Dildo Run

The title sounds like a bad adult pun gone wrong, but it‘s the name of the Provincial park we were staying in. Oddly, it’s actually not even near the town of Dildo in Newfoundland!

We had a nice drive from Baie Verte on a hot and sunny day.  Our first stop was Rattling Brook Falls, an 800 meter waterfall, the tallest in Newfoundland.

It was our lucky day, we also got to see another iceberg, bringing our total to 5 for the trip. This is the last of them though, the temperatures are rising and they are breaking up pretty quickly now.

Stopped in Grand Falls/Windsor to fill up our propane tank for the portable stove/grill, and also got the propane tank on the van that we use for the stove in van filled (that requires a place that fills auto propane, few and far between now). We were settled in to the park by late afternoo.

The first place to explore was Fogo Island. We got up around 05:30 to catch the 08:00 ferry to Fogo Island. We weren’t sure if the ferry would be busy so we got there about 06:30, it was worth the early start! 

Fogo Island has a lot of history.  Originally used by the French for fishing, but primarily settled by the Irish (the French were not allowed to settle there, only fish).  The ferry lands on the western end of the island so we drove across to the eastern side to the village of Tilting to start exploring. Cathy found us a nice 4 km walk around Oliver Cove that wound along the cliffs and through the bogs.  We stopped and watched the surf crashing on shore and spied a couple of boats out fishing cod.  The wind was constant, and reminded us a lot of home.  Not too strong, but enough to keep the bugs away.  The last part of the walking trail was through the village where we learned a bit of the history of the village. When the Irish settlers arrived, they continued their traditions of forming clusters of extended family neighbourhoods, and local and extended gardening.  The village of Tilting is noted for retaining an unusually large number of traditional building types, commons and shared spaces, and is still inhabited by descendants of the original settlers.  Talked to a few of the locals, and like everywhere here, they all were happy to engage with strangers!

It was hot and sunny, so we went in search of coffee (ice cream) and ended up at Growlers Ice Cream.  All home made, in store, with local flavours.  They also sold sandwiches made by a local restaurant on bread made at the Fogo Island Inn.  The support local businesses have for each other keeps everyone going.  A young Indian woman served us and as I was curious, I asked how long she had been on Fogo Island.  She’d arrived in August of 2025 and got to experience her first Canadian winter, on the ocean.  I think her description was something like “it was hard”.  Her mother is a nurse at the local hospital.  We later found out that many businesses von the island are bringing in workers from overseas as they cannot get enough locals to staff open positions, from grocery stores to medical staff.  The population is declining like everywhere else in small town Canada, but they hang on.  There’s a vibrant tourist economy and the fishing industry is hanging on. 

After Newfoundland joined confederation in Canada in 1949, the government started on a program to relocate the smaller settlements to continue to be able to provide support services.  Fogo Island bucked the trend by forming the Fogo Island Cooperative to support all businesses on the island and keep the economy going.  It was successful and still drives the islands economy today.

We are seeing some similarities between this travel by camping and travel by sailboat.  Your tend to see a many of the same campers as we all move through the province, and you strike up conversations with random people from all over.  Our neighbours at Dildo Run are from Sherbrooke Quebec, where my nephew went to University.  They’re travelling with in tandem with a another couple and taking 4-5 weeks to explore the island.  We will likely catch up with them again when we get to Terra Nova National Park on the weekend.  

Off to Twillingate the next morning but first we had to make a short side trip to Morton’s Harbour.  There’s a Newfoundland song that I grew up with, “I’se the B’ye”, that likely most of my generation knows. One of the most memorable lines in the song is: “Fogo, Twillingate, Morton’s Harbour, all around the circle”. So of course we absolutely had to go to all three, and go all around the circle!

We met up with Cathy’s brother and sister-in-law in Twillingate to spend the day with them.  They flew in to St. John’s from Belleville Ontario and are doing a quick 2 week driving trip.  We spent the day wandering around Twillingate and the area, got a tour of a lighthouse that has been in continuous operation for over a hundred years and is still manned by the Canadian Coast Guard. Originally, the rotation was driven by a weight that slowly dropped and turned the spindle. The 100lb weight had to be wound up every 90 minutes from the bottom to the top of the tower.

The absolute highlight of the day however was the The Grand Old Shed Party that Cathy’s brother booked for the 4 of us!  2 hours of laughs, singing and fun.  It was one the best experiences we’ve had here.  It’s hosted by a mother and daughter duo in their 2 car garage.  Mom plays the guitar and sings, and daughter MC’s the evening and sings.  It‘s a full audience participation event.  You pick up an ugly stick when you get there or other noise maker, put on one of the crazy hats they’ve collected and settle in for a full on shed party!  The traditional shed party was a gathering of friends and neighbours to sing and tell stories.

This was conceived during Covid in 2020/2021.  Mom started playing her guitar in the kitchen and posting it to Facebook for people to feel some connection.  It started small in Twillingate and spread around the world, she has over 40,000 followers!  People have come from all over the world to visit and say thank you.  If you come to Twillingate, book this ahead of time, you’ll not regret it!  (Last year it was voted as one of the ten best things to do in the world!!!). With only one day to explore the area, we both want to come back, so it’s on our list for a return trip sometime in the future.