Day 18 Trinity/Bonavista

 Sep 21 - Trinity

A free day in Trinity and we head to Cape Bonavista.

Paint crew.

Every house has a bin like this yellow one. Some have painted them to resemble food products. They are meant to keep the animals away from the garbage.

We are too late for puffins in Elliston. But it is also the root cellar capital of the world.

These traditional food storage systems – used mainly for root vegetables like potatoes and carrots – are built right into the ground, mainly into small hills and banks. The natural humidity and moisture keeps things cool in the summer and prevents freezing in the winter.
Elliston has more than 130 documented root cellars in the small town and surrounding area. Of those, half are still in working condition and used today.

It's harder than ever to forget the 1914 Sealing Disaster, with this poignant statue of a father shielding his son from death's icy grip. 78 men (and boys) died, caught walking miles between their ice-bound ships -- the SS Newfoundland and SS Southern Cross -- and the shore during a big storm. The twin calamities in the same storm brought the death total to 251.

Titled "Home from the Sea," sculpted by Morgan Macdonald, dedicated on June 19, 2014, the statue depicts the last moments of Reuben and Albert John Crewe, who were later found frozen together on the ice.

The Sealers Memorial — a project that was six years in the making — honours the crew of the SS Newfoundland who froze to death in March 1914 when poor communications led them to be stranded in a blizzard, as well as the crew of the SS Southern Cross, which sank in the same storm. In all, 251 sealers died.

Cape Bonavista

Built in 1843, the light at Cape Bonavista is one of the few in the world where you can still climb up the stone tower and see the same seal oil fueled catoptric light apparatus that was used in the 1800s. It wasn't open.

Into town for lunch.

Marine resources were critical in shaping Atlantic Canada's human history. Aboriginal peoples fished here before the 16th century, when European mariners created a thriving international trade based on cod. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the bounty of the sea gave rise to hundreds of coastal communities (outports) and a distinctive maritime culture. Located in Bonavista, historically a prolific fishing community, the James Ryan premises is one of the last surviving examples of a 19th century mercantile complex involved in the inshore, seal and Labrador fisheries.

Wood stacked for the winter.

Garbage bin painted in the colours of the Newfoundland Tricolour, or the Pink, White and Green, is an unofficial flag seen in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The design originated in the late 19th century with the Newfoundland Fishermen's Star of the Sea Association, an aid and benefit organization established in St. John's in 1871 by the Catholic Church. The flag was unofficial but the official banner of the association was a green background with a white star and a pink cross in the centre. The Star of the Sea is Polaris, the North Star, which was very important in navigation. Mary, mother of Jesus, is also known as Our Lady, Star of the Sea in the Catholic Church.

We stopped in Port Rexton because the brewery does gluten free beer.