direction. The town declared itself the "Root Cellar Capital of the World" in July 2000. Root cellars were used to store the root vegetables over the winter. There are more than 130 documented root cellars. Many are still in working condition. Elliston is also a great place to see the puffins.

There is a new museum in Elliston dedicated to sealing, the Home From the Sea, John C. Crosbie Sealers Interpretation Centre. Sealing was an important part of the Newfoundland economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a dangerous occupation for the men who ventured out on the ice. The year 1914 was especially tragic. In March of that year 78 men froze on the ice when they became stranded from their ship. The SS Southern Cross was lost at sea during the same storm, with 251 sealers aboard.

At Porter’s Point, the Sealers Memorial, a bronze sculpture of a father and son, Reuban and Albert John Crewe, depicts them as they were found, frozen together on the ice, the father trying to protect his son. Names of those on the ships are engraved on a granite wall next to the sculpture. Some of the men were from our adopted home of Pouch Cove. We have learned a lot about the sealing industry since moving to Newfoundland. The men of Newfoundland needed the income to feed their families after the long winters, when their supplies were gone, and fishing not yet started. Newfoundlanders would refer to the “hungry month of March”.

There is also a nice B&B in the town, The Meem’s Elliston B&B, that allows pets, which we took advantage of when Po needed to do some research last summer and wanted me to be the driver. We also appreciated Nanny’s Root Cellar Kitchen in the old Orange Hall. They allowed us to sit with Bella on their deck.