John and Cathy in Newfoundland 2013: St. John's

Friday, July 19

Daily, it becomes increasingly apparent that time is passing rapidly; we are running out of time on our Newfoundland vacation so must plan to make the most of our remaining days in St. John's.

Witless Bay where we stayed in our last B&B (and where we had a wonderful breakfast this morning) is about 30 minutes from the Capital. We knew that we would have lots of time to go on the 9:30 am Ecotour whale and bird watching excursion before we set off for St. John's. Overall, the whale watching was great. A zodiac is a much better boat to see whales from than the larger boat with a second level perched on top such as we had at St. Anthony. Because it is so open and low in the water, all passengers must wear survival suits (bulky coverall-like garments in a lurid shade of orange--presumably making you easier to spot if you fall overboard). The zodiac is faster and nimbler, especially when it is necessary to follow a parallel course to the whales or to anticipate a spot to head them off. Our captain was superb--he never seemed to alarm the humpback whales and he was good anticipating where they would surface. To begin, we spotted a single humpback which wasn't very cooperative in terms of allowing us to approach closely. We managed a few photos from a distance, then set out past the harbour opening to the ocean. It took only a few minutes before we saw the "blow" from a pair of humpback whales. The captain recognized them from previous days and drew close to allow passengers to take some close up pictures. We were close enough to see their eyes and the barnacles on the tails. In fact, one of them passed under the zodiac. Submerged 10 or 15 feet, humpbacks present a greenish colour which makes it easy to follow them. As they surface, they blow water 15 to 20 feet into the air then gracefully breach--sometimes the head is visible; always the long back emerges in a graceful arch. If the whale is going to dive deep, it powers its nose deep into the water and the remainder of the body appears and disappears until the tail fins appear briefly--and the whale is gone for a few minutes until it repeats the entire process. Sometimes they will appear and disappear several times--before disappearing for ten or more minutes. Whether they are concerned by the presence of the zodiac, it is hard to say. They have to be aware of the boat since it is so close.

The tour ended with the boat slowly circling an island which is the summer nesting site for several species of birds--notably gannets, murres and puffins. The boat went close enough that we were able to see fuzzy gannet chicks perched precariously on narrow ledges. The puffins burrow into the grassy part at the top of the cliff. At Cape St. Mary's we saw birds from above; today we saw them from boat level. Both viewpoints had special appeal.

We were very happy with the tour. St. Anthony's boat tour was okay--today's experience was marvellous.

We ate lunch at Petty Harbour. One of the signs that you are getting closer to St.John's is that the restaurants offer healthier food--e.g. salads, as opposed to everything deep fried. At St. Mary's, John had a seafood platter where every item on the plate was battered and deep fried: cod, shrimps, cod tongues, scallops and of course potatoes!

Cape Spear, a few km south of St.John's was our last stop of the day. Its claim to fame is two-fold: (1) it has the oldest existing lighthouse in North America--built in 1832, and (2) it is the eastern most point in North America. The lighthouse is almost identical to one in Bona Vista--except in Bona Vista you can climb the stairs to the top where the actual lights/reflectors are. As you stand at the tip of the boardwalk leading down from the lighthouse, you are closer to Greenland, Iceland, Ireland and Portugal than you would be at any other spot in the Americas. As you stand with your back to the east (Europe), you look westward, as countless immigrants have done, to a land full of promise. Cape Spear was heavily fortified in WW II to protect St. John's Harbour from Nazi ships and submarines. Two large cannons can still be seen in the concrete bunkers.

We plan to enjoy St. John's. We are staying at the Sheraton--the priciest joint in town. Normally, we would never stay here, but they had a deal: pay the regular rate the first night, then pay the amount of the year you were born on the next two nights--e.g. $85 if you were born in 1985. Needless to say, we are claiming John's year of birth for the discount. Then we got upgraded to the executive floor with complimentary hors d'oeuvres in the afternoon and complimentary breakfast in the morning! The huge window affords a view of St. John's Harbour. What a way to end vacation!

We had dinner at Bacalao, a place the markets itself as serving "Nouvelle Newfoundland Cuisine." It took 40 minutes to walk there, although the reservations lady said 20. Of course, it is uphill--what isn't in St. John's?--and we arrived exhausted and overheated. Had we known, we would have taken a cab. The food is imaginative. For example, we shared a Jigg's cabbage roll as a starter. It has all the ingredients of Jigg's dinner: potatoes, carrots, mashed dried peas, cabbage and salted beef. It was rolled in cabbage and served with mustard pickle. We had demi tasses of a lively gazpacho. For her main course, Cathy had seared halibut with green lentils in a saffron-vanilla sauce. It was very good. John's salt cod with thai sauce was not so good. There was almost no cod--the signature ingredient of the dish. It was sent back to the kitchen.

We walked down George Street on the way home to the hotel--the street where pubs are open until 3:00 am. It's a lively place. Duckworth Street and Water Street, the two main streets downtown, are a bit run down in places. There are a number of boarded up windows and doors. The nice touch is that they do not have large chain stores that sell shoes, clothing, food, etc down town. Small, privately owned businesses seem to constitute the main shops.

There is a chance it will rain tomorrow--if so, we have plan B ready to roll.
We'll visit two cathedrals and the art gallery at the Rooms. Cathy will shop.