Day 12 Fogo Townsite Explorations
Up in the morning where we planned most of the day to be an exploration of Fogo Island before our drive to our B&B in Gloverton. We headed over to the north-west peninsula on the island and found a hiking trail going up the main hill on the peninsula. I climbed most of the way up to the top of the hill as karen took photos from below. Obtained some great views of Fogo town and the ocean with iceburgs and ice in the area. The trail is semi-developed and easy to follow though rocky in places. A nice short hike.
From there we drove to the north side of the peninsula and found a different way to the top of the hill via a boardwalk and steps. As well at the landing at the bottom was a display with canons and signs about the guns placed here on a number of occasions. Two men were working at a house beside the platform, I went over to say hi to them and found out one of the men actually worked on building the boardwalk and steps to the top of the hill. He told the story of having to carry all the material up the hill and cutting all the posts using a chainsaw including those used in the display of the cannons. The crew did a wonderful job building the facility and I told him so. As we had lots to see and do we didn't climb the stairs to the top.
Day 12 Tilting
From here we drove over to the other side of the Island to Tilting. Tilting is a cultural landscape wwith an Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque identifying it. Tilting was settled by the Irish from about the 1730's where they built houses and fishing rooms around the harbour to support the inshore fishery. Following traditions in Ireland they subdivided the original land lots developing clusters of extended family neighbourhoods. They also adapted the Irish tradition of keeping gardens, with those near the home more intensively cultivated and those farther away used mainly for hay or crops for winter storage. Many of Tilting's landscape components, including the harbour, the extensive gardens near Sandy Cove and Oliver's Cove, and the summer and winter paths, are used in much the same way today as in the past.
On the way to Tilting and returning you pass the infamous Fogo Island Inn where it costs you almost 2 grand a night to stay, a martini is something like 24 bucks and prices just go up from there. You can't drive to the Inn as they have a guard at the entrance stopping you, only can walk up unless you are registered there. This is a resting place for the rich and famous only! Not our thing!
Day 12 Tilting to Gloverton
Our visit to Tilting included watching the clock to ensure we arrived at the ferry terminal for the ride off Fogo Island in time to catch the ferry. It all worked out and we were on our way to the B&B in Gloverton with a planned stop at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander. Again time got in our way as the drive off the ferry to Gander took much longer than expected so we skipped the Museum and went directly to our B&B in Gloverton. What a neat place the B&B ended up being, run by an English ex-pat who married a Newfoundlander, he told the story of his move to Canada and how he didn't follow the rules and was lucky that he got in. As well, he shipped all of his antique furniture and goods over at the same time. All worked out and he runs, with his wife, the Lilac Inn B&B. He was fun to listen to with his stories, some true and some not! He also told us of a restaurant that was a bit out of town that served wonderful food and when we agreed that would be a great place for supper he made a reservation for us. I believe he gets a cut by sending his guests there as other guests were already booked in for supper!
He also mentioned a small town on the coast that is beautiful to see, Salvage (pronounced the French way!). The town is past the retaurant so we headed off to find the village. It is at the end of the road and is a beautiful place on a small bay. The last census of the village included 174 people. Wish we had more time here and could have taken the trail up the hill beside the town but the sun was starting to get low on the horizon and we had to get to the restaurant for supper. Beautiful place well worth a visit with more time to explore.We headed back towards Gloverton turning off on a gravel side road to find the restaurant which is located above an inlet with windows all along the ocean side with a great view. The food was great, the service was great with friendly service staff. It was well worth the drive out of Gloverton to partake in the atmosphere and food. I just wish I wasn't tired from the day's drive etc. as I would have stopped on the way back to Gloverton to take photos of the sunset over a small lake beside the road. A great day came to an end.>/p?