The Lure of the West – 4 Short Stories from Western Newfoundland
Words and Photos (unless credited) by Pete Heck
I’ve been to Newfoundland many times in my life. My grandfather lived in Twillingate, drawing our family to visit several times. And in my previous work life, I frequently travelled to downtown St. John’s and Mount Pearl. I hadn’t visited western Newfoundland since I was a child, though, until this last spring.
In Corner Brook, I met up with a group of fellow travel writers and content creators to embark on a four-day journey through Western Newfoundland. During this time, we would do so much and meet so many. We met locals who had moved away years ago only to return and start a business. We met foreigners who came to visit and never left.
And we indulged in nature. For frig sake, there’s plenty of that. We wandered on sea cliffs, saw waterfalls, fjords, and islands, and went hiking, fishing, ziplining – you name it, you can do it all in Western Newfoundland. It was four days of discovering how much fun and incredible this part of the province really is.
To encompass each experience in one solitary story proved an insurmountable task for this amateur. So instead, here are four short stories about what this trip meant to me.
Four Short Stories From Western Newfoundland
Chasing Pirates on ATVs
I landed in Deer Lake in the late afternoon golden hour; the rays hit the lakeshore as the plane touched down. From there, I had a 45-minute drive to Corner Brook with Emili, the Director of Marketing for Western Newfoundland.
Along the way, we swapped stories about our families, travel and, of course, Newfoundland and Labrador. Emili shared stories about growing up here and about loving her home. And she shared how others are coming to love it, too, as it has been growing in popularity for adventure tourism.
In fact, the West is now very popular for ATV enthusiasts. So much so that people drive to the Sydney, Nova Scotia ferry terminal, leave their road vehicles and bring their ATVs on the ferry ride across to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Some will then embark on a journey across the entire province from west to east (an impressive multi-day journey) and catch the return ferry from Argentia back to Nova Scotia.
I was eager to experience a bit of that myself. The following morning, our group met Paul Gale, better known as Pirate Paul, the co-owner (with his partner Ruth) of Pirates Haven: ATV Friendly Adventure. Their “Haven” is a very popular spot for ATV’ers, and their adventures include cruising down valley trails and along mountain ridges, ending at majestic coastal bluffs and cliffs facing the sea. Their experiences give riders, as Paul and Ruth say, “one hell of a trip that will warm your spirit and feed your soul”.
We needed that warmth as rain plagued the forecast for the day. Armed with layers of rain gear, Pirate Paul and Ruth gave us a brief introduction, and we made our way.
“Now, we have two choices today,” Pirate Paul explained in his thick accent as the rain poured even more heavily down. “We can make our way towards the coast, but I’ll tell ya, you’re not gonna see much. It’s going to be much more fun ripping through the forest and driving along the river beds.” We all agreed with Paul’s advice, and I was ready to unleash my inner child and have fun in puddles. The Pirate’s eyes lit up – he was ready for it, too.
He hopped in his side-by-side with Ruth, and they led us on the four-wheelers through the Newfoundland forest. I drove, and my colleague on the back held on tight as we clipped along the trails between 30 and 50 km/h. We all aimed for puddles to kick up water on the drivers behind us. At regular intervals, Paul stopped to make sure he could see our smiles through on our mud-caked faces.
Despite the gloominess of the day, our spirits ran high. We had long forgotten how soaked and dirty we were as the rain intensified.
The highlight of the day was yet to come as we made our way back to camp. Arriving at a river, we learned that we would chase our pirate leader through it. Not alongside. Through. Each driver had to carefully maneuver and follow the exact path of the ATV in front while rain pelted our visors. It was a fun challenge and a rush to commandeer the terrain as we did.
Back at the lodge, we gathered around a wood-burning stove full of adrenalin, drinking coffee and sampling some of the tasty treats that Ruth presented. She brought out sausages and burgers and her famous cinnamon buns. We sated our well-earned appetites and listened to Pirate Paul share tales and folklore of the area. His passion for the area and for sharing it with others did not waiver from the start to the end of our day.
Rain or shine, Paul and Ruth made our experience one that I wouldn’t soon forget.
A Dory, A Fish, and a Boil
The alarm rang at 5:15 in the morning. Daylight just started to break, and it appeared a typical East Coast morning. A perfect fishing kind of morning. There was hardly any wind, the Atlantic air was cool and crisp, and there was a slight drizzle of rain. Our crew was cheerful considering the time, and we eagerly boarded the bus to make our way to Cox’s Cove.
Upon arrival, the drizzle subsided, and the sun peeked out intermittently through scattered clouds. “Great day for fishing, innit?” Darren Park, the owner and operator of Four Seasons Tours, asked with a big grin. “Lots in store today. We’ll catch some fish, see some eagles, and have ourselves a boil on the beach.” I peeked past him and saw a dory sitting on the water’s edge, awaiting us. (If you don’t know, a dory is a small and narrow, flat-bottomed boat with no cover on it. Traditionally, they were operated with oars, but now they typically have motors.)
