Slept like I usually do on the rock fall asleep quickly wake up slowly, was in a half awake state at 5AM taking in the damp and the scents of the Island – pine. Drifting in and out of – not sleep for I don’t wake up and am shocked at the time but dozing. Finally when I have and enough of this – usually about a half hour – I get up.
Got my coffee, wondered how long and in what way would we get internet access and was ready to use the Deardorff.
It was bought after seeing the colour in Joel Meyerowitz’s work on Cape Cod and some sort of misplaced romanticism of working with large format. It was a difficult relationship at best. Remember carrying it around the loop and having to deal with people putting their heads under the cloth with me invited the minor problem, it was the setting up and taking down that I hated.
Gave up more or less when I wanted to photograph the Grant Park underground car park and was stopped as they thought that I was some sort of spy – would have to be a pretty stupid one to go through all of this.
Before breakfast, seeing a ball park behind the house the day before, I set out to make some snaps. Packed the camera took only a few film holders made sure that I had everything and headed out. The weight was fine. The backpack helped with the balance. Some ground rules had been played out mentally – don’t be afraid of placing things on the ground, don’t hurry, up here you can leave the camera and walk around, take everything.
I didn’t do the last and had to go back to the house to pick up more film holders. I did, however, work pretty well with it.
After breakfast, I reckoned that we should get out of the way the one thing that was bothering me immediately. That image of the man in rapture overlooking Western Brook Pond that is on the map and the tourist catalogue.
Had checked the map it looked like there would be a 8 km walk tried to decide whether I should take the Deardorff or the Hobo, decided on the Hobo – which turned out to be a great decision.
It was a good choice to start the destination was near the northern end of the park giving me the chance to survey the place and see how difficult it would be to get around.
After a water stop on the outskirts of Rocky Harbour, we made it to the car park for Western Brook Pond.
This wasn’t what I was expecting. The car park was packed, there were people of all sorts of hiking skills everywhere, we were used to relative isolation, normally we see one or two people at a time never more than say five here was a complete city of day trippers. I wondered how they would know that I didn’t have to pay a fee as Parks Canada charges for using the park. There was even a nicely groomed path complete with boardwalks over the bogs. In the distance there was a moose.
The view was stunning – I have simply run out of adjectives – an immense flatland leading to a mountain range in the distance with an giant “V” cut out of it. As I said the view was awesome, but not the view we had come to expect – even without the hoards of people – from the brochure.
We reckoned that we would have to hike to it but I didn’t realise that so many other people would or could do it also.
Well they weren’t they were all heading to the boat ride along Western Brook Pond. The main trail led directly to it. we branched off thinking that there would be a trail to the spot we were looking for and the trail – muddy, narrow - did look more promising.
It wasn’t we were skirting around the pond heading more inland but never actually rising. There came a point when we had to decide whether we should keep going or turn back. We turned back.
Walking back was like walking against the flow in any mid sized town the people just kept on coming. No one really stopped at anything to look out they simply kept moving. Found some raspberries that were nearly ripe.
Headed north to Cow Head so see what the northern end of the park was like then back down to Rocky Harbour to see if we could find some internet access time – it was becoming hard to keep everything in my head, I needed to download.
Was getting into my method of working - speeding along the highway until I saw something when I would slam on the brakes and turn almost always garrotting Kendra, pull off make the snap get back in repeat exercise.
The best place of the day was sandyish beach with erratics. A few photographs and a wander to look at what had been dumped.
Am pleased that I am not in Rocky Harbour – endless tourists wandering about in a daze and everything one would expect from a place that deals with endless tourists – except internet access. Well that was hyperbole there was internet access at one shop. It was dial up and there was no place to use a flash drive – someone tried it once and it didn’t work. They had one terminal.
Dinner was something special, ate and felt relieved as the restaurant had vegetarian section - I wouldn’t be spit at as I was in Port-Aux-Basques – I had the Vegetarian chilli which was rice covered in Ragu chunky tomato sauce umm good.
A wander to Norris Point where we stopped at the Photographers Lookout, made snaps of each other looking out then a closed go cart course with water slide and pond, where a lot of clothing had been left.
Another successful day, Another day in which I had chosen correctly, where I could function in this new way. Was quite pleased with myself.
First dinner in the residency, cooked, ate en plaine air at the picnic table out back which would become the place for the evening meal and to celebrate a drink at the Seabreeze.
Ah the Seabreeze, certainly not the duke, initial shock when I had to choose between Labatt’s products and that of Molson. Since I am not an Canadian chose Black Horse, Kendra followed suit. Went on the deck to look out on the bay and talk and watch some kids fish with aplumb. They were pulling out fish as soon as their line hit the water. Like true landlocked C.F.A’s we stared at jelly fish.
Went in when one of the fish caught landed at Kendra’s feet.
We found out it was ladies’ night all drinks for ladies were 50¢ off – I said that I would get my mini skirt – there was free pool and a prize for darts – hit the five dollar bill three times and it was yours. Kendra did it in only 100 tries.
Chatted with George the owner who told us a bit about the area, then sat at a table where we met this family from Trout River the Brakes – Paul and his brother Francis and Francis’s girl friend of six days Patsy.
Kendra had a new boyfriend as Paul couldn’t stop looking at her. Went out with her when she had her smoke and asked if she would share her life with him.
At midnight I was chosen to draw a name out of a hat to see who would win the prize for a boat trip on the Sarah Elizabeth – George’s boat – and lo and behold I drew Kendra’s. It wasn’t the fix that it seemed as there was only one other woman in the bar at the time.
She made a date for that Friday George said that he would take up to four so it looked like it would be a Brake Family reunion on the boat – worrisome as Patsy wasn’t a small woman.
She didn’t have a phone and would be in Corner Brook the next day. No matter we would drive out to Trout River – hadn’t seen the place – give her the phone to the residency she could ring us. Said goodnight to George and headed back glad to find a local tavern – well the only tavern.
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