Newfoundland's South Coast: Francois

Francois viewed from Notch Block Hill

Francois: Population 80-85

Matt Green’s house in Francois is a two-storey six-bedroom furnished family home sitting right on the water next to a roaring waterfall. For $100 per family per night, it’s a steal. Jody, Matt’s housekeeper, meets us at the ferry in driving rain and leads us past the store along the boardwalks to the house. The thunder and lightning brings rain that beats down on the roof all night making the roar of the waterfall next door deafening.

Inuksuks on Notch Block Hill in Francois

By morning the sun has burned off any dampness and we take the boardwalk up the hill past the new modern school where three teachers will teach ten children in the fall. We also pass the Anglican Church and hydro plant. On top of the hill, we are met with a pond and another huge waterfall. We continue past to Notchblock Hill, the highest point near the ocean for a view of the fjord and Francois below. It rivals Gros Morne in its beauty. While Declan and Chris build inuksuks I do some yoga on the hill top before we descend for a dip in the river below the waterfall.

Who needs a spa?

Seagull in Francois chooses fresh crab for lunch

Pitcher Plants cover the hills above Francois

Hiking in Francois

Beer bottle binoculars borrowed from the store

View of Francois from the Friar

Chris continues through the valley and circles the fjord from above descending on the north side of the community near the incinerator. Reaching bottom he realizes he has lost his triathlon jacket and takes Neil back up top where they spot the yellow fabric in no time.

Lobster pots stacked on the wharf

The children run carefree along the boardwalks while I sit behind Greene’s house on the wharf next to neatly-stacked lobster pots and read. The ocean floor below is covered in scallop shells. Emails come through about the cold weather in St. John’s while sweat runs off my arms. Francois is more colourful than Grey River and although there are fewer people, the town seems fuller. It is the highlight of our south coast adventure.

The thundering falls that reach the harbour right next to Matt Greene's house

The next morning we wake early to take the 7:30 ferry to Grey River and Burgeo. It’s chilly during the four-hour ride but we see more dolphins, one humpback and one fin whale. 

Francois: the highlight of our South Coast Adventure

Newfoundland's South Coast Adventure: Grey River

After a lovely breakfast at Four Winds, Sue drove our bags down to the Gallipoli for our 8 am departure. We could walk almost as fast but it saved us carrying everything. Then we were off to Grey River where after 1 hour and 20 minutes of dolphin viewing we sailed through steep cliffs into a magnificent fjord where we were welcomed on the government wharf by a good proportion of the population of 100. Evelyn Warren met us at the wharf and brought us to her one-bedroom former takeout with fridge and stove, double bed and pull-out couch. $75 cash per night (296-3426, cell 660-8632). It was pretty close for seven of us, but Grey River is so charming we didn’t spend much time inside.

 Despite overcast cool weather and more black flies and mosquitoes than I have ever experienced – think Labrador - we donned mosquito nets and hiked up the steep boardwalk above town to the graveyard and to a lookout bench with views of the fjord. Old snowmobile treads have been nailed to the boardwalk for grip. After lunch in the homestead – no restaurants in Grey River – Tom White took us seven miles up the fjord where a private salmon fishing lodge sits at the mouth to the mouth of Grey River itself. Tom showed us his cabin where he goes to get away from the hustle and bustle of Grey River. He also explained how people go out in boats, cut their wood, load it onto the boat and then deliver it right into their front yards. Garfield Young, former store owner – his daughter and son-in-law now run it, has a saw mill right in his backyard. He reclaimed land to build his yard on the water. There’s not too much spare land in Grey River. I’m happy we didn’t have to stay in a tent.

I did see one car, nosed into a driveway in someone’s yard. In good condition but looked like it hadn’t moved in a while. 

 After a supper of spaghetti we bought from the store all the children in the community played tag. You don’t have to worry about them being mowed down by a car and the two seven-year-olds in our care loved the freedom this afforded them.

Next morning we helped a few guys pull up their boat and walked out to the old fishing rooms where we saw a seal slapping her tail at us – perhaps in warning, or to keep our attention away from her baby.W

e visited the abandoned Play Fair tungsten mine. Only went in a few hundred feet because of the possibility of foul air. We also looked for tungsten on the beach and although we didn’t find any, a nice man named Melvin brought us some later back at the abode. It’s black and thick glasslike. Really cool. Lots of other minerals on the beach like fools’ gold.

We almost missed the ferry from Grey River to Francois. The Provincial government schedule online said it came 4:45 daily except Thursdays. I was wandering around town when someone asked if I was taking the ferry that afternoon. I said yes, 4:45. They said, No, it come 3:45. I raced up to the takeout and we had 15 minutes to pack and get seven people down to the wharf. Whew. 

Newfoundland's South Coast Adventure: Ramea

Four Winds B and B in Ramea

 The next morning we bid farewell to our van and boarded the Gallipoli ferry for the island of Ramea – one hour and 15 minutes away. (Note: this ferry does take vehicles but the smaller ferry does not. Plus there are no roads in some of the places we were visiting).

