And The Whale Waved Farewell

The last day has arrived.  

Today we had one last rendez vous with The Atlantic Ocean.  

We got up and packed for home. We checked out and headed to Coffee Matters for oatmeal and coffee. Thankfully I was able to catch up on a little of Corrie as the cafe had enough class to be watching CBC.  

Bay Bulls is just down the road from St. John's about 30 minutes. Another picturesque community in a harbour. We had vouchers for O'Brien's Whale and Puffin Tour. This tour boat made national news earlier this week when a guest caught a double breech on film! This, apparently, was so unsual that the operator said he had never seen that in his 30 years of operation. Needless to say, I had high hopes.  

The captian was very enthusiastic and treated us to a couple of ditties while we were on board for the two hour tour. The first encounter was with two humpback whales that we spotted in the distance. The captain steer the ship toward the whales. We witnessed more breeching splashing. The whales came up extremely close to the ship, so much so that I felt like I could reach out and touch them. The absolute best encounter was the humpback that breeched about 20 metres from the boat. This was magical. We followed the two whales for about 45 minutes but had to head out to Bird Island (don't remember if that is what it was actually called, but if not, it should be) to visit the seagulls and puffins. The sea was angry that day, my friends. The captain said the swells were 2 metres. I was at the front of the boat on the lower deck enjoying the view. As we began to pick up speed, the captain warned us that if you were up front we were going to get wet. I assumed he meant that we would be splashed. Everyone who was on the front deck with me scatter toward the back. I thought, great, I got this whole place to myself and I'm not worried about a little splash. By the time we hit the second wave, I was drenched head to foot. I was warned. The rest of the boat ride was me trying to stand in the sunshine drying my clothes.  

We would have know we were approaching the island with our eyes closed. The stench was remarkable. And not in a good way. Birds were swarming all around the boat and island. The noise was also remarkable, squaking and calling to each other. We viewed the puffin nests, huddled in the side of the hill, and below that, the seagull nests settled on the rock. We were told there were about one million birds on the island. Fortunately, I did not get hit with the inevitable dropping. I know, big surprise. We were told that when the puffin babies hatch and begin to get hungry enough to attempt to leave their nest, seagulls will snatch them for food. Our captain got us within metres of the island and we were able to catch a glimpse of the baby seagulls in their rocky nests. After a good gawk around the island, it was time to head back to harbour. I spoke a bit with the captian who told me that they had spotted orcas recently and that they actually filmed the orcas eating a couple of minkes. He said it was a total blood bath and not a video that he would post on Facebook. The captain set us a full speed back home. Fortunately, I found enough sunshine to dry myself out before reaching dock. My black hoodie with a hood is now speckled with salt stain, as were my hands and face.  

This was the last planned excursion in Newfoundland, and once again, it did not disappoint. But, as with all vacations and things good, the inevitable had arrived. It was time to head back home. Dad and I had a bite at Tim's and decided to head up to Signal Hill for a farwell view of The Atlantic. Many people seemed to have the same idea as us at Signal Hill was packed to the point that there was no parking space for us to stop. So we looped around the top of the hill. Just as we were about to head back down the hill, dad spotted a humpback in the water off the coast splashing and waving its fluke at us in farewell.  

Trip Reflection

From dad: The whales are the most brilliant because they are alive, so friggin' huge, and awesome. Beyond that, everything else was so exciting: Bruce, St. John's, kayaking, and bear sightings. But that day we saw the humpbacks breeching in Bonivista was amazing. People are friendly, the country is gorgeous. If I was going to pick the best place to stay, Trinity and Port Rexton area is the place. We saw icebergs there. When the locals say that they have never seen that in my life, everything just fit in up until we saw the last whale waving at us at Signal Hill. There was no lull. We hardly got out of St. John's and we saw a moose. It was like it was staged for us. Every day was stunning and brilliant and new.  

