Blue Hills Lunch

On Saturday, April 18th., Clayt and I went to Eastport to spend a couple of days at his cabin, more to relax than anything in the way of major hikes. Hikes are a bit difficult this time of the year, as you have to contend with melting snow, strong Northerly winds, and just not what we like when we go out into the country. However, on this Saturday the sun was out and quite warm, with only a light breeze. So, we (I should say Clayt) decided we would go for a short hike. "Where are we going Clayt" says I. "Oh maybe Louis Hills in Terra Nova National Park". I thought, here we go again, another strenuous hike, up to our knees in wet snow, he sure likes to put me to the test. Anyway, I got a lunch together, and off we go. We passed the parking lot at Louis Hills and continued to the Trans Canada Highway and turned East. Ah, I thought, it will be an easy hike after all as I figured we would be going to Southwest Brook. We passed South West Brook, and now I was getting anxious to know where we were headed. "Clayt, where are we going" I asked. He replied "to the Blue Hills". I just about fainted, Louis Hills is only a child's hike compared to the Blue Hills. In the early years of Terra Nova National Park, there was a forest fire lookout tower at the top of Blue Hills. As a matter of fact, several years ago, Clayt and I hiked to the top and then climbed the ladder to the top of the tower. The view was spectacular. We had lunch there and was a most memorable one. We arrived at the entrance road to Blue Hills and the gate was across, so we had to hike. There was snow on the road, which didn't interfere with walking too bad, but you had to pick your way. As we started up, I knew that I was not dressed for such a hike, too much clothes. About a quarter of the way, Clayt, who somehow loves to be on a hill, spotted a small hill off to our left, and indicated it would be a good place to stop and have lunch. After travelling through some brush and bog, we climbed the hill and found a nice spot to have lunch. Lunch is always an important part of our hikes. There we sat, boiled the kettle for tea, and admired the beauty of nature, such as it was, around us. After lunch we returned to the cabin in Eastport. The picture below shows Clayt enjoying the moment with the Blue Hills in the background.

Mazol Shriner of the Year

Being a Shriner myself, I am pleased to post on my Blog the Mazol Temple Shriner of the year award to a fellow Shriner and friend of mind. At the Annual Meeting of the Mazol Shriners of Newfoundland & Labrador held in St. John's in January, 2009, the Past President of the Gander Shrine Club, Noble Ev Green was awarded "Mazol Shriner of the Year" for 2008. Noble Ev was cited for his long term commitment to the Shrine organization in promoting Shriners activities, and in particular his efforts in fund raising for the Shriners Childrens Hospitals for the care of burnt and crippled children. Noble Ev has been dedicated to his own Gander Shrine Club in twice taking on the roll of President. He has participated in all aspects of growing the membership of the Gander Shrine Club and support for the James Paton Memorial Hospital Shriners Outreach Clinic in Gander.
Congratulations Noble Ev on a well deserved award.

Twillingate Antique Home

Above is a beautifully preserved antique home in the community of Twillingate, Newfoundland. This home is very well maintained along with the grounds. Not knowing the history of this home, as I took it during a recent visit there, one can rest assured that it belonged to a local merchant, who more than likely was in the fish business.

Twillingate Randy

On Sunday, April 11, 2009 in company with our good friends from St. John's, Fraser and Joan Clark, we went for a randy. A "randy" is a commonly used Newfoundland term for going to no fixed destination. In this case we headed West on the TCH and turned off to Lewisporte, which is about a 35 minute drive from Gander. At Lewisporte we had lunch at the Country Garden Restaurant. After lunch we proceeded to Twillingate, after a side trip to Birchy Bay, where were had a summer home a few years ago. The community has really grown since our time there, with a number of new modern homes being built. On to Twillingate, where it was very foggy and light drizzle. Not good conditions for picture taking, but I did manage to get a few pictures. Below is a picture taken of the seashore with some interesting rock outcrops and drift packed ice. Click on the picture(s) to enlarge

Below is a picture of my friend, Fraser Clark

Another view of the landscape.

In the early years of Newfoundland, the common dwelling found in Newfoundland outports was the "Saltbox" type house. Most have now fallen to ruin, but the one below is being care for and appears to be getting a face lift. Too bad a trailer is parked in front, but maybe after it is renewed, I can get a better picture.

Gander River Cabin

On November 30,2008, the sun shining, but cold, four brave souls (Eric Button, Doug Bennett, Clayton Hann and myself) set off on ATV's
from Gander using the old railway bed to go to Eric & Doug's cabin on the Gander River. Went on the rail bed as far as Glenwwod and then took a woods road that brought us to an access point to a trail leading to the cabin. Spent the day there, justing relaxing and had a great meal, as usual. The pictures above shows the cabin and a view of the Gander River looking across at some other cains. A great spot.

Newfie Bullet near Lockies

This is a nice picture of a mural of the old Newfoundland Railway train, dubbed the "Newfie Bullet", because of the narrow gage track that it ran on, meant that the train had to travel at slower speeds than the standard gage track. In the background is the residence of the "Human Wind Gage", Lockie McDougal, who lived at "Wreckhouse" which was known for winds high enough to blow trains of the track. McDougal advised the Railway when it was too windy to pass through the Wreckhouse area. Also in the background are the beautiful Table Mountains, which of course helped to generate the high winds. This mural can be found on the Railway exhibit building in Port Aux Basques.

Easport Lobsters

On returning from our tour with Don to Salvage, Sid and Judy put on the best seafood spread that you could ever wish to have. The main could was fresh lobsters right out of the pot. Here Judy in bring a tray of the beautiful creatures to the table, her smile tells all. Sid is in the background preparing more lobsters for the table. What a feed. Thanks Sid and Judy for being such great hosts.