Nature Friday - Last of St. John''s

 Our third day in St. John's Newfoundland was the quietest one. 

We started with a boat tour. Unfortunately, we missed both the whales as close to the city and the icebergs. We did enjoy 2 hours on the Northern Atlantic. In my next life I will live on a boat. 

Can you spot the bald eagle? Mom and Dad were out of the nest which has young this year. 

After our ride, it was time to try fish and chips. The Man can't eat fish and I don't usually eat fish, but we found a place with gluten free fish and chips (batter was salt and vinegar chips) and was not bad. The cod was very moist. 

Then it was time for the Newfoundland tradition of getting screeched in.  This is a tradition where tourists pay a small fee to become honourary Newfoundlanders. First you have to talk like a Newfie (I know I did not say anything like what I was supposed to). Then you eat like a Newfie, having a piece of Newfie steak (aka a piece of baloney). Then you drink like a Newfie and take a shot of screech (the name given to the local rum because it use to be over 100 proof and when Americans were stationed in St. John's during WWII and tried it, they would screech). [They do offer a alcoholic alternative as well]. Then you have to kiss like a Newfie, which means kissing a frozen cod. 

After this fun, we went to the cat cafe and hung out with some kittens who were awaiting their forever homes. 

Dakota

Tommy

We ended our day with a nice dinner at our hotel.

Our last morning, as our flight was early afternoon, happened to be Regatta Day. Regatta Day is a flexible holiday in St. John's. If the weather cooperates it is the first Wednesday of August, if not it is the next week. All non-essential businesses must be closed. At Quidi Vidi Lake, amateur teams race up and down the lake, surrounded by food trucks and a carnival. 50 000 people visit the oldest consecutive sporting event in North America. 2026 was the 208th. 

I hope you enjoyed our visit to St. John's. I am excited to write that I will be going back for a few days at the end of September with some friends for a girls trip. Should be fun!

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. 

Nature Friday - St John's Newfoundland

 The cats have agreed to let me have Nature Friday for a few weeks to share our trip to St. John's, Newfoundland. This was my last province to visit, and I feel I may have saved the best for last. While we stayed just in St. John's, it is exactly the type of place I want to live, rocks and ocean, and few people. 

We landed at about 1 am Sunday morning, after a short, direct 2.5 hour flight. The fog was so thick, it is amazing the pilots and hotel shuttle driver could see! After a night at a hotel near the airport, we headed on to the adventure. 

Before we begin the tour, a little about this province. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a populations of about 550, 000 people. It was Vineland as discovered by the Vikings, and was the last province to join Canada (it only joined in 1949), It is distinct from other parts of Canada because it has it's own time zone and the people have kept Irish accents. Anyone who has seen Come From Away, will have heard one of the Newfoundland dialects. 

Here are some highlights from our first day. 

We began near the spot where Canadian icon Terry Fox dipped his foot in the Atlantic to start his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980. Sadly, due to his cancer returning, he was forced to end his run in Thunder Bay, Ontario on September 1, 1980.  The Terry Fox Foundation holds annual runs in Terry's honour ever September, in over 30 countries and to date have raised over $1 billion for cancer research. 

The Man met him when he ran through the Ottawa area in August 1980.

In several places in the city were statues of the official dogs of Newfoundland, the Newfoundland dog (developed by European settlers and fishermen in the 17th and 18th century as working dogs), and the Labrador Retriever, (developed in the 18th century to retrieve for local fisherman). 

We went up to Signal Hill.  While made famous as the location of the world's first transatlantic wireless signal, it has also severed as a military fortification as well as a spot where locals would signal which ships were coming to port. 

Cabot Tower - built in 1900 

From Signal Hill we did the 3 km/1.98mile walk down. Here are some of the beautiful sights we saw. 

We ended our walk in the fishing village of Quidi Vidi. This fishing community was settled in the 1600s. 

Families of fisherman lived here for generations until the over fishing caused by the Canadian Government. The closing of the fisheries in 1992 left at least 60, 000 Newfoundlanders out of work overnight and is one of the biggest economic disasters in Canadian history. Slow the cod are returning.

In our wandering from Quidi Vidi to our hotel, we passed some of the Jellybean houses. These former fisherman family homes were originally painted with left over boat paint. Because you wanted to have a boat you could see in the fog, bright colours were used. If you had a yellow boat, you would also have a yellow house. Now, residents must keep them bright colours, any colour as long as it isn't he same as a house directly beside it.  

I hope you enjoyed some of the 17 000 steps we completed on day one. Next week, we will visit the most Eastern part of North America! 

FFF Nature Friday - Window Watcher

 Hi friends, hi friends, hi friends,

It is the best Friday of the month because we celebrate Aunty-Yam's FFF and Rosy and Sunny's Nature Friday.

I have a little poem for you

Why am I stuck inside

Staring out at the grass and sky,

When the dumbest birds get to walk free,

I wish I was a wild turkey.

Nature Friday - Signs of Summer

 Hi friends, hi friends, hi friends,

Summer has so much good nature, it just gives me the bestest, bestest dreams.

Here are some random shots from the Lady's phone:

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

Nature Friday - A Tree - by Tigris

Reader,

Lady was so annoying the other day with her in and out and in and out because she got in her head, she needed to know what kind of tree she has a lot of in her yard. I don't understand why anyone would care, it is a tree. Trees are trees, if they aren't growing food.

She asked the Big Guy first, he didn't know. and he knows a lot of things. Then she had a conversation with AI (who kept requesting more pictures), as well as an internet search, before deciding, she thinks it is an ash.

So now she knows and knows the emerald ash borer will probably arrive and kill it (like I got the robot mouse).  Now she is a bit sad, but said she will enjoy it while she can.

I personally found this all boring, but Lady said I should thank my hosts Rosy and Sunny, for giving me a place to complain about Lady's interest.

Tigris