4 Weeks later....

I can't believe we have now been in Canada for 4 weeks and in our cottage for 3, we are already a third of the way through our 3 months here.

Christmas was quiet, which was how we like it. Our Christmas tree looked lovely and it snowed on Christmas eve, just what we ordered!:) The cottage is homely and cosy and the views spectacular.

On Christmas Eve, Bruce a local guy who runs boat tours during the summer dropped by to invite us over for a traditional Newfie Christmas dinner of salt cod, served with molasses raisin bread and Partridge berry jam! (Newfoundland has a lot of unique berries, as well as Partridge berries, there are bake apples, and cloudberries as well) Apparently this is what all good Newfies have for supper on Christmas Eve. It was lovely to meet some of our neighbours and to see how other people celebrate Christmas eve. It was an early night as the family was off to church at 7 pm. As we had already completed our church going quota for the year, we begged off and were home nice and early.

We have had quite a few snowfalls since we have arrived and in between have managed to explore all the local villages and roadways within a 100 kilometre radius.

We have found out a bit more about the area where we are living. We are in what used to be known as an out- port. Newfoundland is an island full of little bays and coves and fjords and when settlers arrived they moved into most of them and made a living fishing. The out-ports had no road access and were only accessible by boat. During the period between the 50's and the 70's the government decided to try and resettle the population into more concentrated population centres and to build roads to those communities. During this time over 300 communities were abandoned and 30, 000 people resettled. Bruce's family is one of those who were resettled and he takes his boat tours to some of the now abandoned out-ports which are still only accessible by boat or quad bike in the summer or snowmobile in the winter.

Dunfield, where we are is one of the communities which had a road built into it and fishing used to be it's mainstay. However over overfishing in the 60' s and 70's (not by local fishermen, but foreign fishing boats dredging the floor of the Grand Banks where the cod fish used to spawn and basically decimating the fish stocks which have still not recovered)has killed off the fishing industry. Now the remaining folk here earn an income during the summer by working construction or partaking in the burgeoning tourist trade or else the young people move to the cities or the mainland to seek work. Most of the population of Dunfield are retired and they and their families have lived here for generations.

Electronic moose detection system

The country side is spectacularly beautiful, it is all forested, interrupted only by lakes and ponds. When it snows the already iced over lakes glisten in the sun like diamonds as the sun glints off the snow crystals. It is moose hunting season and nearly all the locals we have met have a hunting licence. We were at the local supermarket the other week and a ute pulled up with a fresh moose carcass in the back. Our landlord, Dustin gave us a jar of home shot and potted moose meat for Christmas, which we have yet to try. You can't buy moose meat in the shops but most people have a freezer full!

The novelty of seeing huge white snow flakes fall or watch huge icicles form from the roof when it melts hasn't worn off yet:)

We spend our days reading, watching TV or working on the computer.

The T.C.H. at Gander

A few days ago we decided to explore further afield and drive to the closest big town, Gander, about 200 kilometres away. In many ways it's a bit like being on the boat as we had to keep an eye on the weather to select a 'window' to make the trip. It was a 3 hour drive in each direction and we wanted to ensure we would have no ice, snow storms or severe weather while we were gone. We also wanted to try and be home before it got too late as moose on the loose present a huge problem on country roads at night. They are big animals (horse size) and can suddenly burst out of the woods and on to the road. Each year there are many moose related car accidents. In other parts of Canada where moose are prevalent, the highways are usually fenced. But Newfoundland is such a big island with such a small population it doesn’t make financial sense to do this, so we try and not to be out too late. Don't want a moose in the front seat with us:)

Dee's favorite doughnut shop in the whole world!

We made it to Gander and back without incident, but we had picked one of the coldest days we have had so far. Despite being sunny and bright it was very windy. The temperature was -14 degrees C but with the wind chill factor it was -26 degrees. Yes those are minus signs in front of the temps!! Our anoraks and snow boots kept bodies and feet cosy, although long johns would have been handy for the legs. Noses and cheeks got rosy quite quickly and that was just dashing from car to shops! No wonder they sell electric rechargeable shoes (battery lasts 7 hours) and all manner of warm, padded clothing we have never seen anywhere else. How else could you go moose hunting or keep building a house in those sort of temperatures??

We are so relaxed here and really enjoying experiencing something very different and that we could never do on Sunflower.