From me: Obviously, I had already fallen in love with this province last year. So there was no need to convince me of its spectacular nature. There are some spots in this province where I feel like I have come home. But the best part of this trip was being able to share this gift with my dad. The fact that we were able to see icebergs at the same time as whales (which is rather unusual), as well as eagles, moose, bears, participate in so many wonderful excursions, enjoy excellent accomodations, and meet so many interesting and wonderfully warm people was all icing on the cake. Plus there was iceberg beer

A Day for All Seasons

Yesterday was a day of driving. Dad and I left Twillingate by 9am, after a run and packing up again, we stopped off at The Newfie Fog Cafe for a coffed and an iced cinnamon bun (to share). Driving day was essentially a lot of "hey, look at that beautiful view" and "watch out for that pot hole" and "there's another sign for construction work with not construction workers anywhere to be seen". We made stops in Gander and Clarenville for stretches and coffee.  

We made it back to St. John's by about 4pm with one slight moose viewing. We checked back into our olde haunt, The Sheraton. Back in St. John's, we enjoyed a light salad dinner and then drove up to Signal Hill to watch the ocean and the sun set over the city. It seems like a lot of the city had the same idea as us as there were many cars and hikers at Signal Hill. The wind was up and as the sun was setting we decided to head downtown. We drove along Water Street, and again, it seems like everyone else had the same idea. There was a lot of traffic downtown and it seems that people were just driving back and forth on Water Street. So we bacame a part of what livyers do on a St. John's Friday night!  

This morning we were up early (by the alarm) in order to head out to Cape Broyle for our sea kayaking adventure. As an experienced kayaker, I was not worried. Dad, on the other hand, was a bit anxious. The major issue was getting out of St. John's as the GPS was not working when we got started this morning and I had totally be relying on the GPS to get us anywhere. So, we circled until the satellites decided to connect to our car. Then we were off. There was a bit of a discrepency between the travel times to Cape Broyle listed by MAXXIM Vacations, Stan Cook Sea Kayaking Adventures, Google Maps, and the GPS. Anywhere from a 45 minute drive from St.John's to 1hour and 24minutes. So, having circled a bit waiting on these satellites, I was getting a bit concerned that we would not make Cape Broyle on time. Alas, we arrived at Stan Cook with 15 minutes to spare.   Stan needs to work on a bit better signage leading to his shop. Having said that, there were quite a number of people who found there way there. The small shop where we signed waivers was packed. There were a couple of work groups going out ahead of us. Once they were all cleared out, we met Daniel, a young Irish guy, who was to be our tour guide. Daniel was whitty and informative during the entire tour.  

Our group was made up of 6 people besides Daniel. We were given life vest and headed down to the water for lessons on paddling and steering. We were all assigned double kayaks, so dad and I shared. I was situation in the back, which meant that I was in charge of the rudder. I learned quickly that I don't learn quickly. The entire two hours was me choosing the wrong direction with the rudder peddles. Dad set the pace and I tried to keep up. Thank God for dad's paddling experiece as it was required to paddles us around waterfalls and squeeze into caves.  

Daniel had us follow the shoreline fairly closely. We stopped along the way to learn about vegetation, wildlife, rock formations, and lore about the area. We learned about a couple of types of seaweed and got an up close and personal encounter with a sea urchin. Daniel even used a knife to cut a sea urchin in half. By cutting it in half he exposed the uni which is gonads of the sea urchin and apparently a worth $40 an ounce. People dive for sea urchins in order to get the uni to sell. This is often served in Japanese resaurants. And we all tasted this delicacy. To me, it tasted of salt water and reminded me of salmon sushi. Daniel told us that cutting the sea urchin in half is not as destructive as it sounds as he said the reproduce this way. BUT as I have now been researching on line I can't actually find evidence of this. All information tells me that sea urchins reproduce sexually, similarly to how Pacific salmon spawn. So, there you have it, wildlife destruction.  

Daniel then took us around to a beautiful waterfall where he took our photo with the camera of a fellow kayaker. I gave Mark my email and hopefully he will email us the photo so that we will have the kayaking adventure evidence! We crossed over the narrow part of the cape and headed to the other side. There, we entered Satan's Nostrils which was two narrow cave openings. We were unable to use the paddles in these caves as the passages were so narrow. We had to use our hands to move us along the cave and the return backwards to be "sneezed" out of the nostril. I thought this was a pretty cool experience, dad said he prefers to be where he can see the sky.  

