I never quite understood the fascination my wife, who is from Newfoundland, has for berries until this past summer when we stumbled across a good ol' berry patch.
On the rock, as Newfoundland is affectionately called by Newfoundlanders, life could be quite difficult back in the day, so berries were a staple of life.
Blackberries
Partridge Berries - only in NewfoundlandOut around the "bay" (any bay)...
...life was not only difficult, but could be quite cold in the winter.
Imagine this on a cold winter morning...The plants need a little encouragement...
The "growdammit" berry...and even the bird houses have electric heat.
Goshdarnit, that's cold'Cold' does have some benefits - you can store food safely in the ground
StorehouseDon't be fooled by popular culture (or this post) into thinking that Newfoundland is always cold, or colder than other places (for cold, think Edmonton, Winnepeg, or Montreal).
Summertime BBQ on the deck with Annette's familySummertime also sees a profusion of wildflowers.
Summertime is also the best time to go fishing on the Gander River, one of the best salmon rivers in the world, for wild Atlantic Salmon, arguably the best tasting salmon in the world.
To go salmon fishing in Newfoundland, you need to go with a guide - Annette's cousin, Greg.Of course, Newfoundland is all about the fish - in Newfoundland, "fish" means COD.
A day's fishing starts in a "tilt" or "room"You need all kinds of boats...
Different sized boats for different sized fish... to catch all kinds of fish
Draggers scrape and destroy the seafloor collecting scallopsClick to see the Dragger harbour in Google Earth
Giant 'teeth' keep this net open
Lobster traps ready to go
One of a small family of minks we found along the shoreThe northerly location of Newfoundland (about the same latitude as England - this picture was taken at 49 degree north - London sits at 51 degrees north) provides some lovely sunsets.
'Til next time...
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