Be sure to see the Stage West Theatre Festival in Corner Brook this summer

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

    Stage West Theatre Festival (SWTF) is celebrating its 6^th year and offers residents and visitors to Corner Brook more great entertainment for an evening out. One of their five evening shows runs almost every night from July 2 to August 1 at either the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre or the Royal Canadian Legion. All shows start at 8:00 pm and you can pay $17 per show or buy a season pass for just $65.  So far we have seen the first three shows. The Artistic Directors Mike Payne, Stephen Perchard and Jordan Stringer must be very happy with the great turnouts for these events and the audience’s enthusiastic response.

The Fine Tyme Cast

 First up was “A Fine Tyme”, which is SWTF’s flagship tribute to Newfoundland and its music. We thought this performance was a good mix of traditional tunes and many were new to us. Some songs were sung with all 6 performers and others allowed  the vocalists to shine on their own, and shine they did. Overall “A Fine Tyme” presents close to 20 songs and it is a show everyone will enjoy.

The Nuns of "Nunsense"

      Next we saw “Nunsense” (by Dan Goggin) which was a long running off Broadway musical in the mid 1980’s.  There was a very good turnout for this performance at the Arts and Culture Centre and it promises to be a popular show this season for the SWTF. The backstory is that due to food poisoning which has killed most of their flock, a group of nuns must raise money to bury them. They decide on presenting a variety show which has the 5 nuns singing and dancing to entertain the crowd. There is lots of humour and Anne Gregory, Janice Spencer, Pam Gill, Wendy Woodland and Miranda Power do a fine job with their singing and bringing each quirky character to life. This is a show that all ages will find entertaining.

Ian Locke (left) and Emma Anderson star in "Proof"

         “Proof” by David Auburn is a serious play about mental illness, caregiving and strained family dynamics.  Catherine (Emma Anderson) has been looking after her father Robert (Jordan Stringer) who was once a brilliant mathematician.  As he slides further into madness and dies, she is concerned she may have inherited his insanity as well as his genius. Toshon Dawe plays Catherine’s sister who has a great life in New York and has come back for her father’s funeral. Ian Locke plays Hal, one of Robert’s former students. The play was the winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and was made into a movie in 2005. We thought all four actors did an  incredible job with their roles. Don’t miss this play! There is a warning for mature content and language. 

      Stage West is also performing “Say Nothing Saw Wood” and “A Steady Rain” later in July and we are looking forward to those shows. New for this year are two children’s shows that will be performed in the afternoon on the Majestic Lawn.   For more information and for a complete schedule check out: http://www.stagewesttheatrefestival.com/

      

A great day trip to Long Island in Central Newfoundland

By Keith and Heather Nicol

    On Friday, July 4 we left Triton and caught the 10:30 am ferry to nearby Long Island. Wanda Roberts at the Parkers Bluewater Inn in Triton had suggested we visit here and since all of this area was new to us we couldn`t resist. And the iceberg finder web site showed bergs in and around Long Island so that clinched it. 

Board the modern ferry "Hazel McIsaac" to go to Long Island

   The ferry leaves from Pilley’s Island and serves both Long Island and Little Bay Islands, but the crossing to Long Island is just 10 minutes. And this must be the deal of the century since for both of us with a car the fare was just $2.50 1 way! And when we arrived at the ferry dock there was a large iceberg part way between the two islands which we got to see up close as we sailed by.

Icebergs from Wards Harbour

      Long Island is composed of 3 communities and they are connected by 9 km of paved road (there were lots of side gravel roads that we didn’t venture on). We drove directly to Wards Harbour at the far end of the island and there were many large icebergs in the distance. Wanda had told us to be sure to drop into the Long Island Heritage Centre so we drove back to Beaumont and it was almost like everything had been set up. The sun was shining, there was a small iceberg glistening in the harbour and Roxanne Rowsell, who runs the Tea Room in the Heritage Centre welcomed us in. The local heritage community has done a great job with the display of Long Island historical information and the tea room has lots of good inexpensive food on the menu. Where else can you get a moose burger for $3.00 and a piece of partridge berry pie for $2.00! We ended up taking the 1:00 pm ferry back to Pilley`s Island and then headed back to Corner Brook ending another great adventure in Central Newfoundland. No matter where you travel in the province, be sure to get off the main roads and explore the numerous islands, coves and bays that exist at the end of the road.

