Leaving Twillingate my travels then took me along the shoreline whenever possible, and of course the odd stop or two in little fishing villages along the way too.
One particularly interesting stop was at Dover, home to the Dover Fault. Approximately 540 million years ago, a large ocean separated the western parts of Newfoundland from its eastern parts. The west coast of the province formed part of the ancient continent of Laurentia (the core of North America). The eastern part of the province, including the Bonavista, Burin and Avalon peninsulas, formed part of the ancient continent of Gondwana (which included parts of Africa and Europe). The forces of continental drift (or plate tectonics) caused the continents of Laurentia and Gondwana to drift closer together, eventually colliding around 410 million years ago. This collision resulted in the formation of a great mountain range and the two former continents became welded together to form a huge new continent. It was during this continental collision that great stresses were released in the earth's crust and the major fracture, or fault zones, developed to relieve this stress. One such fault zone developed where the ancient rocks of Gondwana were being pushed against rocks that were formed in the Lapetus Ocean (now the central section of Newfoundland, from Dover to Baie Verte). The surface expression of that movement is now known as the Dover Fault. The fault zone has a width of 200-500 metres, and extends from Dover to Hermitage Bay on the south coast.
Now it was on to Bonavista - and also a hiccup in my plans. Whereas I was originally planning to be one night in Bonavista and then move onto Trinity for a night, a flat tire in Bonavista on a Saturday night, with no hope of anything being open on a Sunday to help, now meant two nights in Bonavista instead. Certainly not the worst place to be at all, but for those of you who may have been to Trinity you'll know that special little place that I missed out on visiting. Oh well - all the more reason to have to come back.
The place where I stayed for the first of these two nights was in a little community just outside Bonavista called Elliston. Elliston is the Root Cellar capital of the world and has claimed that title from the 135 root cellars that exist in the community.
My B&B in Elliston - how is this for an idyllic location?
Sealers Memorial Statue represents all sealers who have risked and lost their lives in their efforts to support their families and communities.
As for Bonavista ... as their slogan says ... "The Place Where It All Began". Bonavista is where modern North America began. On June 24th, 1497, an Italian explorer sailing under the British flag for King Henry VII, made landfall in the New World. "O Buona Vista," Giovani Caboto (John Cabot as he's known locally) was said to exclaim after nearly two months at sea, which translates to English as: "Oh happy sight!" News of the existence of this New Found Land - and the riches of the Grand Bank fishery - spread throughout Europe after Caboto's return journey across the Atlantic. Caboto was an adventurer, who after failing to muster up funding in his home country, went to the King of England promising him spices from the far east in exchange for money and supplies. Under the negotiated deal, Caboto and his three sons were given permission to set sail from Bristol, the most westerly port in England to "discover and find whatsoever isles, countries, regions or provinces" lay to the west. Although Caboto found no spice, the fishing grounds were so plentiful that the crew could dip buckets in the water and fill them with cod fish. King Henry VII was pleased enough to reward Caboto the impressive sum of 10 pounds. And so the Bonavista boom began. English, Spanish, Portuguese and French fishermen fished off Cape Bonavista in the 1500's and though Bonavista offered poor shelter and had less than ideal anchorage, it became one of the most important towns in Newfoundland. Other communities have laid claim to the site of Cabot's first landfall, but it is Bonavista that is identified as such on John Mason's map (1615-21). Bonavista was also documented by the great cartographer Captain James Cook, who made his headquarters here in 1763. Cook noted Bonavista was settled before 1660.
Built in 1843, the lighthouse at Bonavista is a square, two-storey wooden structure built around a masonry tower. Now a provincial historic site, the lighthouse has been restored to the 1870s period.
Mockbeggar may be the oldest identifiable fishery plantation in existence in Newfoundland. The residence on the property was built in 1872 and from 1939 the property was occupied by F. Gordon Bradley, a lawyer and politician who, after playing a significant role in the move to bring Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada, became Newfoundland's first representative in the Canadian Cabinet, and later served as a member of the Senate.
This structure - Orange Hall - built in 1907 is the largest fraternal hall of wooden construction in North America.
This outstanding Greek Revival style structure was built during 1918 - 1923 and is made entirely from wood. Measuring 124 feet in length and with a seating capacity of 1375, Memorial United Church is one of the largest wooden churches in Canada.
Built by 21 year-old John Bradley in 1945 - during an era of relative prosperity in the local economy - the Garrick has been a popular entertainment venue for generations of area residents.
In 1497, a small wooden ship called the Matthew set sail from Bristol, England destined for the Far East. They landed, not as intended in the fabled land of Cathay, but on the shores of the New World. A magnificent full-scale replica of John Cabot's Matthew was built by Newfoundland shipwrights as a legacy to the hardy little ship that brought Cabot and his crew over to "the New Founde Lande" over 500 years ago.
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