My mind immediately drifted to memories of my grandfather and when I had visited him as a child. A fisherman by trade, we would go out in his dory to jig for mackerel and whatever fish was biting. He’d share stories about fishing cod in the Grand Banks, a rich fishing ground that was also notoriously dangerous. Back then, I couldn’t appreciate fishermen being out in one of these small vessels while battling the swells of those waters.
I was brought back to reality when Darren tossed me a PFD, and my excitement grew. I lost my grandfather many years ago, but I felt him close by.
As we whipped through the calm water, Darren told us all about his tours (the only approved dory tours in all of Newfoundland). During the summer, there are usually a couple of trips per day, where visitors will see eagles, maybe some whales, catch some fish, and at the end of the day, have a lobster and mussel boil on the shore. When we arrived at his cabin on a nearby island, Darren left us to walk around the beach, stroll up to a nearby waterfall, and make ourselves at home. He then whipped back to the cove to pick up the others and bring them out.
The cabin was a simple one-bedroom with a bathroom and full kitchen setup. Many of the cabins were floated out here by their owners to the spot in the 1960s. We gathered outside at a picnic table and chatted amongst ourselves, wondering if we could ever live in this sort of solitude. I think Dalene and I could.
When Darren returned with the others, we were ready to hit the water and try for fish. We floated next to towering cliffs while putting our lines in the water. The boat slowly moved along with our lines dragging, waiting to hit, and while we waited, Darren pointed out eagle nests high above.
He also noted an eagle that had been following us along the cliff. Moving from branch to branch, it never took its eyes off of us. It seemed to know Darren and his boat and surmised that it might get fed from us.
It didn’t seem, however, that luck was on our side. “Fish on!” someone shrieked, only to have the fish wriggle themselves to freedom. I got the feeling that we were letting the eagles down.
And as the day wound on, we were still without a catch. “Never in my life have we not caught a fish out here,” Darren said, and he was determined not to let that happen.
In our last spot, before heading back to land, a fish hit my line hard. “Fish on!” I yelled, and my shipmates excitedly cheered me on. I quietly and repeatedly called out for the fish to stay on as I carefully wound it in. And just like that, Darren reached his net into the water and pulled out the brightest fish I’d ever set my eyes on.
Darren was relieved that his streak was still intact, but I didn’t care about streaks. I just kept thinking of my grandfather and how I could see him sitting in the boat with me, smiling as I held up my catch.
Giddy with excitement, we returned to shore and met up with the rest of the crew, and we all shared our stories with one another. The others were much more successful with the fishing and even had the eagles swoop down and claim their meal. Meanwhile, Darren brought out boiled lobster, steamed mussels and the famous homemade blueberry muffins that his wife is known for. We feasted on the shore and appreciated the life that Darren had built for himself to share with us in Cox’s Cove.
For me, it was a little extra special as I also got to share it with my grandfather.
Finding Treasure in the Bay of Islands
It was another foggy morning in Western Newfoundland, and a slight rain fell as we jumped into the Zodiac owned by Captain Glen Keelng of Saltbox and Everoutdoor Adventures. Our destination? Treasure.
The Captain was taking us on a tour of the Bay of Islands, up the Humber River, and to hopefully get a glimpse of the small river island known as Shellbird Island. Legend has it that treasure was hidden there after pirates ran their ship aground and buried their bounty.
It’s also an incredible spot for wildlife. The Humber River is home to 80,000 spawning Atlantic Salmon that come in each year, hence making it a popular spot for anglers. Eagles nest in the surrounding trees along the Bay and River. And every year, it’s one of the resting stopover points and nesting colonies for migrating Arctic Terns on their 70,000 km journey south to Antarctica.
As we approached the mouth of the Humber River, we heard more pirates’ tales. Accompanying Captain Greg on this trip was Floyd Spracklin, who wrote two fiction novels about two teenagers who set out searching for the buried treasure on Shellbird Island.
“Look up the cliff. Can you see the Man in the Mountain?” Floyd questioned us. A handful of us could spot the outline of the face on Breakfast Mountain that watches over Shellbird Island. “Legend has it; that face is a marker of where the treasure is buried.” Floyd launched into stories about how he and his father would come to this very spot on fishing trips. And one one trip his curiosity prompted him to ask his Dad if he could go have a look with hopes of striking gold.
“Fill yer’ boots,” his father said, perhaps already knowing Floyd’s fate of coming back empty-handed. And as per his father’s expectations, Floyd didn’t find any buried treasure, but little did he know he would find inspiration for his novels.
As we exited the Humber River and back into the bay and back towards Corner Brook, I glanced back to the mountain and the face that watched over. Was it guiding us or protecting what lay beneath?
