Beautiful Trinity Bay and Avalon Peninsula

The second stop on my CapeRace tour was the little cove town of  Heart's Delight, not to be confused with Heart's Desire and down the road Heart's Content. The origin of the names is up for debate (name of ships that entered the coves, shape of the coves, someone enjoying the scenery?). Regardless of the name these quiet outposts were really, well, quiet and so friendly.

The few hour drive from St. John's was spectacular in scenery in itself. After being just in the city and surrounding area the landscape was something completely different. At times the trees all disappeared and there was just the waving grass to look at then all of a sudden after a big hill to climb everything changed. Really nice. The Transcanada is not busy at all and that made it easy just to do the speed limit and look around.

It is easy to see how many folks coming "across the pond" found a lovely cove, dropped anchor then dropped onto the land to start a life not knowing that there might be a community of similar folk just a few kilometres away as the crow flies. These coves are so isolated from each other it's easy to imagine years going by before anyone discovered they had neighbours. I thought of the folks that started the first road system in Newfoundland, must have been quite adventurous as the terrain is varied with hills, ponds, marshes and lots and lots of rock.

The house in Heart's Delight, the E.J. Sooley house is a lovely one storey, 3 bedroom home with everything in it from 1950. It's like the clock just stopped. I was so enamoured with the linoleum on the floor (exactly like what I had in my room at our old family cottage) and the cook stove (with a built in steamer on top). The books were from the 40's and for my bedtime reading I found and enchanting book written in 1947 introducing the beau of Princess Elizabeth, Philip Mountbatten. Oh it was so lovely to read that listening to the sound of the waves of Trinity Bay waft through the open window at night (no screens, no bugs!).

From Heart's Delight I travelled the whole Avalon Peninsula to Grates Cove where ancient rock walls still exist to protect fields from roaming livestock and to Cape St. Mary's Ecological Preserve where 70,000 nesting pairs of gannets, kittiwakes and murres cling to the highrise cliffs to raise their young. I saw 3 iceburgs in Harbour Grace which was so exciting! I even heard one of them cleave off part of itself and the thunderous roar it makes when that happens. I stood at the place where Amelia Earhart took off to begin her global flight. I toured the site of the transatlantic cable station and wandered the shore where the cable is still situated. This is where history is. You  can see it, touch it and truly appreciate it.

Elizabeth, my contact for the E.J Sooley house, presented me with a lovely lemon meringue pie and 2 pounds of crab legs for my dinners when I arrived. This was such hospitality. It was mindblowing how friendly everyone was and how much they wanted to make sure my time in NF was the best ever.

Enough print, picture time!

 This is the E J Sooley house in Heart's Delight, my home for 3 days. Note the open outside door, this meant that someone was home.

 Ahhh, Iceberg beer (yup, made with water from icebergs) a little history of the house and area and Heart's Delight cove and Trinity Bay beyond.

 Dining area with Kitchen through door on right, note the taps way above the sink, which was enameled cast iron.

 The cook stove with warming oven on left and steamer unit on back left. Worked like a charm.

 Beside my bed on the wall. Doesn't Her Majesty look just thrilled to be a mommy? This was from a newspaper after Prince Charles was born. Cute. House had everything any monarchist would love.

 The same linoleum that was in my cottage bedroom growing up. Wow, what memories!

 Beautiful sunset over Trinity Bay. I sat on the top of the bank each night enjoying this.

 YUM! Crab legs for dinner, note the tools on the bottom left. I got better as the legs went down.

 The white is not snow. It's BIRDS. Thousands and thousands of birds. There was a 2 km walk from the interpretation centre to the nesting site. The cliffs are about 100 metres high.

 A gannet egg (no one home) and the cliffs of Cape St. Mary's. The interpretation centre is the building you see on the top of the cliff.

 These gannets have a 6 foot wing span. How they end up on the cliff side's I'll never know but yes they do fall off sometimes. This picture is really the tip of the iceberg, there are 1,000's more on the other side.

 Really?? Yes, this road is only this wide, goes for 15 km and is the only way to Cape St. Mary's. You'll note there are no trees, not one. Not anything higher than 2 feet or so. Oh yeah, and no shoulder for the road. Meeting and oncoming car was and adventure. Thankfully I didn't meet any motor homes!

