Blog #5 Welcome back to Newfoundland - Part 1

So just when we think we have seen the most amazing things and it cannot get much better, we arrive in Conche NL and step into the French Shore Interpretation Centre to see the French Shore Tapestry. The story of the creation of this tapestry is beautiful in itself. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the exhibit it clearly stated, no photos of the tapestry are permitted due to copyright protection. For this reason we took no photos but found some online. Honestly though, one or a hundred pictures could not do this presentation justice. The tapestry is about 3 feet high and is 217 feet long. It hangs from the ceiling at eye level and winds back and forth around the room. Just hanging there, it exudes energy and commands a sense of awe. The French Shore Tapestry was started in 2006 as a collaboration with French artist Jean Claude Roy, his wife Christine, and the French Shore Historical Society located in Conche. It is a historical depiction of Newfoundland’s French Shore. It was made by a group of people from many different backgrounds including teachers, housewives, doctor, fish plant workers, a mother and daughter, and a master carpenter. The Roy’s directed the progress from France and the embroiders worked daily around the tapestry frame here in Conche. It took over 20,000 hours in a four year span to complete. This does not include the many hours of research, design, and the choice of colours also involved. In the room, at the end of the tapestry, each embroider included on display their names and the tools each one used, scissors etc.

French Shore Tapestry

French Shore Tapestry

Sign at beginning of display

Village of Conche

Village of Conche

There is another section in the Interpretation Centre which depicts more of the French Shore History. A few interesting facts we read: “Cabin Boys” known as “les mousses” were part of the ships crew and could be as young as 8 years old. Some were recruited as part of a government plan to prepare seamen for the French Navy, some were stowaways looking for free room and board, mostly they were used for cleaning, serving, etc. The Guardians are another interesting point, in the 1800’s the French would hire these “guardians” usually the men originating from Southern Newfoundland to protect their fishing claims and gear from the English during the winter months. The guardians were quite well paid and were “allowed” to fish on the outskirts of the French designated fishing territory. As a result, the guardians began to establish themselves here and settled. Eventually tensions started between the two parties and by the late 1800’s the French presence was dwindling. In Conche and surrounding areas, the descendent of the Guardians continued fishing with little change for 150 years until around 1970 a road was constructed and then their lifestyle began to change.

Cabin Boy - Les Mousses

Cabin Boy - Les Mousses

Frenchman sitting with Guardian Family

Outside the Centre, is a building where there is large fishing rowboat called a chaloupe (a vessel of Basque origin). This boat, historically, was used in Newfoundland for whale hunting and cod fishing. Eventually in Newfoundland, the dory, a lighter and more handy boat replaced the chaloupe. Overtime the chaloupe disappeared in these areas and the art and knowledge of constructing them was lost. The Basque Country in Europe though, to this day continue using the chaloupe. In 2004 with the help of the Basque Maritime Heritage the Basques came to Newfoundland and shared their ancestral knowledge and three chaloupes were built here. One of which is on display in Conche. An interesting bit is that where Guy grew up, in New-Brunswick, small rowboats were called “chaloupe” - he still calls them that today.

Chaloupe

On the way to St Anthony’s we stopped in Roddickton to see the underground Salmon Pools. Another of nature’s wonders. This is the only area in the world where the salmon swim underground to reach their spawning destination. After walking a trail in the forest to find the underground entrance, we guesstimated that the distance in underground caves that the salmon would have to swim is approximately 1 km - a long distance considering.

