Where does one go to for a romantic getaway in a very remote, isolated area of northern Newfoundland? This is the question I ask myself every November when the roads are still safe to travel and I feel like having a change of scenery. Last year I found a nice house near a beach about three hours from where I live. My favourite fisherman liked it, too, which is very important because I always have to convince him to leave his comfort zone. There was even a restaurant not too far away - a streak of luck.
This year, it turned out differently. I had booked a beach cabin which looked really nice on the website. But when we arrived, an excavator was moving huge rocks along the shore, only steps away from our deck. It was incredibly noisy and the cabin was shaking! And no privacy whatsoever.
I called the owner and told him we couldn`t stay and I asked for a full refund. Another cabin nearby was already booked. Luckily there was a place where we could move into for the night, not as private and romantic as I had imagined though.
What saved the outing for me and my fisherman was our shared love for true crime.
We often listen to podcasts about true criminal cases on long car journeys, most recently the almost unbelievable deeds of Canadian Albert Walker, a nefarious con artist and impostor who became internationally known as the "Rolex Killer". After stealing millions of dollars from acquaintances and customers, Walker fled to England with his fifteen-year-old daughter, where he killed a friend in order to appropriate his identity. In England, he presented himself as the husband of his daughter, who bore two children.
How Walker was eventually discovered and brought down is a story that could be thought impossible if it weren't true. Unfortunately, the book about his life has not been reprinted, but used copies are available: "A Hand in the Water: The Many Lies of Albert Walker", by Bill Schiller. You will also find media reports about the case on the Internet.
If you want to listen to the podcast: "Sea of Lies" on CBC Listen: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcast...
Next time, I will download a stash of true crime podcasts before I venture out with my fisherman again!