CHRISTOPHER BAKER
The Arches Provincial Park
MORGAN TURNER-CROCKER
PARKS CANADA / DALE WILSON
PARKS CANADA / CHRIS REARDON
Tablelands
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR TOURISM/BARRETT & MACKAY PHOTO
l’Anse aux Meadows
Partridgeberry Gin Fizz from Bootleg Brew Co., Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Railway Society of Newfoundland’s museum
Think “Pink Gin Creamsicle.” The egg and cream add lots of texture when whip shaken and the soda creates a frothy, soufflé-like head, giving it that milkshake appearance. This cocktail is simultaneously creamy, silky, rich, light, citrusy and frothy. The brewery use local partridgeberries and their own house made hop soda water— see below for substitutes. Recipe: 1 1/2 oz 1/2 oz 1 oz
of magnificent Gros Morne Mountain is a full day adventure, but the list of other hiking trails seems endless. I head for the Tablelands for my favourite easy hike. These barren, red valleys and flat mountains represent one of the few places on the planet where the Earth’s mantle has heaved to the surface. I take a magnificent boat tour up the freshwater fjord of Western Brook Pond to see the waterfalls. That evening, I laugh at the antics of the Anchors Away performers at the Ocean View Hotel and take the water taxi across Bonne Bay for a nightcap. Back on the road, I stop at The Arches Provincial Park to walk beneath the gigantic seaside stone arches and, of course, grab a selfie for all my social media friends. Then it’s on to Port au Choix where thousands of years of human history unfold at a National Historic Site. Right in town, archeologists uncovered 4000-year-old burial grounds and evidence of Indigenous Archaic, Dorset, Groswater Paleoeskimo and Beothuk. At The French Rooms Cultural Centre and the reception centre on the road to the Point Riche Lighthouse, I learn more about these waves of human habitation. In Le Malouin Cove, just a few minutes from town, costumed interpreters are baking at their
outdoor oven, a replica of those used 500 years ago by French fishermen. Hot from the oven, I slather rolls with local bakeapple and partridgeberry jam and devour them before taking time to admire the chaloupe, a replica of the first French fishing boats. At last, I arrive at l’Anse aux Meadows, that second UNESCO World Heritage Site on Newfoundland’s western coast. This significant archeological site at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula was home to European explorers 500 years before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. I duck into the replica sod-covered habitation built here so long before permanent European settlement, and wonder at the skill and fortitude of those sailors. Outside, I spot an iceberg offshore in Iceberg Alley, its great blue-white hulk like a mountainous ghost skulking down from Greenland like those early Viking explorers. The next morning in St. Anthony, I greet the day with a smile when I remember that I get to retrace my steps south along the coast all the way back to Channel-Port aux Basques, exploring as I go. Taking a deep breath, I head for the car, repeating my mantra, “Take ’er slow. Take ’er slow.”
1/2 oz 1/2 oz 1 oz 1 oz
Newfoundland Distillery Company Seaweed Gin Cointreau housemade partridgeberry syrup lemon juice lime juice egg white heavy cream Housemade hop soda to top (use regular soda) Frozen Newfoundland partridgeberries to garnish
Method: Add Seaweed Gin, Cointreau, partridgeberry syrup, lemon juice, lime juice, egg white and cream to a shaker. Add 3 ice cubes and shake hard until the ice is completely melted and the cocktail is cold and aerated. Strain into a Collins glass. Slowly top with soda. Garnish with 3 frozen partridgeberries and serve with a straw. To make partridgeberry syrup, boil equal parts water and cane sugar. Add whole berries. Blitz with a hand blender. Strain and cool. If partridgeberries aren’t available, try cranberries. Substitute any carbonated water for the hop soda.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
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