Underground Salmon Pools

Underground Salmon Pools

Hike to the underground Salmon Pools

St Anthony is considered to be one of the top destinations in Newfoundland to see whales and icebergs. Sadly, on our visit here we saw neither. We sort of made up for it though, in a way, by visiting a stuffed polar bear at the town Municipal Building. As the story goes the bear was wandering in the streets of St Anthony in April of 1984. After 2 hours of being called the RCMP arrived from Corner Brook in an helicopter with Fish and Wildlife officers also on board. Their intent was to direct the bear away from town. After being followed for about 1 km the bear suddenly stopped, reared up, fell over, and appeared to be dead. The bear laid there for about 45 minutes without moving. His tongue was hanging out and his eyes were wide opened and cloudy. The officers fired three shots before anyone came near to ensure the bear was dead. Now, if you wonder why a tranquilizer gun was not used instead of a rifle, it is because there was only one person in Western Newfoundland authorized to use this type of gun and he happened to be in St. John’s at the time.

The Polar Bear - St Anthony

In St. Anthony we stayed at a Harvest Host, which was a great location as it has one of the best museums (Pamela’s opinion) seen to date. Since the museum is located close to many hiking trails, we decided to, again, challenge ourselves and opted for the Santana Trail part of the Daredevil Trail. This hike, which is mainly stairs, has a steep elevation of 550 feet with a total of 476 steps to the top. Well worth the effort as the views are spectacular. At the top the silence and calming feeling alone is worth the effort - quite humbling. We also did the coastal Iceberg Trail and the Whale Watching Trail but as previously mentioned no sightings of either but we did enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Now back to Pamela’s amazing museum, this place is filled with many many interesting facts and yes quirky bits of information. While driving around in Newfoundland and Labrador, we have come across many roadside gardens and stacked piles of firewood. We wondered why these are in these odd locations and why so many? Well this museum had the answers. As we know Newfoundland is known as the “Rock” for good reason, the majority of the landscape here is rocky which makes gardening almost impossible. Gardens on the side of the road have been planted since the 1960s when the Northern Peninsula highway was built and the soil was turned over and dumped beside the road. This same rich soil is what the locals take advantage of. These gardens are spread all along the highways where there are no homes to be seen. The gardeners obviously stake their claims and drive back and forth to tend to their gardens. Another thing we have seen are many stacks of firewood piled along the roadside. These stem from people needing wood to heat their homes. The wood is cut in the winter and transported by snowmobiles to the side of the highways. The wood is left there to dry during the summer. In the fall it is then collected. Of course, each local is well aware of who owns which woodpile or garden.

Let’s give it a try!

Start of the hike- St Anthony

More Stairs!

Amazing what can grow among rocks

View from the top - St Anthony

St Anthony - view from the top

St Anthony - View from the top - Roadtrek is parked below for the night

More hikes and views - St Anthony

More hikes and views - St Anthony

More hikes and views - St Anthony

More hikes and views - St Anthony

Roadside garden

Roadside garden

Firewood stacked along the highway

Another interesting bit in the museum is the history of Mummering (Jannying) in Newfoundland. This practice dates as far back as the six century Rome when there was no organized theatre, and the church condemned all types of performances, so the performers became wanderers. In Newfoundland during the 12 days of Christmas people go Mummering dressed up in disguise - wearing old clothing, sheets, etc. They go door to door to families and neighbours and are usually in groups of 5 or more. They knock on doors and ask  “any mummers lowed in?” Once you allow them into your home everyone usually gathers in the kitchen where they are offered food and drinks - and then, there will be lots of noise, laughing, music, and dancing. Everyone must try and identify who the Mummers (Jannies) are. Once this is done, they wish everyone a happy holiday and continue to the next home.

Mummer Scene -

Found more Mummers along the way

The favourite museum also has a chart explaining the different sizes of icebergs. We believe that “our” iceberg on the way to Battle Harbour was a “Small” Berg. Any other iceberg we have spotted to date, based on this chart, were Growlers. Other interesting iceberg facts, according to the museum, include: birds taking flight off an iceberg is a good sign that the iceberg will roll soon, the glacial ice from icebergs is over 15,000 years old, a secret Second World War program called the Habakkuk was a plan to build icebergs to use as aircraft carriers, and the list goes on. Another interesting fact in the museum is about moose. Now we have been wanting to see a moose since we got here but to no avail. There are between 125,000 -150,000 moose here in Newfoundland today, so you would think with all these moose we would have seen at least one by now. Guy mentioned this to one of the locals here and was told “don’t worry the moose saw you”. Moose are native to Labrador but not Newfoundland. In 1878 two were introduced in Gander and in 1904 four more were introduced in Howley from New Brunswick. It is believed that all the moose in Newfoundland are descendants of those six moose. There are also numerous fact and interesting tidbits about whales and wildlife of the region, flowers, symbols, and local foods.

