Trout River is a small fishing town on the Great Northern Peninsula that continues with the tradition of rural living, evident from the many fishing boats, lobster traps, wharves, stages and even cardboard signs selling salt cod. It is a quaint place that is snuggled in a gentle cove surrounded by hills that extend to the Tablelands, which is a World UNESCO Heritage Site. If you would like to know more about Trout River, please visit their website at http://townoftroutriver.com/.
Those who continue to earning a living there, do so from the land and sea. Fishing communities are vibrant places, they are steeped in tradition and rich in folklore. It is wonderful to see the establishment of regular gatherings in this town, called “Passing Time in Trout River”, where local talents and musicians gather and share music, jokes, and stories. Every communities has a remarkable story to tell. In fact, my hometown of Green Island Cove utilized its gear shed to host a community kitchen party. It was quite a night of coming together and celebrating our song and dance. It was an incredible experience that could be replicated. Community is stronger when it embraces the talents of the people that live there. We must continue to share our knowledge and teach others our traditional ways, so that our rural living remains a very vibrant part of the future in a very fast past, technological modern-day world.
Trout River also has the fortunes of the Tablelands, World UNESCO site at its doorstep. It is quite the place to visit, you certainly feel like on Mars, or maybe Arizona? Certainly not the Great North of Newfoundland & Labrador. If you haven’t been, add it to your bucket list.
Further north is L’Anse aux Meadows, another World UNESCO site, an event 100,000 years in the making where the world came full circle 1,000 years ago. Also across the Strait of Belle Isle, a short distance away is a third World UNESCO site, in the Basque Whaling Station of Red Bay, Labrador.
We have incredible assets on the Great Northern Peninsula and Southern Labrador that illustrate how meaningful these places are in the world in terms of geography, history to people. We have an incredible connection to the land and sea, and always will. When you come to Newfoundland & Labrador, be sure to pass some time in Trout River and make your way to the gems at the very tip of the Great Northern Peninsula.
Live Rural NL –
Christopher Mitchelmore, MHA The Straits-White Bay North @MitchelmoreMHA