Twillingate

All right weather gods, we get the message. This time it was not rain, it was wind and lots of it. We arrived at Dildo Run Provincial Park (name comes from the shape of an offshore island and the channel runs along side it) in relative calm weather, set up camp and put up the boler’s original canvas tarp. Our goal was to visit the area around Twillingate which is noted for it’s quaint ports and it’s designation as ‘iceberg alley’ We knew up front that iceberg season is long over but it looks like a nice area to visit and the scenery is reputed to be spectacular and hiking trails abound.

By the time we finished supper winds were blowing 20-30 kph so we adjourned to the boler for an early evening of reading, with plans to do some hiking in the morning along the shore. Overnight the winds increased and the boler was rocking by morning. It was blowing so hard (really 40-50 kph) we could not even make coffee on the Coleman stove outdoors. I’m sure you all understand by now that my day starts with coffee, without coffee I m grumpy and sullen. We headed for Twillingate to find breakfast only to discover that the town freaking shuts down the day after Labour Day, and here it is a full week after the holiday. Well, this only made things worse...we finally found a hotel that does a Continental Breakfast for $7 a head, so we scarfed down toast and coffee (or a poor substitute for coffee) and headed out to enjoy our day.

Well, by now the winds are blowing 50-60 kph with gusts to 80 and that is the way it is going to be. Well, we know the boler tarp will not stand this kind of wind, so we race back to the campground and sure enough, the tarp is taking a beating, so we take it down, fold it up and head off determined to find something positive for our day...it is only 10 am at this point.

Blow Me Down Lane

We did a short wind blown hike and toured a museum, where the staff tell us this weather in not uncommon and that the revised forecast is for more and more wind for the entire day and most of tomorrow now too. At this point it is only 2 pm, so, we did what we do best, we stopped at a grocery store, bought a Caesar Salad in a package and headed back to the boler, where we wiled away the afternoon reading and drinking wine and eating our salad for supper.

I was able to scrape together coffee to get us on the road in the morning, headed for St. John`s and a week in the city before we return to the valley!