Iceberg chart

While in both Labrador and Newfoundland we heard many times the word resettlement. Resettlement in Newfoundland began in the 1950’s up to the 1970s. Thousands of residents were being prodded into leaving their outport communities to what the government called “Growth Centres”. It is believed that during this time over 307 communities were abandoned and over 28,000 people relocated, almost one tenth of the population of Newfoundland at the time. During this time, it was not unusual to see homes being moved across the water. Many people had built their homes with families and did not want to abandoned them so they moved them across the water to place them in new locations. Schools, churches, mail services, health centres, were closed to force people to move.

Watching house being moved across the water

House being moved

From St. Anthony we travelled to L’Anse aux Meadows. In 1979, L’Anse aux Meadows in Northern Newfoundland, a Viking settlement, became the first Canadian site to be granted World Heritage status. It is a settlement dating back over 1000 years. Vikings who were Norse, were called Vikings because they were the ones who travelled and explored away from their land for goods to trade. This archeological site was first excavated in the 1960’s and is the only location in North America that has proof of the Norse Structures. This location for the Vikings was never meant to be a permanent settlement, it was chosen for its location mid way between Greenland and the riches sought to the south. It was close to their sea route and had many recognizable landmarks - this was how the Vikings navigated the seas, by following known landmarks. The sod houses were built here to withstand the winter storms and have lots of storage. The Vikings stayed the winter gathering goods to trade that were not available in Greenland and repair their boats. They would sail home in the summer to trade their valuables as the Norse believed this was a way to show power and political status. We walked through the village buildings and there are workers who act out the parts of Vikings to give information and tell the lore.

L’Anse aux Meadows

L’Anse aux Meadows

L’Anse aux Meadows Viking village

L’Anse aux Meadows Viking village

L’Anse aux Meadows storage space

L’Anse aux Meadows - how the walls are built

L’Anse aux Meadows

L’Anse aux Meadows - sleeping and bathing area

L’Anse aux Meadows

L’Anse aux Meadows Vikings

L’Anse aux Meadows - sit with the men and they will tell the lore

Look over there!

Look over there!

Hike along L’Anse aux Meadows

My viking

Not far from L’Anse aux Meadows is another Viking village called Norstead - a Viking port of Trade. We went to see a boat named “Snorri”. Snorri, by the way, is the name the Vikings gave to the first child born in the new world. The Snorri at Norstead is an exact replica built by Master Boat Builder Robert Stevens. Steven’s goal was, along with 11 men, to set out to sea to recreate the historical voyage travelled by Leif Ericsson on his journey from Greenland to Newfoundland. They tried to be as historically accurate as they could. The Snorri is an open-deck boat, 54 feet long and 16 feet wide. It had one square canvas sail and was moved by wind and oars. They first tried the voyage in July of 1997 but had to return due to the rudder breaking. They did complete their journey the following year in September and became the first Viking ship to have completed this trip in 600 years - but at a much slower pace considering the Vikings travelled with as many as 40 men.

The Snorri

The mast of the Snorri

The Snorri

Norstead

Norstead

Norstead

Norstead Forge

Norstead

Norstead- Cheers to the queen!

