Wandering Retirees

We had a lovely night’s rest onboard the ferry. Being rocked to sleep feels decadent. The ship/boat docked at Argentia, NL and we rode off at around 10:00 local time. That’s 8:30 EDT. (Don’t know why) it was cold (56F) with rain and high wind so it took a few layers to keep warm.

Our first stop was along the eastern coast at Witless Bay, about 20 miles south of St John’s, the Provincial capital. It was named for a Captain Whittle, who settled there with his family in the early 1600’s and called Whittle’s Bay. After the good captain died, his family returned to England. Whittle’s Bay became Whittle-less Bay, and eventually, Witless Bay. Interesting how places get their names. Anyway, the view was pretty and we enjoyed the ride.

Then on to Petty Cove, another coastal town closer to St John’s that is part of Motion Bay. Settled by French colonists in about 1598, its name is derived from “Petit Havre”, meaning Small Harbor” in French. Another beautiful fishing village that is a blast to ride to.

Our next stop was spectacular: Cape Spear, which juts out into the Atlantic and is the easternmost place in North America. A lighthouse has stood on this headland since 1835 and has guided the approach into St John’s Harbor. An army barracks with canons was established to defend the light from attack during both World Wars. By the time we arrived, the sun was out but it was still cool and the wind was very strong over the imposing rock formations. The tall grasses and shrubs looked to be hanging on for dear life. With a white-capped sea stretching to the horizon, it’s easy to sense the desolate solitude faced by lighthouse keepers season after season after year. There are trails laid out by the Park Service if you’re so inclined. Definitely worth a visit no matter how you get there.

It was an easy ride to our last stop before reaching our hotel: Signal Hill Historic Park overlooking the harbor of St. John’s. Signal Hill is a military lookout and defensive installation on the headlands to the north overlooking the Narrows that open into the harbor. It was a formidable defensive position with a battery of cannon facing straight down the narrow passage from the sea to the anchorage and the valuable shipping within. Sailing ships in particular would have had no room to maneuver and no way to defend themselves from British fire. It’s impressive to see.

From there we went to our hotel, then strolled down to George Street to find food and music. O’Leary’s had an Irish duo playing, well, Irish folk tunes on a guitar and an accordion. Naturally, Irish stew was on the menu and we had a great meal.

On our walk back, we bought cones from an Eva’s Ice Cream truck that specializes in fantastic flavors on homemade cones. Debbie, whose son is owner of the franchise spoke to us for quite some time regaling us with ideas for stops on our tour around the island, especially the west coast. Like so many we have met, Debbie was generous with her time and energy with us. What a pleasure!

Back in the room ready to settle down.

Almost. My curiosity is working. Why is the Newfoundland time zone 30 minutes ahead of Nova Scotia time zone and not a full hour like you’d expect? It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that “when time-zones were introduced in the late 19th century, Newfoundlanders chose their 30-minute offset because that was close to their local solar time in St. John’s.” Gotta be fun making online meetings.

Anyway, good night!