Tour of St. John's

During the first few days in Paradise we went to St. John's to tour around. Paradise is south west of St. John's. Although it is its own municipality, you could say it is a suburb of St. John's or as we would say in Ontario, a bedroom community. Getting to St. John's is very easy and we can be in the downtown area from our home in approximately 10-15 minutes.

The day we toured several places in and around St. John's there was fog. It seemed to follow us to each location. It was misty and would be there one minute and gone the next.

A beautiful picture showing the fog surrounding the mountain on the ocean coast.

Rather than explore ourselves, we took a narrated tour with Legend Tours. Brendan, the owner/driver and narrator, was the best guide. He was very knowledgeable about various topics concerning Newfoundland and in particular, St. John's and area.

Cape Spear: Cape Spear is the most easterly point in Canada and arguably, in North America, if you don't count Danish-controlled Greenland.  The Portuguese named this location "Cabo da Esperança" which means "Cape of Hope", which became "Cap d'Espoir" in French and finally "Cape Spear".  a lighthouse has operated here since 1836 and the current one, built in 1955 is still in use.  Because of the regular fogs in the area, there is also a foghorn which was sounding at regular intervals during our time there.  During the second World War, bunkers were built by the American troops stationed there and cannons were also installed, though never fired at any German subs.  Parts of the bunkers still remain, although it was disappointing to see that they were defaced with graffiti and were used as after-hours party spots by the local partiers.  It was very windy while we were there, makng it difficult to breathe sometimes and fog was present most of the time we were there.

The lighthouse on a windy foggy day

A foggy view of the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Spear

A cannon from WWII and bunkers

View of Ocean from Cape Spear

Walking trail around Cape Spear

Signal Hill:  This was a very strategic location in history, overlooking the entrance to St. John’s harbour.  Since the 17^th century, it has been a place where flag signals could be communicated to ships, the place where Marconi received the first wireless trans-Atlantic signal in 1901, a fortification during the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War and later, during the Second World War, an anti-aircraft and anti-submarine fortification when German planes and submarines had the potential to attack the harbor or ships leaving it.

In 1897, construction began on the Cabot Tower on top of Signal Hill to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the 400^th anniversary of John Cabot’s (actual Italian name: Giovanni Caboto) landfall in 1497.  Cabot Tower still stands and houses the Marconi museum and a gift shop.

Despite its prime location, Signal Hill is handicapped by the regular fogs that blow in from the ocean and there was a fair bit of this the day we were there.  But it was quite cool to be in this historic site and to learn about how important it was during the past few centuries.  An interesting factoid that we learned from our tour guide was that during the Second World War, the cannons and anti-aircraft guns atop Signal Hill never were fired at German planes or subs, although in 1942, a U-boat did fire several torpedoes at the entrance to the harbour but was not seen by the lookouts and therefore, not fired upon.

Cabot Tower at Signal Hill

The very narrow entrance of the St. John's Harbour. View from Signal Hill

From Signal Hill. A look at St. John's Harbour

Petty Harbour: This quaint little 200 year old village has fishing, colour and charm. As Brendan said, "I always thought they forgot the "r" in Petty." We drove around the village and took several photos. This village of 950 people was home to Alan Doyle, the lead singer of the band Great Big Sea. It is a popular location for television and films such as Rare Birds with William Hurt, The Terry Fox Story and Orca. Well, we didn't see anyone famous but you might be lucky when you come.

Lobster traps at Petty Harbour

Petty Harbour with a little bit of fog on the water

Stream going into Petty Harbour

Quidi Vidi (pronounced Kiddy Viddy): Like hundreds of other small harbour villages in Newfoundland, Quidi Vidi is an historic fishing village. Today it is well known for having the largest microbrewery in Newfoundland. "Iceberg" beer is quite smooth and uses water from icebergs. Of course, while there we purchased a 6 pack and we both quite enjoyed it. Make sure you try some!

Iceberg Beer from Quidi Vidi Brewery

One of the largest buildings has been transformed into Quidi Vidi Plantation Craft Studio. About a dozen local artists have a studio space where you can watch them work on their craft and purchase a unique craft item.

Fishing Boat

Colourful fishing boat

Quidi Vidi Harbour

Ducks on the boat ramp resting in the sun

Quidi Vidi is also known for the day a female polar bear arrived. It came on an ice floe from the Arctic and this bear climbed the steep cliffs surrounding the harbour and needed to be rescued. Watch the video which shows the dramatic rescue: Polar Bear Rescue in Quidi Vidi

It was another enjoyable day of new sights, information, people and, of course, you can't forget the ever-changing weather. By the way did you see Atlantic and Pacific in one of the photos?