In Twillingate surrounded by giants the Iceberg Alley

Twillingate, seen on the map, looks like a finger pointing to the blue Atlantic Ocean. The sunlight shines on the ancient iceberg - it has been there for ten thousand years! - around which the boats of the fishermen move, as if spinning. It is precisely to the captains of the ships that one must turn to be taken by boat to get a close-up view of these giants that dot the rugged coastline of Newfoundland and Labrador, to spot rather easily whales, dolphins, Greenland seals, sea birds that live along the Iceberg Alley, a vast oceanic corridor from Greenland, traversed by these icebergs (www.icebergquest.com for the safest and best equipped tours). Reaching the Long Point lighthouse, which dominates the distant expanses of Notre Dame Bay and is perpetually flown over by bald eagles, one is seized by a view so marvellous that it looks like a projection from a science-fiction film, in which the playful whales play a primary role. If one turns one's gaze inwards, however, there is the countryside, the narrow streets, the colourful cottages where, as one approaches the windows, one notices old people around the hearth singing and performing a jig. The Black Head Trail, in particular, although relatively short, is quite challenging: it wedges into a dense boreal forest and culminates in a flight of steps leading up to a barren headland, where there is a platform offering a spectacular view of Dildo Run Provincial Park and some of its 365 islands.