After a quick stop in Placentia for some provisions of fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese and crackers, I continued north on Highway 100, then west on the Trans Canada, then north on 230 towards Trinity. Most of the Trans Canada was in excellent condition, but I still had to be careful of the occassional pothole which, at 110 km, could prove disastrous to my rental car. Newfoundland is huge, and the roadways are extensive. The cost of maintenance and snow clearance on thousands of kilometers of road must put a huge strain on the province’s budget, with not a huge tax base to draw on. What an expense to link all of the tiny towns and coves, but a lifeline to residents.

Finally I arrived at New Bonaventure, just south of Trinity, which was one of the film sites for the delightful and funny film “The Grand Seduction” starring the wonderful Irish actor Brendan Gleeson as well as Taylor Kitsch, Gordon Pinsent, and “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” favourites Mark Critch, Cathy Jones and Mary Walsh. Here are some photos of Joe’s Bar, which was built for the film, and of New Bonaventure which to me will forever be known by the fictional name of “Tickle Head.”

 

While researching the film sites for “The Grand Seduction”, I read that the same area had been used to film “Random Passage”, a 6 hour Irish-Canadian production about a young Irish woman, Mary Bundle, and how she left starvation in Ireland and servitude in a work house in England in the 1850’s to travel to St. John’s.  She found work as a maid in a big house, but was fired without pay when the lady of the house did not appreciate her husband’s attentions towards Mary.  An encounter with a chancey Irishman named Tim Toope led to the two of them attempting a robbery in the big house during which the owner was accidentally killed by Toope.  Mary went into hiding with Toop in the cellar of a wharehouse on the docks in the harbour, having heard that she was wanted for the murder.  There, she had a child by Toope, and he callously rid himself of a crying baby and a challenging woman by conning Mary into boarding a schooner which he said was bound for England.  In fact, it was bound for the outposts of northeastern Newfoundland to deliver supplies in exchange for barrels of salted cod.  Upon discovery on the ship, the sailors were happy to have a cook and a young woman to use for their pleasure, or so they thought.  Mary fought and frightened them off with talk of spells and curses, and she abandoned ship at the first oupost they reached, “Random Passage”.  At this outpost there were already other unwanted newcomers, the Andrews family from England, who had been put ashore because the mother was ill after a stillborn childbirth at sea.  Unwanted by the few fishers who already inhabit the harbour, as winter is coming and provisions are already low, the story carries on for another 25 years of hardship, relationships, marriages, births, and deaths.  It is a wonderful film, and I highly recommend it.

Here, are a few photos of the buildings and interiors that were built on site for the film and which remain as a living museum of life in outpost Newfoundland in the late 19th century.  The guided tour was excellent, and the site was beautiful, with a lake, ponds and stream just above the settlement, and grassy meadows leading down to the cove.

And, to finish my wonderful visit, an iceberg offshore and then a bowl of moose stew in the onsite tearoom.