Ambassador, Ambience - St John's, Newfoundland

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Thursday 21^st September 2023 8.00hrs – Saturday 23^rdSeptember 2023 19.00hrs St Johns, Newfoundland

Boy was I glad to see land again, especially when we heard that some of the Bridge windows had smashed in the storm as well!! It seemed quite rough as we were approaching ‘The Narrows’ where we had a good view of Signal Hill and all the old houses that seemed to tumble down into the water, as well as the Cathedral and “The Rooms” high up on the hill!! ‘The Narrows’ is a small stretch of water that opens into the sheltered bay of St Johns.

John Cabot discovered Newfoundland in 1497 and St John’s is the oldest Port in Canada but the first English fishing Captain to enter St Johns was ‘Admiral of the Harbour by Ancient Custom’ and Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed New Founde Land for Elizabeth 1 thereby starting the British Empire in 1583



The first thing we saw when we got off was a huge black Newfoundland Dog that was so laid back and absolutely gorgeous!! Had a wander along Water Street, saw an Ugly Stick (only in a musical shop though!!) and Duckworth Street. Walked along to the War Memorialand Harbourside Park, containing two bronze statues of a Labrador and a Newfoundland Dog! Gizmo ( a Siberian Husky!) seemed to think they were real dogs and sniffed each one accordingly!! His owner (one of the Connells!!) had a very strong Irish accent and had worked on the ships as had his father, and his father before him! Looked at the Jellybean houses (so called because they were painted different bright colours). Possible reasons include a) they used the left-over paint from fishing boats or b) so that the drunken men could find the right house after either months at sea or a night out !!), We then walked up the very steep street to the Cathedral! Had a quick look inside, especially at the stain glassed windows which were transported from Italy in molasses (to protect them from breakage)!! Walked down to the City Hall and saw the Mile Zero Marker. This marks the start of the Trans-Canada Highway (opened in 1962) which is 7821kms long and crosses six time zones, making it one of the longest highways in the world!!

Decided as the ship was right in the centre of the town to nip back on for lunch, and then we got a taxi to Avalon Shopping Mall, which was huge!! Chris sorted his phone out with a Canadian sim card for data and wifi but unfortunately, we couldn’t sort a car rental out for a day – only noon one day until noon the next day! Lost my Cruise Card in the Mall, and was quite surprised when they read my name out over the Tanoy as no-one knew where I was!! Managed to get the No 10 bus back to the ship and after dinner went out along Water Street for a few drinks!

On the Friday we took an hours’ taxi ride (C$60,00 about £38.00) with a couple of other people as well, to Signal Hill that was originally known as ‘The Lookout’. It was also the site where Marconi received the first Transatlantic Wireless Signal! Signal Hill was garrisoned by the British from 1790 to 1870 and housed Fort Waldergrave also known as North Castle (reactivated during WWI) Fort Ameherst (fortified for both World Wars) and South Castle. Fort Amehurst also had a lighthouse built in 1811 that helped mariners find the narrow entrance to St Johns Harbour. During WWII American coastal and anti-aircraft batteries were located at the top of Signal Hill. In the 19^th Century, canons were also fired from here to announce the time or warn of the outbreak of fire! Very windy but had a good wander around and took photos of the magnificent views’.

The taxi then took us to a viewpoint at the pretty village of Quidi Vidi, pointing out the Quidi Vidi Brewing Co. before taking us past lots of jellybean houses and dropping us at The Rooms. Now The Rooms are very interesting…..if you like museums!! It was extremely well done but basically there is three floors with an Art Gallery on two of the floors and Newfoundland’s place in the World Wars and how many people were killed on the other one. Whipped through, I am ashamed to say in about an hour and wandered past the Cathedral to Bannerman Park! Walked over to Government House (1827) and admired the gardens, Commonwealth Walk and the statues. Looked at the Foyer but not allowed in the house itself because the family still live there. The Governor at the moment is Judy May Foote – the first woman governor!!

After a quick lunch we caught the No 15 bus back to Quidi Vidi! Chris had an interesting walk from the Tourist Information so we followed the route round, viewing Mallard Cottage (built about 1830 but formerly the Mallards lived here for over a hundred years – a family of Irish origin! Now a restaurant!!) the church built in 1842 (now a house) and The Gut ( a sheltered inlet where fishermen work!) !! It was a lovely sunny afternoon if not a bit chilly (9c !!) and we stopped off in the Quidi Vidi Brewery for a flight of 4 beers made with pure water from an iceberg and fish and chips!! All with a lovely view of the Gut!!

Had a look at the Courthouse in St Johns when we got back. It was completed in 1904 and the last public hanging occurred on January 12^th 1835 when highwayman John Flood was hanged for robbing a stagecoach. The last woman to be hanged happened in 1834 when Catherine Snow was hanged for murdering her husband! Had another flight of lagers in Yellow Belly brewing co before moving onto Shamrock City where we saw an excellent Irish Band! The guitarist was superb playing Dire Straights!!

On the Saturday, our last day in St Johns, we took a taxi to Cape Spear (CA$50) and got him to leave us there, with the intention of getting a taxi back later! It was beautiful – signs all over the place saying dangerous coastline and the Atlantic waves pounding over all the rocks, creating huge breakers and with the white foam, blue sea, turquoise waves and blue sky, it made it fascinating to watch!! Walked up loads of steps to the two lighthouses, the first one being shut as it was still operational. The original lighthouse was built in 1836 and is the oldest standing lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador. The inside has been restored to how it would have looked with a family living there in the 1930’s I think, with its 3 bedrooms, flag room and spiral staircase! The flags indicated (on a clear day!!) which merchant ships were due into St Johns the next day so that they were prepared for them! Walked to the next little cove and then back through the disused WWII tunnels. The trouble started when we discovered there were NO Taxis at Cape Spear and that everyone was on a tour!! Fortunately, a helpful taxi driver phoned up a taxi in St Johns for us!!

After a 25min wait ( expected!) for the taxi, we decided to have the one hours special rate of CA$60 for 1hour, and he took us to Petty Harbour (which was recommended to us AND we bumped into the helpful taxi driver!! ) Very pretty, only someone had been hunting Mouse and had just put the severed head out to dry!! The taxi driver told us that the body would be hung up somewhere and would feed a family of four for quite a while!!

The taxi driver then took us to a Convent next to the Cathedral ( which we hadn’t noticed!!) where, after climbing steps and ringing the bell, a Nun came and let us in. After a six minute film we were then taken to see the head of the “Veiled Virgin” – the Virgin Mary carved out of a solid piece of marble. ( Imported from Rome in 1856 and donated in 1856 to the Convent) Brilliant details including even eyelashes on the statue. Walked down past the Duke of Duckworth (Best Fish & Chips in St Johns!!), and had a drink – Iceberg of course.

Went back to the ship ready for the sail off at 19.00, when we had an announcement by the Captain, that the wind was too strong for us to go through the Narrows and that we wouldn’t be leaving St Johns until 9.00am tomorrow morning!! Ah well! What else can go wrong!! As we had a Saturday night in St Johns, went to Brodericks in George Street, where we saw another excellent Irish Band!! Got soaked by the heavy rain on the way back to the ship!!

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