A whale at last! A real viewing and not just a flashed sighting! This morning we first went to Cape Spear, the most easterly point on the North American continent. Our magic is back – the sun came out to illuminate the view. Of course, the view is of endless, deep ocean, but looking back to St John’s and along the rocky outcropping was not to be missed. The harbour entrance, the Narrows, was just visible, which showed what a key military asset it was when sailing was the fast way to travel the world. Crashing waves on rocks seem endlessly fascinating to us who can only visit the sea. Soon after leaving St John’s the land returned to the woods and green vegetation we saw throughout the interior. A half-hour drive brought us to Petty ... read more

The weather was gloomy all day, fortunately raining only when we were in the bus. The magic continues! On the Transcanada we saw installations for the oil and gas industry. This was a hook for Michael to talk about the growing prosperity of Newfoundland and Labrador, including how proud they are to now be a “have” province. First he credited Joey Smallwood with opening up the province, both to join confederation and to expand opportunities. More recently and now effective, Danny Williams pushed the oil companies into developing the off-shore resources rather than sitting on them as a future asset, a strategy copied from Ralph Klein. Certainly, all of us have admired how well kept are pr... read more

We left under a dark cloudy sky; happily the sun came out by the time we reached the Beothuk Institute Interpretation Centre. The Beothuk are an indigenous people who were made extinct in the late nineteenth century, primarily because of conflicts with the settling Europeans and their diseases. Unusually, the Beothuk preferred to keep away from the Europeans, but they were quick to use materials, particularly iron, left behind by the seasonal fishermen. First I took the path to the excavation site, now dormant, where settlement artifacts give present-day archeologists a good picture of how the Beothuk society worked. The path was well curated, especially the many discrete signs identifying plants and flowers. Boardwalks protected the damp areas in the lush woods. A vigorous stream joined a sheltered cove, which is prob... read more

How relaxing to not move hotels this morning: half an hour extra sleep and no repacking! Breakfast was served in the hotel dining room where two other tour groups were eating; a third group had breakfast in the (pokey) hotel bar. The food was excellent, and our waitress accepted orders for eggs not-scrambled. Cow Head (named for a rock of seal appearance, female seals are called cows) is virtual a “company town”, based on the attraction of bus tours to the two theatres. As we drove out of town, we saw a public library, a general store, a tire store, a post-office, the Black Cove café, a school and one condo complex, as well as a string of houses. As everywhere, all properties are well kept. Within twenty minutes, most of us got off the bus ... read more

Our morning began with a pleasant walk in Goose Cove. The air was fresh and the temperature moderate. The sky was clear blue with a few streaks of white cloud in the distance. The village was somnolent, except for one man who came out the front door of his house with a large steel bowl, stepped into a pair of rubber boots, walked down the few stairs and around to an outbuilding in the back. Perhaps he was getting some fish, but he stayed in the building until after I disappeared from sight. We walked slowly around the head of land to gaze at the breakers. A few seagulls called and sailed on imperceptible wind currents. We drove back along the highway to St Barbe for the ferry to url=http://... read more