Our stop for the next night was in St. Lunaire-Griquet another great Harvest Host called the Daily Catch Restaurant. This is worth mentioning for two reasons. First, we ate delicious food here and enjoyed, with our meal, our first taste of the famous Iceberg Beer brewed at the Quidi Vidi Brewery in St-Johns - cool blue bottle. Second reason is they have a pilot whale who has taken residence in the bay for now 6 weeks, no one knows why. The staff at the restaurant have named it George. George can be observed from the restaurant window while eating a meal. After eating, we walked along the water and pier behind the restaurant and we could hear George as he came up for air - amazing. Terry the owner said they have been contacting everyone they can think of, fish and wildlife etc, but to date no one has bothered to come and check him out.

St. Lunaire-Griquet - Harvest Host stop for the night at Daily Catch restaurant

George swimming in the bay - St. Lunaire-Griquet

The famous Iceberg beer

Beautiful St. Lunaire-Griquet

Beautiful St. Lunaire-Griquet

Driving down the road we spotted a gentleman walking his Newfoundland dog. Guy honked and I yelled out the window and asked if I could meet his dog - of course he said yes. Must have thought we were crazy. What a beauty she is; her name is Valyrk. She is 4 years old, friendly, strong, full of energy and slobbery. The owner told us that 2 years prior she had chased 2 polar bears who were trying to get into their home, and “since then she has been a bit off”, still a beautiful dog to meet.

Meeting Valyrk

In Flowers Cove are the Thrombolites - these are amazing. They are extremely endangered microbial structures that are believed to have been the only form of life from 3.5 billion to 650 million years ago. Endangered yet they allow people to walk all over them, somehow it seems wrong. Thrombolites means “clotted structure”. They look like big round rocks along the waters edge and when you touch them they definitely feel like rocks but a bit more hollow. Thrombolites are very rare and are only found here and in Western Australia. Also in the same area, we visited the St. Barnabas Anglican Church known as the “Skin Boot Church”. It was called this as many of the local people made seal skin boots to sell to raise money to build the church. There is even a pair of boots hanging on the wall inside the church. The church was completed in 1931.

Flowers Cove - Thrombolites

Flowers Cove - Thrombolites

Flowers Cove - Thrombolites

Flowers Cove - Thrombolites

Flowers Cove - Skin Boot Church

Boots hanging in the Skin Boot Church

We spent 6 nights in the famous Gros Morne National Park. We stayed in two different campgrounds in different areas of the park, Green Point and Trout River. We relaxed, ate, drank a little wine, enjoying Mother Nature at her finest. We did a few hikes while we were here. The Coastal Trail in Green Point was a refreshing 6km morning walk. There were many toads along the forest part of the hike and we had to be careful not to step on the tiny things. Guy named that part of the trail the “toad forest”. Guy later took Treme on a walk to see the toads in toad forest. Treme was quite intrigued by them but wasn’t sure how to deal with them. She kept chasing and pawing them. At one point she tried to nip at one and turned around shaking her head and licking her lips. We think she got sprayed or tasted some kind of bitter solution excreted from the skin. She saw a couple more after that and did not bother chasing them. She merely turned her head and watched them hop away. We also did the Western Brook Pond Trail but unfortunately were not able to book the boat to see the fjords as they were sold out. For the hike up the Lookout Trail we began early in the morning to avoid the heat. It is a challenging hike with lots of elevation gain but well worth the efforts as the views of the entire valley and Gros Morne are spectacular.

Beautiful Campsite - Green Point Gros Morne, first time using the bug tent

Toad Forest - Gros Morne

Toad

More toads

Toad forest - Gros Morne

Taking a break

Western Brook Pond

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne- Fellow hikers along the trail

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne - view from the top

Lookout Hike - Gros Morne. Note the skinny white legs.

