Courses in the Avalon Region:
As rugged as the rocks of its shores and as friendly as the pubs of St. John's. The Avalon Peninsula is where Newfoundland and North America begins. It also offers great golf with beautiful vistas and challenging holes. It's a place where you can photograph herds of caribou or seabird colonies, icebergs, or whales. Spend your nights fine wining and dining or raise a cheer in a pub.
Thrust out into the waters of the North Atlantic, this irregularly-shaped peninsula once was a part of the European continent that drifted westward 400 million years ago. It was flooded by oceans, scoured by glaciers, and landscaped into an amazing geographical creation with rocks, cliffs, coves, and bays without number. This fishing and farming environment was started by colonists from England and Ireland who came here as early as the 1600s. Because the Avalon was one of the first areas of the province to be settled, it is filled with tales of the early adventurers who laid claim to this New World and the men from many nations who fished here. All over the region you'll hear legends and lore from the folk that you meet. Museums and historic sites bring history to life. At Cape Spear you'll find the most easterly point of land in North America, and a restored 160-year- old lighthouse, the oldest in Newfoundland. A stroll along the narrow streets of Brigus or past the brightly-painted homes of St. Bride's will take you to another time.
In every harbour the boats of the inshore fishery float on bright blue waters. Along the Southern Shore and around Cape Race the cliffs rise up from the sea to incredible heights. Inland, thousands of caribou roam the open ground. In the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, just south of St. John's, in St. Mary's Bay and in Placentia Bay, huge whales feed just offshore and vast colonies of seabirds nest in the cliffs. All parts of the peninsula are within a few hours drive of the province's capital city, St. John's, and its newest city, Mount Pearl. Here you will find arts and entertainment, great food, and a wide range of accommodations, as well as some terrific buys on Newfoundland crafts and artwork. You will also find warm, fun-loving people with high regard for friendliness and hospitality.