St. Johns Newfoundland

Tuesday September 5th – St. Johns, Newfoundland

ThePlan:

We have booked an excursion with Cruise Specialists, to “Tour Signal Hill and the Far East of The Western World”.  As the name implies centuries before the advent of ship-to-shore radio, signalman perched on Signal Hill surveyed the oceans for ships headed toward the port of St John’s. Flag signals flown on the hill communicated the names of the arriving ships to those who inhabited the harbor front below (Courtesy of the Newfound/Labrador Canada web site)

Our tour is scheduled to start with a visit to the National Park at Cape Spear, the most easterly point of land in North America.

 

Sites to see; the light house that has been restored to circa 1836,

 

Bunkers built by the Canadian soldiers in the side of the cliffs during WWII,

 

Stand with our back to the Atlantic and face every other being in North America or,

Turn your back on them!

Returning to Old St Johns we will see such national historic sites such as the Cabot Tower and Signal Hill.

 

St Johns is the oldest community in North America,

Thence to Newman’s Wine Vault for a sample of the famous Newman’s Port and chocolate.

(There is a neat story as to why this wine is so significant.)

 

The Reality:  

Our day went pretty much as we planned. 

 

Since our tour did not start until 2:30 PM, we went ashore around 10 am and enjoyed the streets of this very friendly and beautiful city.  After a coffee and rest at the Jumping Bean coffee and snack bar, we wandered some more until it was time for lunch.

In her research Barbara had discovered an Irish Pub on water street that looked real good…..and we were not disappointed. Barbara opted for a large dish of the traditional. “Purtine”, consisting of French fries, covered in brown gravy and melted cheese curds. I however went for one of the Lunch specials of Fish Cakes, Beans and Touton. (See picture)

Touton is a heavy yeast bread that is friend like a pancake….very Newfoundland.

Our tour bus was one of the latest models with an almost like airliner like cabin having overhead bins with doors and an electrical outlet with two USB charging stations.

 

Our driver, Kathy, and our guide, Maureen, were extremely professional and knowledgeable. 

 

One disappointment at Newman’s Wine Vault, was the absence of the advertised “chocolate”, however our hostess more than made up for the “over site” with her history of the Port Wine and her very enjoyable ditty she sung about “The Book”. “The Book” being a sort of ration book for the purchase of “spirits”, used by the past governments to control, (or try to) the consumption of alcohol.

 

Except for the fact that it was a group tour, with the usual distractions, it was a 4 to 5 star experience.

Enjoy the images.

 

 

Jack W Cummings VOV 2017 –   Sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia – our final port of call