When I tell people that I live in a hamlet of 46 inhabitants, the reaction is often surprise, sometimes even pity or shock. Fortunately, our fishing village is not as isolated as other remote communities in Newfoundland.
Noddy Bay is only a five-minute drive from L’ Anse aux Meadows, a famous archaeological Viking site that attracts thousands of tourists annually. In the summer, restaurants and souvenir shops are open and a touch of the big wide world moves into our area. Thanks to L’ Anse aux Meadows, where Viking boats landed a thousand years ago and where the Vikings were the first Europeans (five hundred years before Columbus) to set foot on the North American continent, the first road was built in 1968. Before the villages were only accessible by boat or dog teams.
A few weeks ago, I visited a community that is much more isolated than Noddy Bay: Gaultois is located on the island of the same name off the south coast of Newfoundland. The village can only be reached by ferry, which runs once a day. These remote settlements cost the government of Newfoundland and Labrador a lot of money. As a result, residents are encouraged to abandon their homes and move elsewhere. They receive financial support in return to make it easier for them to switch.
In Gaultois, a vote was held in April on the question of whether to abandon the village. 64 percent of residents were in favour, but it would have required a majority of 75 percent. Thus, Gaultois will probably continue to exist until all the inhabitants have died. The young people are moving away and there are currently only three children in the village school.
A visit to Gaultois is a wonderful experience. There are no paved roads, the inhabitants move around with quads (ATVs). We visited the only store whose owner is 75 years old. In addition to humans, there is a colony of stray cats that are neutered and spayed and fed by two local women.
Compared to Gaultois, Noddy Bay is easily accessible. There is a well-stacked grocery store and a pub called Skipper Hots. A neighbour of ours even had security cameras installed on his house. If that’s not a sign of modern times …