Daniel took us along to a shelled beach and explained to us that this was an area where caplin spawned and that when the caplin were spawning, the beach was covered with them. This cape becomes filled with capling. And, as we have learned, where there are caplin, there are humpbacks. Daniel told us that humpbacks have been known to come far into Cape Broyle but unfortunatley (or fortunately if you are dad) we did not see a whale there today.  At this point, we saw a young eagle soaring past.

The trip back across the cape was the most challenging part of our two hour adventure as it was a bit choppy and we were heading against the wind. When we returned to the dock area, we charged up onto the slotted wooden dock where Stan met us and pulled us up farther out of the water. After unfolding from the kayak and taking a stroll to stretch ourselves out, we headed back to the shop to view a map that demonstrated where we had just kayaked. Altogether, we paddled about 6 kilometres. Dad said that, even though he had been nervous about the kayaking adventure, he was glad that he had done it. It told him that sometimes it is good to do things that make us nervous. He said he wasn't so sure about that. Whatever the opinion, we enjoyed our adventure at sea.  

We continued south to Ferryland. Here, we were heading to the Ferryland lighthouse. The lighthouse is at the top of a very tall hill over looking The Atlantic. We were able to drive half way up the hill and then we had to climb the last kilometre to the to.  I think that, in Newfoundland, you can experiece all seasons in the course of a day. At Stan's we were able to kayak without a jacket and enjoyed calm waters (for the most part) while paddling around. By the time we got out of the car at Ferryland, it was extremely windy, the sky was looking distinctively grey, and a large bank of fog was making its way over the light house.  

Dad and I donned our heavier jackets and headed up the hill. In the unprotected areas, hats were at the mercy of the wind. There were some areas of the path that were protected by trees on either side and that cut the wind considerably. At the top of the hill stood the large, red lighthouse where we were able to order our picnic. The weather outside was not condusive to picnicing and we decided to head up the stairs to the second floor of the lighthouse where our meal was served. We enjoyed a delicious salad, sandwich, and dessert. This was accompanied by the famous homemade lemonade in a mason jar. This was a simply delicious, and filling meal. As we ate, we watched the fog pass by the window. At some points, we were unable to see the end of the land. But, by the time we were done eating, the fog was moving off and we were able to walk around a bit and take in the beautiful view.  

We headed back down the path to the car and down to the Avalon Interpretation Centre. At the centre, we bought tickets for a tour of the Avalon Coloy, Newfoundland's oldest colony. This colony was originally settle in 1621. From that point, there has only been one winter where there was no habitation in Ferryland. We walked over 400 year old cobble stone streets and learned about the colony. About 50% of the colony has been excavated and it is currently an active archeological site.  

Having been on the go from 8 am it was time to head back to St. John's. We were treated to another up close encounter with a moose. Alhough we stopped at the side of the road to get a better look, she quickly ducked back into the forest. I made one necessary stop at Tim's for a necessary coffee. We got back to St. John's around 4:30. I was really exhausted and we decided to have our meal in the hotel and pack and get organized ourselves for our last Newfoundland adventure. Tomorrow, we will be heading to Bay Bulls to O'Brien's Whale Watching and Puffin tour. This is the same tour where I saw Murdoch last year when I was with Kim and Sharon. So we will see if any other famour person decides to grace us with their presence. Although we have not met anyone famous on this journey, we did stay in the same  inn as Gordon Pinsent. So that is our only claim to fame so far this year.  

I can't believe that a week has already passed by and that we will be leaving The Rock tomorrow. But I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to share this trip with Dad. It has been an adventure and a real pleasure.

Land. Sea. Sky.

