NEWFOUNDLAND June 2025, PART 1, TWILLINGATE

In June of 2025 we took a bit of a road trip up to Newfoundland. The central idea was that we wanted to see icebergs close to shore and puffins - and some other things along the way. Hali did her usual massive dive into planning, and plotted out a course for us that would take us up the Maine coast to Novia Scotia, and then over to Newfoundland via a 6 hour ferry. From that point onward we took our time and stayed at least a few days in every location. We went to Twillingate to see icebergs. We went to Bonavista and the surrounding area for puffins and various scenic landscapes. We went to Saint John's to see everything around the capital (where about half the population of Newfoundland actually lives). We went to Cape Saint Mary's for the northern gannet colony there (and almost nobody lives there). Then we took a 16 hour ferry back to Novia Scotia, drove back through Maine and came home again. That's the abridged version - we actually did a bit of wandering along the way. All told, the road trip turned out to be about 4000 miles of driving. And it was a blast! Newfoundland has breathtaking coastlines and some of the friendliest people we've ever met. We included some pictures from our travels in web pages that have been broken into 3 parts: TWILLINGATE (this page), BONAVISTA, and EASTERN. We hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Click the images below to see the larger version of the image. Also, if you just want to see the slides of the images without all of the chit-chat, you can use this link: www.hali.org/NL2025 (this page also has a slideshow mode for those that enjoy that type of experience). This page shows all of the images in one place.

FUN FACTS ABOUT NEWFOUNDLAND

Most people don't know much about Newfoundland, so we thought we would share some things about the island that you may not know... (1) Newfoundland is about 27 times the size of the state of Rhode Island, yet it has only half of the population of Rhode Island. And about half of the people living in Newfoundland live in or near Saint John's. So most of Newfoundland is very sparsely populated, and the people there are (by necessity) very self-sufficient. They are also (generally) very friendly and gregarious. (2) The province is actually called "Newfoundland and Labrador", although very few people live in mainland Labrador. Labrador is 2.7 times the size of Newfoundland, but Newfoundland has 18 times as many people living there. As sparsely populated as Newfoundland is, Labrador is VERY sparsely populated. (3) Newfoundland is the 16th largest island in the world. (4) Newfoundland is the Easternmost point of North America (at Cape Spear). (5) Newfoundland has it's very own time zone, which is offset from the rest of Atlantic Canada by 30 minutes. (6) Saint John's homes are painted so brightly/colorfully so that the homes will be visible in the fog when the ships come home. (7) Newfoundland was once part of the supercontinent Pangaea, and rocks from different continents can be found there. (8) Newfoundland is often called the "seabird capital of North America" due to the large number of seabirds there. (9) Newfoundland is also sometimes called "The Rock", although the island is far from barren. (10) Newfoundland used to be an independent country until it joined Canada on March 31, 1949. This followed a referendum in 1948 where a slim majority of Newfoundlanders voted in favor of joining Canada over remaining an independent dominion. (11) Gander international airport in Newfoundland was the busiest airport in the world in the 1950's. Back then, most airplanes could not make the flight from New York to London without refueling. And the Gander airport is located almost exactly along the most common route followed at the time. (12) The Broadway musical "Come From Away" is based upon events related to the 9/11/2001 attacks in the US. When those attacks occurred, American airspace closed down completely. Flights already en route were forced to land elsewhere. Many flights landed at Gander International airport, adding about 6700 people to a town with 500 hotel rooms. The incredibly welcome and outpouring of support from the local people became the basis for the story. (13) Most people pronounce the name "Newfoundland" incorrectly. Most people say the "land" portion of the name with more of a "u" sound - like "Newfoundlund". Instead, it should be more of a hard "a" sound. (14) The earliest known European settlement in North America was established by Norse explorers in Newfoundland (around the year 1000).

THE DRIVE UP

We decided to take our time during the drive up, and limit the drive time each day. This gave us time at the end of each day to relax and maybe look around some. Why not? We're retired!

Scenes from Moncton and Sydney. Left: A fabulous mural we saw on the side of a building in Moncton during a walk after dinner (Phone photo). Top Right: Hali leaning against the Sydney sign on the boardwalk behind our hotel (another phone pic). Bottom Right: A very red and hazy sunset due to the dust in the sky from the wildfires to the west in Canda (Canon R6 Mii, RF 100-500mm)

CHANNEL-PORT AUX BASQUES

After our ferry ride from North Sydney, we spent the evening in the 'town' of Channel-Port aux Basques. It was cold, rainy, and very windy. We spent the night because we knew that we had a long drive to get up to Twillingate the next day...

