On the Edge, St. John's, Newfoundland

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September 19, 2013

Well, Twillingate, Newfoundland, was nice but we think the icebergs (that are gone now) must be the big attraction. We drove up to the lighthouse, a good viewpoint for spotting whales and saw several, Joe thinks they were humpback whales. We had an excellent lunch of codfish in Twillingate and talked to so many friendly people. One annoying speech mannerism (to me anyway) is that many women punctuate the end of their sentences with "my darling." As in "Oh, yes, we have seafood chowder here, my darling."

A moose ran across the road in front of us near Gander, a place where there were no moose sensors. In many areas in Newfoundland, along the roads there are "moose sensors" that are tall posts with a motion detector on it that flashes a light when a large animal passes by it.

We had a long drive from Twillingate on "The Trail to the Isles" to St. John's, the largest city in Newfoundland. The first thing we did was drive to Cape Spear, which is the easternmost point in North America. Of course, there is a lighthouse there. We walked a few of the little trails enjoying the rocky shore views and the sunny warm weather.

We have come a long way since the first entry in this blog in which I posted a photo of Joe at the most southwesterly spot in the continental U.S. And we have more to come. We'll be in Newfoundland until Saturday when we take an overnight ferry from Argentia back to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. Then we'll drive to Maine through New Brunswick to begin our New England adventures and I can start checking off the states I haven't been to before.

We are staying in a Bed&Breakfast in downtown St. John's. We were given a code over the phone to get in the house. There was a note telling us which room was ours, and it's now 9:30 PM and we still haven't seen Earl, the owner. St. John's is one of the oldest cities in North America and this place "The Rendell-Shea Manor" is pretty old, too. It was built in 1880 and it's gorgeous, but we are on the third floor and there is no elevator, but other guests helped us get our luggage up to our room. We will be able to walk to many city attractions including many historical buildings. We've met several other guests, some from Calgary, others from small towns in Ontario. We are eager to explore this city for the next two days.

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Photos

Twillingate
Saw several whales from here.

Twillingate
We didn't have the moose soup, had delicious cod instead.

Twillingate
Our car phone charger died near Twillingate, were surprised we were able to buy one here. Store was across the street from these pretty flowers.

Dildo Park
Wonder what activities are offered in this park?

Moose near Gander
This guy ran onto the road in front of us.

Moose sensors
These are installed in moose heavy areas all along the highway.

Cape Spear
Most easterly point in North Americe

Cape Spear
Lighthouse and buildings.

Cape Spear
Also site of WW II batteries.

Rendell-Shea B&B
Very interesting house.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Newfoundland
I have not been to this part of the world yet although Dave has been. I find the moose sensors very interesting. Enjoying your blogs.

[J J]

NFLD
Since you live so close, this trip wouldn't be too hard to do. We thought the moose sensors were interesting, too. Took us a while to figure out what they were.

[Lois Settles]

Well...
I am getting a taste of what we missed. I think we need to return when there is no concern for high winds. I love light houses and have driven Bob crazy to go out of the way just to see them. The pink one is very unusual, I think. Loving your trip.

[Bob and Carol Barbee]

We are looking forward to a report on what you encountered at "Dildo Run" Provincial Park. We some how missed it on our tour of the Island. Have fun in Saint Johns. Be sure to undergo the ritual in one of the bars. Both Carol and I have been indentured. I can't remember the name of the ritual. Cheers, B&C

[J J]

Dildo Park
We decided we didn't need to go to Dildo Park. There is also a town by that name. We looked it up on Wikipedia...still confusing. We went to a couple of bars on George St. in St. John's, just got back but we didn't have any ritual.