Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Salvage

The first time I visited Salvage, Bonavista Bay was over twenty years ago and with a former boyfriend ('ex' seems harsh - he was a nice guy). His father's family was from there. I have a very vague recollection of the visit and his grandparents home but a vivid memory of the town itself. The community was stunning and quickly became one of my favorite places on the island of Newfoundland. It had retained much of its original character with brightly painted stages and stores, many built on posts over the water. The rocks that the town was built on and between was equally lovely and its marriage with the seascape incredible. Always an ambassador of our province's scenic beauty, I have often encouraged people passing through or staying in Terra Nova National Park to head down the Eastport peninsula and visit Salvage.

You can imagine my delight when Salvage was part of our family summer holiday plans. Salvage has changed a bit since I last visited. There are fewer stores and stages, though there is still one in particular pitched on stilts that had my mother concerned for its occupants safety. However, its scenic charm is as strong as ever.

My other visits to Salvage have been to visit community members or to take a scenic drive. This time we got out of the vehicle and went for a hike along one of the 'Old Trails', a set of scenic hikes along old routes and paths to resettled communities or scenic look outs. We took the 'Doctors Pond' trail which led us past the salt water pond, to the cemetery at Burton's Cove and onto Net Point, named for the herring nets set underneath the point at sea level.

It was a gorgeous way to spend a few hours for all of us. The boys were particularly impressed with the humpbacks off Net Point.

The only cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky day was that we lost Iain's croc somewhere that day. Despite a thorough search, the sandal was nowhere to be found. This detail probably seems insignificant unless you know my oldest son and his shoe problems. The crocs actually belong to Aidan but after trying on fifteen pairs of sandals and Mommy giving up before we left for holidays, that croc had become pretty important.

NOTE: Please excuse the wonky layouts of some of these posts. I am posting remotely which does not allow me to format. The pictures are also not in chronological order. At. All. Grrr...

Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy 16th Anniversary!

Happy sixteenth anniversary, DH! THIS is the way to spend an anniversary -Terra Nova National Park in 28 C weather cloud watching and making new friends with most of my favorite people in the world.