As dawn broke this morning, after four days at sea we finally made it to dry land. St John’s is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and it welcomed us in bright sunshine. Sailing past fishing boats we were soon in the tranquil waters of the harbour.
Within minutes of walking ashore Sylvia immediately made acquaintance with a friendly local……
….a Newfoundland dog.
Rising high from the town is Signal Hill, an important site which has served to defend the city for over three hundred years. Now a National Park the Hill, known as the “Lookout” by the locals, has a mass of walks zig-zagging along the cliff face but also a road to take you to the summit. It was the latter route we chose, in a taxi!!
At the top of the hill sits Cabot’s Tower named after the explorer who discovered the province in 1497, although it is said that the Vikings were here much earlier.
It was from this tower in 1901 that Marconi first received a wireless message from the other side of the Atlantic. The views from here are quite magnificent and we couldn’t have wished for a better day to see them. From the shore side you can see Cape Spear which is the most easterly point of North America.
Having ridden a taxi to the summit it seemed only fair to walk back down to the city, stopping firstly at .the GEO centre, a museum built into the rock of Signal Hill itself. As it’s name suggests the museum concentrated on the geological development of earth and in particular this area, but in addition there were exhibits on oil exploration, the Planets and the Titanic. This latter exhibition told the story of the fateful voyage and although this is now the third or fourth Titanic story I have seen it was still very interesting. The picture shows the planets modelled to scale and hanging from the roof.
Further down towards the city we passed the beautifully coloured wooden cottages which are abundant in the area. In every shop you could buy depictions of these on t-shirts, key rings or coffee mugs, but this is my version.
Looking at the city from the ship the striking building in the centre is the Basilica of St John the Baptist, the Roman Catholic cathedral. Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance today to visit it, or more honestly didn’t fancy the walk up the hill! Perhaps on another occasion.
What we did have a chance to visit is that icon of Canada, the Tim Horton coffee shop, there’s always time for a doughnut and cup of coffee.
Tomorrow is another sea day before we arrive at our next stop on Saturday, Sydney Nova Scotia.