Newfoundland - Day 1

So, it's almost 12:30 a.m. here in King's Point, Newfoundland. We arrived here around 4:15 this afternoon, and we haven't stopped eating and drinking since. I'm sure I'm going to come home 20 lbs heavier than when I left. Managed to pack away three meals today, including a delicious supper comprised of an enormous t-bone steak, half a corn on the cob, home made coleslaw, and a baked potato. And then half an hour later I was given a huge slice of cake. And more wine. And that's where I drew the line. I haven't eaten that much in one day in I don't know how long. The sea air must be giving me an appetite! And the funny thing was, when dinner was ready, the other cousins didn't excuse themselves and go home. They just stayed, sitting a few feet away from us on the couch, having their own conversation while we had supper. LOL...strange. I guess a family meal is no reason to break up a good party. And why should it be, I suppose. lol

So, I'm visiting my cousins here...second or third cousins, I'm not sure which. Possibly removed one or two steps too. They're, I think, the grandkids of my paternal grandmother's sister. Same generation as me, except from a different part of the family. So, if you know your family terminology, what does that make them to me?

It's been a long day. I was up at 3:30 a.m. and on a plane bound for Toronto airport at 7. Getting through security in Ottawa was a breeze for a change, so that was nice. That's always the most taxing part of the journey. Met up with my dad and Barb at the boarding lounge in Toronto for our flight to Deer Lake. That was a good flight too, except for the very end. It was the hardest landing I ever experienced...got a little gasp outta me and I grabbed the seat in front of me till we had come to a more reasonable speed. Touchdown was a very hard jolt...and I think we bounced. Apparently, the runways in Deer Lake are a bit too short for the WestJet plans, so they have to come down fast and brake hard to avoid winding up in the kinnikinnick at the end of the runway! They're working on expanding the airport and runways now though.

The drive from Deer Lake was uneventful. Not much to see along the highway most of the time except spruce and pines. There are a couple of pretty big mountains along the way with spectacular rock slides creating bald patches on their sides, like my cousin's old dog with its patchy fur on its back.

Arriving in King's Point, I found I didn't recognize much except for the basic overall layout. I guess it's changed a bit since I was here. And speaking of "since I was here." As it turns out, I've been here much more recently than I recalled and reported. For some reason, I'd thought I hadn't been here since I was 22. I completely forgot about a brief visit I made here sometime between 1986-88 with my ex. We were only here for an overnight visit with my cousin Larry and his wife Susan. Somehow I'd combined the memories of those two visits into one, and thought I'd only been here once when I was 22. Ah well...that's all cleared up now.

Not long after we arrived, people started magically appearing at the door and before you knew it, there were 12 or 13 people hanging out, drinking beer and wine, and as is customary for Newfies, conducting four different conversations at once, crisscrossing across the room. It's quite a thing to see. And very noisy.

I'm not having as much trouble understanding people this time around as I've had in the past. Each successive generation has a milder accent that the one before it. But you can hear it starting to become stronger and stronger as the beer takes hold, so it's quite funny.

One of the tagalong boyfriends was telling us about fishing and how he cotton. Even his girlfriend didn't quite get that one. Both of us just looked at him and then the girlfriend went "ohhh... you caught one!" LOL. And my cousin's wife has the habit of putting h's where they don't belong, and dropping them where they do. She was telling me how she likes to order this silver Jewellery from Hell. Say what?? Hell, she said. E-L-L-E. Helle. And yes, she adds an h to the beginning of the spoken letter H, too. Hache. Love it.

They all talk fast, and they all talk loud. Except for cousin Wayne, The World's Sweetest Man, who speaks very slowly and very softly in such marked contrast to all his family members that you don't mind the extra effort of leaning in to listen to him. He has a lot of wonderful memories to share.

These Newfies just looove to talk about food. We covered sushi and curry and hot peppers and poutine and Fish ("Fish" being cod...all other fish being referred to by their specific species name). We talked recipes. We talked about the virtues of deep-fried squid vs. steamed squid (Susan prefers it steamed...I can't eat it any way but deep-fried). We talked about how they hardly ever have to buy food here, as it's so plentiful all around them in the ocean, on the beach and in the woods. Their most commonly stocked meat is moose, which I hope to enjoy some of this week.

Oh, and I've been promised a feed known as the "Newfoundland dinner," which as far as I can determine is a medley of things including salt fish, figgy duff (whatever that is), peas pudding and onion pudding, which are forms of savoury bread pudding, I think). Not to mention a few other elements which I can't remember. I'll have to remember to write it all down.

Interestingly, there is no cell phone coverage where we are. That kind of sucks. But they have wireless internet here at my cousin's house, thank goodness. All three of them...dad, mum and son...are a bit addicted to the internet, I guess, and can waste hours sitting around the living room, each on their own computer, browsing the web. They like Ebay here.

The four-foot long printout of my dad's family tree was a huge hit and went around the room, examined and re-examined for most of the evening. My impromput hostess gift was a hit too...I printed off my illustration of The Magic Tree story and put it in a pretty picture frame.

There are many things I hope to accomplish while here, not least of which is to be Screeched in. This should be easy to check off my list, as it turns out that other cousins in town now own the local bar, just up the road. Apparently the capelin are running this week, so I want to go to the shore and grab a handful of fish just be reaching into the ocean for them. Apparently there are also frequent visits from whales (belugas, even!) and porpoises even this far down the inlet. I hope to see some iceburgs. Apparently there's a new Whale Centre down the road, where they've reassembled the complete skeleton of a humpback whale.

Step-mom barb is going to do a spaghetti scoff one night, and so I decided I'd make my famous ribs. Hmm. I'm back to food again. See how fast the Newfie gets on ya?

More tomorrow, I hope.