 Nope, not horses. MOOSE! 2 young males out for a dine and stroll on the highway. They weren't in a hurry to move and I wasn't about to push the subject. They eventually got bored and walked into the field to the right. Note the trees, such as they are, are bent to the left. The wind is always blowing here.

 EEEEEEKKKK!! An iceberg! The very thing I was so hoping I'd see on this trip. This is the one that broke apart a bit while I was there. The little ones in front of it are piece that have broken off earlier. So breathtaking!

 Aren't they neat? Okay, I love icebergs, especially seeing them with my own eyes. The camera doesn't do them justice for the colour, the blue was really outstanding.

 Grates Cove. The lobster/crab boats all safely moored from the sea swells. Really a beautiful picture. Again, note the lack of vegetation.

 This is were the Transatlantic cable enters the ground at Heart's Content. These cables are just left, not recreated, not shored up, just left for us history hunters to enjoy. You'll note there are 5 of them. The first 3 attempts failed but finally one did in 1866 then others followed. Heart's Content was chosen because of the deep harbour which allowed the ship that was bringing the cable across to enter (yeah it's one continuous cable) so it must have been a big ship to carry it all.

 That's it folks. The cable that brought nearly instant messaging from the Old World to the new. But it wasn't phone conversations. It was a very faint light (electrical signal) that danced back and forth on a horizontal screen. It took 3 people to take the message, one to look at the light and say left or right. This was translated into a dot or dash on paper by someone else. Then someone to translate the Morse Code into words to be sent to the receiver. As time passed the signals were heard through a headset but still needed to be translated. The Cable station was a major employer, especially of women! The station closed in 1965 when faster means of communication were developed. The museum is exactly as it was in 1965. Again, NF history, just left for the future and opened up again with no re-creation or rebuild. Amazing.

 This lovely lighthouse aids mariners entering Heart's Content. I loved this spot and the lighthouse.

A sunny day in Newfoundland! Oh there is that pouff of fog behind the flags. Such a lovely time here!

Next stop, Bonavista!

History is not a re-creation in Newfoundland

CapeRace organized 3 days in each place I was staying, St. John's, Heart's Delight and Bonavista. This post is more of the travelling I did around St. John's to see the sights.

I found in the parts of NF that I travelled that history is very rarely "re-created". Meaning, what you see in the places that are historical really are the places. Not rebuilds, not "it used to look like this" but the real thing.

For example in St. John's there are numerous historical places that haven't changed one iota since they were last used for the purpose intended.

Fort Amherst defends "The Narrows", the really narrow inlet to St. John's harbour. This has been used as a defence for centuries and was last used in WWII. The place just looks like time stopped. Same is to be said for the Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. Other than a coat of paint it looks exactly as it did in the 17 and 1800's.

I loved rambling all over these places looking and touching the history. I caught myself so many times saying "I wonder how many people were here before me". I loved getting the views and feeling the ages gone by as I walked stairways and walkways.

Of course there are places that need to be seen just because of where they are. Cape Spear is one of those places. It's the eastern most part of North America. Been to the southern point, been to the western point so now, I've been to the eastern part. It was a cold, cloudy and very windy day but I couldn't help be excited by just being there. To top off the experience I saw a pod of whales. I still get chills thinking about that moment (and it's not because I was remembering the cold). It was so breathtaking to see the number of water spouts emerge and even one tail came up above the surface. This was amazing and I'll never forget it.

The other thing about NF I'll never forget is the people. They were so friendly to me and I found out that you found out so much more information if you just said "hi" to someone at a particular spot. Be warned, the best way to really tick off a NFer is not to say hello when you see them, enter their establishment or walk beside them on the street. You just have to do that!

So now for some pictures that I hope will show a little more clearly the things I've described above.

 This is the range light at Fort Amherst. It is in the same style as the ones in Southampton! Note the rust marks going down the wall. Everything rusts here.

 The remains of the original Fort Amherst battery, cannons were mounted here and it was used in WWII to defend St. John's harbour against Uboat attacks.

 At this point there was a torpedo trap placed across the opening of the narrows. This wire mesh (like a gigantic fishnet) was lowered into the water. The city is in the background. The Atlantic is behind me.

