Everything I Love about Newfoundland

These are our last days in Newfoundland and we are back at Grand Codroy RV and Tent Campground to wait for our ferry out on Friday. Today it stopped raining so we drove to the south coast to a trail we hadn’t been on yet. This was the Harvey Trail in Isle aux Morts.

We had a lot of trouble finding it, some of the signs were missing. When we got there the information center and gift shop were closed and there was a sign saying the trail was washed out.

It looked okay here so we decided to take it as far as we could.

Along the way there were signs about George Harvey and his family who lived alone on the Isle aux Morts in the early 1800’s.

This is a very rocky granite coast and unlike other places the water stays shallow. There are many “sunkers”, which I take to mean rocks that are just under the surface. Even with the two navigation buoys you can see here, this would be a hard channel to enter. There have been at least 3,000 shipwrecks along the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Isle aux Morts has seen more than its share.

George Harvey and his family rescued about 200 people from two wrecks. I saw signage for the wreck of the Despatch in July of 1828. The seas and winds were terrific and the ship could not keep off shore. Seeing the nearby lighthouse at Rose Blanche the captain thought it was the Cape Ray light and ordered the ship run to shore.

Instead of coming up on the sandy shores of the Codroy Valley you see ahead of us in this photo, he came up on the granite shores and the ship hit hard on Wreck Rock.

George Harvey, his oldest two children, Ann and Thomas (teenagers) and their Newfoundland dog, Hairyman, set out as soon as they could rowing their 12 foot punt. It was still too rough to approach the ship but Hairyman swam to them with a line tied to him. Those on the ship pulled him aboard and then sent him back with a second line from the ship. The Harveys managed to row ashore and somehow find a place to secure the line from the ship. Then using breeches buoys set up by the crew they were able to haul all of the passengers and crew to shore, the last of the crew just as the ship was breaking up and sinking. Then the Harvey’s took in these 163 people and somehow gave them food and shelter until the weather calmed and another ship could come for them.

All this happened almost 200 years ago, but it’s still remembered and honored by the people of Isle aux Morts, many of whom are no doubt descendants of the Harvey’s (there were nine kids).

And if any of you know the story of the planes that were diverted to Gander when the US closed its airspace after 9/11, you know that the tradition of open-handed hospitality still thrives here.

Meanwhile, we continued on the trail and this was obviously a newly constructed section.

We found out parts of the trail had been destroyed by Hurricane Fiona in 2022.

Whole new sections were being built.

This guy was still working on it using this motorized wheelbarrow.

And all this is being done by the folks from this very pretty and very tiny town.

Heritage, beauty and kind people who work to share their stories and places with you. That’s why I love Newfoundland.