Tuesday 25 August 2026

Today we depart Newfoundland bound, briefly, for Montreal.

But first, we must depart our B, after a fitful sleep in this weird and very noisy place, and find somewhere for B.

We reflect on how much we have enjoyed our week in Newfoundland. We have been welcomed everywhere by the friendliest of people and we have absorbed wonderful sights.

The communities we have visited have all made a point of honouring their veterans, particularly of the two world wars. Memorial gardens and street flags have abounded

The school buses know where to stop

And out of the cities each property has a large box at the kerbside. First I thought this was for salt (for the snow) but no. Gosh, hard to imagine I was wrong. They are for trash (note how quickly I have picked up the vernacular). Residents bag their trash up and deposit in the box for collection weekly. These boxes come in all shapes and sizes

But mostly we’ve noticed the chairs. Practically every house has at least two, and they are scattered throughout public areas. Called Adirondack chairs, after the mountain range in upstate NY, in large parts of Canada, including Newfoundland, they are known as Muskoka chairs, after the popular holiday region in Ontario

Newfoundland, we thank you for your hospitality and beauty.

It’s overcast, and whilst our flight doesnt’ depart until 5.30pm, and its only really an hour and a half drive, we want to check out a few bays and sights along the way. The fishing boat that we watched go out early this morning pulls back in as we pull out

It’s a funny little town, is Twillingate, but it’s poster is just fine

As we hit the highway (as it were) it becomes evident that it’s the mid year school holidays in Canada

It’s a dull old morning, grey and drizzly, but we have out raincoats at the ready.

Our first stop is Boyds Cove

to check out the Beothuk Interpretation Centre. The Beothuk were the first inhabitants of Newfoundland, hunting and fishing people. We walked through the spirit garden, and found it quite moving

Shockingly, but in an all too familiar scenario, the Beothuk became culturally extinct after European settlement.

The rain has really set in now and it’s a bit hard to see the road.

Again, the phone maps are out of service so it’s back to the old, almost reliable, paper map. On close investigation, we find some islands which are ripe for development

Let me give you a closer look at this potential

On the mainland, where we are, near the Trump Islands, and I know you’re not going to believe this, we saw a sign to a neighbourhood we just had to visit. But the rain was so fierce that we simply couldn’t get a photo of the sign welcoming us. But here is where we went.

Now it’s straight to the airport.

Having returned the car, unscathed and full of fuel, we arrive early to spend time to look around the terminal, visit the 9/11 display in the specially built in-terminal Globe Theatre, and put our feet up in the lounge to post our recent blogs.

Surprisingly, it’s such a small airport. It’s a regional airport after all. Verbose Chad, from the St Johns HoHo bus, when I asked why Newfoundland had two international airports had said that Gander was due to close down but 9/11 changed all that and now it can’t possibly. It’s become so iconic, in large part thanks to the musical.

I took this photo in St John’s, as it happens nothing to do with the musical, but explains a lot

So, we got here early. There’s no lounge. The Globe Theatre is closed. We find a seat in the only cafe and work on the blogs. That’s why you got two yesterday!

We have one night in Montreal before boarding the Azamara Journey for our adventure around NE Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Those SeaLegs are going to get a workout.

Thank you Montreal for such a welcome