On Wednesday we woke up and got ready at a liesurely pace. I went for anrun along the harbour road and enjoyed more of the beautiful scenery that Bonavista had to offer. We had breakfast in the Harbour Quarters restaurant and checked out ready for the next leg of our journey. We fueled up and were on our way.   The drive was long and took us through Gander. But the scenery wan unparalleled. The first part of the drive took us along the shoreline so we were treated to a lot of land, sea, and sky. We spotted a bald eagle sitting on a tree top overlooking the water, waiting to catch its food. I was able to get a great shot of him from the side of the road.  

We had a brief pit stop at the slowest Tim Horton's in Canada and then were back on the road again. Newfoundland roads are full of pot holes and once in a while a helpful sign warning us of pot holes. The TransCanada was a fairly smooth journey except for the 20 km stretch that was undergoing culvert repair every 100m or so. The GPS had us take a couple of unusual turns and sometimes had us located in the middle of the trees as opposed to on the actual road but turned out to be a fairly useful companion all in all. If anything else, she was someone to blame if we ended up in the wrong spot or taking an unplanned detour.  

We arrived in beautful Twillingate at about 4:30. The weather was misty and rainy on and off and it was a grey type of day but perfect for travel. We checked into another lovely room and made plans for the evening.  

Dinner was had on site at Georgie's Restaurant. Dad and I both had the lobster. We were lucky enough to get the last two lobsters that the restaurant had to offer. Like so much on this trip, it was just meant to be. The restaurant overlooked Twillingate Harbour which boasts beautiful scenery. Then the rain came down pretty hard althought that did not last too long.  

The Captain's Pub, downstairs, was our next stop of the evening. Matthew Hornell, a Newfoundland musician, was playing there for the evening. Dad and I enjoyed a pint and some music. Matthew Hornell does not play traditional Newfoundland music rather singer songwriter style of music with some Bluegrass. He is worth listening to and is in the middle of a cross Canada tour. Check his website out at www.matthewhornell.com. We sat at a table with a couple from Ottawa and were able to swap Newfoundland travelling stories.  

After a good night sleep we decided to head out to the lighthouse at Crow's Head to enjoye the panoramic views. Along the road, before we reached the lighthouse, there was a meagerly signed dirt road we decided to follow. This road lead to a small look out point. We parked and sat on a picnic table. The view was spectacular. We looked out to a couple of rocky islands directly in front of us. To the left, the land curved a bit, and to the right, we could see the top of the lighthouse. We spotted a number of icebergs from this vantage point. Also, we began to see the tell tale release of mist that means there are whales in the area.  Once again, dad and I were able to view a number of whales popping up above the surface of the water. This area seemed to be a protected part of the ocean, similar to the area where we saw a lot of whales in Bonavista. We assume that this was a great spot for caplin once again. One spectacular find was a whale that was continually smacking its tail against the water. We have been told by locals that they do this in order to remove barnacles that are stuck to their body.  

After some viewing at this location, we headed back into Crow's Head for a coffee and muffin, a late breakfast. Our mission to find a breakfast location having been intercepted by the whales. We met a family vacationing from Montreal. We had a chat about focusing on the scenery and taking mental images to store up in our memory rather than constantly snapping scenery or viewing whales through your phone as you record video. Having enjoyed our breakfast, we headed to the lighthouse for more scenery and whale watching.  

The afternoon was our whale watching boat tour with Iceberg Quest Ocean Tours. We were on the 1pm tour. As Captain Arthur took us out to the location where dad and I had been overlooking from the lighthouse this morning, he told us the history of Twillingate and pointed out spots of interest within the harbour. But the highlight of the boat tour was the icebergs and the whales. We were able to get extremely close to both. The icebergs being 15 000 to 25 000 years old are different shades of blue and white. The are intricately shaped, appearing to have been carved of ice. We circled around a number of icebergs. We were told that within eyesight, there were upwards of 60 icebergs. We boated around growlers and past bergie bits while enjoying an Iceberg Beer.  

