So, today it was up and on the road again. We had breakfast at the hotel as it was a complimentary brekkie. Grabbed a Tim's and some gas and headed towards Bonavista. It was drizzly and rainy. Not looking good for the day if that was the case. We cancelled the reservation for tonight in St. John's and called the ferry company to see if we can get a cabin for Saturday. It's a 14 hour ride. All the cabins are full and so is the waiting list. How can a waiting list be full? But, I digress...
Most of the roads in Newfoundland are pretty good but the one that goes to Bonavista ain't the greatest. But, such is the way of things. We got to Bonavista and there were a few things we wanted to see. We went first to The Matthew--the ship replica that John Cabot sailed to, well, here.
There were a number of displays and a guided tour of the ship. Made out of all wood, sailcloth and hemp rope. And they caulked it with this hemp like stuff called oakum that when combined with water made the ship waterproof. Not a lot of room on their for sailors and supplies. And some poor person had to be up in the crow's nest 24 hours a day. If you gypped someone on the time, the Captain would put your hand on the mast and drive a knife through it. If that's not incentive to be on time, I don't know what is. You think we can implement this at school?? Probably not--some health and safety thing I bet. I thought driving for 6 days in an Escape wasn't great, try 34 on some smelly wet boat with a bunch of guys never knowing if you were going to sink., I'll take the Escape thank you very much!
The ship was cool. Right across from the fish packing plant and it was a little aromatic. I guess if one is slinging fish guts around, it can get a little stinky.
We went quickly after that to a display on the fishing industry. I skipped the part that you had to pay for. Joel was glazing over. Thought it best not to dwell too long on the museum stuff. I asked the guide we had at the Matthew a bit about fishing. Apparently there is a quota for the year for each boat and once they get that amount, their fishing days are done for the year. It could take them 2 weeks, or 6 months.
By now, the sun was out and it was good for picture-taking. We then went out to the Bonavista Lighthouse. We went to one side to take a look. And there, on the big rocks just offshore were, get ready for it--PUFFINS!!!! Tons and tons of them. They are hilarious. They fly like their wings are eggbeaters, I have no idea how they can get off the water. We took tons of pictures. I think they will just be specks on the rocks but I'll have to see what we got. We
were out on some cliff thing. Joel took my camera and went down a bit and got some really good pictures I hope. We walked along the cliff more and looked at the lighthouse and went to the other side and watched more puffins. We met a couple from Calgary. He had the biggest honking lens on his camera--600 + the digital = 900 zoom. He was a photography teacher. We were chatting and heard a poiang sound--like a guy wire had snapped or something. We looked around and then down at the water and I saw the fin of a whale submerging from the surface. It was right off shore too. The noise must have been the whale. Very cool. I wish I had known what the noise what sooner so maybe I could have seen more of the whale. The couple told us about the whale tour they took today and they saw tons of whales and dolphins. They were close enough to determine that whale breath is not an attractive quality.
After the lighthouse, we stopped to take a picture of the John Cabot statue. No one knows exactly where he landed but they figure it's around the Bonavista lighthouse somewhere. The tour guide at the Matthew said he came, planted flags for the king of England and St Mark and turned around and went home. Joel figures it's because there was no place to park his ship--too many bloody cliffs.
Then we went to some place called the Dungeon. There was a huge rock carved out like an M. There we met some people who had lived in Vineland and had moved to Bonavista. They were there with their family from Ontario. They had lots to tell us about the area and what we should see and stuff. If they didn't have family, they would have had us stay at their place. So we followed some of their directions and ended up basically off-roading in the Escape (please don't tell Mom) and found some more remote cool stuff to take pictures of. We went for supper at a place those people recommended--fish bites and fries.
We were going to stay in Bonavista but thought it best to head towards Trinity where we are going to be tomorrow. We pulled into a motel and got the last unit at the top of the hill. I think there are moose outside. The guy who runs the hotel let us use the phone and we booked a trip with the Prince of Whales tour company. So, up early and off to see whales tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Joel is a little concerned about the lack of a bathroom on a Zodiac boat after his morning coffee. I am a little worried about the survival suit we are supposed to wear. Oh well, more to report tomorrow. Have a great night. Almost time for bed here!!!
