twillingate to fogo: iceberg alley

We drove up to the northern coast, where there's a Byzantine network of islands and peninsulas, which the locals seem to refer to as "arms" and "tickles" (we're still not sure which is which).

Our first stop was the little towns of Twillingate and Crow's Head, where we saw humpback whales cavorting in the ocean from atop a lighthouse point. We also got a distant view of our first icebergs, which was pretty great, but spoiler alert: we got way closer.

After a nice hike through a gentle rain down to the base of the cliffs, we got back in the car and stopped by the Beothuk Interpretive Center, which is located at the site of a former First Nations settlement. We liked it.

We caught the 3:30 ferry from Farewell to Fogo Island. The island is covered with peat bogs and fens, alternating with rocky granite outcroppings. There are herds of wild caribou, two of which we saw almost immediately after driving off the ferry. They were almost as exciting as the moose.

We'd booked a tiny little old oceanside house in the "salt box" style on the north-west corner of the island for two nights. It turned out to be more delightful than we could have imagined, and when we walked a few minutes down the road, we came upon an enormous iceberg very close to shore. We hiked partway up a nearby bluff through gale-force winds, saw a mink running around on the rocks, and retreated to safety to watch the sun set behind our new iceberg friend ("Jake").

Almost everything we've seen since arriving in the area has been stunningly scenic and beautiful and barren and otherworldly and incredible - not sure if the words or pictures can do it justice.

click me

the upstairs vents are just holes in the floor!