For a few hours at a time patients are seen, medications are dispensed, and advice is provided; then the "bird" is gone until next time. Unless an autopsy is ordered, when a death occurs the casket is built on the spot from available lumber, and the deceased is buried in the local cemetery. Each village has a church (Church of England, generally, or a close variant thereof) and, like the medical team, is visited every few weeks by a minister. Unlike the physicians, whose expenses are paid by the government, the ministers arrive and leave by coastal boat, and stay a day or two (in someone's home) depending on the boat schedules. There is a diesel power generating facility in each village, and a tall tower that provides an electronic link (telephone and television) to the outside world.
At one of the villages its annual festival was being held. This included dory races, a dance for kids, a dance for adults, live music, singing, and street dancing, a rubber duck race, and other community fundraising attractions. I ate hot dogs and hamburgers and drank soda pop and beer, and generally mixed with the natives and met their children and friends. Only by accident did I escape being "put in jail" where it would cost $5 to be bailed out. I wandered around all afternoon, observing and drinking and talking to people, and had returned to my lodgings briefly when the posse was out looking for me. By the time I emerged that part of the afternoon schedule was over, although the person who had paid another $5 to have me thrown in jail did not get his money back. A good time was had by all, and I learned the next morning that some of the dancing and music had continued all night, stopping just in time for some of the guests to leave on the 8 a.m. boat.
Practically no tourists visit these villages. A lot of the men have to leave to get jobs elsewhere, and return when they can to visit their families. Relatives visit, and those who have moved away sometimes return to see old friends and relatives. I was a real oddity - someone who came there for no other reason than to see the village, meet the people, live there briefly, and try to learn something about life there. In many ways this trip was similar to my several weeks traveling* on foot through the jungles of Papua New Guinea. There I would be the only outsider, I would arrive unexpectedly on foot carrying my own supplies, never sure of the reception I would receive but inevitably being welcomed warmly even though we shared no language in common. In Newfoundland of course we all spoke English; nevertheless there was some sense of being an explorer in a strange land.
The people I met in the fishing villages were all warm, welcoming, and friendly. They were very trusting, and quite curious about my life and interests. For me there was a spiritual mystery about the fishing villages. I had a sense that I had lived there long ago, or somewhere long ago where no one was more than a few hundred feet away and there was only irregular contact with the rest of the world. The echoes I heard were of people helping their neighbors in both good times and bad time, and of constant anxiety about the weather and the sea and the cycle of fish and game, sickness and good health, and other elements of the unknown.
After I completed my voyage of discovery westward along the south coast I took a modern bus (restroom, attendant who provided snacks and drinks regularly) for 14 hours (550 miles) back across the island, along the Trans-Canada Highway. That day showed me the green and rocky rolling terrain that makes up most of the interior of the Rock. I found I much preferred the rocky coasts and the boats darting in and out of small harbors to the smooth drone of the diesel bus across hundreds of miles of freeway. I arrived at least 20 years too late to observe any railroad operations. At one time there was an extensive narrow-gauge railroad that serviced the island along what is now the Trans-Canada Highway, with branch lines to many other communities. Although the last of that railroad was removed 20 years ago, I did visit three railroad museums and equipment displays of that earlier era.
I did only a modest amount of physical preparation for this trip, since I carried only about 20 pounds of gear, and planned generally to travel by motorized vehicles. I was prepared to live for a few days if necessary out of my backpack, with food, emergency supplies, and cold weather clothing. However, the weather was generally warmer than expected, food was easily available, and the transportation and lodging problems were easily resolved.
COSTS
The approximate costs involved were as follows:
Air transport** $700
land transport $170
coastal boats $30
lodging $900
food $500
miscellaneous $100
TOTAL $2,400
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Footnotes
* Available online at the following links or by email for free upon request from the author.
Tramping New Zealand 1994
Papua New Guinea 1995
Australia, Tasmania 1996
Foaming Nova Scotia 1997
Neqemgelisa on Vancouver Island, Plus... 1998
**Imputed cost, since frequent flyer miles were used for part of the journey.
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C. W. Lee
October 15, 1998
cwlee@post.harvard.edu
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