The 6 hour ferry ride over to Newfoundland began on a clear and sunny day. By the time we landed on the other side, it was windy and rainy. On the top-left is a photo of the cormorants roosting on the mast of the ferry (Nikon Z8 with 70-200 f/2.8 lens). They squawked a fair bit over the best roosting positions. And they really didn't like it when the ship's horn would sound. On the top-right is a picture of the Channel-Port aux Basques lighthouse (Canon R6MII with 100-500mm lens). On the bottom-left is an image of the ferry coming back from Newfoundland, that we passed along the way (Nikon Z8 with 70-200 f/2.8 lens). On the bottom-right is a photo of the another ship's portholes at the pier (Canon R6MII, RF 100-500mm).

When we landed in Channel-Port aux Basques, it was rainy and very windy. We tried driving out to a spot where we might see some wildlife, but the day was even too miserable for the wildlife to be out and about. We did take this one phone picture at a beach in the area...

TWILLINGATE

The drive up was wet -- very, very wet. And windy -- very, very windy. How wet and windy? It was wet and windy enough to push over an 18-wheeler on the highway. And enough to hydroplane more times in an afternoon than in the 7 years we had owned the car before then. But we made it through and got to Twillingate early enough to drive around a bit that afternoon - because the weather started improving as soon as we got there. We were delighted to find out that there was not one, but two icebergs very close to the shore nearby...

It was still raining as we got closer to Twillingate but not quite as heavily and the fog was just starting to settle in. As we passed these fishing stands and cabins Hali had to stop and get a bit wet taking the photos (Canon R5, RF 100-500mm lens)

ICEBERGS!! The icebergs that we saw were fascinating! They were 'grounded', but still moved around a lot - especially in rotation. If you waited and took pictures over time, you would eventually photograph all sides of the iceberg. Every so often you would also hear a very loud CRACK sound. After which you may or may not see a piece of the iceberg slide into the water. At points, many smaller pieces of iceberg could be seen in the waters around the icebergs. Once these pieces made it to the beach, the tourists would occasionally play with them - sometimes even wading in up to their shins. We passed on that because, BRRR!

We can stand right next to each other and take very similar images, but our settings, and vision for the final outcome of the image can differ enough that the resulting images may look nothing alike. A good example of that would be these two images of an iceberg. We guesstimate that this iceberg was at least 80' high (over the waterline) and maybe a few hundred yards from shore. The left image is actually a composite of 3 photos taken with the Nikon Z8 and the 70-200 f/2.8 lens. Right: (Canon R5, RF100-500mm)

This beautiful b/w image was one that Hali created. If you look closely, you can see a boat full of people in front of the iceberg - giving you some idea of scale. (Canon R5, RF100-500mm)

On top-left is a close up image of the ice in the iceberg (Canon R5, 100-500mm). Top-middle is a picture on a cloudy day - which was ideal (Nikon Z8, 70-200mm). On top-right is a picture showing a different rotation angle of the same iceberg, and also showing how much ice could sometimes be seen in the water around the icebergs (Nikon Z8, 70-200mm). On bottom-left is another cloudy day image of the iceberg at Gillards Lane (Nikon Z8, 70-200mm). On bottom-right is a cloudy sunset with the orange sunset light reflecting off the iceberg (Canon R5, EF 24-105mm).

When photographing icebergs, bright sunshine is the last thing that you want to see. The cloudy days were much better for capturing the details of the icebergs without having to contend with glaringly bright surfaces. This image is a composite of 4 images (Nikon Z9, 70-200mm).

But Twillingate was more than just Icebergs, There were interesting scenics, brightly colored cottages and plenty of fishing stages to photograph as well.

A few scenics from around the Gillards cove area. Left: an unusual set up (as far as I could tell) of a set of pulleys for the ramp from the fishing stand to the water. (Canon R5, RF100-500mm) Top Right: An old fishing stand slowly crumbling into the water (Canon R5, EF24-105mm), Bottom Right: Sunset from a beach on our way back to the B&B (Canon R5, EF24-105mm).

The Newfoundland coastline has so many places to walk, but they also have some nice places to rest! On left is a bench artfully arranged next to an anchor (Nikon Z8 70-200mm). In middle is an image of chairs along the shoreline by Robbins Nest Cottages (Canon RF, RF100-500mm). On right is another couple of chairs on yet another small jetty (Nikon Z8 24-70mm).

