There is a Little Maui in Newfoundland

I wear a chain around my neck with two silver islands carved in miniature: one is Vancouver Island, where I’m from, and the other is Maui, Hawaii — the island I dream of returning to again and again. These islands represent more than just geography. They embody rhythm, solitude, salt air, and the wild pull of the sea. They are lush, rugged, and soulful. And now, I may need to add a third island to this talisman around my neck: the island of Newfoundland.

This is my second visit to “The Rock,” and as I find myself in Pouch Cove, a small town perched on the edge of the North Atlantic, I feel something deeply familiar. There is a little Maui here.

Driving down into the cove, the view opens up and takes my breath away. The ocean unfolds in rich hues of ultramarine blue and teal green. The waves roll in like sheets of glass, before crashing thunderously against black volcanic rock. It’s not unlike the shoreline at Big Beach in Maui, or the legendary breaks near Jaws. The cliffside contours, the force of the surf, the raw power of nature — it all echoes the Pacific.

Of course, the temperature is different — much cooler here in Newfoundland — and the scent in the air is tinged more with salt and spruce than plumeria and coconut. But the essence is the same. There’s that sense of being on the edge of the world. Of being small in the presence of something vast and timeless. Of being surrounded by ocean, wind, and possibility.

In both Maui and Newfoundland, there is an elemental energy — one born of isolation, weather, and water. There’s a purity to it. A solitude that hums beneath the surface. A spiritual hush, broken only by the call of gulls and the crash of waves.

Island life isn’t just a lifestyle — it’s a state of mind. Whether it’s in the tropics or the North Atlantic, the feeling is unmistakable when you find yourself in a place that speaks your language without using any words.

Newfoundland has carved a space in my heart. I know I’ll be back — this place has become my third home. And soon, I’ll have three islands hanging from my neck: Vancouver Island, Maui, and now Newfoundland — each a compass point in my journey as an artist and a human.