 Cape Spear lighthouse is a typical NF lighthouse with round, stone light in the centre with the square house built around it. The darker windows are "false window" so the living quarters lights would not confuse mariners. This light no longer is an aid to navigation, again, just closed when it wasn't needed and then opened as a historical piece. Dinner ware was left in the cupboards!

 Well, here I am! Cape Spear, Newfoundland.

 Thankful to a very nice gentleman who offered to take my picture. Yup, it was that cold. I have 4 layers on!

 The remains of the 5" elevated guns that were placed at Cape Spear to defend the east coast. These guns were raised and lowered on a cantilever system to "go out of sight" when not firing. The bunker behind it is all concrete and though rusting was in remarkably good shape. The operating Cape Spear light is in the background.

 This is the operating Cape Spear light. It is made of poured concrete and is 10 feet thick at the bottom. There is a sailboat out in the ocean. This is where I saw the whales. Yeah, right, like I could get a picture timed well enough of those guys. You'll just have to trust me.

 A sunny day! Actually on Sunday June 17th the sun came out and I went back to Signal Hill to take some pictures again. This is looking down from Signal hill to the ocean. There is a fishing boat coming into the Narrows. Fort Amherst is just by the white part of the ocean in the middle of the picture and Cape Spear is the far tip of land you see in the top left. Beautiful view. It's from this spot (where I'm standing taking the picture) that Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal. It was the letter "S". That's all. Not a whole sentence or even a word. Just the letter S. This was in 1901. How far we've come.

 Cabot Tower is the signal tower where those on duty would hoist signal flags to ships on the masts above the tower. The tower itself had windows on all sides where observers could do their work. This was the first type of "early warning" system for the enemies that might want to pillage St. John's.  There was a battery here that defended St. John's.

 The troops (now Army Cadets) still perform the changing of the guard which they've done for 100's of years. Yes, it's still done the same way. St. John's is in the back ground.

This wall is part of the battery that surrounded Signal Hill, Cabot Tower, a hospital, several barracks and officer living quarters. The hospital was where Marconi sent his signal from. This building is gone now. The living conditions were very harsh as the wind blows pretty constantly and there was no shelter (except man made).  Nice on a sunny day though!

 Petty Harbour is one of the oldest fishing villages in Newfoundland. There is sketchy information but it's believed that in early 1700 residence was made by 5 people. This was a very well protected harbour and the boats were all lined up ready to go. The lobster pots, crab pots were all cleaned and stacked ready for use. This is the major fishing now. Cod is caught very seldom which is sad, most of the history of NF is based on that fish. Thankfully the NFers are making their way with the crustaceons.

So after miles of walking on hills, up dales and over lands it was time for me to leave St. John's and head to the Avalon peninsula and Heart's Delight. My next house belonged to the CapeRace founder's grandfather. Neat!
After packing the car, gingerly letting out the parking brake so I wouldn't fly down the steep embankment I was off to see what lay beyond St. John's.

Next to St. John's is another ancient port of Quidi Vidi (pronounced Kitty Vitty) and it was also mile 0 of the Transcanada highway. Well, had to go there, since I'd been to other end in Vancouver!  Though no fanfare, and no where to stop and take a picture I started at mile 0 and headed north west to The Avalon. The terrain changed quickly to long hills, short trees and hundreds (no, thousands of "ponds") that had fresh water in them. The ground may not be useful for a lot but there was a lot of water around. I had no idea that NF was so water logged, I knew it was an island but this much fresh water? Along the Transcanada there were folks who had just stopped, grabbed their fishing pole and were spending the afternoon catching trout. Crazy!

I leave you with one last "only in Newfoundland" thing.
This is an Ugly stick pictured above.
This is an authentic Ugly stick (the one with the boot on the bottom is not authentic in the historical sense.)
This is NOT a mop.
This is not a place to put your used tomato juice can because the blue box is full.
THIS is a musical instrument.

In O'Brien's music shop on Water street in St. John's I received an education, a musical education on how to play the accordian (squeeze box) and Ugly stick. I can honestly tell you I am really, really bad at the squeeze box but the Ugly stick proved to be my instrument. (No comments please).

