Bonavista...

Bonavista. Good view. An apt name for this wonderful community. We traveled there to meet our friends Sean and Caroline Todd, and their daughter Sarah (the Todd’s live in Bar Harbor; Caroline grew up in Bonavista) and Caroline’s parents Lindsey and Minnie Russell.

Bonavista has really gotten under my skin. I love the outport feeling of the community; the small homes with little windows to minimize heat loss during the harsh winters; the narrow streets with no logical pattern to their layout (a very Newfoundland trait); the sense of history that permeates the community. Visiting Bonavista and the Russels, who let us camp in their driveway, made me feel like I have finally entered the real deal Newfoundland culture. Lindsey and I talked at length about fishing, gardening, hunting, his new four-wheeler and snow machine, heating with firewood, etc. Minnie was the consummate host, even insisting on doing our laundry.

Our first night there, Sean took me to me to see Atlantic Puffins. We drove to the lighthouse at dusk, parked, and instantly I was awed by the sight of hundreds, no, thousands of puffins flying around. And they were a mere stone’s throw away! There are not many places in North America, perhaps none, outside of Newfoundland, where you can see this density of charismatic megafauna. And what is even more surprising is that this is not even a large colony!

On Tuesday night, Canada Day, the Russels had us out to their “camp”, an old trailer permanently parked in a barren just outside of town. From the deck around the camper we could see icebergs floating in Bonavista Bay, Northern Gannets wheeling on the horizon and occasionally plunge-diving, Black-legged Kittiwakes (Newfoundlanders call them ‘tickle-asses’ because of how close they fly to one another), and the odd puffin. Sean said that in a few weeks, once the Capelin were running, whales would be abundant, too. Minnie made a wonderful dinner of fish (in Newfoundland, fish is the same thing as cod, all other fish are called by their actual or colloquial name).

Earlier in the day we toured downtown Bonavista. Being Canada Day, the provincially-managed historic sites were open for free, so we toured the Ryan Premises. There are five buildings restored to their original, historic condition, with interpretive exhibits of the fisheries. We also toured the Matthew, a replica of the ship John Cabot sailed to Newfoundland in 1497.

Our visit was far too short, but we will be back.