We spotted a number of humpback whales. The were mainly popping up for air and diving down in a shallow manner to come up again, or, when you see their tail, they were diving down for a longer time. Captain Arthur was able to get us metres away from a couple of whales. He told use he would get us close enough so smell their breath. The tour was two hours and as we were coming back into the harbour, the mate pointed out a couple of additional humpbacks. Captain Arthur pause and were were amazed to witness the humpbacks smacking their flukes against the water repeatedly. Once again, we were metres away from these whales.  We were able to watch this activity for a bit until we were told it was time to head home. I sat at the back of the boat for the entire tour and was able to watch the humpback wave us almost all the way back to harbour.  

We couldn't have ordered better weather for the day has been sunny and hot on land and warm on water. As dad said today, each day seems to bring us new treats. We couldn't have ordered a more perfect vacation if we had tried. We have been able to experience everything that any tourist would want to see while travelling to Newfoudland.  

One interesting thing that I have noticed about travel is that, most often, strangers are willing to chat with strangers. Striking up a conversation with a stranger on home turf is not often done. But when we are all from away, it seems to provide people with the icebreaker to begin a conversation. Shared experiences about travel and advise or suggestions about where to head next are offered. We have met some interesting people on this trip. A couple we met last night were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a three month road trip around the Maritimes. The couple from Ottawa were enjoying a vacation together in Newfoundland. We met a few people out at the lighthouse this morning. The gentleman was a retired police officer who loved travelling with his wife and we swapped stories about places we had visited in Europe. We haven't yet met anyone who has won their trip but people seem to find that to be an interesting part of our story.  

So now, dad and I will be off to dine at The Canvas Cove Bistro. Fish is on the menu for tonight's dinner. Got to grab all the fresh seafood we can while on the east coast.

Life if good.

Dat's Where We're To

I am typing this post at an open window of our inn overlooking the harbour in Bonavista, Newfoundland. The sun is just setting over The Atlanitc Ocean. I can hear the water lapping up against the shore and smell the classic smell that is ocean harbour.  

Dad and I have had a fantastic day. We woke in Port Rexton in the beautiful Fisher's Inn. We were treated to a lovely breakfast of homemade blueberry waffles and bacon. We also enjoyed tea biscuits with homemade partridgeberry jam.  

We checked out of the inn fairly early as we were heading to New Bonaventure to participate in The Rugged Beauty Boat Tour. Sharon, Kim, and I had boated with Bruce last year and thoroughly enjoyed his tour. I knew that this was a tour that was right up Dad's ally. We arrived rather early to New Bonaventure after a picturesque drive through rural Newfoundland.  

Promoting rural Newfoundland is the reason for Bruce's boat tour. Bruce is a friendly and welcoming tour guide wtih first hand experience of the cod fishing industry, the resettlement of rural Newfoundland, and the cod moretorium. He is quick with his come backs, demonstrating the easy humour of Newfoundlanders.  

Our tour group started out in the stage where Bruce explained to us how cod were brought in from the ocean, slit, gutted and salted. After a few days of salting (pickling) cod were laid out on the flake to dry. Cod were sorted in to grades for sale to different parts of the world.  

We then boarded the 24 foot boat and began the sea part of our journey. The fog was thick by the shore, but not so think that we were unable to see land. We saw the set of Random Passage, a mini series from the 90s. The film left the set which resembles an old settlement. This has now become a tourist spot and is run by Bruce's wife.   Bruce took us to Kerley's Cove, Irish Cove, Ireland Eye, and British Cove. Bruce explained to us where his grandparents used to live before the resettlement and showed us where he now has a cabin. These communities were made up of small populations of people (between 99 and 200) who lived and worked together, taking care of each other and living in true community.  

As we coninued on the tour, we traveled through the fog and came out the other side. We were able to look back on the fog bank and see it weaving in and out of the land. We encountered pockets of warm and cold air alternatively. Fortunately we were dressed in our winter's finest.  

We encountered incomparable scenery: land, sea, and sky.  Upon entering Kerley's Cove, we came upon a grounded iceberg. Bruce circled the iceberg for us. The facets of the iceberg were intriguing and the shades of blue that are hard to believe. Bruce used a net to fish out a bergy bit which he sliced up and shared around with all of the people on the boat. The ice is pure and clean and about 15 000  years in the making. We were also fortunate enough to see 5 eagles soaring around, and a black bear scrambling up a hill into the trees.