Most of the roads in Newfoundland are pretty good but the one that goes to Bonavista ain't the greatest. But, such is the way of things. We got to Bonavista and there were a few things we wanted to see. We went first to The Matthew--the ship replica that John Cabot sailed to, well, here.
There were a number of displays and a guided tour of the ship. Made out of all wood, sailcloth and hemp rope. And they caulked it with this hemp like stuff called oakum that when combined with water made the ship waterproof. Not a lot of room on their for sailors and supplies. And some poor person had to be up in the crow's nest 24 hours a day. If you gypped someone on the time, the Captain would put your hand on the mast and drive a knife through it. If that's not incentive to be on time, I don't know what is. You think we can implement this at school?? Probably not--some health and safety thing I bet. I thought driving for 6 days in an Escape wasn't great, try 34 on some smelly wet boat with a bunch of guys never knowing if you were going to sink., I'll take the Escape thank you very much!
The ship was cool. Right across from the fish packing plant and it was a little aromatic. I guess if one is slinging fish guts around, it can get a little stinky.
We went quickly after that to a display on the fishing industry. I skipped the part that you had to pay for. Joel was glazing over. Thought it best not to dwell too long on the museum stuff. I asked the guide we had at the Matthew a bit about fishing. Apparently there is a quota for the year for each boat and once they get that amount, their fishing days are done for the year. It could take them 2 weeks, or 6 months.
By now, the sun was out and it was good for picture-taking. We then went out to the Bonavista Lighthouse. We went to one side to take a look. And there, on the big rocks just offshore were, get ready for it--PUFFINS!!!! Tons and tons of them. They are hilarious. They fly like their wings are eggbeaters, I have no idea how they can get off the water. We took tons of pictures. I think they will just be specks on the rocks but I'll have to see what we got. We
were out on some cliff thing. Joel took my camera and went down a bit and got some really good pictures I hope. We walked along the cliff more and looked at the lighthouse and went to the other side and watched more puffins. We met a couple from Calgary. He had the biggest honking lens on his camera--600 + the digital = 900 zoom. He was a photography teacher. We were chatting and heard a poiang sound--like a guy wire had snapped or something. We looked around and then down at the water and I saw the fin of a whale submerging from the surface. It was right off shore too. The noise must have been the whale. Very cool. I wish I had known what the noise what sooner so maybe I could have seen more of the whale. The couple told us about the whale tour they took today and they saw tons of whales and dolphins. They were close enough to determine that whale breath is not an attractive quality.After the lighthouse, we stopped to take a picture of the John Cabot statue. No one knows exactly where he landed but they figure it's around the Bonavista lighthouse somewhere. The tour guide at the Matthew said he came, planted flags for the king of England and St Mark and turned around and went home. Joel figures it's because there was no place to park his ship--too many bloody cliffs.
Then we went to some place called the Dungeon. There was a huge rock carved out like an M. There we met some people who had lived in Vineland and had moved to Bonavista. They were there with their family from Ontario. They had lots to tell us about the area and what we should see and stuff. If they didn't have family, they would have had us stay at their place. So we followed some of their directions and ended up basically off-roading in the Escape (please don't tell Mom) and found some more remote cool stuff to take pictures of. We went for supper at a place those people recommended--fish bites and fries.
We were going to stay in Bonavista but thought it best to head towards Trinity where we are going to be tomorrow. We pulled into a motel and got the last unit at the top of the hill. I think there are moose outside. The guy who runs the hotel let us use the phone and we booked a trip with the Prince of Whales tour company. So, up early and off to see whales tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Joel is a little concerned about the lack of a bathroom on a Zodiac boat after his morning coffee. I am a little worried about the survival suit we are supposed to wear. Oh well, more to report tomorrow. Have a great night. Almost time for bed here!!!
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