Hey Everyone!
I am back. I was out of commission for a couple of days there. Sorry about that.
We survived the night at the university. I am glad I don't have to live in a residence room any more. These ones were a little dingy and awfully small for two people to live in for a whole year. Maybe my standards are different now than they were 25 years ago. The men's shower was across the hall from our room but the bathroom was around the other side of the floor. The women's washroom was near our room but the shower was way around the other side of the floor. Joel didn't enjoy that. We were on what they called the 4th floor but the elevator only went up to the number 3 but when we got off, that's where we wanted to be. Floor number 1 was the basement. It was a little wacky. There was no TV--I thought there would at least be a TV in the common room. Nope. We had no access to the kitchen on the floor. It was all locked. There was supposed to be internet access but they couldn't load the program on mine so there was nothing...
I loaded my pictures on and took a look at them. That was pretty exciting.
We got up today and Joel had a shower in the lovely men's washroom. We had our cereal and decided that we didn't want to stay in St. John's for the next few days. We thought we could get everything we needed to do done today and then move on. We checked out of the University and headed out.
We were on our way to Signal Hill and went to Quidi Vidi. We accidentally found the battery at Quidi Vidi. We found lots of things by accident today. The battery was to protect the tiny harbour at Quidi Vidi but also to protect St. John's from threats from the north. There was a replica of the battery--it was really small and some guns. Quidi Vidi (the town) is now a small fishing village and the brewery for Quidi Vidi beer.
Our first real stop was Signal Hill. This is where the Morse Code S was heard for the first time from England. There is also a tower there dedicated to John Cabot. It was waaaay up the hill and you could see great views of St. John's. It's an interesting harbour. Very small entry and not too big in the actual harbour part but very protected and quite safe for ships.
I think everyone in the known universe was at Signal Hill this morning. It was pretty crowded there.
St. John's is one screwed up town for getting around. There are no signs telling you where to go for major things. The street signs are hit and miss. Some streets
will change names 4 times. Sometimes you can't just go any more in a particular direction and then you have to go around the block and it will start going again. Joel LOVED every minute of driving down there, I tell you. And, everything is on a hill. Remember, never drive a standard in St. John's. I can't imagine how horrible it would be there in freezing rain.
We wanted pictures of the jellybean houses in St. John's. Lots of the houses in the downtown part are painted these really bright colours. Really kind of cool. So we went back to St. John's to get pictures of that.
Next was to go to Cape Spear. Joel thought he could get out of St. John's and to Cape Spear one way (there were no signs) but nope. Wrong way. We got off at the ne
xt exit and went back the way we came sort of and eventually there was one little sign and we finally made it there. We got to the parking lot and got out and it was really really windy. We found the sign for Cape Spear--most easterly point on the continent!!! I would have liked to have stuck my hand in the water but there were signs around saying that there have been 8 people killed by going too close to the rocks. We walked around on some of the paths and found the WWII battery that had been built there to help defend St. John's during the war. We went up to see the lighthouses. We saw a couple of whales from the paths. They were way far away but they were out there!!
It was so windy up at the top. It feels like all the water got blown out of me today. We took pictures of the lighthouses and headed back down the 140 000 steps to get to the bottom. Definitely not handicapped accessible. In fact, neither is most of Newfoundland. At Cape Spear, there was the most protection for the public that we have seen anywhere. Rarely have their been fences or things to keep the public away from the edge of anything. I guess, if you are gonna be stupid, you are going to face the consequences. Ontario could take note. I bet if half of what we have done we tried to do in Ontario, we couldn't have gotten away with at home. We would have been allowed to view things from the parking lot or from a building behind glass. We have climbed all over things here and have had a chance to really explore things.
Now, I do understand the need for caution at Cape Spear. The wind was blowing fiercely (and it was good weather too--I can't imagine what it would be like in a storm--or winter for that matter) and the waves were pretty big--at least by my standards. We stopped at a little viewpoint on the way out and took pictures of the waves coming in. They came in and crashed on the rocks and the spray went all over. I could have stood and watched them all day.
We went south for a while--to Petty Harbour--a cute little fishing town, Bay Bulls and Witless Bay. Again, we stumbled on to the wildlife reserve--it's mostly islands but we found the beach part. Walked down the beach (not sand, all rocks) and the waves made a cool sound when they receded from the rocks. That's what should be on those sleep noise makers to help you fall asleep.
After that we decided to go across to another part of the Avalon Peninsula. We stopped at Brigus. It was where a guy who went to the Arctic was born and there was a tunnel there that took 4 months to blow through the rock so people could unload cargo from the ships. We climbed up to the top of this hill to see if we could see this tunnel--at this point we had no idea what this was. Just saw a sign on the highway. While we were on top of the hill, we figured out the the tunnel was right underneath us. Duh. The tunnel was cool and the town was kind of neat.
We ended up moving up towards Bay Roberts and started looking for a place to stay. There aren't many around here. Finally we found something in Carbonear. A motel attached to a Chinese restaurant. But, it has the essentials. Beds, shower, TV, wireless. So, that's it for today. Not all that exciting. But it is what it is. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting. For you, I hope so.
Talk to you again soon.
Joanne
I am back. I was out of commission for a couple of days there. Sorry about that.