Bruce chatted about Uncle Jo and Aunt Lizze and their role in his life as a boy coming up. His stories told of a time when people relied on the weather, the sea, and hard work for their living.  

Bruce took us up to his cabin where we were treated to a cup of tea and some jam on crackers. We returned to land via the iceberg which, while we were gone, had flipped, leaving growlers and bergy bits strewn around the cove. As the tour had ended and we were preparing to leave, I thanked Bruce once again and was treated to a warm hug from him. It reminded me of the saying, "meet as strangers, leave as friends". This is a tour that is so unbelievabley worth while. It is an education outside of a classroom.  

We enjoyed lunch at Trinity Mercantile. We sat outside, soaking in the sun, and enjoying an iceberg beer. By the time we were done, it was time to head to Bonivista to our next accomodation. It was about a 40 minute drive. We checked in to yet another fantastic room. This room overlooks the harbour and  has a separate bedroom and living room area. Worn out from our morning on the ocean, dad and I both had a nap to refresh and reenergize.  

Dad and I headed to the grocery store to pick up some dinner items and snacks for the road tomorrow. We decided that we were going to drive down Cape Shore Road to where the road ends at the lighthouse. Toward the end of the road, we passed a directional sign saying "Puffins, Icebergs, and Whales this way". So we were hopeful that the sign would fulfill the promise made.  

And fulfill it it did!  

First, we saw a huge iceberg off in the distance. A local guessed that the part we could see was 150m tall.  To the east, we saw a few whales coming up for breathe, blowing mist from their blowholes. We likely saw 4 or 5 humpbacks in the distance. In the water, it appeared that there was a distinct and curved line. Dad and I thought that maybe this was a spot in the water where the currents were changing. It also appeared to be the area that the whales were feeding. We watched a small group of three humpbacks swim from the east to the west, around the lighthours. As we followed the whales, we were able to see a few more in the distance and some closer. We could also hear their breath echoing off of the rocks. I was able to climb down the rocky coast a bit to get a closer look at the humpbacks. I followed them west until a tickle between land and a small island. When the whales got there, they turned around and headed back toward the lighthouse.  

When the humpbacks reached the lighthouse, The Real Show began. One of the whales began to breech. We must have witnessed the whale breech 15 - 20 times in a row. The younger whale was mimicing this behaviour. Locals told us that the whales were rounding up the caplan to eat. We were also told by locals that they had never seen a show such as the one we were watching. But, the show was not over. The whales continued heading westward. As the rounded land, they began smacking the water with their fins. We watched this behaviour multiple times and were told it was all in aid of rounding up food. We were watching the whales for about 2 and a half hours altogether and it was the best show we could have seen.   We have been gifted with another phenomenal day on The Rock and "dat's where we're to".

Like Releasing a Breathe You Didn't Know You Were Holding

Today we awoke, well rested, in sunny St. John's. The first order of business was to get a run done. I completed a 3km run up and down hill around St. John's. My legs were thanking me for getting moving after a day of sitting. Part of my run took me down The Battery, which is an infamous row of distinctly Newfoundland colourful homes. I ran past a door with a very tiny sticker in the middle "Love heals". I loved the thought and had to stop and take a picture. Since it was so small and in such an obscure spot, I feel it was meant to be seen by me. I also took the opportunity to run back down to The Terry Fox Memorial Mile One to thank Terry once again for inspiring me and snap a shot of the two of us together, both in our run gear.  

We were in no rush to begin our day as we did not have any time scheduled activities today. So dad and I got ready and checked out of the hotel a little past 10am. As we left the elevator and walked into the lobby, we heard a voice say, "Theresa McGeragle". I thought, "Wow, this hotel is great with customer service. They work hard to remember everyone's name." Looking up, I was greeted by Shannon and Chuck, a couple of friends from Ontario who were visiting family in Newfoundland. So that was a surprising encounter. Even more so that we had been staying at the same hotel and didn't even realize it. Hopefully we will be able to catch up later on the trip.  

