Road to the Isles
The
Road to the Isles takes you into the scenic reaches and islands of Notre
Dame Bay. It also connects with The Islands Experience and The Road to
the Shore. The Visitor Information Centre at Notre Dame Junction, near
the intersection of Route 1 and Route 340, is a good place to start. Here
you can obtain information on the ferries to Fogo Island and Change Islands,
plus find out where the icebergs are. Before taking Route 340, you can
take a break at Notre Dame Provincial Park, just east of Notre Dame Junction
on Route 1. It's a good spot for a picnic because there are two children's
playgrounds and water sports. The park is situated in a grove of birch
and aspen and is a pleasant daytime or overnight stop.
Head back to Notre Dame Junction and drive to Lewisporte, 11 kilometres from Route 1. It's a service town and where you can catch a ferry to Labrador. The town has a very suburban feel despite its location on the shores of Notre Dame Bay. Lewisporte is named for Lewis Miller, an enterprising Scotsman who operated a logging company in central Newfoundland. Millertown, another community in this region, is also named for him.
As in many rural communities, a main hub of activity is the Women's Institute. Here, the institute operates the Museum By The Bay and the craft shop. The museum's artifacts reflect life in earlier times and include Beothuck arrowheads. Among its most interesting displays are naval architecture plans from the 1805 era, including drawings for a yacht built for the Prince of Denmark and King George III's yacht, Royal Sovereign.
The craft shop, which has a year-round Christmas display, is one of five stops on an All Around the Circle craft tour, whose title is taken from a line in a Newfoundland folk song. The other stops are in Twillingate, New World Island and Gander.
The town also has a marina and a municipal park and, during the first weekend in July, hosts the Mussel Bed Soiree.
Returning to Route 340, you will soon arrive at Boyd's Cove. This was the site of a major Beothuck encampment and is now the location of a new Beothuck interpretation centre. Excavation at the site has shed new light on this extinct race. Boyd's Cove was a major Beothuck coastal community between 1650 and 1720, a time when few Europeans ventured onto this part of the Newfoundland coast.
The
new centre has three main elements: the visitor centre, the archaeological
site and a connecting trail system. The centre houses displays that focus
on Beothuck cultural history. Its circular architecture recalls shapes
traditionally found in Beothuck construction. The trail takes visitors
along the perimeter of the archaeological site. Interpretive signage along
the trail enables visitors to learn about the key resources in this region
of the province.
After leaving Boyd's Cove you continue on Route 340 and take the first of four causeways that connect Chapel Island, New World Island and Twillingate Island to the "mainland" of Notre Dame Bay. Dildo Run Provincial Park on Route 340 contains the remains of an old tramway system that once carried passengers to Virgin Arm, where vessels then carried passengers to Twillingate. For many years, this was the centre of the Labrador and inshore fisheries in the area. The Twillingate area is where the Slades, Nobles, Earles and Duders, merchants from Poole, England, established trade in the mid-1700s. Once the hub of the lucrative fishery in this part of Notre Dame Bay, Twillingate was so prosperous that it had its own newspaper, 'The Twillingate Sun', and a championship cricket team.
The town's most famous resident was opera singer Georgina Stirling. In the late 1800s, Miss Stirling, who was known professionally as Marie Toulinguet, won acclaim for her performances at the Paris Opera and La Scala, in Milan. Unfortunately, her concert career was tragically cut short by voice failure and she returned to Newfoundland to live out her days in her hometown. She is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery.
Her story and that of the town is told in the Twillingate Museum in the former Anglican Rectory. Parts of this fine old home have been restored to illustrate an upper class residence at the turn of the century. One of the museum's exhibits is a remarkably preserved 120-year-old children's tea set. There are also a sealing display and a collection of Maritime Archaic Indian artifacts.
Twillingate is also the site of the Fish, Fun and Folk Festival which highlights some of the best West Country English dance, song, recitation and music. Held every July, the festival also features crafts, baked goods, picnics and a lively party spirit.
The nearby Long Point Lighthouse, built in 1876, is one of the best places in Newfoundland to see icebergs. Built on a bluff, it overlooks the outer reaches of Notre Dame Bay. You may also catch a glimpse of the huge whales that spend their summers feeding along the coast. There's a small municipal park near the lighthouse.
Heading back toward the mainland, take a detour to Moreton's Harbour on Route 345 and the community museum there. Once a thriving commercial centre, it's now a quiet village. High, forested hills tower over the town. Inside the museum are relics from the town's heyday as a fish shipping centre. There are stencils with the names of the markets - Trinidad, Jamaica, Puerto Rico - and the products, such as mackerel fillets.