Heather chats with Roxanne Rowsell who is the chef at the Tea Room

The icebergs around Long Island were very photogenic

More icebergs in Cottrell’s Cove and Brighton in Central Newfoundland

  by Keith and Heather Nicol

     After breakfast we decided to head north on Highway 352 from Botwood to see if the icebergs that Jim Stuckless from the Dockside Inn had told us about were still there. We had the most luck in Cottrell’s Cove and there were lots around but most were quite far from shore. If only we had brought our sea kayaks we thought. Next time!

Cottrell's Cove has a very scenic setting

  Our next destination was another area of the Northeast Coast that we had not visited before. We arrived in Brighton (at the end of Highway 380) in time for lunch. But we had a hard time eating since there was an amazing iceberg right in the harbour that had just had a large chunk of it break off. “That happened just before you arrived” a friendly fisherman told us. “Come down on my wharf to get a better view. “ Before long two more cars had stopped and soon he had a wharf full of tourists chatting and taking pictures. Just then another big piece came off! He then told us there were other larger bergs in view from the short hiking trail on the other side of town so off we went to check those out.

We were invited down on to a wharf to see an iceberg 

 The Cobbler’s Island trail (21 0598697 E 5489434 N) is short and gives a great view of the rugged coastline and we counted 15 icebergs from there. The trail has many stairs but only 150 meters long to the lookout platform. There is a gazebo part way along which was great for getting out of the sun since by then temperatures were again unseasonably warm at 32-33 C. We had planned on checking out some other trails in the area but it was simply too hot for hiking any distance.

There were many icebergs in view from the Cobbler's Island trail

       Back in Triton we visited the Sperm Whale Pavilion which is in a splendid setting right by the ocean. Terry Whalen, a museum guide told us that the whale had come ashore in the Codroy Valley in Southwest Newfoundland and that people in the Triton area had wanted to have a whale display. The pavilion opened 5 years ago and we recommend seeing the 13 meter long sperm whale skeleton and having a guided tour. We stayed that night at Parkers Bluewater Inn (http://www.bluewaterinn.ca/) and ate a nice halibut dinner at Fudge’s Restaurant in Triton.   

    

Hiking and Icebergs in Point Leamington and Leading Tickles

by Keith and Heather Nicol

     With a forecast of plus 30 C temperatures we decided to head for the icebergs and so after breakfast in Botwood we drove to Point Leamington enroute to Leading Tickles where we had been told there were lots of icebergs. At Point Leamington we hiked to the top of Rowsell’s Hill which gave great views of the surrounding coastline (trailhead is 21 0616328 E 5464328 N). Allow about 45 – 60 minutes to complete the 3 km (return) hike which starts off easy along Mill River and then climbs steeply up lots of stairs in the last 500 meters or so to the lookout on top of Rowsell’s Hill. Be sure to check out the heritage house and tea room, gazebo and nice water fall at the base of the hiking trail. 

The hike up Rowsell's Hill provides great views of Pt Leamington

      Then we continued on Highway 350 to  Leading Tickles where we had lunch in Oceanview Park. There were certainly lots of bergs around. We asked the attendant at the gate where we might hike since we had been told by Jim Stuckless at the Dockside Inn that there were several trails here. We opted for the Bear Cove Lookout trail which is short but gives dramatic panoramic views of the surrounding ocean that had icebergs in all directions. The trail head is at 21 0612334 E 5485428 and the trail follows a 550 meter loop with a look out platform in the middle.  Allow 20 minutes or so to do the loop. We also checked out the short Western Bear Cove Trail (21 0612331E 5485154 N) which is just 100 meters long and has a picnic table at the end. It gives nice views of the rugged coastline.  From there we explored Leading Tickles and by now despite the icebergs in the water the air temperature hit 36 C. Yikes! 

There was a large berg in the harbour at Leading Tickles

      We took some more pictures of icebergs in and around Leading Tickles, had an ice cream cone and then headed for Glover’s Harbour to see the Giant Squid Interpretation Centre.  This is well worth a visit and there is a model of the giant squid that was found in this bay in 1878. These are very elusive creatures and this centre sheds light on what little we know about them.

The Giant Squid Museum is well done

     That night we had another fine dinner at the Dockside Restaurant (http://www.docksideinn.nl.ca/) in Botwood and enjoyed another walk by the sea on the Killick Island trail that we had previously enjoyed the day before.  Lets hope it cools off tomorrow!

We enjoyed a delicious cod dinner at the Dockside Restaurant