Fogo Island, Newfoundland

This faraway island with its awe-inspiring landscapes and breathless spirit is the ultimate place to escape to and restore your inner peace. Colourful homes, stunning vistas, and friendly locals makes this a place I’d love to return to someday.

Fogo Island Inn

Fogo Island Inn was under construction when we visited ten years ago. Currently, this award-winning Nordic-style hotel with its unique rooms, is a wonderful place to stay during your visit to this gorgeous island. This community owned hotel invests profits back into the island to protect its future. Everybody wins!

Fogo Island Inn - under construction in 2011.

Photo: Saunders Architecture

The completed Fogo Island Inn

Tower Studio - Fogo Island Artist Studio

One of six studios designed by Architect Todd Saunders, Tower Studio is an artistic retreat for musicians, artists, writers and other creatives. Check out the other incredible studios here.

Brimstone Head, Fogo Island

Members of the Flat Earth Society believe that Brimstone Head is one of the four corners of the Earth. Be careful you don’t fall off!

Twillingate: Icebergs at Sunset

There is something incredibly relaxing and life-affirming about watching icebergs at sunset. The beauty of nature splashed in vivid colour by the setting sun. The sound of water and cracking ice. A gentle breeze one evening, a whipping wind the next.

Our evenings in Twillingate seem a world away these days. Perhaps one day we will have the opportunity to again sit in silence in a faraway place, marveling at nature in all her glory, without our worries weighing so heavily on our shoulders.

Twillingate: Long Point Lighthouse and Twillingate Islands

Located in Crow Head, Twillingate, the Long Point Lighthouse has stood tall on the forbidding coastline since 1876, keeping sailors and ships safe for over a century. The Long Point Centre hosts a number of interesting exhibitions, including one about the Titanic, and a walk along the coastal paths is a must. If you’re lucky, you may even get a tour of the lighthouse.

Our visit was spent outdoors admiring the views, which included the largest iceberg sheet we’d seen on the trip, walking along the many paths, and chatting with a friendly photographer who had some serious gear.

A drive around the Twillingate Islands reveals a picturesque landscape around every corner.

Twillingate: Iceberg Alley

Twillingate, a small village spread out on the rocky coastline of Iceberg Alley, is known as the iceberg capital of the world. Although we visited late in the year, we were lucky to see a number of these gorgeous ice queens during our short stay. Our icebergs were not the towering monsters that we’ve all seen photos of in magazines and in videos on climate change, but they were still a sight to behold. Beautiful in their shapes and colours, they cracked and snapped in the still waters as we sat enchanted by their icy grace and charm.

We also visited the Durrell Museum to learn about fishing history and see the mounted polar bear but unfortunately we have no photos to share. The museum is worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Twillingate.

Gros Morne National Park to Twillingate

Our last day in Gros Morne National Park was overcast and moody. We went on a short hike and drove through the foggy Tablelands on our way to the next destination - Twillingate. That morning, while doing our laundry, we met a couple who told us there were icebergs in Iceberg Alley, which was unusual given the time of year. We immediately decided that we would head directly to Twillingate, some 400 km away. After camping for the night beside a quiet lake, we awoke to a peaceful, sunny morning and wandered from fishing village to fishing village in search of the elusive ice queens.

This year, 2021, marks the 10 year anniversary of our trip to Eastern Canada and I realized it was past time to finish posting images from our adventure. And really, it has not been a hardship to go through these old photos and reminisce of times gone by.

Did you miss the earlier posts about our trip? Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten.

Cape Cod - Ocean Views

The wind was brisk and cold but the sun was shining as we explored the beach near our rental home in South Chatham, Cape Cod. After more than a day of driving, it was nice to unload the car, put the groceries away and head down to the ocean to smell the salt air and stretch our legs. Our sisters + mom holiday in Cape Cod had officially started.

Forillon National Park and a Golden Sunset Along the St. Lawrence River

Our last days in Quebec were spent at Forillon National Park, where we enjoyed views along the Atlantic and hiked the Les Graves trail out to the Cap Gaspe lighthouse. We were joined by a friendly porcupine and an inquisitive moose. We absolutely positively did not hear bears in the brush. We missed seeing the coastal drive west along the St. Lawrence river in daytime but we did end the trip with one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in my life.

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