Now that we have landed in Newfoundland, I feel like the
best portion of our vacation is about to begin.
We woke from our very comfortable beds on the ferry, and
went down for the breakfast buffet. It
was the usual “Residence Inn” type of food, but it was really nice to look out
and see the ocean, and later to see the oncoming shoreline.
When the appropriate time came we went to our vehicles and
drove off into fog, and soon became a very warm, cloudless day!
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| He must not have been saying anything funny when I took this shot! But he was, really! |
We boarded the tour boat with about 50 other people and
headed out to Gull Island to see the puffins and to do quite a bit of whale
watching along the way. We were told this was one of the two nicest days ever
to go out. Warm (almost hot) and the sea
was so calm! Very rare! Norman had been on quite a few whale watch
adventures, but amazingly enough with my living in Gloucester most of my life,
the couple of times I went out, there were no whales, so this was pretty
exciting for me!
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| Humpback Whale off of coast of Witless Bay |
After about an hour of
chasing two whales around we headed off toward Gull Island, one of a four island
ecological reserve that host’s North America’s largest colony of Puffins! 260,000 pair of the province’s official bird
nest here during May to August.
Jackpot! These islands also host
the 2nd largest colony of Storm-petrels (620,000 pair), black-legged
kittiwakes and common murres (which look a lot like penguins) appear in the
thousands. Seabirds spend most of the
year at sea, and only return to land during these few months to nest. As we approached the island we could see what
seemed like hundreds of puffins flying and darting about, (they have very
little wings, they have short wings that have adapted for swimming, so in the
air they beat up to 400 times a minute, reaching speeds up to 55 mph) it
reminded us of bats!
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| Puffin (sorry,internet photo) |
At one point, I was so
moved by the fabulous day we were having that I started to cry. Boy, once that started, I had a hard time
stopping the flow of salty water flowing from my eyes. Needless to say watching these beautiful
creatures I was crying about was nearly impossible as I kept taking off my
sunglass, wiping my eyes, putting glasses back on, etc. etc. I am such a sap. I always cry during parades and Hallmark
commercials, too! My daughter, Laura, inherited this unfortunate trait! People
standing beside me probably thought I was going through some unspeakable personal tragedy!
While I was mopping my
face, the guide explained the characteristics and habits of each bird in such
an entertaining manner. They would fly low over the water, then dive like a
bullet, reaching depths of 200 feet while catching many fish as they would hold
them all in their 4 rows of teeth.
Fascinating! I just love this
kinda thing! We saw them land on the side
of the cliff where they got “mugged “ by a lazy but clever gull. They often mate for life, meeting back at
the same nest somehow each year, laying a single egg. We learned a lot more,
but there are more adventures to tell.
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| Ugly Sticks ( used to make music ) |
As our cruise was sadly
coming to an end, we checked out one more whale and headed back to shore where
I spotted some “ugly sticks” being sold on shore. These lively characters on a stick are used
by some of the local entertainers here in Newfoundland. When I was younger I was accused by a rather
cruel person of being hit by one of these, but I think I would have remembered
that, don’t you?
We drove about 45 minutes
to our campsite at Pippy Park in St. John’s.
This is a gigantic, in some places, ( not ours ) heavily treed park in the outskirts of the city and
abutted on one side by Memorial University which is the largest university in
Eastern Canada, offering over 100 degree programs. The park held many trails, and an 18 hole golf
course with practice facilities neither of which we used. A lot of the sites were in the treed area,
but again we were in a large field with the other motorhomes.
It was about 5 or 6 pm
when we set up “camp“ and being still “high” on Puffins, had the energy to go
downtown and check out the famous George St, which is two blocks long and contains
nothing but pubs, bars and restaurants.
It has more bars and pubs per square foot than any street in North
America, which was a little wasted on me due to my current Herculean ability to
still abstain from alcohol. God, am I
dying for a nice rum drink, or a martini, or a cold glass of white wine or……………
UAAAG!!! Anyway, Norm had a few beers
while we dined at O’Briens pub listening to a great performer singing local
tunes. The street, disappointingly, was not that hopping. I was hoping to hear the local music flowing
from many different pubs, not just the couple we heard. Oh well, it was a busy day all in all.
Back at the campsite, the
highway was right behind us so there was a lot of road noise but surprisingly it
did not keep me awake. Norm’s snoring, however, did.
Sunday, August 5th
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| Norm and I at most easterly point in the continent |
The previous week Parks Canada, partnered with the Restaurant Association of Newfoundland, had just started serving a gourmet Sunday brunch inside the lighthouse. This was the first public use of the lighthouse since the lightkeepers left! We were so disappointed we had not known about this! I guess my exhaustive research done months ago was perhaps too early. But then again, who would type “Cape Spear Sunday brunch” in the search engine? The second reason, and most important to us, is that Cape Spear is the most eastern point of North America! We can add that to being at the southernmost tip of New Zealand! (where Norm played, and I putted (due to broken ribs) the southernmost golf course in the world). As they say “different strokes for different folks.”
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| View of downtown St. John's from Signal Hill |
We then went to Signal
Hill, yet another National Historic Site of Canada. This site has a lot of military and
communications significance and what is so nice is that it sits amidst a
spectacular view of the city and the ocean. Signalmen were on guard for ships coming into St. John's. From signal masts high on the Hill, flags conveyed to military and merchants who were coming so they could be prepared.
Signal Hill also was the first to receive a wireless transatlantic signal by Gugielmo Marconi in 1901, (which scientists insisted could not be done due to the shape of the earth) as well as a site of harbor defenses from the 18th century to when the US used it for anti-aircraft in World War II.