To this day, nobody has found the pirate treasure of Shellbird Island, but I began to wonder if that isn’t even the intention of that legend. Maybe, like for Frank, a completely different treasure rewards those who visit.
A Wild Outdoor Playground
I was trying to distract myself with the song “Go West” by the Pet Shop Boys. It had been my earworm since leaving home en route to Western Newfoundland, and now I was humming the lyrics trying to calm me nerves for what was about to come.
Western Newfoundland is certainly an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. And over the previous three days, we merely had a small taste of everything that could be done. There were countless hiking, biking and ATV trails, mountains to climb, sea cliffs to balance on, fish to catch, and the list went on.
We were teased with a short hike at Danny’s Trail in Port au Port on the western coast. Along our walk, we admired the sheer rawness and resilience of nature, as told by the windswept trees lining the path, bent to the shape of the wind. We didn’t see another soul on our hour-long walk, reminding us of the remoteness.
On another hike, Emili brought us out to one of her favourite spots in Bottle Cove. It was a 2km trail that leads to Sunset Rock, a popular scenic spot for whale watching. We ventured a bit further up the cliff to another one of Emili’s favourite spots, where she said she’d return to next week for a more intense hike up the mountain. I was a bit jealous I wouldn’t be joining her for that.
Our last activity of the trip was at the base of Marble Mountain. By winter, it’s a ski and snowboard hill, and in summer, it transforms into Eastern Canada’s longest and tallest zip line course. Marble Zip Tours has nine platforms that stand over the Humber Valley, offering incredible scenery enjoyed with a dose of heart-pumping adrenalin.
Admittedly, I’m not great with heights, and upon arrival, my palms instantly clammed up. It wouldn’t be my first time on a zipline, but it still made my heart pump a few beats faster than normal.
We suited up and made it to the first platform to be given the safety rundown. The first two platforms would be a gentle introduction. No problem. Onto the third and fourth, the training wheels would come off as these were the highest platforms on the course. Spanning over 285 feet into the gorge, we would get epic views of Steady Brook Falls as we soared above them. It wasn’t just my palms that were sweaty at this point.
“Want to do a trust fall?” our guide asked as I looked down over several hundred feet. I agreed before contemplating what I agreed to, but he swiftly attached my harness to the line. He told me to put my feet on the edge, face him, and then lean back while he held onto the harness.
It was a rush. I hung backwards over Marble Mountain’s gorge, feeling like this guide had my life in his hands. But then he let go. I flew across the gorge and let out several curse words, all the while smiling and wondering if I would ever get too old. I zipped across and reflected on how much I absolutely loved this outdoor playground. But not just here. Everywhere I had been.
You did it, Western Newfoundland. I only spent three days here, and I came away with memories that will last a lifetime. You’re truly a heart-pumping, adrenalin-filled outdoor mecca that has left me wanting more.
How to Do It
Getting to Western Newfoundland
If you’re thinking of travelling to Western Newfoundland, you’ll most likely fly into Deer Lake Regional Airport (YDF). It is possible to drive and takes approximately 7 hours (non-stop) from St. John’s. Your trip will most likely start in Corner Brook and and this is the ideal spot for a base to stay.
About Corner Brook
Corner Brook is approximately a forty-five-minute drive from the airport and is the biggest city in the west. There are plenty of nice hotels, restaurants and things to do in throughout the city. It’s a beautiful city with plenty of walking trails and hiking opportunities nearby. The Corner Brook Stream Trail Network runs throughout the city and is popular amongst locals and visitors.
Where to Stay
We based ourselves in Corner Brook and stayed for four nights, splitting our stay between two hotels.
Glynmill Inn
The Glynmill Inn is an icon and probably one of the most recognizable buildings in Corner Brook. It was originally built in 1923 as an executive guest house for the Newfoundland Pulp and Paper Company. It’s now a four 1/2-storey rustic guest house surrounded by forest and its own pond. Outside the hotel are trails around the pond that connect to the Corner Brook Stream Trail Network.
Hew & Draw Hotel
The Hew & Draw Hotel is one of the most elegant, chic, and modern hotels in Corner Brook. Centred in the downtown, tastefully decorated rooms have gorgeous town views. The hotel defines comfort, and every amenity is considered here, plus breakfast is included in the morning. I especially loved the hot tub after our adrenaline-filled days, which I could book at the front desk and enjoy privately.
Where to Eat in Corner Brook
There are so many good restaurants in Corner Brook. More and more international cuisine is popping up, seeing that chefs from around the world are now living here. I was seriously impressed with the level of cuisine in this small city. Here are just a few recommended spots to eat at:
- Park West
- Newfound Sushi Izakaya
- Best Coast Restaurant and Boomstick Brewing
- The Saltbox Restaurant
- Harbour Grounds Cafe
** I was a guest with Go Western Newfoundland while attending the TMAC annual conference but all words and photos (unless credited) are my own.