Dad and I ate at a cafe around the corner, both opting for a bowl of oatmeal and a great cup of coffee.  

First on the agenda for the day was to head to The Rooms. The Rooms is the St. John's museum, archives, and art gallery. We visited the museum part of The Rooms. We were treated to an education of the geographic and cultural history of Newfoundland. There was a new exhibit under construction dealing with World War 1. The museum was appealing to locals to provide information and artifacts that may fit in with the exhibit. From the observation decks at The Rooms, we were treated with panaramic views of St. John's and the harbour.  

From The Rooms, it was time to head to Port Rexton to check in to our next accomodations. Our journey to Port Rexton was filled with beautiful scenery and one fantastic moose sighting. Our moose was located just on the side of the highway. Although we were not able to stop, we both got a great look at the magnificant animal. Port Rexton is about a three and a half hour drive from St. John's. We arrived at Fisher's Inn around 5:30.  Fisher's Inn is situated at the top of a hill and overlooks The Atlantic Ocean. Fisher's Inn is a collection of a few different homes that now act as inns and another home that is the restaurant, living room, and bar. The view is the best part of this inn but the accomodation was also perfect.  

Directly after we checked in, we headed to the village of Trinity, about 15 minutes away. Trinity was my favourite part of my Newfoundland vacation last year. I wanted to show dad around the village. The village did not disappoint. Upon driving up to the village, dad pointed  and exclaimed, "iceberg!" Dad and I went to Trinity Mercantile for dinner. We both enjoyed smoked salmon on a bagel with a side salad and an iceberg beer.  I also enjoyed the blueberry gingerbread cake, smothered in a warm rum caramel sauce. Dad and I enjoyed our dinner,  sitting out on the balcony and overlooking the village.  

As we were now unable to see the iceberg from in the village, we decided that we needed to drive around and hunt down the iceberg. We asked our server for directions to the iceberg and were given some rather vague instructions to head toward Dunfield, go up a big hill, don't mind the dirt road, and stick left. These directions actually turned out to be fairly helpful as we were able to make our way to the lighthouse on the other side of the bay where we could view the iceberg unobstructed. This was a fantastic sighting and so much closer than the icebergs we saw yesterday from Cape Speare.  

Dad and I returned to Fisher's Inn and grabbed a drink from the bar to take out to the Muskoka chairs where we sat and enjoyed the view. The temperature was getting much cooler and the Irish coffee did a bit to warm me but not enough to keep me outside too much longer.   In reflecting about Newfoundland, and especially Trinity, I said to dad that I feel like, when I am here, it is like I am able to release a breathe that I didn't know I was holding. I am not too sure how else to describe the feeling of being here but I know that it is a gift.

All Roads Are Uphill

I enter a lot of give aways on Facebook and Twitter.  I have had success on Twitter and received books, earphones, and dvds. But the best give away that I have won was a trip for two to Newfoundland. This gift was awarded to my by eone (entertainmentone) and MAXXIUM Vacations. I entered this give away as a result of visiting Newfoundland last year. I visited the site of the (at then) upcoming movie The Grand Seduction. I was interested in watching this movie and decided to follow its Facebook page in order to keep my eye on release dates in my area. As a result, I saw and entered the contest to win the trip.  

During the last week of  school this year, I recieved an email simply stating, "You have won the Grand Seduction contest", and would I please call Dione to claim my prize. I assumed that I had won tickets to see the movie, never imagining that I had actually won the grand prize. After a few back and forth emails and phone calls, and a nail biting mathematical skill testing question was completed, I had actually won The Grand Prize!  

I am currently writing this blog post at the Sheraton in St. John's, Newfoundland! This gift was a trip for two.The first person who came to my mind as my travelling companion was my dad. For as long as I can remember, Dad has always talked about visiting two places: Alaska and Newfoundland. Those who know my dad will recognize that he is the last person on his list of priorities. He is the most selfless person that I know. I could not forsee a time when Dad would consider taking a vacation for himself. Winning the contest was a complete gift for me and one that I was able to extend to my deserving dad.  

