Back of the Land Trail

When you wake up with the sound of the waves and the sun shining in your window, you know that the day is going to be a special one. And it was! The Tickle Inn is a gem. It is nestled in a cove sheltered by an island only a few hundred feet off the shore. The setting is splendid. We set off to investigate the area and traveled through little communities with idyllic seashore locations such as Ship Cove, Raleigh, St. Carol’s, Great Brehat, and St. Anthony Bight. Raleigh is where the Ecological Reserve is located which boasts a number of plants unique to Newfoundland. We didn’t go through the reserve but did touch on the edge of it. We saw an iceberg at St. Carol’s. They are way out in the ocean but none the less you can see them well enough to determine they are icebergs. We went into St. Anthony’s and went through the lighthouse. It is small, and quite sweet and still in use. Then we went through The Grenfell Interpretation Centre. Sir Wilfred Grenfell made a big impression in Newfoundland and Labrador society. He was an English doctor who first came to Newfoundland in 1892 and spent the next 40 years building hospitals, children’s orphanages, operating medical ships, attending to the sick via dog-sled teams, and he established fishing co-operatives so that the fishers could be independent of the merchants many of whom truly scafed them. There are some people who dedicate themselves to using their skills to ease the lives of the poor and less privileged and he was one of those people.

We got back to the Tickle Inn around 4:30-5:00 and quickly changed and went out for an 8 km run/walk along the cliffs around the house. It was magnificent. There are no words I can use to describe the beauty of looking out over the ocean to the many islands around the area, to the iceberg, and across the barrens. There are many wild flowers out just now. There are purple irises, and other blue, yellow, and white flowers. I really must find out their names. There are some moments when your heart is so filled with the beauty around you that you think it will burst. This was one of those moments.

This was followed by a splendid seafood dinner, delicious berry ice-cream and chocolate, coffee. After various polar bear stories, including the story about the polar bear that broke the window in the Tickle Inn standing in the garden, we crawled into bed!