Dolphins frolicked in the ferry spray while fin whales kept a safer distance. From the sea Ramea looks like one long skinny spit of land with windmills dotting the centre. As the ferry chugged closer we entered a maze of islands and discovered the harbour lay on the far side. 

Wind turbine in Ramea

One of many dolphins swimming along with the ferry from Burgeo to Ramea

Seven of us – two couples with three children (we left four children at home) – looked like refugees lugging backpacks up from the wharf up the hill to the Four Winds B and B owned by Sue and Reg McDonald (625-2002). They have a lovely library where you can sit and unwind.

Had lunch at Eastern Outdoors before hiking up Man o’ War hill with views of Puffin, Great and Southwest Island.

Then we circumnavigated the entire island on a well-maintained boardwalk, passing the lighthouse with keeper working away, Muddy Hole fishing village and several stores where we bought lotto tickets and won. We’re not millionaires but even small wins are exciting.

Back to Eastern Outdoors for supper (they are licensed but the only lady on was both cook and server and had no time to buy beer or wine) and a final trip to a beach near the dump/incinerator to see the sunset and dozens of ducks. We also got real close to the wind mills which were all ominously at a standstill.

Whale skull just sitting in a yard in Ramea

Whale skeleton right next to Eastern Outdoors in Ramea

Wet paint in Ramea

Newfoundland's South Coast Adventure: Burgeo

Bleached tree at Sandbanks Provincial Park, Burgeo

The clock is ticking on Newfoundland’s south coast.

On June 1 of this year 59 out of the 77 residents of McCallum voted on whether to accept a government relocation package. Since 90 per cent of the population has to agree to resettle, this number was not enough for the government to allocate up to $270,000 per resident so they could move elsewhere. But like other isolated communities, it’s only a matter of time before the pro-resettlement people get their 90% and Newfoundland Power shuts the place down.

I remember in 2010 when the lights went out in Grand Bruit, west of McCallum. Grand Bruit never had cars and was only accessible by boat. But residents did have a school, post office and store. That is until the former fishing community’s 31 residents accepted a provincial government relocation program. Water was cut off, the church decommissioned, the ferry service discontinued, leaving a gaping hole in public transportation between Port aux Basques and Hermitage. Since 2010 residents and tourists alike have not been able to travel the entire south coast by government ferry. And if McCallum residents vote yes to resettlement, there’ll be a second hole in the ferry run.

Will that spell the end of tourism on Newfoundland’s south coast?

You already practically need a degree in provincial ferry schedules to work out a comprehensible itinerary. And what about that chunk between Hermitage and Pools Cove? No ferry there. No matter. This July I explored, with my husband and seven-year-old, the isolated communities between Burgeo and Francois. We had to… before more lights go out.

Burgeo Haven B and B

Sand Banks Provincial Park

You have to want to go to Burgeo. You don’t stumble on the place by accident. From the TransCanada it takes less than two hours to navigate the Caribou Trail. 

The road to Burgeo is quite pleasant. Suburban trailer parks – well, Newfoundland outport trailer parks - rise up unexpectedly at the mouths of rivers. One cabin a dozen moose antler racks adorning its eaves.

The surrounding scrub is littered with glacial erratics. Scattered caribou and moose will make you definitely want to concentrate on the road ahead of you. Avoid driving at dawn and dusk. The highway surface is not nearly as bad as some other secondary highways in the province – think the road to Twillingate.

Your arrival in the town of about 1,700 is marked by a monogrammed water tower. Then the ocean is everywhere – flat calm, protected by countless islands - sea kayakers’ paradise. The town I found is much more beautiful from land looking out at the ocean than from the ferry looking in. The inlets are flat calm with hundreds of islands making it.  

The cemetery at sandbanks Provincial Park is risking being swallowed by the sand.

Seven kilometres of fine sandy beaches at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Burgeo

We checked in to the Burgeo Haven B and B (886-2544) ($110 tax in includes hot breakfast) before walking across the street to a boardwalk lookout for a view of the bay. We then drove three kilometres to explore the seven kilometres of sandy beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park. $5 per carload for day use. Clean bathrooms, amazing boardwalk system with lookouts. The cemetery at the north end of third beach is risking being swallowed by the sand and the waves.

Piping plovers nest in the grass alongside the beach.

Three restaurants: Gillett’s Motel, Angela’s Seashore Diner and Sharon’s Diner.

Only a handful of people on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Burgeo

Hundreds of small islands shelter the ocean waters making them calm in Burgeo

 

Baby Beluga in Hants Harbour, Trinity Bay

On Sat, May 16, 2015 in Hants Harbour Alex Piercey shot this footage of a very young beluga whale.

Identification was confirmed by  Dave Snow and Dr. Jack Lawson

"You can tell by the lack of dorsal fin, colouration and head shape," says Dr. Jack Lawson, Research Scientist / Chercheur scientifique Marine Mammals Section / Section de mammiféres marins Fisheries and Oceans Canada / Pêches et Océans Canada NAFC, 80 East White Hills Rd.

