It’s illegal, dangerous, and it still goes on.

Poaching eggs is one thing but poaching on the sea has been a long time problem in Newfoundland. There are air and sea patrols to monitor, prevent, and eventually arrest the violators. It is not something taken lightly. But and not surprisingly it is a global issue. Wherever money, however small, can be made, theft […]

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In which I get it right.

As I wrote earlier, when we were sitting in the airport, my lovely bride happened upon a postcard for a perfectly wonderful B&B. And as I wrote, I through my infinite wisdom had booked us for three nights in this wonderful place. Am I good or what? We are now on our way to this […]

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Partridgeberry jam: Nectar of the Gods.

I’m not getting out much anymore. Sounds almost like a song. No, that’s “Don’t get around much anymore.” Good try. Johnny, show Bruce what he’s won. No, I’m not getting out. There is a lot of work to do on this book. While I’m deeply involved in now creating the bones for “Arn? Narn.”, I […]

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Part 2: Kicking back at Red’s Lounge…

The afternoon was spent walking around the island taking pictures of local signage, laundry lines, wind turbines, boats (mostly in dry dock as there was no fishing here either), and coves. If it moved I photographed it. If it stood still, I photographed it. Yup, there I was again, taking pictures of nothing! But really […]

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Me and Homer….no, not Simpson!

Now that I’d returned to the mainland which is Newfoundland proper, I was to head to the southern coast of Newfoundland to catch another ferry to another island. Yeah, yeah, I know… (Courtesy Terry’s Bayside Getaway) But, I had a lot a traveling to do in front of me. First south, then west, then southeast, […]

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Canary in the global coal mine.

Currently indigenous to Newfoundland are moose, caribou, salmon, and some remaining cod. There are no naturally residing canaries on the island. However, in this case, the island itself was the canary. Why is Newfoundland important? In much the same way the canary in a coal mine is important. That bird is an early warning of […]

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Newf-a-licious!

Newf-a-licious – it sounds like it could be a TV show on Bravo, E!, or Oxygen. Happily, it’s not that at all. Instead, it’s a word just coined to describe native Newfoundland cuisine. Oh, all the expected dishes are available and there are some very fine restaurants pushing the envelope for the foodies out there. […]

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I’ll have the Shiraz de Fogo, please.

If grapes grew in Newfoundland, this is what I imagine they would look like. Indigenous to Newfoundland among other plants are the partridgeberry/lingonberry, bakeapple, elephanthead lousewort, mint, thistle, and pearly everlasting. Some of these I’d known of, well, maybe two or three. The others were new to me. But, nowhere on the island, not on […]

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Man Cave by the sea.

New Year’s Eve in a shanty sounds a lot worse than it really is. Shanty doesn’t have the same connotation in rural Newfoundland as it does in the States. A shanty is the small building/house/cabin on the coast used by fishermen as a residence when going to and coming from the sea. It is for […]

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Lobsters and a screw cap.

On the western coast of Newfoundland, I drive through such towns as Cow Head, Sally’s Cove, Three Mile Rock, (not to be confused with the atomic town in Pennsylvania), and Spudgels Cove. (Who was Spudgels that he was important enough to have a cove named after him?) Each one of these has it’s own personality […]

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Scrunchions and my new BFF.

Pretty much every culture has a way of maximizing their foods and recycling heretofore inedible scraps of food detritus. And if it’s a fancy restaurant, they’ll give it a posh name and charge dearly for it. How else could one explain veal cheeks? Please do not confuse this with cod cheeks; the concept is the […]

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You want chips with that?

Newfoundland is not like anywhere else. That’s a good thing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s big – 41,000 square miles of cod-loving goodness. And traveling around the province in the small outports, one can get a real flavor for the island. But try and get something to eat and you’ll find the […]

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Cod almighty!

A one cent postal stamp. This is the biggest fish story ever and it’s all true. Really. For over 500 years, cod reigned supreme in Newfoundland. Cod was so plentiful that it was thought that it would never run out. This fish was what the Newfoundland economy was based upon. It, as much as the […]

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Joe Batt’s Arm… not necessarily a limb.

When I started my research for this book, as then yet unnamed, I wanted to get an idea of the geography and how people lived in Newfoundland. One of the first things I obtained was a map and that in itself was quite entertaining. It seemed like the Newfoundlander sense of humor had a lot […]