Day 4 St. John's

This has been another simply idyllic summer day, and perfect weather to do a bit of exploring in St. John's!!

After perusing the motel's "free continental breakfast" that constituted cereal/milk, muffins and coffee, we decided that it would be a nice treat to eat out.  Thanks to the internet, we found a place called the Gov'nor's Inn that advertised a gluten-free breakfast option.  It was really close to where we are staying and true  to their word had a scrumptious breakfast (albeit a little pricey, sigh). The building is actually a hotel that looks like something taken right out of 18th century England with dark wood, brass, greenish floral wallpaper etc.  (Seriously sounds awful but looked great)

Then we decided we should start out by going to Signal Hill (one of the 'must sees' we were told about by Blair and his Mom).  Again, thanks to technology, our GPS took us directly there, but on the way we were treated to views of street after street of houses and townhouses painted in such bright/lively colours, just like on TV, that you couldn't help but smile! I think we should do that in Ontario, it would liven up those grey/cloudy days we have so many of!!

Turns out that Signal Hill was originally a military garrison that protected the city.  From what we read on all the plaques, it went through incarnations as a prison and a hospital/TB sanitorium over the years.  But the most recent was that it was used by Marconi as a place to successfully test the first wireless telegraph signal between England and North America!!

So, the little museum and garrison buildings are situated on top of some huge rocks/cliffs overlooking, you guessed it, the Atlantic Ocean.  There are a series of stairs and trails that lead down the rocks and take you to a spot (still high above the ocean) where you can get a really good view of the St. John's Harbour and where it lets out to the ocean.  

Well, I talked Karl into climbing down the steps, and it was worth it, what a view!! While contemplating the climb back up and gazing out over the water, we saw several spouts, and at least once or twice a whale's back, and then twice we saw tails as they dove down.  There is no doubt they were whales because we saw the tails clearly at what had to be a mile distance.  

The winds were really strong and pushing so hard toward the water that you had to be careful of getting too close to the edge of the rocks!  Going back up the stairs turned out to be not as bad as we thought.  Perhaps it was the practice we got in Furby's Cove going up the hills there that conditioned us ... LOL!!

We met so many wonderful people! You might say that Newfoundlanders are all nice, and they are. But believe it or not, we met a family from Mississauga who were originally from Kitchener! And a few more ladies from Guelph!!

We wandered back into St. John's for a lunch at a Chinese Restaurant and then headed out to Cape Spear. As it turns out, it is a National Park and they usually charge admission, but it is free for 2017!! So this is the easternmost point in Canada and also still has a working lighthouse.  There was an old lighthouse further up the hill that was built in the late 1800's and used until 1954.  It was preserved as a museum so we saw how the lighthouse keeper and his family lived!  

Between the brilliant blue sky and the view of the ocean, it was hard to tear ourselves away.  While we were gathering up the courage to leave, we were looking out over the ocean and saw another whale spouting not far off shore.  Still only saw a bit of his back, but there was no doubt it was a whale!!  So much for the fruitless whale watching expeditions in Vancouver!!

Tons of pictures taken of the view, the whales disappear too quickly!  Hopefully there will be some keepers in the mix that we can show you!!

After all the sun and wind, we went back to the hotel to recoup and have some tea.  Now we're off to see Karl's friend Blair again and hopefully check out the East Coast Trail. 

Another very warm greeting at Blair's place, followed by a trek up a small section of the famous East Coast Trail, a hikers' paradise with great views overlooking the ocean and cliffs at various spots. Along the way, tons of blueberry bushes with many just coming to edible ripeness ... a great pre-dinner appetizer! And, another view of more whales spouting!

Having worked up an appetite, it was time for dinner. Tammy chose to stay home, so Blair took us to Ches's, a well-known seafood diner chain here. Again, a fabulous dinner and a great chat with Blair, just like the old days. It was superb to spend some time with an old friend and we  look forward to the next trip! ... whether here or in Ontario (We already planted the seed of the idea of a house-swap with them as well). When dinner was done, it was really difficult to bid farewell. It's time to start saving those Air Miles again!!

Tomorrow, the return to Furby's Cove .....