We’re leaving Newfoundland. Its over. Living with the whales (didn’t see one), the moose (yeah, right), the Caribou (are there?), beavers (no, really) and the trucks. They all drive trucks here. Big ones. Massive. But I get it, there’s lots of unpaved roads, ‘we’ all have boats and caravans jet-skis and stuff what needs trailing. So you need at least a 6-litre V8 to pull that. And with ‘gas’ less than half what it costs at home, why not? I would. A convertible one. Which you need when it’s -40 for half the year. I just saw a truck with a 6.4litre ‘Hemi’. For non petrolheads that won’t mean much, but to me, it’s like finding Jesus.

But what a place this is. It’s just fabulous. All of it. Absolutely loved it here, despite the lack of the promised mythical creatures. I did see a squirrel. Red one. All by himself. And the days perfectly alternate between grey and really rainy, and bright, sunny and gorgeous.

Like all places which are ‘islands’ in the metaphorical as well as geographical sense, you get the feeling that life kind’a stood still since 1957. What was good enough for ‘American Graffiti’ is good enough for Newfoundland. Also, there’s insufficient population to create the image of city sophistication, which they wouldn’t want here anyway.

I’ve often said: ‘I could live on hamburgers’. And I virtually have. Ok, there’s quite a bit of cod round here and it is the best cod you’ve ever had. So I sampled that too. And they have reached a level of understanding of foodiness that everything doesn’t need to be deep fried in beer batter to be a meal. Many places offer ‘pan fried cod’ as the ‘healthy’ option. Not saying it’s not good, but for a Londoner, would a ‘drizzle’ of balsamic kill them? If the batter was laced with pomegranate molasses would it be a crime? A dash of z’atar? A blob of tahini?? Just so I can ‘rave’ about the sheer cosmopolitan-ness of it all. But just as Newfoundland seems about a million miles from anywhere else, it’s also about a million miles from cosmopolitan. And that is a massive part of its charm.

Get on a plane. Or two. Or just get up to Nova Scotia, take a 7 hour ferry and drive right here. You will not be disappointed.

As I sit here in the airport on the sunny day option (yesterday it pissed down), I’m gonna miss it

Happy but sad Friday

A xxxx