Burnt Point Lighthouse, Fogo Island

If I had to choose a favourite of all the places I have visited in Newfoundland, Fogo Island might be the one. It is beautiful and a bit quirky with everything from one of The Four Corners of the Flat Earth, great auks, and herds of caribou. Fogo has a different look and feel than most of Newfoundland with its treeless expanse of rocky outcrops. Oh, and it has a lighthouse, just not a pretty one.

Fogo Island sits just east of Twillingate, but to get there you must drive south to the little town of Farewell to catch a ride on the ferry.

You want to be prompt in the summer as it can be quite busy. The ferry takes a minimum of 45 minutes if you take the direct to Fogo one. More often the ferry will stop at the Change Islands before getting to Fogo. That one takes an extra 30 minutes. Of course, the wait at the ferry, especially if you do not make it on your planned departure, can take a lot more time than the actual sailing.

Leaving the Change Islands stop.

My visits to Fogo Island were back in May 2011. My wife was taking part in a three-week artist residency on the island as part of her master’s program. My assignment was to drive her and two classmates up at beginning and return to pick them up at the end.

The students stayed in the wonderfully named town of Joe Batt’s Arm. The legend is that Joe Batt was a deserter from Captain James Cook’s ship. An arm is a settlement wrapped around an inlet.

Po and one classmate stayed in an old traditional saltbox house.

Joe Batt’s Arm has a fancy new hotel built on stilts. It was under construction during my visit. The hotel is aimed at a rather wealthy clientele. Rooms cost upwards of $1,500 US per night, most are more. And there is a minimum stay of three nights during the summer. The 15% HST is extra, but your meals are included.

Here is the photo that I took and one I must give credit to the Fogo Island Inn's website.

The hotel is part of a development project done by a woman named Zita Cobb. She left Fogo Island, made lots of money in tech, and has come back to help develop the island. She created the Shorefast Foundation which promotes local businesses. The foundation is the owner of the hotel, and all profits are channelled back into the foundation. I believe that the hotel is world class, but I have always wondered about the viability of having a luxury hotel like that in Newfoundland, but then Zita had said that the rich are different. Maybe they are. There are other places to stay on the island for those of us “not rich” people.

I spent one full day on Fogo Island before heading back to Pouch Cove. The first morning I went out before breakfast to take some photos of Joe Batt’s Arm.

While Po was doing her student artist thing, I drove over to the Tilting, which has been registered as both a National Historic Site and Provincial Heritage District. The old houses and fishing structures have been restored, giving the visitor a chance to see a traditional Newfoundland inshore fishing community.

I saw this herd of caribou on my way out of Tilting.

From there I drove to Fogo. If you want to get along with residents of the communities of Joe Batt’s Arm and Tilting, remember that the island is Fogo Island, Fogo is one of the communities on Fogo Island. They do not like it when people refer to the entire island as Fogo.

My first stop was Brimstone Head, a giant rocky piece of land. There is a sign that tells you that the Flat Earth Society believes that this is one of the four corners of the Flat Earth. I heard a story that some years ago a group of high school teachers came up with the idea over a few beverages consumed over several cold winter nights. Or maybe it was several beverages on one night. It was foggy that afternoon, so there was nothing to be seen as I stood at the top and looked out over the Atlantic. Maybe it was the end of the world.

I finished my travels that day with a drive down to Seldom on the south shore of the island to see the lighthouse. Burnt Point Lighthouse is an ugly steel structure and is located in a relatively drab place compared to the rest of the island. The nicer lighthouse structure was removed in 1990.

That evening I went with Po’s group to try out Fogo’s Chinese restaurant. The owner waited on us and then went into the back to cook our dinner. She had no staff. We could only buy the fixed Chinese dinner. We learned that she looked after this restaurant. Her husband was running their other restaurant in another town (not on Fogo Island). They had earned enough to send their children through university, a Canadian immigrant success story.

Several artist studios were built around the island by Shorefast. Po and her classmates spent their time at the Long Studio in Joe Batt’s Arm. I took these on the morning before I returned to Pouch Cove from my first visit. It was foggy and cold, quite typical for that time of year.

It was a cold walk from the studio.

I saw a fox and a herd of caribou.

There is an artist studio in Tilting, and I passed the tall one as I drove home. There are others around the island.

I returned three weeks later. There was art show that evening so that the artists could show their creative efforts from their three weeks on the island. I had the chance to meet some of the local residents and heard their opinions about the new developments in the community. I would love to go back and find out what the people think about the hotel and the related businesses after almost 10 years. I walked outside to take some photographs.

The next day I walked with Po back to the studio and carried on down the Point Walking Trail. I passed the beach. Be sure you bring your beach umbrella when you come.

I then saw the Great Auk sculpture. These were large birds that were hunted to extinction by the early settlers. The other birds are alive.

We went to Fogo (remember it is the next town over, keep those names separate) in the afternoon and hiked on the Lion’s Den Trail. The trail passes through some abandoned communities, as well as past the location of an old Marconi wireless station. The sun was trying to shine, bringing out the fantastic colours.

The towns had been populated from the early 1800’s until the middle of the 20th century.

We had supper at Nicole’s Café and enjoyed some cod and local ice cream. I just Googled Fogo Island restaurants and did not see the name. It looks like it has become the Scoff Restaurant and is connected to the inn. I suspect that the food is good but hope it maintains the same atmosphere (and prices).

I was used to Newfoundlanders being friendly, asking where I was from, but they seemed to take it to another level on Fogo Island. It happened first in a store in Fogo and later at the restaurant in Joe Batt’s Arm. Both times I was asked where I was from. But then the person asked more, especially wanting to know what I thought of Fogo Island.