Trout River view point

Trout River Gros Morne

Trout River Gros Morne

Trout River Gros Morne

Guy’s fish chair - Trout River Gros Morne

Now the magic of the Tablelands. We joined a guided tour of the Tablelands that taught us an amazing amount of information about the area and it’s formation. Tablelands was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 for its exceptional natural beauty. For anyone interested in geology, Tablelands in Gros Morne National Park is an amazing place both for its beauty and its story. Formed around 500 million years ago. It is a rust coloured flat top land, or plateau, rich in mineral. This land formation was forced to the surface of the earth by the movements of the earth’s continental plates in a process starting deep in the layer of the earth called the mantle. The shifting of the earth layers is called plate tectonics. Plate tectonic is a recent theory about the movement of continental plates. In simple words, my understanding is that the shifting of earth plates is an ongoing event where continents move by centimetres every year. As our tour guide told us, this year flying from Canada to Europe will be 3 centimetres cheaper. I understand, and I may be wrong, that every 500 thousand years, the mantle layer of the earth which is quite viscous at 5000 degrees hotter than the earth surface, pushes its way up between continental plates. Normally, the mantle reaches the earth surface solidifies and then falls back down toward the centre of the earth. Only to remelt and repeat the same process 500 thousand years later. The story with Tablelands is that 500 millions years ago, the mantle did not fall back to the centre of the earth but continued moving and layers overlapped and reached and deposited itself on the top of the earth surface (the crust). Thus the magic of Tablelands. There are few locations on earth where the earth layer called the mantle can be seen or studied - Gros Morne Newfoundland is one. The rocks are so rich in minerals that exposure to oxygen causes the rock surface to rust, hence its reddish colour. The rocks are quite heavy and porous and are easily broken and erosion is continuous. Many studies have been done regarding mining the minerals but proved to be too complicated and expensive a process, not worth the effort - financially. After all efforts exhausted, the government finally decided to turn the area into a National Park. An interesting bit is that the surface of Tablelands which is rocky and dry is comparable to the Mars surface. For this reason NASA uses this place to trial the Mars Rover. The mountain is barren where very few plants grow. Mantle rocks are poor in nutrients and rich in toxic metals such as magnesium and iron that plants can’t tolerate. Very few plants have managed to adapt and survive here. Carnivorous plants seem to do well though. One plant is the Newfoundland national flower, the Pitcher Plant. The Pitcher Plant is a carnivorous plant that survives mainly by attracting insects into its pitcher-like shaped leaves, thus, not needing as much ground nutrients. One side of the valley is lush green and the other side is barren and red in colour - quite interesting to look at. And more importantly, here is one of the few places on earth where one can walk on top the the earth core layer called the mantle. Proud to say we have done so….

