Do you know when is a good time to visit Newfoundland? Apparently pretty much anytime apart from when I'm going. I seem to have a talent for travelling to places after the tourist season has just ended or before it starts or possibly never got off the ground at all due the prevailing levels of infectious disease and genocidal violence among the locals.
If you're like me then all you know about Newfoundland is the dog. Actually if you're like me you only found out about the dog when you were googling Newfoundland to find out more about that. At some stage earlier this year I conceived a violent desire to go to Newfoundland. I wish people will stop asking me why because the simple reason is I have no idea. I was heading to Cleveland anyway and it occurred to me that I might be able to see some of Canada along the way. What I will be seeing is Newfoundland and Toronto airport. In fact I'll be wandering through Toronto airport so much I wouldn't be surprised if it took out a restraining order. At some point in my musings on getting to Cleveland from Canada the word Newfoundland popped into my head and the rest is history.
Having decided to go to Newfoundland I cast about for reasons to justify my decision. They weren't slow in coming. Newfoundland has whales, icebergs and puffins. To be more accurate the first two of those tend to spend their time in the sea off the coast of Newfoundland rather than being the sort of thing you encounter walking down the street. Still Newfoundland is as close as you can get without needing a life jacket.
"I shall go to Newfoundland," I grandly announced, "and there I shall see whales, icebergs and puffins." Actually it appears that no I won't. I'm picking a rather bad time to go to Newfoundland. By the time I get there the icebergs will be melted and the whales will be hibernating. Even prime puffin viewing time is pretty much over. That leaves me with the odd church and the underneath of a river as tourist attractions. Oh yes and a Viking village.
In return for more money than I have spent on accommodation in my life I'm staying at a lighthouse which is supposed to be a prime viewing spot for whales and icebergs. For what I'm being charged the whales and icebergs should be tap dancing through my bedroom. Although since apparently I'm going at the wrong time of year what I will actually see is a lighthouse.
There is some faint hope of puffins. Puffins nest near St Johns the capital of Newfoundland. Breeding season when apparently Newfoundland almost sinks into the seat under the accumulated mass of puffins will not be occurring while I'm there. Indeed it's likely that most of the puffins will be on working holidays in Lithuania at the time of my visit.
Whales I've seen before (even in Sydney Harbour) and as for icebergs well I can look at the inside of my freezer and extrapolate upwards but I've got to admit that I will be quite disappointed if I get to Newfoundland and there isn't a single puffin prepared to pose in front of my camera. Suddenly the focus of my entire trip has been reduced to a solitary seabird. If worst comes to worst I'm prepared to buy a t-shirt with a puffin on it.
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