SOMETHING SATURDAYS
  • The Blog
  • Travel
  • Index
  • About

Lewisporte, Boyd's Cove and Twillingate Weekend

9/7/2015

10 Comments

 
This weekend we headed out of town with Elizabeth's parents to take in the sights and sounds of Lewisporte, and (relatively) nearby Twillingate, in Central Newfoundland!
Picture
After escaping St. John's and some unusually crazy traffic, we eventually made it to Elizabeth's Grandfather's house in Lewisporte after a 4.5 hour drive. It didn't take us long to fall asleep, and we woke the next day well rested for the busy day that lay ahead.

Our first stop on the trip was the Boyd's Cove Beothuk site. Discovered by archaeologists in 1981, the site features the remains of a village used by the now-extinct Beothuk people of Newfoundland. Since the death of the last Beothuk, Shanawdithit, in 1829, archaeologists have struggled to learn more about their culture through the remains they left behind. The site at Boyd's Cove proved to be valuable in yielding a wealth of artifacts that help to shape our understanding of how these people lived.
Picture
The site consists of an interpretation centre, built in the form of a Beothuk pit house, and the site of the village itself, a 1.5km walk from the centre. In the centre we learned all about the discovery of the site itself, as well as a bit about Beothuk culture. A couple of interesting facts:
  1. When European fishermen would return home during the winter, the Beothuk would take the metal nails used in their fishermen's structures and would fashion them into tools such as arrowheads and fish hooks. They did not make metal themselves.
  2. The Beothuk covered themselves, and most of their belongings, in a mixture of red ochre and animal fat. This mixture was used as sunscreen and insect repellent, and lead Europeans to call the Beothuk and similar tribes "Red Indians".

The site of the village is now covered in grass, but it remains clear of trees and the distinct rings that formed the boundaries of the pit houses are visible. It is easy to see why the Beothuk chose this site in particular, as it is located close to the sea shore and next to a running stream that would have been a source of fresh water. It is sad to think that the Beothuk are gone today as a result of their contact with Europeans, who brought conflict, disease and starvation.
Picture
After a nice picnic beside the interpretation centre we set off for the Twillingate Islands, to check out the town of Twillingate itself, as well as the breathtaking scenery. Elizabeth's mum lived and worked in Twillingate for two and half years, so was able to give us a full guided tour of the place.

We first headed up to the Long Point Lighthouse, hoping to get some views across the bay and over the ocean. Unforunately, the lighthouse was shrouded in fog so thick we could barely see the sea below the cliffs. We did return later in the day when the fog had cleared and were amazed by the view.
Picture
Picture
We also managed to get a couple of hikes in, and one museum! The first hike took us around French Head and afforded us views of some pretty dramatic rock formations, angry looking sea, and a lone iceberg. On our way there, while snapping some pictures of the iceberg, we saw a boat coming into harbour called Midnight Shadow, which just so happens to be a kind-of-famous fishing boat from the TV show Coldwater Cowboys.

After a quick fish n' chips (with dressing and gravy, of course) we started to head back to Lewisporte, but not before a second hike out to see a natural arch in Lower Little Harbour. When we finally reached the arch, we were pleasantly surprised to see a small iceberg perfectly framed beneath it. Much fun was then had by trying to break one of the chunks that had come off the iceberg by throwing rocks at it (throwing rocks at things floating in the sea = Luke's favourite pastime).
Picture
On Sunday we toured the area around Lewisporte, visiting some spots that Elizabeth and her family had frequented whenever they visited her grandparents. It was a beautiful place to be, and we even caught sight of another couple of icebergs. After taking a stroll around Woolfrey's Pond and visiting Elizabeth's aunt and uncle we hit the road for our journey back to town.
Picture
It was a great weekend, and we somehow managed to pack in a lot into just a couple of days. Needless to say, we were pretty tired by the end of our trip, but we did manage to stay up late enough to watch the final of the Women's World Cup, and play a swift game of Ticket to Ride before finally crashing.

Here's some more photos from our trip.
10 Comments
Rebecca
9/7/2015 02:55:15 pm

Hahaha Luke's favorite pass time. I believe it!

Reply
Elizabeth link
10/7/2015 06:57:17 am

I think we all wish that Luke was interested in more interesting things, but what can you do?! ;)

Reply
Amanda
9/7/2015 10:17:03 pm

I love the foggy views and that of an iceberg!

Reply
Elizabeth link
10/7/2015 07:16:42 am

It was very picturesque! Although we wouldn't have complained about a little more sun!

Reply
Micah link
10/7/2015 12:22:36 am

Great photos!

Reply
Elizabeth link
10/7/2015 07:18:34 am

Thanks! It was great to have so many people taking pictures in that respect but we had a lot of pictures to go through when we got home!

Reply
Sara link
10/7/2015 02:08:37 am

Sounds like a super great weekend. You guys definitely packed a lot in! I really liked reading about the Beothuk people -- how sad that they are now extinct.

Also, I'm loving the new look of your site!

Reply
Elizabeth link
10/7/2015 07:28:52 am

Twillingate is 5+ hours from St John's so we just went for it while we were there! And my parents are super-tourists so we were definitely in good company.

Agreed, it was really interesting to learn more about the Beothuk people but so sad that their culture is extinct. There are definitely some not-so-great parts of North American history when it comes to indigenous peoples.

And thanks! I'm a big fan of the new design too.

Reply
Mom and Dad
10/7/2015 06:14:04 am

Wonderful job! The pictures are fantastic! Thanks for letting us tag along for another Super Something Saturday! What a privilege.

Reply
Elizabeth link
10/7/2015 07:32:32 am

Well you can thank yourselves for some of the great photos! :)

And thanks for coming along (and driving us around)!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About Us

    Picture
    We're Elizabeth and Luke.
    Join us on our weekly Something Saturday adventures, where we explore somewhere new or try something new! 
    ​
    Read more about us here.

    Follow along

    BLOGLOVIN'
    BY E-MAIL
    RSS FEED

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Asia
    Australia
    Beach
    Canada
    Cheese
    City Break
    Cuba
    Culture
    Curacao
    Diy
    Dogs
    Food
    France
    Games
    Hiking
    History
    Hong Kong
    Ireland
    Mexico
    Music
    Nature
    Newfoundland
    Ontario
    Ottawa
    Sport
    Sports
    St. John's
    Subway Saturday
    Toronto
    Uk
    United States
    USA

    Archives

    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.