Sunday - August 19, 2007

Today is our grandson Derrick’s birthday and our friend Margie’s so happy birthday both Derrick & Margie.

We had a good downpour about 8 a.m. then it cleared off and the sun came out, the only draw back was that there were gale force winds but off we went to Fogo Island anyways. The ferry wasn’t too busy going over and even with the wind the ride wasn’t too bad as it is pretty sheltered between the mainland and Fogo, not like the Strait of Belle Isle.

We visited Little Seldom, Seldom, Shoal Bay, Barr’d Islands, Joe Batt’s Arm, Tilting, Fogo, Deep Bay and Island Harbour – gotta love those names! Fogo was probably named after the Portuguese word “fuego” for “fire”, which were the signs of Beothuk encampments frequently seen by early settlers. Fogo is the location of Brimstone Head which is considered to be one of the “Four Corners of the Earth” by the Flat Earth Society. It is believed that Little Seldom and Seldom got their names from the fisherman who “seldom” passed by without stopping in. Joe Batt’s Arm is named for a deserter from the crew of explorer James Cook, who charted this coast in 1736.

All the little villages were pretty but Tilting was my favourite, it had a lot of the salt box style homes and each home had its own net loft down by the water, it was just so quaint and pretty. The fishermen use the main floor of the net loft for fixing their boat and the second floor for mending their nets.

We stopped and had lunch in Fogo then worked our way back to the dock in hopes of catching the 4:30 ferry but were 6 cars too late, we had to wait for the last ferry of the day, which was late, so it was after 7 when we left Fogo Island. At least by then the wind had died down so it was much calmer. We just got going on the ferry when it started to pour, then the sun was shining and what a treat we had – 2 gorgeous rainbows that stayed all the way over. As one woman said, that was our reward for having to wait for the next ferry.

We got back to Twillingate about 9 and stopped for dinner, John had Fisherman’s Brewis which was very bland, I was glad I had opted for fish and chips.

Fisherman’s Brewis

To Prepare Brewis: Split cakes of PURITY HARD BREAD. In a large saucepan place Hard Bread, well covered with water. Soak overnight. Next day, using the same water, salt to taste and bring HB to near boil. DO NOT BOIL, DRAIN IMMEDIATELY. Keep hot.

To Prepare Fresh Fish: Cut fish into serving pieces and place in pot and cover with water and boil for 20 minutes or until cooked. Add salt to tast. Remove bones after it is cooked. Combine the cooked fish with prepared brewis. Serve with “scrunchions” (Small cubes of fat back pork fried to golden brown). Use as a gravy over Fisherman’s Brewis.