Newfoundland, Canada

Newfoundland Canada Vacation 2021

This summer we decided to make a trip to Newfoundland for two reasons, the  first was to visit with our grandson Jeromy and the second was to see the province for the first time and experience its beauty and its food. To sum up our vacation in one word "WOW!"

Jeromy was very fortunate to receive employment at the completion of his college program in the position of Air Craft Maintenance Engineering Technician with Pal Aviation in St. John's, Newfoundland. He is enjoying the job, the people he works with and loves St. John's. Jeromy is not a newcomer to Newfoundland, he spent many vacations there with his parents as his mother's parents and families are from Northern Newfoundland.

He and two of his fellow students from the same program who were also hired, made the long journey driving from Ontario last August. COVID has prevented anyone of nonessential travel up until recently so we took the opportunity to get vaccinated and make the trip.

Allan and I flew from Sudbury at 4 o'clock on  Saturday afternoon (August 21/21) and arrived at St. Johns  shortly after 11 o'clock that same night our time, or, 12:30 am Sunday Newfoundland time. We met Jeromy at the airport, picked our rental car (Ford Escape with GPS Navigational System) and went to an airport hotel for the night.

Jeromy had to work the following morning so we had a short visit before he went home with plans to meet us later in the day (Sunday).

Mid Sunday  morning  Allan and I began our 8 day tour of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. St John's is a city filled with history and beauty. Although it was a cool cloudy/rainey day which is quite common we came to see, it was an amazing sight to see.

Signal Hill and the Cabot Tower which overlooks the city of St. John's was our first stop that day. Signal Hill played an important role in military signaling from1704-1870. It was also the location of the first transatlantic wireless signal by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901. Cabot Tower was built in 1897 as a monument to John Cabot's 1497 voyage to North America and the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign.

The following photos show you the amazing views  from on top of Signal Hill

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I was surprised and pleased to see the amount of Scotch thistle there is in Newfoundland. Here it is called the Canadian Thistle and is believed to be brought to Canada by the early settlers and traders. It really is beautiful to see.

A view from another location on the hill.

More Canadian (Scotch) Thistle

 I had no idea Heather grew in Canada. The theory is that Heather was introduced by Highland soldiers who used heather brooms for sweeping out their camps and Scotch and Irish settlers brought it over to be  used for bedding. 

Who would have though Heather to be a weed? It grows well in Atlantic Canada because of the climate and the acidic soil. The island of  Newfoundland is famous for its wild blueberries and they too grow well in acidic soil.

There are still quite a few old cannons scattered around the park. One of the cannons next to the Cabot Tower gives the Noon Day Gun sound which goes back to at least the 19th century, it signals the hour of Noon to St. John's below.

Looking East from atop Signal Hill

Looking down into the mouth of the St. John's Harbour toward Fort Amherstburg.

We were fortunate to be overlooking the harbor mouth when this vessel was 

going out into the Atlantic. Following Signal Hill and the Cabot Tower 

we just drove and looked at the beauty of the city. We  would not have 

believed how the streets are so steep, it was like the car may tip backwards on some and the twists and turns were very interesting. At many intersections there can be 5 or 6 streets to turn onto to depending on  the designated route. There were times the navigation system would tell you to go in a direction you saw no other side to and there in front of you was a steep hill to travel down. 

                        

Later in the afternoon we met up with Jeromy, he had been living right in St. John's for the past year with his Ontario friends but recently moved to Pouch Cove. He now has his motor cycle license and proud of it, it saves him costs of gas to travel. We followed him to his place of residence on what he called the scenic view - and it was that. Beautiful!

One of Jeromy's Ontario friends has bought a house where they now live in Pouch Cove and  believe it or not this is the view they have while sitting on the loo! I would be there all day, never get anything done.

This night we booked into the Gov'nor Hotel - the night clerk said it is the oldest hotel in North America - that could be. but I have not been able to find documentation that indicates this to be true. However I did find out from one of the waitresses that the pub is over 50 years old. That really isn't old considering the city was established in 1582. 

The Inn and pub are in true English style.

The carpets are made of wool and the pictures and walls are designed to the likeness of a true English Pub.

The food was delicious. We did a taste test before going back for supper - chicken wings, simple enough and absolutely delicious!

Before the supper meal I ordered Cod Tongues for appetizer, Allan was not impressed, Jeromy was surprised he actually liked them and I loved them - you might have figured out from past blogs that I am an adventurous eater. For the main meal Allan and I ate  cod and Jeromy had the prime rib. Each of us eating what we favoured most.

The Govn'or Inn and Pub was my favourite place to stay - it definitely rates #1

This ends day one