A new group comes on, only 10 and all very ancient. The rain has stopped and the views of the little fishing villages, the green pine-clad mountains, the snow-streaked peaks and the reddish ramparts of the Tablelands are perfect.

These eco-adventure vacations offering up-close-and-personal views of nature are led by naturalists and historians who are trained to understand -- and have a passion for -- culture, plants, birds and animals and their relationships to ecosystems.

Regular vegetables don't grow in Newfoundland. You won't find locally grown tomatoes or sweet corn. You won't find acres of alfalfa or soybeans. Orchards of cherry and peach trees do not cloak these rocky hillsides. You will, however, find "ditch gardens" along the roadside surrounded by makeshift fences. What Newfoundland has in abundance, however, are wild berries.