St. John's, NL / Terre-Neuve et Labrador

Canada   A1C 5X1

(709) 772-2285     (709) 772-4105 (FAX)

jack.lawson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

"There are belugas in New York and Halifax this year too," says Dave Snow, owner/operator, Wildland Tours: Escorted vacations in Newfoundland and Labrador

124 Water Street, P.O. Box 383

St. John's, NL

A1C 5J9    Canada

 phone: (709) 722-3123    Toll free in North America: 1-888-615-8279

fax: (709) 722-3335

wildtour@nfld.com

www.wildlands.com

Body Worlds

About ten years ago, an exhibition called Body Worlds visited The Vancouver Science Centre. Since we were members and living close by, I decided to take our two older boys to see the German plastinated bodies while my husband visited the less risqué exhibits with the younger children. We were about a third the way through the show when No. 2 realized that the bodies, which had been stripped of skin and posed in various stances, were real. I saw his expression evolve from one of interest to revulsion to near panic. We had to get out quick.

Fast forward a decade and I once again had the chance to see the plastination technique developed by Dr. Gunther von Hagens here at the new wing of Memorial University’s medical school. Dr. Shakti Chandra, who mounted the exhibit, had the opportunity to work with Dr. von Hagens and somehow bring the body parts to Canada. Must have been some interesting customs paperwork.

I found the show quite informative, and the med-school students who answered questions were well-informed and engaging. One told me the name for the mitral valve of the heart originated from the latin mitre. Apparently somebody back in the day thought the valve looked like the mitre, you know the bishop’s hat we try to emulate while folding napkins?

Most interesting however were the feet showing all the tendons and nerves. For almost four years I have suffered from plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis in my left heel. It was great to actually see how all the tendons and nerves in the heel are attached to the bottom of the foot. I have my handy-dandy Gray’s Anatomy fact-filled colouring book, but there’s nothing like the real thing to show me exactly where I’ve done damage.

All in all Dr. Chandra’s exhibit was educational, but afterwards I was not in the mood for turkey soup. 

Liverpool: Peter Pan, the Beatles and Paddy’s Wigwam

Last October when we were in Dublin we decided to hop on a flight to Liverpool. For $30 Cdn Ryanair whisked us over the English Channel, and I was still sucking my take-off mint when they announced our arrival at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport. Forty minutes after take-off we were standing under the first tribute to Liverpool’s most famous sons, the Beatles.  The airport's motto: Above Us Only Sky.

The Beatles are saints in Liverpool. A yellow submarine greeted us in the airport parking lot. The bus into town passed by hotels graced with larger-than-life statues of the famous four looking down on our bus just like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Beatles Story at Albert Dock and The Cavern where the Beatles played their first gig feature prominently on the tourist maps and Beatles souvenirs are for sale alongside rosary beads in the Catholic cathedral gift shop.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, or Paddy’s Wigwam as it is better known, was one of the reasons I wanted to go to Liverpool. Last time we were here we didn’t have time to check it out. It’s a wild place –the most unorthodox cathedral I've ever seen, more reminiscent of a sports stadium than a church. No sooner was it completed in 1967 that the round concrete monolith with a crowned spire started leaking. They patched up the roof and almost 50 years later, the church is still going strong with 2000 seats and no one less than 25 m from the altar, Below ground, next to, rather than under the cathedral, Lutyens Crypt is also worth checking out - advertised as the crypt of a cathedral that was never built (liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk)

Another reason I wanted to revisit Liverpool was to see their Peter Pan statue. Many people know the 1925 Peter Pan statue in Bowring Park is a replica of a statue in Kensington Gardens in London, England commissioned by JM Barrie.

But did you know that sculptor Sir George Frampton made six copies on three continents? It is my goal to visit all seven (see list below).

1912: London, England: Kensington Gardens

1924: Brussels, Belgium: Egmont Park

1925: St. John`s, NL: Bowring Park

1926: Camden, New Jersey: Johnson Park

1927: Perth, Australia: Queens Gardens

1928: Liverpool, England: Sefton Park

As you can see from the list, Liverpool was the final statue, made three years after Bowring Park’s. It sits next to a Victorian Palm House in beautiful Sefton Park, a double decker bus ride away from Liverpool’s Lime Street Station.

Other things to check out in Liverpool are the canals, the BBC store for Dr. Who paraphernalia and the huge multi-arch Chinese gate on Nelson Street that invites you to Chinatown.  All through the main parts of town, signs indicate which way to walk to various attractions and how many minutes it takes to walk to them. Most helpful.

Liverpudlians are friendly, but good luck with their Lancashire “scouse” accent that plum smacks you in the face as soon as your plane touches down. Luckily for me, my husband was born just down the road in the coal-mining town of Leigh so I had a leg up on our travelling companions who remained gobsmacked every time a Liverpudlian opened his mouth. Check out http://learn-english.wonderhowto.com/how-to/speak-with-liverpudlian-scouse-accent-424288/ to see how you’d get on in this Merseyside town.

Stay tuned for Susan's next Body Parts Blog