Two friends from St. John's and one friend from Corner Brook all wanted to get together somewhere in the middle of Newfoundland before the rush of Christmas. Remembering that the fancy Old Saltbox Company rental houses are cheaper in the offseason, I checked on the one in Greenspond and it was available for a meagre $135/night.

It wasn't long before Shelloo and I were on our way, attacking the 5-hour drive on a Friday morning.

Either Rosie or Kim had to work Friday morning, so Shelloo & I had lots of time to film bike tricks along the way. Unfortunately it was raining in Grand Falls & Gander, so I was left searching places like smallish Gambo, where the old Newfoundland problem of unpaved streets and sparse development meant almost no handrails, embankments or ledges. Driving around and around, I decided against trying to film something on this gravel run-up, wooden 3-stair at the local school, haha.

It was also pretty funny when we got to Greenspond and Shelloo was clearly tired with my spot searching, frustratingly exclaiming "he was driving behind the post office in Hare Bay, like what do you think is going to be behind the tiny post office in Hare Bay?!?" The funny thing was that the town hall in Hare Bay actually had a nice handrail, it's just that I wasn't looking for a steep, 12-stair handrail.

Initially it was between us renting another house in Brooklyn (Newfoundland) and this one in Greenspond, but with the lower off-season rate here in Greenspond, the Brooklyn one was left for another time.

That being said, we were all pretty excited after looking at the pictures and reviews. It was fun to finally be here after thinking about this weekend for so long.

It was a cold, windy day in Greenspond, so it felt great to pull the cars right up to the house and get out of the elements.

The restored house heated up soon enough & we were able to sit down to dinner and the eastward view. It was great to be together here in quiet, rural Newfoundland. There weren't the distractions of the big cities to draw us out of the house, instead it was all about quality time with one another.

The view was even better in the morning and early afternoon. It was amazing whenever I wanted to read my book or guzzle my Olde English, to be able to sit on this couch and feel like I was in a stage right on the water, but in a more cozy setting.

Some people complain that this isn't a historic renovation, but I have no problem with it when it's house like this, one that's quite common throughout Newfoundland. Even when the Old Saltbox Co takes ownership of a truly historic home, it's hard for me to lament that they're not following strict restoration guidelines, when the house would get demolished or fall into ruin otherwise. At least it'll be around in some form for future generations.

Deadly ol' breakfast the next morning, where Rosie took care of the breakfast convo with tales of her friend's father who boils wieners (hot dogs) in a tea kettle. I pictured a man delicately slipping a weiner into the circular hole of an old tea kettle, but apparently it's one of those newfangled kettles where the top lid comes off.

(We did not have any tea kettle-boiled wieners.)

You may have noticed a building that looks like a lighthouse out on the rocks in some of these pictures, which sure enough is one of the lighthouses that I don't have yet, as I've failed to boat the 400m out to that island.

Now Rosie had a friend whose uncle lived in Greenspond and there was some hope of getting out to that lighthouse today. Unfortunately he wasn't up for going out on this November day - totally reasonable - so we simply had a pleasant visit in some random living room with a bunch of cats and Greensponders.

Puffin Island remains one of the 19 lighthouses that I don't have in this province.

After our big heads had a pleasant walk around historic downtown - Greenspond used to be the main hub for this area & has the courthouse, post office & church to show for it - we then bundled up and hit the coastal trail around the island that is home to Greenspond.

For it being November, we ended up generally being comfortable with the temperatures. It would be hard to ask for a nicer day in Greenspond at this time of year.

It was also great because we paired off into groups of similar hiking speed. Rosie & I were able to go at our pace and simply wait at Lovelace's Point for the others.

The coastal trail led us back to the start of town, which I enjoyed because it then brought us through streets I'd only driven before. As a result, I'd never seen this old house from my car. (Surprisingly there aren't that many obviously abandoned houses in isolated Greenspond.)

After a full day consisting of a morning walk, social visit and an afternoon hike, getting back to the house and relaxing with this view was much welcomed. And the pace of everything was good too, as the house had a yellow clawfoot tub and everyone wanted to take a turn having a bath. This slowed everything down and let me appreciate the sun setting over the islands and lighthouse buildings.

Again we ate good for dinner, but I couldn't help myself when I noticed the local convenience store had a solid take-out menu that featured a poutine.

I decided I had to get one to check off what I expected to be either a mediocre or strange poutine - but as it turns out, the Marine Take-Out does a pretty good poutine! I'll be damned.

As much as I'm interested in renting that Brooklyn house, I couldn't complain and was sad to leave Greenspond. It probably didn't hurt that Greenspond is one of my favourite communities in the province. To have a house here, where I'm trying to get to a lighthouse, where there's some great old buildings & where there's very few trees so it really feels like you're in a coastal, barren fishing village?

I'm struggling to think of another town in central where I'd rather rent a house.

None of us needed to rush back home, so we went for another walk around town on Sunday. Finding ourselves out on the furthest island in the harbour, yet again Rosie was confused as to why we couldn't just swim when it was warmer. And in the above picture, I mean you could probably get to Newells Island easily (it's only 100m from Pig Island), but then it's 300m from Newells Island to the lighthouse on Puffin Island.

I know of a dude who apparently, usually takes people out in boat to the island. I imagine I'll probably go that route instead, haha. I just need to get back to Greenspond in the summer now.