Day 1 (October 9, 2020): Trinity and Cape Bonavista

It's Thanksgiving Weekend, pandemic edition. Having had to cancel four trips planned for western North America in recent months, we had hoped the required “14-day quarantine upon arrival back home" would have been lifted by now. So we booked one last attempt to fly west for this holiday weekend. Alas, it was not meant to be. So instead of taking off for Victoria, BC this morning, we took off for Newfoundland.

The 8AM Air Canada Express Dash-8 service to St. John's was literally packed. But it was a smooth run all the way, and we didn't hear a single cough on board. (Always an encouraging thing to be able to report after a flight these days.) Landing on time at 10:15AM, we quickly completed the provincial government's Covid form, got a rental, and headed off to pick up Pam's mother. By 11:15AM we were on the road. The holiday weekend traffic was among the heaviest I have ever seen heading west on the Trans-Canada Highway. Despite a 30-minute construction delay east of Clarenville, we still made it to the historic and near-perfect town of Trinity by 3PM.

It was the last day of the season for the Provincial Historic Sites to be open, so we took in the two Trinity sites that opened in this Covid season: the Lester-Garland Premises (general store) and the Hiscock House. We didn't see any other tourists in the entire town -- quite unusual for a place like Trinity, which has captured international attention.

We left the town with a sense that we had just visited one of the most stunning villages in existence. Next stop: Cape Bonavista, whose lighthouse we tried to reach before the 2020 tourist season closed at 5PM! We pulled into the lighthouse parking lot at 4:45PM, only to see the four Provincial Historic Site employees walking to their cars, finishing the tourist season 15 minutes early. Despite not being able to enter the lighthouse, we still enjoyed the area, although the winds literally made it difficult to stand.

Before heading to our AirBnB in nearby Bonavista, we visited Dungeon Provincial Park and marveled at the massive hole and rock formations.

We rolled into Bonavista just before 6PM, found The Harbour House (our AirBnB) and then struggled but succeeded in finding a spot for a seafood dinner.

A long day, but one that has taken our breath away with sights of Eastern Newfoundland's rugged and historic beauty.

The Thanksgiving forest ablaze, upon take-off from Halifax International, with Highway 102 in the bottom left-hand corner.

The stunning cliffs of Red Cliff, upon descent into St. John's International. It was definitely a rainbow day -- notice the rainbow in the upper right hand corner.

The Dodge Durango from Hertz proved to be an excellent ride.

Rainbow #2 of the day, as we were heading off the Isthmus of Avalon, the narrow strip of land that connects the Avalon Peninsula with the rest of the Island of Newfoundland.

Near Deep Bight, everything came to a standstill for 30 minutes, due to road paving. But there were two up-sides to the delay: we got a kick out of these two dogs...

... and we had incredible views of Random Island to pass the time.

Trinity: this is what we came to see!

Our first view of Trinity.

Trinity is simply a gem. The harbour was first used by fishing ships around the 16th century. The Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real named the location "Trinity" as he arrived on Trinity Sunday, 1501.

The Lester-Garland Premises. What high-end shopping was in these parts until 1952!

This is what a general store was like here 100 years ago. And even 200 years ago!

Trinity Harbour.

It's a village of white picket fences.

Hiscock House.

The kitchen of Hiscock House: what a period kitchen with pot-belly stove was like in outport Newfoundland. Can you recall a scene like this from your younger years?

Skipper Dave!

Trinity.

The Anglican and Roman Catholic churches of Trinity.

St. Paul's Anglican Church.

The narrow lanes of Trinity.

Cape Bonavista is at the northeastern tip of the Bonavista Peninsula, which separates Trinity Bay to the south from Bonavista Bay to the north. The nearby town of Bonavista takes its name from this historic this Cape. The lighthouse was built in 1843. A thriving puffin colony is located on a craggy island just off the Cape.

Cape Bonavista

Cape Bonavista and its 1843 lighthouse.

Inukshuks dot the rocky landscape at the Cape.

OK, let's be clear: the sky was a perfect blue, but the winds were in the range of 75km/h and it was COLD!!

John Cabot may have landed at Cape Bonavista on June 24, 1497 with his second expedition to North America. Although many Nova Scotians would argue this, saying he landed on a beach in Cape Breton.