Once there was a Sunset on the Big Bay,
Glorious and full of splendor,
Deep orange red with tinted clouds,
Sinking sunset beneath a horizon of spruce clad hills.
Beyond the “Isle of Innismara”
With crimson reflected waters of the Bay, calm and quiet,
Promising a beautiful new tomorrow.

Once there was a River
Rushing ebbs and steadies, o’er rocky crags of shore,
Wildly magnificent, white water challenge for the brave adventurer,
Past haunts of salmon, smugglers’ caves and island of buried treasure,
Gyrating whirlpools beneath the rock of “Pirate’s Eye”.

Once there was a Lake
Sheltered by verdant slopes of sylvan beauty,
Skirted by soft white sands,
Island studded haven of youth’s exploits,
Thirst quenching retreat of moose and deer,
Swimming, and canoeing paradise of campsite beaches.

Once there was a Mountain, higher than Everest,
Snow capped even in summer,
Sheer rock faced nests of gull and puffin,
Rising from shoreline to embrace the clouds,
With summer trails and downhill powder ski runs.

Once there was a Boy
Who lived and laughed and loved the beauty of his playground kingdom,
Alpine mountaineer, explorer of islands, trout fisherman, lake swimmer.
All these he was and more. They were his heritage.
But then the boy grew up and went away.
He left the Bay, the River, Lake and Mountain
To seek new places, new adventures.
A big world waited for him out there beyond the Sunset on the Bay.

He traveled far and wide
To teeming cities reaching to the skies,
Pavement bound mazes of wonder,
Super ribbon highways, out into the sunset of the West
With great and limitless horizons.

From place to place he fled
But never rested,
For always, in pursuit,
The “Hound of Heaven” that is home.

The years went by
And still he sought new places and new friends.
Arctic polar icecaps, Latin lands,
Oriental rice paddies with sentinel volcanoes belching smoke and flames
To him became familiar.

Friends came and went.
The rolling stone rolled on.
He searched for happiness year by lonely year.
But still the call “Come Home”,
Come back and see once more the Sunset on the Bay
Come listen to the Silence of the Mountain.

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“The Big Bay”, Bay of Islands, West Coast of Newfoundland
was originally explored by Captain James Cook in 1767. He was a Yorkshire man, one of the famous explorers, navigators and adventurers of all time.

His voyages to Newfoundland are well documented and narrated in:

”The Legacy of James Cook: The Story of the Bay of Islands”
by Doctor Brian Harley, MD., FRCP, FRCPC, CD .,
Medical Internal Specialist and Cardiologist,
Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada .
A fellow Englishman of Captain James Cook.
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The River: The Humber River
The Lake: Deer Lake.
The Mountain: Mount Moriah
The Bay: Bay of Islands.

The Boy:
Charlie O’Connell
(formerly of Curling, Bay of Islands)   Submitted By: NULL