As I mentioned, I had visited Newfoundland last summer. I loved the trip that I was fortunate enough to be apart of and knew that I would return to The Rock one day. Upon returning home, I began following various Newfoundland Facebook pages, including Iceberg Quest Tours, who would post impressive and beautiful images of humpback whales and icebergs. It was a goal of mine to see and iceberg up close one day. Thanks to Christina from MAXXIUM Vacations who set up our vacations very quickly, Dad and I were able to get to Newfoundland during a year reported to be full of a bumper crop of icebergs.   And so, the day arrived when Dad and I were able to set off to Newfoundland.  

Our morning began with a very early flight from Toronto. We left at 6:45 and arrvied in St. John's by about 11:30. We left behind the torrential rain and cloudy skies of Ontario and landed in the beautiful, sunny and warm province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We left from a booming metropolitain airport where we were assigned gate D43 and arrived at the much smaller St. John's airport where we deplaned at gate 3 (of 5 gates total).  

St. John's Airport has three baggage claim collection belts. We arrived at baggage claim and before our luggage so I headed over to the car rental company where I was the only customer and received my car with in minutes. As I was completing the paperwork, Dad was able to get the luggage and we headed out to the car.

A short drive to our hotel had us there a few hours before check in time. Fortunately, a room was already for us and we were able to check in early. We took our luggage to our room and did a bit of unpacking and drying (our suitcases were a tad wet from the rain in Toronto.  

Having only eated a scone from Starbucks in Toronto, Dad and I decided to find a small bite to eat. We shared a sandwich at a local cafe in the hour we had before our planned tour.  

Dana, of McCarthy City Tour, met us at our hotel in a large sized van. We were the only two customers for this tour, which gave use a very personalized experience. This tour was a St. John's city tour which included detailed historical information about St. John's and Newfoundland as well as stops at Cape Speare, Signal Hill, and Quidi Vidi. Dana was an unbelievable tour guide who provided us with highly educational and interesting information with a great sense of humour. I would highly recommend McCarthy City Tours if you are ever in St. John's.  

I have decided that I need to visit the ocean at least once per year. And today, I remembered exactly why. The views from Cape Speare were spectacular. We were able to look out to the Atlantic Ocean as well as back to the harbour of St. John's and the city beyond. We were excited to see three separate icebergs, although they were very far out to see, and a very demonstrative humpback about 500m from shore.  

Dana's stories about the history of Newfoundland attest to the strength, tenacity,  and capacity for survival of the people of Newfoundland. Their collective history is a history I am glad to have learned more about and am appreciative, as a Canadian, that Newfoundland history is Canadian history.  

Our tour ended around 5:30 back at our hotel. Dad had a rest and I went to pick up some groceries for dinner and snacks for our journey tomorrow. I felt in desparate need for some fresh vegetables after a day of carbohydrates! Fortunately, the grocery store was conviently attached to the beer store and I was able to reconnect with an old friend of mine - Iceberg Beer.  

After dinner, Dad and I headed out for an evening stroll down to the water front where we walked around The Terry Fox Mile One Memorial. I had visited this site last year but it was no less significant or heartbreaking this year. Terry Fox is a true hero of our country and a personal hero of mine. I appreciate any time that I can be provided with a reminder of a person who lived their life with such high standards.  

Dad and I got a bit turned around on our why back to the hotel. But we learned that all roads in St. John's are indeed uphill. Of course, we were redirected by some friendly Newfoundlanders who were more than happy to help us find our way.  

We topped our evening off with a Skype session with our family which is a great way to end the day. I also enjoyed the end of this day with a bottle of Iceberg beer.  

Travel days can be long and tiring but this day has been worthwhile, interesting, and I am filled with a sense of peace at the end of it.   I am so thankful to have been given the gift of this trip and am so thankful that I am able to share it with my dad.