Deer Lake, NL – If I were living in certain parts of Saskatche-wan, I’d be thrilled to have wea-ther like we had today. It probably would have stopped a forest fire in its tracks! On other days we’ve had a sprinkle or two, but I’d venture to say today is the wettest we’ve had yet. Too bad we can’t export it.
Before heading to Corner Brook for a look-see, which was our
plan for the day, we stopped by the visitor centre here in Deer Lake for
information about this area and places we plan to see later in our trip.
Stephanie, at the counter, was pleased to show us highlights of her home town
of Corner Brook and give us other useful material.
When we mentioned an interest in the French islands of St
Pierre and Miquelon, the couple standing next to us told us that’s where they’re
from, and proceeded to tell us all about restaurants, hotels and special
features of the islands. Joelle kindly noted these in our newly acquired guide
book, and added her and her partner Jean-Jacques’ contact information. The
conversation quickly switched to French, and we learned that Jean-Jacques is a
sixth-generation citizen of the islands and a philatelist by trade. It was a
delightful and unexpected exchange!
Corner Brook is about 50 km southwest of Deer Lake along the
TransCanada Highway, and a beautiful drive, not only for the grand scenery of
mountains and the Humber River, but also for its welcome lack of potholes. The chief
source of employment used to be the pulp and paper mill that still operates
next to the river. A local resident told Val that it used to employ some 3,000
people in its hey-day; now there are 150 employees. The mill has a huge yard
with more piles of logs than I’ve ever seen in one place.
The railroad history of Newfoundland is showcased in Corner
Brook, with the last train on display and open to the public. Until 1969, this
narrow-gauge railway served most of the southern portion of the island, and the
not-so-swift pace earned it the name Newfie Bullet! The small museum had photos
of long-serving railroad men, including Patrick Dwyer, who started out in 1922
at age 13 as a telegraph operator (yes, thirteen!) and held nearly every post
in the hierarchy before retiring more than 40 years later. It was fun to tour
the sleeping car, dining car, caboose and engine outside the building. Our
guide told us the snow sometimes reached the top windows of the cow-catcher car
in winter!
Next, we drove to the top of the town, where a lovely national
historic site dedicated to Captain James Cook overlooks the whole area from
great rocky heights. We were the only visitors on this rainy afternoon, but we
learned a lot about Cook’s time in Newfoundland, where he first learned about
the plane table used to map coastlines. His cartography and navigation skills
were honed here and led to his appointment as Britain’s lead man in the
exploration and mapping of the Pacific South Seas.
The best rainy-day destination, the Insec-tarium across from
our RV park, brought our day’s explo-rations to a close. Housed in a reclaimed
barn, this fascinating display of insects and butterflies drew large crowds
today. We saw live but-terflies emerging from their chrysalises, and flitting
about in their special habitat. I hope the scorpions, six-inch beetles and
furry tarantulas in the static displays don’t emerge in my dreams tonight!
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