Newfoundland: If you go

By ROBERT N. JENKINS
Published July 10, 2005

Because the U.S. dollar equals about $1.26 Canadian, our northern neighbor continues to be a great buy for Americans. Prices cited are in Canadian dollars. An approximate calculation for shoppers who want to make the conversion mentally is that any price in Canadian dollars is roughly 80 percent of that in U.S. dollars.

A word of caution: ATMs are in most motels, byt they may not accept U.S. bank cards; it's wise to get your Canadian money from ATMs in the international airports or at banks. However, the U.S. dollar is accepted most everywhere, usually with fair exchange rates.

GETTING THERE: From Tampa Bay there is connecting air service, usually through Newark or Boston, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from there a choice on various carriers for the 65-minute flight to the main airport in Deer Lake, on Newfoundland's western side.

I would advise against booking with Canjet, a 3-year-old carrier. On my return trip from Deer Lake last month, the small carrier had a problem getting any of its jets to us from Halifax. Canjet personnel at Deer Lake refused to explain to their dozens of passengers what the problem was or say when a plane was expected. Originally we were told it would be a two-hour delay, but it actually was six.

GETTING AROUND: Rental cars are available in the Deer Lake airport, but if you want knowledgeable service, contact Martin's Transportation Ltd., based in Woody Point. Bruce and Irene Martin have expanded the family's business to include bus charters, tours, taxis, car-rentals and even school-bus routes. Natives of the west coast, they pretty much know everyone and everything worth seeing. Call 709 453-2207 or (709) 458-7315; fax to (709) 453-7269; e-mail martins.transportation@nf.sympatico.ca

The main north-south road is two-lane Highway 430, dubbed the Viking Trail. Most of the road is in good shape but the farther north you drive, the more potholes.

Be careful of moose, which graze close to, and often cross, the highway. During my 700-plus miles of travel , I counted nine of the critters by the road. If you must stop to photograph them, be aware of traffic behind you and try not brake too quickly, for moose will trot away from such noises.

STAYING THERE: Leave your frequent-sleeper cards at home if they apply to Comfort Inn, Hilton, Hyatt, Mariott and Sheraton. None of those chains has a lodging in Newfoundland, and the single Best Western and Holiday Inn properties are in the capital of St. John's.

Instead, you'll get to meet the locals when you travel as we all used to before chain lodgings began to sprout next to the interstates. I stayed in the following waterside places. All were clean, with amenities such as hair dryers and coin-operated laundries, but the walls seemed thin, so take ear plugs if you don't want to be woken by the truckers leaving at dawn. Each of these motels has a restaurant serving large portions of wholesome food; be sure to ask for fish and brewis, and anything - from pancakes to ice cream - made with slightly tart partridgeberries.

In Cow Head: Shallow Bay Motel and Cabins, 709 243-2471; www.shallowbaymotel.com

In Hawke's Bay: Maynard's Torrent River Inn, call toll-free 1-800-563-8811, 709 248-5225; www.torrentriverinn.ca

In L'Anse-au-Clair: Northern Light Inn, call toll-free 1-800-563-3188, 709 931-2332; e-mail northernlight@nf.sympatico.ca

In St. Anthony: Vinland Motel, call toll-free 1-800-563-7578, 709 454-8843; www.vinlandmotel.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Staffed facilities and day-use areas of Gros Morne National Park are open this year until Oct. 10 and the visitor center is open until Oct. 28. May. Hiking trails are open unless posted. Ski trails are open depending upon weather conditions but typically are groomed from early January through March.

Fees from May through October are $8 per adult, $7 for those 65 and older, $4 for those 6 to 16 years, free for those younger. Fees are less the rest of the year.

Park offices are at 709 458-2066, 458-2417 and 453-2490; e-mail grosmorne.info@pc.gc.ca www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/index_E.asp

L'Anse aux Meadows is a National Historic Site of Canada. It is open June 1-Oct. 10, during daylight; fees are $9 for adults, $7.50 for those 65 and older, $4.50 for those ages 6 to 16, free to those younger. Call 709 623-2608; www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index_e.asp

For more information on other national historic and cultural sites throughout Canada, go to information@pc.gc.ca

For general information on vacationing in Newfoundland, including lodging and event calendars, contact the provincial government's tourism office, call toll-free at 1-800-563-6353, fax 709 729-0057; www.gov.nl.ca/tourism/

THE BOOKSHELF: From the early 1930s until after World War II, Newfoundland was an odd sort of British possession, governed by a committee of three residents and four citizens of the United Kingdom, including that commission's chairman. After the war, a delegation of Newfoundland's elite went to Washington, D.C., to inquire about becoming the newest United State, but they were turned away.

There are numerous books, fiction and nonfiction, about the no-one-wants-us history of Newfoundland. But you need to read just two to grasp the 20th century:

The Shipping News won the National Book Award in 1993 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Set in that period, it is masterful writing by Annie Proulx, who now lives part-time on the Great Northern Peninsula. The book is available in paperback and in public libraries.

Harder to find because it last printed in 1998 is the moving anthology of life stories, This Marvellous Terrible Place, by Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott. The paperback, somewhat larger than a magazine, fills 157 pages with lovely photographs and personal anecdotes that made memories for Newfoundlanders.

Some are so personal, such as the story of Lloyd Rideout caring for an orphaned seal he named Jack, that they are particular to one person. But the recounting of the arrival, in 1950, of the mail-order catalogs from the big Eaton's department store tells of the end of an era all along the western coast. And all the stories capture the charming vernacular, if not the pronunciation, of the Newfies.

This Marvellous Terrible Place, published by Firefly Books, Willowdale, Ontario, is sold on Amazon.com and Half.ebay.com.

[Last modified July 8, 2005, 09:45:07]