Tablelands - Gros Morne

Tablelands - Gros Morne

Rock at Tablelands - Gros Morne

Tablelands - Gros Morne

Tablelands - Gros Morne

Tablelands -Newfoundlands official flower The Pitcher Plant

Tablelands - Gros Morne in the distance

Tablelands visitor centre - Gros Morne

So here we are in a campsite called Ocean View Park in Leading Tickles. Another beautiful scenic place so beautiful in fact we have decided to plant ourselves here for the next two nights and enjoy the views. Getting here from Corner Brook has been an interesting few days. We headed first toward Pilley Island to see a Whale Museum. We drove the road to Pilley Island in a torrential downpour - even our GPS indicated dangers of flash flooding. Along the way, people’s dirt and gravel driveways were getting washed out and spilled onto the roads - piles of gravel everywhere on the road. The water in the bays below the road was turning to brown from the muddy wash-off. We visited the Sperm Whale Museum which has the skeleton of a whale that washed up on the beach in Nova Scotia. The skeleton was scavenged by the Pilley Island museum people. It was cleaned of its meat (fed to the birds) and was sent to Drumheller Alberta to the Tyrell Museum to be prepared and is now on display and is almost 80% intact. A few facts we read here; the head of a Sperm Whale is one third of its body, they have the largest brains and the largest nose in the animal kingdom and literally no sense of smell. Sperm Whales are the largest predator in the world. They can dive deeper than any other mammal and can create the most powerful sound. They are the only predator capable of hunting giant squids. The following day we visited the Giant Squid Interpretation Pavilion in Glovers Harbour. On November 2, 1878 Frederick Joseph Martin along with two other fishermen discovered the biggest “giant squid”. This squid weighed 4409 pounds and its eyes were also the largest at 15.75 inches in diameter. Fact: squid have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom. Between 1870 and 1881 there were 20 “giant squid” found in Newfoundland. Along the way, we also stopped and I visited the Canadian Glove Museum. This museum is the only Museum in Canada dedicated to gloves. It displays many of the different glove molds and techniques that have been used over the years to make gloves. It has historical and cultural gloves and even has a few famous gloves on display from Marilyn Monroe , Audrey Hepburn, David Suzuki, and Elvis Presley’s army gloves. Elvis gave these to his family’s personal nurse who lived behind the Graceland Mansion with her husband and 2 daughters. One day when she was out playing with her daughters in the snow Elvis noticed she was wearing plastic kitchen gloves, he gave her his gloves that he had brought back from Germany. We made a quick stop in Botwood to check out the hand painted murals spread out around the town. It was quite interesting but very hot and humid - and humidex is not our favourite word - in some areas, the humidity is thick here in Newfoundland. We walked our way around and saw most but soon returned to the comfort of our air conditioned Roadie.

Driveway spilling onto the road

Sperm Whale Museum -Triton

Sperm Whale Museum -Triton

Sperm Whale Museum -Triton

Water pattern outside the Sperm Whale Museum -Triton

Camp spot for the night - Pilleys Island

Camp spot view for the night - Pilleys Island

Camp spot view for the night - Pilleys Island

Pilleys Island

Pilleys Island

Treme investigating a snail - Pilleys Island

Giant Squid Interpretation Pavilion - Glovers Harbour

Giant Squid Interpretation Pavilion - Glovers Harbour

The Canadian Glove Museum

Latex Glove Mold - Canadian Glove Museum

Glove Molds - Canadian Glove Musuem

Elvis Presley Army Mitts

Quirkiness along the roadside

Views at Ocean View Park

Views at Ocean View Park

Views at Ocean View Park

Views at Ocean View Park

Guy practising his fly fishing techniques - Ocean View Park

Morning hike at Ocean View Park

View at the top - Ocean View Park

Quirkiness at the campsite - Ocean View Park (more like down she goes)

Botwood Murals

Botwood Murals

Botwood Murals

Botwood Murals

This morning we have discovered that we seem to have collected unwanted guests along the way - mice! As luck would have it, our neighbour at the campsite happens to be a professional exterminator and gave us some mouse traps and a few helpful hints so hopefully we (Guy) catch them soon. So far they have chewed up our avocados and stolen almost all of poor Treme’s cookies.

As long as I can remember whenever I read or heard about Newfoundland, Twillingate would always come up. We finally made it, its a quaint and colourful town on the water. It is July so rare chance we would see icebergs here, we did manage to entertain ourselves though with a walk around the area, a dinner show which was fun including lots of local music, comical skits, many laughs, and delicious lobster dinner. Lucky for us, the next morning we arrived early at Long Point Lighthouse and were able to spot a few whales. Not as close as if we were in boats but still close enough to hear them making grunting noises. At one point, there were four whales below us from our perch up on the 200 foot cliff, what an honour and a privilege.

