Preston and Rowena's Excellent Adventure

I have always wondered why The Travellers included Bonavista in their Canadianized lyrics to Woody's classic This Land Is Your Land. I mean, why not St. John's harbour or Cape Spear? You'd think that those places would have as much of a claim to the eastern seaboard highlight of our country as would some small fishing village on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland.

 

Well today I figured it all out thanks to our hosts here in Bonavista, Preston and Rowena Abbott who run the quaint little B&B at which we are staying. We weren't three feet inside of their front door before Preston had the map out and was quick-talking up all of the highlights of the area. His penmanship was a whirlwind of swirls and ink stains dotting the page as he sent us in a myriad of directions to find the most magnificent highlights of his hometown. (He also managed to tease us about our hapless Maple Leafs, but it was all in good fun.)

 

There are some days in our lives that we look back upon and say "That was an excellent day". Today was one of the all-time greats. I can't decide if it was Preston's directions to the heights of Cape Bonavista where we saw dozens of the most unbelievable icebergs floating in the bay; the puffin colony a few kilometres away with thousands of the brightly beaked birds circling the inlet and proudly posing for us as they landed less then a few metres from our feet; or the shocking sight of whales feeding just off the coast. Yup. Today was just about perfect.

 

A few random thoughts.

 

We had been warned by many to keep a sharp eye out for moose on the highways. We hadn't been told about the black bear that ran directly in front of the car on the TransCanada just outside of St. John's. He was playing chicken with the traffic as he lollopped across the road. Thank God for The Husband's quick reflexes.

 

When we saw our first berg rounding a corner turn on the way into Bonavista, we screamed in unison. Four people just gleeful at the sight. These icebergs are so majestic and so clear in colour that they almost don't look real. There is a magical quality to them that simply cannot be captured by a mere photograph. The locals tell us that they haven't seen this many bergs at one time in more than 50 years. It is truly a natural phenomenon.

 

The Husband and I have never before stayed at a bed and breakfast. Not anywhere. There is an intrusiveness to the experience that we have avoided, partly due to our introvert natures. That said, the Abbotts are lovely people who run a first class establishment. And they help give us an excellent adventure.

 

 

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