We survived the night at the university. I am glad I don't have to live in a residence room any more. These ones were a little dingy and awfully small for two people to live in for a whole year. Maybe my standards are different now than they were 25 years ago. The men's shower was across the hall from our room but the bathroom was around the other side of the floor. The women's washroom was near our room but the shower was way around the other side of the floor. Joel didn't enjoy that. We were on what they called the 4th floor but the elevator only went up to the number 3 but when we got off, that's where we wanted to be. Floor number 1 was the basement. It was a little wacky. There was no TV--I thought there would at least be a TV in the common room. Nope. We had no access to the kitchen on the floor. It was all locked. There was supposed to be internet access but they couldn't load the program on mine so there was nothing...
I loaded my pictures on and took a look at them. That was pretty exciting.
We got up today and Joel had a shower in the lovely men's washroom. We had our cereal and decided that we didn't want to stay in St. John's for the next few days. We thought we could get everything we needed to do done today and then move on. We checked out of the University and headed out.
We were on our way to Signal Hill and went to Quidi Vidi. We accidentally found the battery at Quidi Vidi. We found lots of things by accident today. The battery was to protect the tiny harbour at Quidi Vidi but also to protect St. John's from threats from the north. There was a replica of the battery--it was really small and some guns. Quidi Vidi (the town) is now a small fishing village and the brewery for Quidi Vidi beer.
Our first real stop was Signal Hill. This is where the Morse Code S was heard for the first time from England. There is also a tower there dedicated to John Cabot. It was waaaay up the hill and you could see great views of St. John's. It's an interesting harbour. Very small entry and not too big in the actual harbour part but very protected and quite safe for ships.
I think everyone in the known universe was at Signal Hill this morning. It was pretty crowded there.
St. John's is one screwed up town for getting around. There are no signs telling you where to go for major things. The street signs are hit and miss. Some streets
will change names 4 times. Sometimes you can't just go any more in a particular direction and then you have to go around the block and it will start going again. Joel LOVED every minute of driving down there, I tell you. And, everything is on a hill. Remember, never drive a standard in St. John's. I can't imagine how horrible it would be there in freezing rain.We wanted pictures of the jellybean houses in St. John's. Lots of the houses in the downtown part are painted these really bright colours. Really kind of cool. So we went back to St. John's to get pictures of that.
Next was to go to Cape Spear. Joel thought he could get out of St. John's and to Cape Spear one way (there were no signs) but nope. Wrong way. We got off at the ne
xt exit and went back the way we came sort of and eventually there was one little sign and we finally made it there. We got to the parking lot and got out and it was really really windy. We found the sign for Cape Spear--most easterly point on the continent!!! I would have liked to have stuck my hand in the water but there were signs around saying that there have been 8 people killed by going too close to the rocks. We walked around on some of the paths and found the WWII battery that had been built there to help defend St. John's during the war. We went up to see the lighthouses. We saw a couple of whales from the paths. They were way far away but they were out there!!It was so windy up at the top. It feels like all the water got blown out of me today. We took pictures of the lighthouses and headed back down the 140 000 steps to get to the bottom. Definitely not handicapped accessible. In fact, neither is most of Newfoundland. At Cape Spear, there was the most protection for the public that we have seen anywhere. Rarely have their been fences or things to keep the public away from the edge of anything. I guess, if you are gonna be stupid, you are going to face the consequences. Ontario could take note. I bet if half of what we have done we tried to do in Ontario, we couldn't have gotten away with at home. We would have been allowed to view things from the parking lot or from a building behind glass. We have climbed all over things here and have had a chance to really explore things.
Now, I do understand the need for caution at Cape Spear. The wind was blowing fiercely (and it was good weather too--I can't imagine what it would be like in a storm--or winter for that matter) and the waves were pretty big--at least by my standards. We stopped at a little viewpoint on the way out and took pictures of the waves coming in. They came in and crashed on the rocks and the spray went all over. I could have stood and watched them all day.
We went south for a while--to Petty Harbour--a cute little fishing town, Bay Bulls and Witless Bay. Again, we stumbled on to the wildlife reserve--it's mostly islands but we found the beach part. Walked down the beach (not sand, all rocks) and the waves made a cool sound when they receded from the rocks. That's what should be on those sleep noise makers to help you fall asleep.
After that we decided to go across to another part of the Avalon Peninsula. We stopped at Brigus. It was where a guy who went to the Arctic was born and there was a tunnel there that took 4 months to blow through the rock so people could unload cargo from the ships. We climbed up to the top of this hill to see if we could see this tunnel--at this point we had no idea what this was. Just saw a sign on the highway. While we were on top of the hill, we figured out the the tunnel was right underneath us. Duh. The tunnel was cool and the town was kind of neat.
After that, we went to a place called Cupids--the first official English settlement in Canada--and the site of the first Canadian-born English person.
We ended up moving up towards Bay Roberts and started looking for a place to stay. There aren't many around here. Finally we found something in Carbonear. A motel attached to a Chinese restaurant. But, it has the essentials. Beds, shower, TV, wireless. So, that's it for today. Not all that exciting. But it is what it is. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting. For you, I hope so.
Talk to you again soon.
Joanne
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1 comment:
Hey!
This trip sounds awesome! Not personally crazy about the community shower and washroom at the University(OK, grossed out!), but the boat ride must have been terrific! I couldn't help but feel some kind of special kinship with the puffins! People have used almost those exact descriptives of me trying to water ski! Apparently, I also like to use my arms in an egg-beater like fashion! Odd?!
Can't wait to hear more!
Tish
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