Monday, July 21, 2014

Twillingate - A Fisherman's Tale


Today was another long day on the tour bus covering around 340 klm. The route took us from Gander north to Twillingate then back through Gander, south to Port Blandford where we will spend two nights.

The most interesting part of the day was without a doubt, Twillingate.
Our first stop today.

Cap'n Dave is a fisherman, like his father before him. He is also a wise man. Realizing the fishery may no longer provide for him and his family and seeing the potential in tourism, he set up shop on the outskirts of Twillingate and personally educates visitors on the life of a fisherman and his family in Newfoundland.
Dave's operation is less a tourist trap and more a lesson in the romance and lore of Newfoundland Cod Fishermen.


This "Sei Whale" skeleton is part of his display. Having found the carcass washed up on shore, he towed it to a remote island where he removed what he could of the decomposing flesh and left it for two years to allow nature to take it's course.  He then transported and reassembled it for display. 


Dave is also a poet of some local repute.
 But, this verse (his), shows that in his veins, runs the salty blood of a fisherman.
As I understand the story, a "Stage" is akin to a land claim, but it also marks the territory or waters of a fisherman, which is always respect by other fishermen. A stage includes a hut where the cleaning, splitting and salting stages of a cod operation took place.  This "Stage" belonged to Dave's father and after his dad's passing only a few years ago, Dave towed it to his own stage to become part of his display.

After leaving Cap'n Dave's, we head to the tip of the North Twillingate Island to experience more of this province's incredible natural beauty.

This smallish iceberg was washed against the shore of the north Twillingate island.
The colour display was spectacular.

If you look closely at this shot, along with the medium sized berg just behind us, there are at least two others off in the distance. From one higher vantage point on the north island we could see over 20 icebergs or remnants both near and further off in the distance.  

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