The mop head sits on the floor to stablize it and to make a bass drum sound when it hits a wooden floor. The handle is a piece of rug wrapped around it so you won't lose your grip, the spokes coming out have beer caps on them (like a tamborine or maracca), the juice can is a drum or cymbal depending on what you it it with.
If you have a ring on or metal watch it sounds like a cymbal, otherwise hitting it sounds like a drum. You bang it on the floor to make the beer caps rattle and bang on the juice can and get quite a rhythm going.

After much practice, thanks to Michael the owner's son, I actually made some noise that worked. I think he was really laughing at me but he thought I was a good sport.
Really though, I'll stick to the spoons, I'm way better at them.

So goodbye to the oldest streets and oldest town in North America as I head for the sights and sounds and smells of the peninsulas!

Cheers

I think I grew gills....

Well folks I'm back. 7 days to go in my year off and I'm just back from the amazing province of Newfoundland.
Since the internet hasn't filled the homes and streets of this green and rocky island I could not post on a daily basis so I'm going to make up for that.

On Thursday June 14th at 4:45 AM the smiling airport limo driver arrived to take me to Pearson. I was on my way! An early flight was a must for me. I wanted to get going to see what life is like on The Rock.
Drat. Flight delayed. Seemed we were waiting for the red eye to get in from Edmonton. Many folks from that flight were needing the connection to St. John's. Seems many of them (all of them??) were oil workers and this is a big thing in Newfoundland. Oilworkers, riggers, iron workers, pipe fitters are all needed. This is a hot topic out there too. The radio was full of comments.
Regardless we were on our way and I arrived a little before 1 pm. My car rental voucher allowed me to drive away with a stunning white (natch) 2012 Chevy Impala. Oh yeah, baby, this is it.
Uh oh. Compass hadn't been calibrated yet. Oh dear, I have no idea what direction anything is as it's cloudy. Right, so drive away from the airport and try and find any land marks. Sure, easy to say except for the fog that seemed to envelop the land.
Drove around for a while and found downtown. Aha! I now know sort of, where I am.
The Battery is where I was heading. That's also road names. Oh dear. No street numbers.
Yikes.
Thankfully not many roads in St. John's and I found the Battery and Hipditch Hill.
What?
You want me to park WHERE???
Welcome to St. John's!!

 St. John's really is down there. The fog greeted me!

Really, no, kidding, this is where I had to park. You can see Hipditch House just above the yellow house.

As you can see by the architecture, everything adapts to the landscape. The top picture really doesn't do it justice to how dramatic a grade the road was. I can only imagine what it's like in the winter.

Some views of St. John's for you. The top picture is of the main downtown part and the lower one is of Duckworth street (one of the main drags) and you'll note the real lack of people. It was not busy at all.

 Newfoundland and Labrador dogs are memorialized in bronze near the city centre. Someone had put leggings on the Labrador which made him/her look rather comical. Not really sure why they're there but they made me laugh.

This is Terry Fox. I have visited his memorials in Vancouver and in Thunder Bay. This commemorates Mile 0, he dipped his foot in the Atlantic here before heading off on his Marathon of Hope. I was honoured to be here and see this statue too. Such a fitting tribute as the others are, to his legacy.

This is the view from the porch of Hipditch house. I actually took it on the last morning I was there because the sun came out! Below the red house is a dramatic cliff that takes you too the waters of St. John's Harbour and the Lower Battery neighbourhood. Yes, I'm really that high up.

 The living room at Hipditch house. Yes, the ceilings are that low!

 View from my perch at the dining room table. St. John's Harbour is seen through the windows.

Hipditch House. Kitchen windows are the bank you see in top left of photo.

 St. John's harbour at about 3 am. The fog is coming in from the sea and the boats keep their lights on all night long. Note how still the water is.

St. John's is a major sea port providing assistance to all seagoing vessels, oil rigs and liners. There was always something going on in the harbour to watch. The tanker in front of the picture was off loading oil and the red boat in the mid of the picture was a boat that took supplies to the Hibernia.

Colour abounds in St. John's. I wonder if it's to take place of the dreariness of the fog. This house (for sale by the way) was painted every possible colour. It was really something.

So, that's enough for now. More as we go along each day this week highlighting my time in St. John's, Heart's Delight and  Bonavista. CapeRace eco-cultural tours was something I'd never even thought of doing but looking back I don't think there's a better way to see Newfoundland.