July Begins: The Start of a New Ultimate Blog Challenge and a Newfoundland Adventure

 

Happy Canada Day! It’s July 1st, the day Canadians celebrate our beautiful country.  It’s also the beginning of a new Ultimate Blog Challenge month.

For those unfamiliar with it, the challenge is simple: write and publish a blog post every day for the month. Thirty-one days, thirty-one posts.

I've participated before with varying degrees of success. Sometimes I've made it all the way through, and other times life has had different plans. Either way, I always enjoy the challenge because it encourages me to write more consistently and finally tell some of the stories that have been sitting in my head waiting for their turn.

This month my posts will be focused on a specific part of Canada.

A couple of weeks ago, I returned from a two-week trip to Newfoundland with my two sisters and my cousin. It was a trip filled with laughter, long drives, incredible scenery, and enough stories to keep me writing for quite a while. So throughout July, I'll be sharing my thoughts and adventures one day at a time.

But first - a little introduction to Newfoundland and Labrador for those who may not be familiar with this remarkable corner of Canada.

Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada's easternmost province. Newfoundland, also lovingly referred to as The Rock, is the large island that sits out in the Atlantic Ocean, while Labrador is located on the mainland, bordering Quebec. Together they cover a vast area of rugged coastline, remote wilderness, charming fishing communities, and some of the most spectacular scenery in the country.

The province also has a fascinating history. Long before Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples lived here for thousands of years. The Vikings established a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows around 1,000 years ago, making it the earliest known European settlement in North America. For centuries afterward, Newfoundland became an important centre for the fishing industry, attracting fishermen from England, Ireland, France, Portugal, and Spain.

What surprises many people is that Newfoundland was not one of Canada's original provinces. In fact, it was a separate British colony and later a British dominion. Following years of economic hardship, two referendums were held in 1948 to decide Newfoundland's future. By a narrow margin, voters chose to join Canada, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland officially became Canada's tenth province. Labrador was already part of the territory, and in 2001 the province's official name was changed to Newfoundland and Labrador.

History aside, what has really captured my heart is the place itself.

Newfoundland and Labrador has a rugged beauty that is difficult to describe until you've seen it for yourself. The coastline seems endless, with dramatic cliffs, rocky shorelines, hidden coves, and colourful fishing villages that look like they belong on a postcard. Around almost every bend there seems to be another breathtaking view.

Nature is everywhere. We saw whales, icebergs, seabirds, and more wild landscapes than I could count. There were winding coastal roads, hiking trails, lighthouses, crashing waves, and wide-open vistas that made us stop the car again and again just to take it all in.

But as beautiful as the scenery is, what many people remember most about Newfoundland and Labrador is the people.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a reputation for being some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet, and in my experience, that reputation is well deserved. Everywhere we went, people were welcoming, helpful, and genuinely interested in chatting. 

I get why so many visitors fall in love with this province and keep returning - after all, this was my 5th visit to The Rock. It's not just the scenery. It's the combination of the landscapes, the culture, the history, and the people that makes it feel unlike anywhere else.

Over the next month, I'll be sharing stories and snippets from our Newfoundland adventures.  By the end of the month I hope to have given you a glimpse into one of  my most favourite parts of Canada.  Maybe it will even inspire you to want to travel there.