Beautiful Twillingate

Beautiful Twillingate

Beautiful Twillingate

Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Hiking - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Hiking - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Hiking - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Whales from way up - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Whales - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Whales - Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Long Point Lighthouse - Twillingate

Twillingate Dinner Theatre more Mummering

Gander Newfoundland, what an interesting place. How do you spend your time in Gander? Well, first stop at the Town Hall where we met Percy Farewell the mayor of Gander and also had an interesting chat with Brian who works in the Town Hall. We came here to see the Compassion Memorial, a piece of steel beam from the World Trade Centre (the first piece out of the USA  - based on what Brian told us). Now, Brian is a bit of a chatter which was just fine as he had loads of interesting stories to tell. One in particular, he asked where we were going next and I mentioned we were going to see the “Sgt. Gander” statue. Brian told us that Sgt Gander (formally known as Pal) is a Newfoundland dog who was given the Dickin Medal (the animals version of the Victoria Cross) in 2000. He originally was a pet but at three years old he was adopted and became the mascot of the Royal Rifles of Canada. He was killed in action during the battle of Hong Kong in 1941. He grabbed a grenade that had been thrown into the bunker where the soldiers were unable to move due to enemy fire; so Gander grabbed the grenade in his mouth and ran out of the bunker killing himself when the grenade exploded but saving the lives of the seven men. Now Brian’s story goes into much more details and facts but you get the gist.

The real Sgt. Gander

Me & Sgt. Gander

Sgt. Gander & Handler statue

Sgt. Gander detailed face

Compassion Memorial

I know the town of Gander is famous for its hospitality, kindness, and humanity the people here showed on that horrific day September 11, 2001 when the air space was shut down. The Broadway Musical Come From Away is their story of that event. I am also familiar from my days in the travel industry as Gander was a refuelling stop for the charter flights heading to and from Europe. We have learnt so many more interesting and intriguing facts about Gander and its history. Originally the airport was known as the Newfoundland Airport and was the result of a 1935 agreement between Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Newfoundland to establish commercial and military air service across the North Atlantic, and at the time was considered the Worlds largest airport. The town of Gander was originally built beside and between the airport runways in the late 1930’s when the population was around 3000 people. In the 1950‘s the Airport management announced that there could be no more growth in the community as the space was too limited. A new townsite was developed and the first houses were built in the new Gander in 1952. By the end of 1957 there were 685 houses and Gander became the official Town of Gander in 1959. Many of the streets have aviation names and in the centre of Gander the streets form the head shape of the Gander. During the 1950s & 1960s many flights had to stop in Gander to refuel and many famous people arrived here, to name a few: Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Fidel Castro who played in the snow on a toboggan, Albert Einstein and many more. Many Ganderites met and mingled with these famous people in Gander. Another interesting but somber visit was the Silent Witness Memorial just a few minutes drive outside of Gander. This is the exact area where on December 12, 1985, an Arrow Air plane crashed after take off from the Gander Airport. The flight was full of men and women returning from a Peacekeeping assignment in Egypt and returning home to Kentucky, all 256 onboard died.

Welcome to Gander!

Gander Airport

Fidel Castro - Gander

Gander Airport

Guy Sinatra ???

Silent Witness Memorial

Cobbs Park morning walk - Gander

Cobbs Park morning walk - Gander

The North Atlantic Aviation Museum, where Brian from Town Hall worked during 911, is jammed pack with Gander’s aviation history and certainly a must see. They were also presented with a piece of steel beam from the World Trade Centre. A third piece is at the Gander Airport. As per Brian at the Town Hall, the Americans hold a very tight records of where each piece of steel donated around the world is located. The museum is part of the Harvest Host program so we stayed here for two nights in their parking lot.

North Atlantic Aviation Museum

North Atlantic Aviation Museum

Piece of steel beam from the World Trade Centres - North Atlantic Aviation Museum

Thank you letters from people around the world to the people of Gander - North Atlantic Aviation Museum

As an aside, great news it seems. We believe that the mouse has met its demise. We had a sticky trap in the food drawer and a few morning ago it disappeared. There has been no more mouse action since then. Both the mouse and the trap must be somewhere behind Roadie’s walls…. Apparently, in Newfoundland, the mice are at the top of their cycle. We’ll have to be more vigilant, but how? Treme, well, she’s obviously not a mouse hunter.

Beware mice - do not come into our Roadtrek grrrrr!!!