In the cottage and it's SNOWING!

Well our arrival in St John's was a bit wilder than anticipated! The Flight from Halifax was delayed 2 hours due to very high winds in St John's. We had boarded the little 50 seater plane and had just got comfy when the pilot suggested we de-plane and see if the winds abated. We really hoped we wouldn't have to spend the night at the airport as we had been up for about 20 hours at this point, but when we got back on the plane the pilot announced we were good to go.

250 mile an hour tail winds knocked half an hour off our journey and as we approached the airport our little plane was swinging from side to side in a rather alarming manner, the whole plane was holding its collective breath! But we landed very smoothly to a huge round of applause:)

We took a taxi to our accommodation for a week and when we arrived the taxi driver got out, gave me a hug and a kiss and said 'welcome to Newfoundland':) we had a very clean , cosy self contained flat which was part of a house. We abandoned trying to buy a car as getting insurance was too difficult so we spent the week exploring and shopping. New winter snow boots, gloves, hats and scarves were on the shopping list!

We met Dustin, the owner of the cottage we would be renting, when he invited us to join him and his wife for dinner at a lovely old pub in down-town St John's. They were a lovely couple and we had a fun evening as they welcomed us to Newfoundland. (they're a very friendly bunch here:)

Dunfield, our cottage extreme left, middle

Finally last Thursday, the big day arrived and we loaded the car and headed north to Dunfield which would be our new home until the beginning of March. The drive was about 300 kilometres most of it along the Trans Canada Highway, through stunningly beautiful scenery. All pine forests and frozen lakes, and hardly another car on the road!.

When we arrived at the cottage (key under the mat) it far surpassed our expectations, it was much better in real life than the web photos suggested and we thought it looked pretty good on line! The cottage is right on the water front, any closer and we'd have wet feet, so it's almost as good as being on a boat:) The cottage has been extended from it's original one bed 1930's summer home to a stunning 2 bed luxury accommodation. There are huge windows from both the ground and upper floors making the most of the views across the water. On a clear day we can almost see Ireland! We go to sleep each night to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore......

The village is tiny and only about 40 families live here, most of the young people have moved away to find work. Our biggest town is Clarenville an hours drive away and even the local small supermarket is a good 15 minutes drive away.

Dustin's Dad delivered a giant Christmas tree (it's artificial, but still the first tree we have had in many years) and it almost touches the ceiling. We had bought lights and decorations at the local dollar store and it looks lovely. We had a quiet day on Alan’s birthday with a celebratory drive into Clarenvillle and a huge lunch of fish and chips, OK we also did a bit of shopping, ice cream included, which kept well frozen in the boot on the drive home.

- 6C and I have to shovel snow!

We were invited to a carol service at the local church by Dustin's Dad and his wife where we met some of our neighbours and to top it all of it snowed properly today. We now have a good 6 inches plus, of pristine white powder everywhere. It's gorgeous! We walked back from the church making footprints in the snow and I even managed to lob a few snowballs in Alan's direction. I had the advantage as he had forgotten his gloves. Doh!