St. John's, Newfoundland

Greetings!

 We are in St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland on the Avalon Peninsula. It feels different being in a big city after many days in small fishing villages.

The day after we arrived it was sunny (little did we know that would be the only sunny day) so we headed for the Cape Spear lighthouse at the easternmost point of land on the continent.

Yes, another lighthouse, this is an island you know.

Brody and I love exploring around 

enjoying the incredible views - 

a lonely iceberg in the distance

You can't see them down there, but trust me I saw whales!

After that we headed to Signal Hill 

to see the views  

In site of its height, Signal Hill was difficult to defend: throughout the 1600s and 1700s it changed hands with every attacking French, English and Dutch force.

 

In 1762, this was the site of the final battle between the French and the British in the French and Indian War.

Cabot Tower, at the top of Signal Hill, was constructed in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of explore John Cabot's landing in Newfoundland.

 In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first Transatlantic wire transmission near here.

At the bottle of the hill Brody begged dad to stop and take a picture of him on top of the Newfoundland dog. He is such a ham!

 Mom and dad needed a break after all that touring, so we headed to Quidi Vidi a small fishing village in one of the older parts of St. John's.

It is now best known for the Quidi Vidi Brewery.

Dad likes their British IPA, not as hoppy as the US ones, but still tasty. Brody likes it too!

The next day we took a drive around parts of the peninsula, yes, more scenic fishing villages, some kayakers

more pufflins

and lots of murres

We  stopped for a picnic (my favorite thing to do) in Harbour Grace, once the headquarters of the 17th century pirate, Peter Easton. Beginning in 1919, it was the departure point for many attempts to fly the Atlantic.

 Amelia Earhart left here in 1932 to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

The city of St. John's encircles St. John's Harbor and is a mix of English and Irish influences.   St. John's is known as "Jellybean Row". As almost all of the homes and stores in the hills of the city are painted different colors, like jellybeans.

We spent 6 days in St. John's, but the cloudy days weren't that great for picture taking. Mom and dad did several of the local museums while Brody and I hung out in the car. On our last day the sun was out a bit so we drove to one of the beaches.

 The capelin had come to spawn the night before and I saw several of those poor fish that didn't make it back to the water.

Brody saw them too, but luckily he was more interest in putting the seaweed in his mouth and not the fish.

On our last night there we had to say goodbye to our friends, John and Jeanne from North Carolina. They are traveling in an Airstream trailer and we first met them in Halifax. We had lots of fun with them and hope to meet up with them again!

 We are leaving the big city and heading for the west coast!

Adios,

Yuki and Brody

Bonavista Peninsula

Greetings,

I decided to let mom share the "blog shot" with Brody and me as she is the one who helps me when I am writing this. Thank goodness for spell checker!

Our next trip was on "The Discovery Trail" where John Cabot is reported to have first made landfall in 1497.The night before we started on the trail we "boondocked" (means not staying in an RV park) at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander.

 Mom and Dad enjoyed the museum, which portrayed the history of the Gander airport. It was the primary re-fueling stop for planes in the earlier years of aviation, and a major strategic airbase in World War II. More recently it was where planes destined for the US on 9/11 were diverted and the town opened up its arms to feed and house all the stranded passengers.

What Brody and I liked the most was the private park for us to play in at night after all the tourists left.

The next day we got up early and drove the Discovery trail, on the Bonavista Peninsula, stopping to park our motorhome at a park for three nights. Then we took off to visit the quaint old restored town of Trinity.The colorful town on the water is home to several historic points of interest.

 

In the 1700's, Trinity competed with St. John's as a center of culture and wealth.

 

The smallpox vaccine was introduced to North America here by a local rector.

 Later that day we took a hike on the famous Skirwink Trail, billed as one of the most scenic hikes in North America and I could see why. 

Although mom and dad didn't look at the trail guide before they started and so I was surprised to find it was a long longer and harder than I thought it would be, especially for this 10+ year old body, but I think I did pretty good! And I sure liked the views!

 Wait a minute, I think she should be carrying me, not Brody, he has the energy of 

 10 of me!

 The next day we drove to Elliston, the root cellar capital of the world.

 

Elliston is also home to the world's most accessible Atlantic Puffin breeding site. 

Brody and I were excited we got to go on the hike to see them. No Brody, that's not a real one.

When we got to the first rock, I was disappointed as all I could see was one lonely puffin.

 

But then we hiked up a hill to the next big overlook and I saw what looked like a Puffin Convention. 

They were everywhere,

And so cute!

 I loved watching them fly

Then we went on to Bonavista. It is here where John Cabot is thought to have first spied land in the New World during his 1497 voyage from Britain.

We went to the cape to see the lighthouse

We also stopped to look at The Dungeon, a massive collapsed sea cave formed by the relentless wave action of the North Atlantic.

Brody was more interested in looking at the horses playing

and eating ice cream from the tourist.

Mom and dad had one of their best meals at Mufflins Teahouse - seafood chowder and salt cod cakes. They said it was delicious. I guess I'll have to take their word for it as they didn't even bring us a taste.

The last day we took another hike in Knights Cove. We started at an old church heading for a lighthouse

and headed down a long trail

Until we finally got  to the lighthouse

Mom and dad had another great lunch at the Bonavista Social Club -

Dad was thrilled that they made fresh bread and he bought a loaf to take home. They had another great lunch,  a pizza and a moose burger (and saved some for us). Brody had more fun watching the goats play while mom and dad had lunch.

Adios,
Yuki and Brody