Some more brightly painted structures. Many of the cottages and fishing stages were painted in bright primary colors. Top left: several small cottages along the shoreline near Shoal Tickle for rent (Nikon Z8 70-200mm) Bottom left: "The Trunk Hole" a small shed we found in Tizzard's Harbour (Nikon Z8 24-70mm). We did a good bit of exploring the areas near Twillingate, although, as always, we wished we did more. Right: A fishing stage at Gizzards Lane where we were photographing the icebergs from shore. (Canon R5, RF 100-500mm)

Some more scenic images from around Twillingate. Top left: A fishing stage at Greenhams Point that looks old but is apparently still in use (Nikon Z8 24-70mm). Top right: This abandoned fishing stage was in Cross Cove - one of the many little coves around Moreton's Harbour (Nikon Z9 70-200mm). Bottom left and right: Some black and white images taken at Greenhams Point (Canon R5 RF100-500mm).

Fishing stages are a big thing in Newfoundland, and they come in all shapes and sizes. They typically act as a place where fisherman clean and prepare their fish for either storage or sale. The almost always sit on wood pilings between the low and high tide marks.

Pretty little isolated village near Twillingate and even some colorful clothes hanging on a line. If you look closely at the image on the left you can see the big iceberg that was off Gillards lane in the upper right (Nikon Z8 24-70mm). On right is an image of colorful clothes hanging out to dry near Rodney Cove. (Canon R6Mii RF100-500mm).

While driving around one day we saw this horse on a small island in Herring Neck. We were talking with some people we met and mentioned seeing the horse and they said that it is someone who brings their horse to the island for the summer to let it graze freely. Left taken with Nikon Z9, 800mm. Right taken with Canon R5, 200-800mm lens.

We make an effort to take at least one shot of us together during each trip. This one was taken at Greenhams Point, and shows the two large icebergs in the background (Nikon Z8, 24-70mm).

In June, the Newfoundland weather varies from nice and sunny (you only need a light jacket) to cloudy and windy (two jackets, rain pants, wool hat, and gloves). Sometimes these variations occur during the same day, so you need to be prepared.

Mike took a bunch of images of Hali with ice in the background. You can really see the difference in the color balance between the phone camera and the better camera. Top-left and bottom-left are images taken with the phone camera (note how the icebergs have a blue-green look to them that does not reflect the true color of the icebergs). The bottom-right image is also a phone camera image, but it did a better job of the color balance in that case. The top-middle image was taken with the Nikon Z8, 70-200mm lens. The top right was taken with the Nikon Z9, 70-200mm lens (and right after Hali turned her ankle). These images were all taken from Gillards Lane, Greenhams Point, or the hiking trail between those two locations.

Hali took some shots of Mike also! On left is the mandatory "this is me with the iceberg in the background" shot (Canon R5 with the EF 24-105 f/4). On right is a shot taken on a much cooler day from a walking path along the coast (Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm lens).

More images from around the Twillingate area... On left is a fishing stage near Moretons Harbour (Canon R5 RF 100-500mm). In middle are some small fishing boats sitting on the wooden skids used to haul boats out (and put back in), Moreton's Harbour (Nikon Z8 24-70mm). On right is another fishing stage that we spotted on the road out to Western Head. A long exposure filter was used and that makes the small surface chop look almost like ice (Nikon Z9 70-200mm).

A few abstracts of reflections in the water taken at Gillards Lane. Hali sometimes can't help herself when she sees funky things. Maybe that's why she had sooooo many images to go through when we got home. Canon R5 RF 100-500mm

More fishing stages! On left is an image from Gillards Lane (Nikon Z9 70-200mm). The middle and right images are of a fishing stage on Manuels Cove (Nikon Z8 24-70mm).

We stopped along the way from Twillingate to Bonavista to get some ice for Hali's ankle. She kept it elevated and iced for a while and that seemed to help enough to keep her going. Just another part of the adventure...

Left: on the coastal road from Twillingate to Bonavista we saw a couple of these ponds scattered with hundreds of small boulders. This one in Deadman's Bay is aptly named "Rocky Pond". Seriously. (phone image). On right is a beautiful image of some lovely lupines (Canon R5 EF24-105mm).

That concludes the first portion of the web pages for Newfoundland (Twillingate). To continue viewing into the second portion of the Newfoundland pages (Bonavista), click here. To jump forward and view the third portion of the Newfoundland pages (Eastern), click here.

CREATED BY

Hali and JM Sowle

Credits: