NFLD Hospitality

Jim had settled down on a rocky harbour overlook with his tripod and assorted cameras. It was a beautiful spot, so likely he’d be a while. I decided to go for a walk. In a town this small, if figured he’d be able to find me when he wanted.

Simple homes were scattered around the water. Rust-red coloured fish sheds dotted the shoreline. The tall granite cliffs protected the harbour. We were at the end of the road. In Newfoundland they call these towns ‘outports’ and this is the outport of Salvage.

“Where are you from?” The fella calling to me was sitting on a veranda overlooking the bay. I stopped at the base of the stairs and we began to chat.

We covered the general topics – Yes, Newfoundland does own Fort McMurray; Yes, we are having a wonderful time in Newfoundland; Yes, this is a beautiful town; Yes, this is our first trip to the Island; Yes, SURE, I’d love a drink.

On the deck, I was introduced to the gang. Alex was the chatty one – he was the first Mainlander to come to Salvage to actually stay. He’s been here for 15 years. His sister Jeanette owns the house (and deck) we were sitting on. She followed him here. Charles was a friend. He’s a crab fisherman and is due to leave for another fishing trip in the next couple of days.

Soon our brown truck, (unmistakable with two bikes and two kayaks on the roof) turned down our way. Jim stopped in the middle of the street when he saw us wave. He wound down his window.

“Hi Jim,” Alex called out to him, “We’re holding Michelle hostage.” Jim joined us on the deck.

We learnt a lot that night. Firstly, Newfoundlanders deserve their reputation as being gregarious hosts. We also learnt about the town – the history, the fishing, the life in winter, and the unfortunate tale of the missing icebergs.

“Last time I kanna remember no bergs – that was way back in ’61. Yea –it was ’61 alright. Usually we’ve lots of ‘em – tey is all over. But tiss year not a one.” Charlie shook his head as he spoke.

“We drove a long way to see those icebergs,” Jim said.

They also pointed out the hiking trails. We could see one of the lookouts from the deck. They told us about the paddling that could be done from town. They also told us about a great place to park our camper. Bonus! We had driven about half an hour to town (from our very ordinary campsite) for the evening to watch the sunset.

Next morning, we packed up and moved to Salvage.

What a great spot we have. The beach is right outside our door. We can look down Alexander Bay and across about half a dozen islands. We are right on the edge of town and have biked in a few times. We’ve also tried out the fabulous hiking trails and been paddling a couple of times once right from our camp.

Three days are going to go real fast.