31 Days in Canada

 In honour of CANADA DAY  I plan to post a daily image of Canada and a link to a random Canadian location we have visited. 

Today we'll visit Trinity, Dildo (YES), Brigus and St. John's in Newfoundland - random post

A traditional Newfoundland Jiggs Dinner (also called boiled dinner or cooked dinner) is a hearty, one-pot meal typically enjoyed on Sundays. It consists of boiled salt beef and root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and turnip, all cooked together alongside a cloth bag of yellow split peas that is mashed into "pease pudding".

Newfoundland is Canada’s easternmost province, known for its rugged, windswept coastlines, unique Irish-influenced culture, and famously friendly locals. Nicknamed "The Rock," the island is home to North America's oldest history, vibrant fishing villages, and abundant wildlife.

Deep History: As part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, it is home to North America's oldest European settlement (visited by the Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows) and the oldest city in North America (St. John's).

A Distinct Identity: Because Newfoundland was its own British Dominion before joining Canada in 1949, its culture feels quite different from the rest of the country. Its unique accent, folklore, and traditions are heavily rooted in Irish, English, and French heritage.

Hospitality: The province has a global reputation for incredibly warm and welcoming locals, "kitchen parties," and lively oral tradition.

31 DAYS IN CANADA

Ottawa ON 

RED

  One Word Sunday

Robin's, a coffee chain in Newfoundland - taken September 2022

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.

Day 19 Trinity - Dildo - Brigus - St. John’s

  September 2022 Trinity - Dildo - Brigus - St. John's

The original plan had been to go from Trinity and overnight in Bay Roberts before heading to Bay Bulls for a boat ride and then to St. John's. But Hurricane Fiona was on her way so instead I cancelled the Bay Roberts hotel and Bay Bulls boat ride (no problem with either) and added an extra night in St. John's.

It was a cool drizzling morning as we set out.

We took this brutal road to Dildo.

DILDO

Okay, yes, most people just come to Dildo because of the name. Clearly, as a society, we are not yet mature enough to overlook a town with the same name as one of the most famous sex toys of our time. Of course, the word originally was only an innocent reference to the part of a dinghy that holds the oars, a much more wholesome (if rather uninteresting) and understandable connection in a fishing village. 

It poured as we ran across the street!

Lionel Rodrigues of the Dildo Brewing Company believes it comes from the French word for the Island, ile d'eau, owing to its freshwater springs. Local artist Clifford George maintains Dildo is the adaptation of the Spanish word for the bottom of a boat, as the town is likewise located at the bottom of the bay.

However, although Dildo’s name has long amused visitors to the area, in August 2019 it reached a new level of fame when talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel latched onto the town. He spent two weeks featuring it in jokes and stories on his show, even buying the town a Hollywood-style Dildo sign, and eventually won the race to be named Honorary Mayor of Dildo, despite late competition from Matt Damon. Although, apparently, the position is still conditional until he finally comes to visit in person.

Dildo Brewing Company, Kimmel’s former campaign headquarters, is the place to go for beer, food and a wide variety of merchandise with the word Dildo on it.

We had lunch here and it was very good.

Murals in the bathroom.

The town of Dildo reminds residents and visitors repeatedly that the giant Hollywood-style sign sits on private property and hiking to the sign is prohibited.

Here's a song and video about Dildo.



We pass through Cupids on the way to Brigus.

A community of 743, Cupids bears the title of the first English settlement in Canada, settled by John Guy, a British merchant from Bristol, England and thirty-nine Planters in 1610. 
It has also been known as Coopers, Copers Cove, Cupers Cove, and Cuperts.

BRIGUS

The town is a picture postcard, reminiscent of the quaintness often found in European villages. Even the name “Brigus” is derived from “Brickhouse,” an old English town, pronounced with a flavour only found in this part of North America.

There’s a canal that runs through the centre of the historic part of town and calls out to be photographed.

Stonewalls line the rivers, and were probably built to keep the water from overflowing the banks.
 

The garden is one of only a select few designated peace parks in Canada. In 1988, the site was donated by the Wilcox family who occupied the dwelling on the property since the mid 1800’s. The large central tree in the gardens was planted in 1988 by the captain of the Ernestina/Morrissey Schooner - the ship that was once the pride and joy of Captain Bob Bartlett!

Originally constructed in the 1820’s by Charles Cozens as one of three stone buildings for his fishing operations, it was converted into a barn in the late 1800’s.

The forge was built in 1889.

The first Roman Catholic parish church in Brigus was built by Dean Mackin in 1825, on land donated by James Hearn. Prior to 1825 Mass had been celebrated at the Hearn house next door. The church itself was a moderate sized wooden structure, with an offset belfry erected close by the road-side and which, in most old photographs, appears to be of stone construction. It stood on the site of what is now the Old Roman Catholic Cemetery, next to the Hearn house on Irishtown Road at Chapel Lane.

Behind the church.

From there we continued onto St. John's in the drizzling rain wondering about Hurricane Fiona.