A new view! Sun, 7/31/22

 

Our cabin is aft on this cruise, portside.  Nannie and Bubba are almost across from us (up one cabin), starboard side.  Being at the back of the ship has its pros and cons, one pro being we're a distance from the earsplitting foghorn.  That durn thing woke me at 2:30 this morning, even with our veranda door closed, but it was off/on and only lasted maybe an hour.  The ship seems to be in and out of thick fog (warm air/cold water).  We finally awoke at 6:30am, feeling the ship slowing; she docked at 7am.  And lookee here -- sunshine!

And windy!  Here I am on Deck 10, being blown away, watching Insignia come through The Narrows, with Fort Amherst Lighthouse on the southern side.  The Narrows is called that because it's bordered by steep rock walls on both sides.  It's the only passage from the Atlantic to St John's, and a skilled captain is required to navigate large ships like ours through the Narrows, known as “threading the eye of the needle.”

Sailing past St John's Outer Battery

toward our dock.

Nannie and I bounced from port to starboard, ogling our colorful entrance to St John's.  You can see lingering fog fingers above the homes and hills.

After breakfast, we four walked onto the quayside and into town for a look-see.  St John's on a Sunday morning was as quiet as a tomb.  Empty streets.  No traffic.  Great for walking.  Oops, Twisted Sisters again -- me and Nannie!  Love it.

Though we've all been to St John's before (in our RV's), Jimmy and I didn't spend any time a'tall in the City of St John's, and had no idea the houses were painted bright colors -- entire neighborhoods looked like the street above, and seeing these flashy places can automatically lift a person's spirits!  The two tourists on the corner, above, were fixin' to smooch!

This great brick edifice is the Gower Street Methodist Church, circa 1894.  We didn't go in.  Originally built of wood in 1816, replaced by brick in 1856 and destroyed by the Great Fire of 1892.  That fire destroyed much of the city.

Jimmy and Art.

Photo-op with Shammoose.  Last time we saw a moose this big, it was named Lenny and made of chocolate.  But we couldn't get near enough that guy to have a taste!  😃

We returned to Insignia, ready for lunch, and then we were ready to go again.  We had tickets for the 1pm St John's North Head (cliffside) Trail hike, a 2.5 loop trek that began way up in nosebleed territory at Signal Hill and descended 10,000 steps to the ocean and back to downtown St John's and our ship.  I may be exaggerating the steps.  But it felt like 10,000 or 100,000 steps.

Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, where we began the hike.  We didn't go in or atop the tower.  Signal Hill is "mostly a National Historic Site."  I'm here to tell you that the gale force winds nearly took our breath away.  We wished we'd donned our Tilly hats which had chin straps to keep 'em on our heads, rather than ball caps or visors, which blew off or we held them on by hand.  We also forgot to take our walking sticks, and wished we had 'em.  On that note, off we went!  The four of us, along with our guide, Jim, in front, and his wife, Gemma, guarding the rear.  Maybe 12 or so in our group.

Oh, my!  Such breathtaking views!  I see our trail, wrapping around down there.  If you see the red check mark near the center where ocean meets land, I'll just say there's even more stairs at that point.

Hey, that white ship is our Insignia!  We came up the road by bus, but apparently we'll hike down the cliffside trail to our ship.

Hold on to your hats, it's really windy!  Bubba is doing exactly that.  Jimmy has his back to the camera and Nannie is smiling.  I don't know the others' names.

It appears that the steps disappear into the ocean, or darned close.  Gorgeous day for a hike, except we all got a bit overheated (from exertion, probably), and that wind nearly blew me over once or twice.  Nannie, in pink, above, and Jimmy below her on the steps have begun the trek down.

Look how far we've descended (from the red check mark).

Group photo.

White blob, far left in the water, is Insignia, and we are going to hike to it.  You can see our trail.  Bubba is holding onto his hat.  I gave up on keeping my visor on my head, and draped it over my wrist.

Ah, nice!

Untwisted sisters!

Really, a lovely trail, albeit moderately strenuous.  Jimmy and I are used to hiking up/down on granite boulders in the Sierras, so it wasn't much of a stretch for us, tho the infinite stairs kinda got to everybody.  Nannie and Bubba, being flatlanders, found the going a bit much.

Saw quite a few wildflowers, including lots of Harebells, above.  Wild roses not only added color to the landscape, but their heavenly sweet fragrance, too.

Nannie and Bubba are advancing, using the chain attached to the rock.  Single file in this section -- the folks with the dog are going counterclockwise and are waiting their turn.

Off the hill, we made our way inside the Outside Battery.  Found a cute li'l fixer-upper.  Ah well, not for sale.  Too bad. (joke)  We were hot standing here in the sun awaiting the folks in the rear. 

Thought the sunset was pretty.

The four of us were sooo ready to see our ship, our cabins!  Man, our feets were talking.  I had like 18,000 steps on my fitbit, 7+ miles.  Shoes off and showers on felt wonderful.  Insignia sailed away from St John's at 5pm, and tomorrow will be a sea day as we make our way to Greenland.  Wow.  Greenland, who'd ever guess?

We gussied up some for a truly fine dinner at  the Polo Grill on Deck 10.  After all our outdoor activity today, we knew we'd earned a great dinner (and it was).  Fog was rolling in by bedtime.  Need I add, early bedtime?  What a day we had!

