Bonavista

Woke up this morning to fog and a bit of leftover rain but quite a bit warmer.   We decided to get out and see what was outside in Bonavista.  The brother of our B&B operator is a great photographer and we were discussing how to bribe a puffin to pose for you - with a capelin.  We decided that since we  now knew where we could find more puffins, we would.

First try.  "Oh, no, m'dear, you won't be seein' puffins this day in the fog"  said the man who was cycling down the road in this end of the town.  "Besides, they will be on the other end of town." And he promptly cycled off.  We jumped in the car, stopped at a visitor center and got directions to Bird Island. 

This is where we ended up. This is Elliston which just happens to be the Root Cellar capital of the World.  This is a sample of some root cellars.We're not sure why they have so many or why they have them and other towns don't.

Perhaps a visit here could help?

Now this is what we came for.  I'm on the trail of the wild puffin.

And there they are.  You can see how comical they look in the air.  True, they look comical everywhere.The island at the end of the trail is just  out of reach but the puffins were so close.  The wind was blowing furiously and it felt wonderful to be standing on a cliff on the edge of the Atlantic.  Almost as though I could fly away myself.

A side trip to see the Dungeon...

Before we got to Cape Bonavista lighthouse.  We have tons of photos of this  place.   Because it was foggy - horn every  30 seconds - we decided to opt for indoor photography.  In fact, all are of  the rooms lived in by the lightkeeper's family.  I'll do a post when I come home with just the hooked rugs from here. 

And now back to town to do some museum stuff while the rain storm blows over.  I learned how to split

and gut a cod.

Here's the real thing.  Mine was much easier - and cleaner, too.

Outside the rain has stopped and we do some more exploring on foot.There is a replica of the Matthew which is John Cabot's ship which 'discovered' Bonavista. Right  now it's in winter storage but we had a quick tour.  This wasn't the berth of an ordinary seaman of the day.  In good weather most of the sailors slept on the deck.  In rough seas, they went to the hold and bedded down on the boulders and gravel ballast.

We find a tern  using the wind to hover above a promising-looking fishing spot.

Old Day's Long Pond is a marshy area which is protected by a boardwalk around the whole pond.  It's about a kilometer around.  A walk around the Boardwalk in the wind was a perfect ending to the day.