They make wine here?

Today is our last full day in Twillingate. We started the day with a trip to a small museum about 15 minutes away in the tiny hamlet of Durrell.   It sat up on a hill and had a very pretty view of the town from there.  One of the artifacts they are most famous for is a stuffed polar bear that, when alive, rode into town on an ice sheet back in 2000.  Since it was wandering neighborhoods and eventually made it to the school playground while school was in session, a resident shot it.  Our guide said that there was no game warden or anyone they could call, and clearly this bear didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave.  

From there we drove a few blocks to the Great Auk Winery for a tour and tasting.  An Auk is a large flightless bird that is now extinct but used to live here.  Our guide was a woman with perhaps the loudest voice I’ve ever heard, a strong Irish accent, and all of us were ‘love’, ‘sweetheart,’ ‘darlin’,’ or any other endearment you could think of!  This is a very small winery and all the production is done in one room in the basement.  She explained to us that grapes don’t grow well in Newfoundland, so all of their wines are made from berries.  They have crazy names like Moose Juice, Kiss me Arse, 50 Shades of Gay, and many more.  After our tour, we were given sheets of paper with all the wines listed and we each got to taste any five.  The last one I tasted was the best… it was their version of a port but made with raspberries and Screech rum.  It actually did taste like a light port.  We didn’t love it enough to come home with a case, though! 

We joined some friends for lunch and then headed back to the campground so I could do some laundry.  There was the obligatory broken washing machine, but I beat a few others in there and got one that worked.  The dryers, however, were in name only.  Our R.V. is now a clothesline and is finishing up the job.  

I probably ought to mention the weather… it’s hot.  It’s in the 80s with humidity and the people who live here can talk of nothing else.  They are miserable and hate the heat.  The manager of our campground actually said she was surprised that the restaurants in town are still open with this heat.  Huh?  I guess our campground electrical system is struggling to keep up with everyone using AC and the power has been fading in and out.  We were told we may have to use our generators.  So far we aren’t having any issues.  Hopefully when the handyman starts working on the system we don’t lose our power.  So far so good for us.  It’s going to get warmer tomorrow.  By the next day it should start cooling and we may have rain by the weekend.  I wouldn’t mind that a bit.  I had assumed it would be cool here, so I’ve been disappointed.  I’m ready for some sweatshirt weather! 

Twillingate… Iceberg Alley and strong traditions

 We are in a small fishing village called Twillingate.  They are known for a beautiful, wild coastline, brightly colored tidy homes, a history of cod fishing, and a fiercely proud and friendly people who see anxious  to share their traditions and way of life.  It’s a lovely place. Twillingate is also famous for icebergs floating past in abundance each spring and early summer.  We are too late for them now, but we might see one when we get to St. Anthony in two days.  

We started our day trying to find a bakery for a little breakfast.  I found three that had ‘bakery’ in the name or description  of the place, but it was a fail.  The first one we just couldn’t find. The second was actually the annex of a local motel, and the third was a restaurant right on the water with lots of cars in the parking lot.  Seemed like a good sign.  Not really.  Steve’s breakfast sandwich was ‘meh’ and I ordered something I had looked forward to trying.  Toutons.  Besides not knowing how to pronounce it, I also didn’t really know what it was other than flattened bread dough that has been pan fried.  It sounded something to me like an elephant ear we might get at home at the fair.  They are more like poptart shaped things that are puffy.  You can put preserves on them, and in my case I had the option of syrup or molasses. I opted for syrup which came in one of those little peel-back containers, and it was cold.  The toutons were perhaps not cooked completely through?  They were very doughy and not crisp at all.  I could hardly get a knife through it and would have just held it in my hand and bitten into it if it weren’t for the syrup.  I will not rule out tying one again, but not at Annie’s.  

From there we drove to Capt. Dave’s Prime Berth Fishing Museum.  Capt. Dave was a bit of an eccentric.  He read us a bit of his poetry and rambled a bit about his life.  He is still a fisherman, and his passion is education people on what fishing used to look like in this area.  He wants to preserve the culture so hand build this museum, complete with two whale skeletons that he found, cleaned, and reassembled.  They are Sei whales (pronounced ‘say’) After he chatted with us a bit, we were able to wander around the place and look at the items he has saved or collected.  He also showed us a video of him splitting a cod in preparation of salting it which was done before refrigeration was available.  It takes an assembly line of four people to do it and they are very fast.  His mannequins he had set up to show the process were a little spooky though! 

Creepy fishermen mannequins 

When we were done with Capt. Dave, we did a little driving around and visited the local lighthouse.  You always get the best views from there!  As we drove in, there was a gift shop that said they sell fresh made fudge and ‘skint’ stuff.  I had no idea what skint was so went inside to find out.  I wandered around and looked at everything to see if I could figure it out.  With no luck, I asked the teenager behind the counter what it was.  She said in Newfoundland, skint means really cool or great, hence they have ‘skint stuff’ in their store.  Well, I told her I agreed!  

We then went into town to find a beer and a little lunch.  We found a pub on the water (actually just about everything here is on the water) and sat out on the deck.  Shortly after we arrived, another couple from our caravan showed up and joined us.  Steve and I decided to try another food we haven’t had yet, and that’s donair.  This was donair nachos.  The ground meat was cooked to an almost black crisp and very tough.  The sauce, which came in a little tub for dipping, was very strange.  It was kind of sweet, thick, and didn’t seem to go with nachos at all.  Steve didn’t eat any after his first bite, and I had a bit more since I was hungry after the touton breakfast.  

Those brightly colored buildings are everywhere 

Donair nachos… NOT a fan

After a quick nap at the RV, we went to a dinner theater with the caravan.  

The dinner show was well done.  The meals were good and the talent amongst the five musicians was surprising for a small town.  The man who I believe owns the place plays 20 different instruments and plays them well.  The songs were all about Newfoundland and they shared a lot about their lifestyle and culture.  They are a very proud and resilient people.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and when they asked for donations for a charity they run every year we happily contributed.  I also bought an ugly stick and Steve bought a little puffin made from sea shells and painted by the accordion player’s wife.  

Mummering 

Playing an ugly stick