Nature Friday - St. John's Day 2

On our second day in St. John's we took advantage of the two day hop on/hop off bus and went back out to Cape Spear. 

Cape Spears, which is about 12 km/8miles from downtown St. John's is the Easternmost point in North America.

The original lighthouse was built in 1836 and it is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador. For 5 generations one family lived in and operated the house. 

Here are some pictures from Cape Spear. 

Looking up at the original lighthouse

Marking the most Easternmost part

During World War Two, Cape Spear was a critical defence battery. Built by Canadian and American's, soldiers were stationed here to watch for German U-Boats.  The battery, which is built into the hill is still there for people to visit. 

Looking out at the fog

The new lighthouse built in 1955

After our time in Cape Spear, we took the bus back to the city and spent time at the Rooms. The Rooms is the province's largest museum, art gallery and archives. It is named the rooms as it is designed to look like traditional fishing rooms, where people gathered to process their catches.

I have been to hundreds of museums and historical sites in my life, and the Rooms World War I exhibit, is one of the best I have seen. Newfoundland was not part of Canada during the war and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment lost 801 of it's members of July 1, 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. In total Newfoundland lost 1700 individuals, giving it the sad distinction of having the most losses per capital of any British colony. The stories of many of those lost and survivors is beautifully told.  I highly recommend this stop. 

They also have a nature section. Here is a whale skull from it. 

After several hours in the museum, we took the steep walk back to our hotel. 

Next week we will finish our trip to Newfoundland on the ocean.