Signal Hill also was the first to receive a wireless transatlantic signal by Gugielmo Marconi in 1901, (which scientists insisted could not be done due to the shape of the earth) as well as a site of harbor defenses from the 18th century to when the US used it for anti-aircraft in World War II.
We walked around, enjoyed
the day, had a picnic lunch then proceeded to check out the downtown area. We had really planned to hike, but due to my
lack of sleep two nights in a row, I just was not feeling too motivated. What a shame.
St John’s, of all
Canadian cities, is known to have the most fog, rain, snow and wind. We did experience the non-stop seemingly
“gale” force winds, but thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful sunny days, and
temperatures were probably mid 80’s. (average is 59 so everyone was complaining about the heat)
It was great.
Monday, August 6th
Today Norman drove about
45 minutes to golf at “The Wilds” golf course in Salmonier (highly rated
course), while I took advantage of the time alone (need a little “me” time
every couple of weeks of togetherness), and took the public bus downtown to do
a little browsing in the shops. (Still
have not purchased anything).
When Norman got to the
golf course he found they had messed up his tee time and he had to wait an hour
before they could send him out. He was originally paired with a three-some, but
four guys showed up to play. They
apologized profusely and let him play for free.
He played the front nine alone, then joined the foursome ahead on the
back 9, at the urging of the ambassador.
He found the course very nice albeit extremely windy. Interesting how the locals did not find it
windy at all!
Tuesday, August 7th
We spent some time this
morning looking ahead to our next leg of the journey and realized we were due
to be in Gros Morne National park in a week.
We would be sacrificing too many beautiful areas if we were to make our
original dates. Sitting back at home,
looking at maps and using Google maps certainly helps, but does not take into
effect you are driving a rolling house up and down huge grades, so getting from
here to there is taking longer than expected. Therefor we spent the better part of the morning calling to find campsites (also
not as many as some led us to believe) and to shift our dates, and extend the
stay out at Gros Morne at the western edge of the island. (some 571 miles away
). Our pattern is to drive a few hundred
miles, plant the motorhome in a spot for three days, and then drive the car in
and out of the small towns and villages, hiking and sightseeing along the
way.
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| Baleen plate of a North American Right Whale |
We had lunch and went
back to Signal Hill to visit the Johnson Geo Center, which is a geological interpretation
center located mostly underground, in an excavated glacial rock that shows the
different types of bedrock there on Signal Hill, and around Newfoundland and Labrador.
It had many exhibits that showed the earth’s
formation, and how it related to Newfoundland and Labrador. The museum beautifully displayed many rocks
and crystals, how they were created, and what characteristics they have. The exhibits on local fossils, birds and whales were terrific. I always wondered what the inside of a whale's mouth looks like when they eat the tiny baleen. Check out the photo! We both found it interesting and the rocks
were beautiful, but I am sure the exhibit would be more fascinating for the
geologists among us.
The Geo Center also had a
comprehensive exhibit on Exon-mobile, and the oil industry in Newfoundland. How
oil and natural gas is created, discovered and drilled was depicted. Neither of us realized they have off shore
drilling here. It did explain some of what we saw in the
harbor, however
.
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| Titanic exhibit at Johnson's Geo Center |
Of particular interest to me, was a huge
exhibit on the Titanic’s story, telling about the greed, arrogance and history
of the owner, White Star Line (American Financier JP Morgan) and the
incompetence that led to the greatest peacetime tragedy of the 20th
century. They really hit you over the
head over and over again blaming it on the corporation who owned and built the
Titanic in order to surpass the competition. I certainly don’t condone it, but
that is how businesses work. They are
all out to monopolize. However the Titanic’s
crew certainly made a lot of mistakes as well. It was so very tragic!
This summer I saw the movie again with my
daughter, Laura, at an IMAX theater in 3D, and it was incredible. I wish Norm had seen the movie; the exhibit
would have probably been more interesting to him.
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| Quidi Vidi- My best picture so far |
Just a short distance
away was a small neighborhood called Quidi Vidi that was once a tiny fishing
village. Newfoundland’s largest microbrewery is there, so we thought we would
check it out. Norm bought a six pack of
their seasonal brew. I took a bunch of photographs.
We then went to Costco
and Wal-Mart to restock (and to get a ton of bottled water). We had heard that
there are potable water issues in various parts of the province.
We then had dinner at the Bacalao Restaurant which,
according to Trip Advisor, was ranked the #1 restaurant in St. John’s. Finally, an opportunity to get dressed up! I
don’t know what I was thinking when I brought all these nice, summer
clothes! BRRRR! The temperatures are usually in the 60’s in
the evening, so my purchase of the winter weight shawl has been very
handy. We had a great dinner of caribou tenderloin
and retired for the night
.
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| Colorful house all over St John's This was done so fisherman could find their house when they returned from sea. |
The forecast each day has
been for heavy rain and each day so far we have been blessed by the almost
daily incompetence of the weatherman. It
starts out cloudy, then about 9am, the sky is crystal blue. The wind, however, is strong and
constant. I usually love the wind, but
my previously injured eye has been continually tearing, making it almost
impossible to see anything, and embarrassing because it looks like I am
crying. Not to mention it makes my nose
run!
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| The Rooms, St. John's Newfoundland |
This is our last day here
in St. John’s and the remaining location on our “to do “list was a museum called
THE ROOMS. It is a contemporary art
gallery housed (in my opinion) in a very ugly sandstone and brick building
which you can see from most anywhere in the city. It is dedicated to depict the culture and it’s
history of Newfoundland and Labrador. We
attended a guided tour on a particular artist that I found very interesting, and
then we had lunch in the restaurant there overlooking the city.
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| Not the most scenic of attractions! You gotta do what you gotta do. |
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