We hosted a media familiarization tour for 8 newspaper, magazine and travel writers this past week. To say our schedule was “Jam packed” would be an understatement. We had four days on the island and were on slam from early each morning till late every evening. Despite the many wonderful sites, and we were fortunate enough to experience everything from puffins and whales, to icebergs, moose, beautiful scenery, wonderful hosts, funny anecdotes, hikes and some of the most exquisite dining on the planet – there is one story that stood out from all the rest.
Upon their arrival in Newfoundland one of the girls in our group made contact with distant relatives from St. Alban’s, a small community located on the south coast of the island. It turns out that many years ago her Great Aunt met a young man from the ‘Newfoundland Regiment’ who was stationed in Scotland during the Second World War . He and many others in the Regiment worked as a loggers providing much needed timber for the mines, ship building and massive infrastructure developments required in the defense of Mother England. After the war the Great Aunt married her new love. He brought his bride back to the island of Newfoundland to start their new life and a family in the distant colony.
Once alerted to the presence of a distant relative on the island our guest’s relatives immediately jumped in their truck and drove nearly 600kms from St. Alban’s to meet her. As exciting as all this should have been, our guest was quite distraught by the conflict it created on our first morning; we were scheduled to meet Stan Cook for a kayaking trip in Cape Broyle followed by a hike to the Ferryland lighthouse for a lunch with Jillian Curran and her most famous “Ferryland Lighthouse Picnic”. What a dilemma. How to decide? Easily when you’re travelling with me – you either invite your family to join us or you go spend the day with them. She decided on the latter since her family wouldn’t arrive in time to join us and though she apologized repeatedly for missing the prearranged activities, I know she made the right decision.
At supper that evening she truly appeared to have taken on an entirely different demeanour. The smile never left her face and she was quick to share her story and adventures. After bidding us good bye for the day, she used the short time spent waiting for her family to arrive hiking the ‘Signal Hill Trail’ – “Where the people were ever so friendly.” Shortly thereafter her family swooped in and together they visited the ‘Rooms’ – our Newfoundland museum and art gallery – where they used the many exhibits to explain the Newfoundland side of her family’s history. They walked through the gardens of many historical sites along the way, including the downtown core to witness the many colourful row houses and imagine how all of this would have looked when her Great Aunt first arrived here in 1946. “We had a wonderful traditional meal which they also explained in great detail. I am certain we would have seen much more except everywhere we went they kept running into people they knew, some of whom were also related to me and all were most interested in my story. They all took the time to stop and talk, ask questions and listen. I’ve never experienced anything like it. This must be the social capitol of the planet.”
I probably don’t need to say another word about this but I will remind you that on our tourism exit surveys the second most frequently noted feature of the island is its people. While its fun and most interesting to hear people’s stories it’s more than fantastical to discover and understand a family connection, a blood line and a hope that all of us share the ability to survive and thrive wherever the winds may take us.
“Long may your big jib draw” takes on a whole new meaning.
