1-2 hour drive
My favourite drive is on the island of Fogo, off the northeastern coast of Newfoundland. It’s reached by ferry from Farewell Harbour, which is appropriate as it feels like you’re departing for a different world – a wild place of wind-lashed scrubland, forests, fishing villages and remarkably cutting-edge architecture. The roads are a joy to drive, but watch out for wandering herds of caribou – they tend not to give way!
The destination is the rocky bay of Joe Batt’s Arm, home to all the contrasts of Fogo, with traditional fishing boats on the water and the spectacular Fogo Island Inn rising on the hillside like a designer spaceship. Four avant-garde artists’ studios, designed by the Inn’s architect, Todd Saunders, also stand in some of the island’s most picturesque settings. From the road, a couple of them can be spotted – the blockish black form of the Long Studio across the water from the Inn, and the twisted, angular shape of the Tower overlooking the coastal sweep of Shoal Bay.