WWOOFERS

Paige, from Waterloo, Ontario

To explain the experience the Bonavista Social Club offered me is hard to articulate! I came wanting to see Newfoundland and boy, did they show me!
Katie and Shane (and Lorie and Mike!) were great hosts. They welcomed myself and the other WWOOFers into their family and showed us how it’s done in the Cove! From trying Toutons to listening to Newfoundland folk, they really showed us a good time.
Their farm or gardens and animals is/are incredibly impressive. Mike has a lot of knowledge on how to grow food and the whole family was so kind in letting me know how it works. Such a mix of vegetables, I loved spending my days picking spinach and weeding “The Kitchen Garden” among others. I also loved working with their goats and two lambs among the other animals, they sure have personalities! I think they’re the luckiest animals in the world to have a view like they do in the Upper Amherst Cove! It’s great to see the use of their crop in their restaurant, creating something different for Newfoundland and making scrumptious food out of it.
I hope to return to The Bonavista Social Club, I’m already missing that Rhubarb Lemonade…
Thanks for everything BSC, hope to see you soon.

Clément: Brittany, France

I spent three weeks of August 2012 at the Bonavista Social Club. It turned out to be the best three weeks of my four months trip. The work is just perfect for revitalizing, take the goats to the field, feed the sheep, split some wood, collect the eggs, pick vegetables and especially weeding! But the most important thing on the every day’s task list is “Have fun”. At the Bonavista Social Club, that’s something you can’t miss. I won’t forget the smell of the bread in the morning, the sight of the whales all day long, and the great campfires at night. Oh! And of course the delicious food! All that is part of the magic of the Bonavista Social Club, my favourite place in Newfoundland.

Kate: New Zealand

My time Woofing in the cove was one of the best experiences I had while travelling in Canada. You can`t not fall in love with the people, atmosphere and location of this place. Shane and Katie, Mike and Lorie, Anna and Denzil, and Helen are the best kind of people around. They are all tremendously hard workers, but also take the time to enjoy life. They are all passionate about what they are doing, and are a wealth of knowledge in many different fields, and most importantly, they are more than happy to share this knowledge with interested wwoofers. There`s plenty of different things on the go, providing an interesting and varied work day. I spent my time in the garden (preparing and planting seed beds, transplanting, weeding, watering, and harvesting produce), taking care of animals (chickens, ducks, milking goats, sheep and even bees!), helping out in the restaurant, baking bread, and carting wood. If you put in the effort and work hard you will be greatly rewarded and appreciated.
There are plenty of fun things to be rewarded with too…I got the chance to go kayaking with whales while I was there (amazing!!). There are local hikes, puffin colonies, and quintessential Newfoundland towns to explore….and an awesome local fish and chip shop!
Accommodation is really nice and the family treats you as one of their own. One of the amazing things about this place is the location. It’s situated in a quiet cove, right on the beach. In late spring you get icebergs floating past, in summer the whales and capelin migrate which are both a spectacle to be seen, there are bald eagles nesting nearby, families of otters and of course the beautiful ocean itself…and (while I was there at least…) blue skies. And you can see all this without even leaving your doorstep!
It’s a little piece of paradise if you ask me, and I count myself lucky to have been able to spend some time here. I love the people, I love the location, and I loved the work. But I do ask future wwoofers who are reading this one favour…..please, work hard and treat this opportunity with the utmost respect. These people deserve only the best!