... at sea -- Sat, 7/30/22

 

We're on the move:  From Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, like 656 nautical miles, docking in St John's at 8am tomorrow.  Weather-wise, today was a nonperformer, as in foggy, misty, off/on drizzle and rain.  Plus, if you were outside when that ear-splitting foghorn blasted, you'd be knocked out of your shoes, it's that loud.  Well, there's always laundry, washing those sweaty clothes from our sunny, hot days ashore.  Nannie and I found the laundromat and came back with clean, sweet-smelling clothes!

Craig Diamond presented a talk/slide show about Houdini from 11-Noon, which was pretty interesting because he gave us info we'd never heard before.  After lunch, Nannie and Jimmy and I played Yahtzee, and each of us won two games, which made everybody happy.  Later, after the fog had cleared enough that the horn wasn't sounding, Jimmy and I donned our suits and jumped in the (nice warm) swimming pool.  More fun!  The water was sloshing back and forth, but not at tsunami level yet.  We usually skip the elevator for the stairs, so we get our exercise moving about the ship.

This evening we opted for the Grand Dining Room, rather than the more casual Terrace Cafe.  Some of us chose the roasted Maine lobster in Chermoula sauce (whatever that is), but you see it above.  Pretty tasty!  You can have a gander at the menu, below.

Now comes one of the more fascinating moments of our lives.  At least it seems so to us, me and Jimmy. I don't really know what to call it. While seated at our table, two ladies walked in and sat at the next table.  I looked at the lady facing me and instantly recognized her!  (but it can't be!)  I leaned over to Nannie and said, "I think I know that woman."  Then I whispered to Jimmy, "That looks like Linda, from our NZ/Australia trip."  (but how can that be?)  We finished our dinner, but every time I glanced at the woman, the surer I became that it was Linda.  (could it really be?)

In the Grand Dining Room.

The string trio playing classical airs, such as Beethoven -- quite good.

She and her friend got up from their table before we did.  I looked at her and asked, "Is your name Linda?"  "Yes," she said.  Well, there you have it.  Sure enough:  Linda from our Road Scholar New Zealand/Australian trip in 2016.  We hadn't seen her since then, six years, but she looked the same to me.  She lives on the East Coast, we live on the West Coast.  If you'd like to see Linda bungee jump from a bridge near Queenstown, New Zealand in 2016, click here.  She was the only brave soul in the group to attempt it.

Anyhoot, she didn't know we'd be on this ship.  We didn't know she'd be on this ship.  Neither of us had any inkling that we might know the person sitting right next to us from a previous trip!  You could've swatted either of us to the floor with a feather!  What are the chances?  What are the odds?  Can the world get any smaller?  It gets a bit better.  This was our first dinner in the Grand Dining Room.  It was theirs, too.  Seated side by side.  We are in awe of how our universe works.  All of it:  Unbelievable.  Here are the three of us visiting the next day, above.

Newfoundland and Labrador – July 5th to Aug 4th

Our first impression of this large island was: Rugged and remote. Our second? Beautiful. The awesome, glacially formed Long Range Mountains span the entire west coast, with spectacular hanging valleys in between. These mountains are part of the Appalachian Chain – and 10,000 years older’n the Rockies. The weather is capricious, alternately smiling or weeping. During our month, most days were cool, breezy, with either fog or clouds, but we spent most of our time near the ocean - gratefully - considering the high heat elsewhere. Many of the provincial camping parks are located on the ocean or bays and are excellent places to stay for reasonable fees. Provincial population is only about 516,000. Villages are small (or tiny); with few people, but all are friendly. Helpful and kind. 

Water is everywhere – clear, cold, translucent – brooks, cataracts, coves, lakes. Peat bogs with tannic water are common – the ground is spongy; walking feels weird – stay on the path! Balsam fir and spruce trees cover the island, and the air smells like perpetual Christmas. Newfoundland is called “The Rock” for good reason – it’s rock-strewn and craggy. Brilliant wildflowers abound all over the island during their short summer. Ohmigosh, the colors are outstanding! Love the fields full of flowers.

 

 

A couple of signs that we saw (there were many more).

Four non-native moose were introduced in 1898 (and a few more in 1904) and now number over 150,000, crowding out the native caribou and chewing their weight in native trees and plants. The first moose we saw had ceased being a nuisance as she was lying by the side of the road and the vehicle that hit her would’ve been wrecked. Girl moose weigh around 800 lbs and males top out about 1100 lbs – yikes, be careful! Moose warning signs on the roads appear regularly.

 

Fish Flake replica in isolated Battle Harbour, Labrador.

Codfish is what brought people to this island and the remnants of codfishery structures are visible in many places:  flakes and stages. Flakes – wooden platforms covered with spruce or fir poles (longers) – and stages – primitive wooden buildings (frequently built over the water) – were essential to fishermen for landing, splitting, salting and drying their codfish catches. Codfish were overfished to the point of almost-no-return, so the season is limited now, regulated by the government. We like codfish, excepting maybe fisherman’s brewis (Google it) or cod tongues!

In early July, the sky held light at 10 pm, and the sun got up very early in the morning! Most major roads are good, secondary roads are full of pot holes. Gas prices for us USA citizens are painful, but we’re willing to ante up for the privilege of spending a month on this delightful island. We didn’t quite understand why the drinking water in so many campgrounds had to be boiled for one, two, five, or in one place, ten minutes – complicating our lives a bit, but we learned to work around that. Biting bugs were a problem, especially in Labrador, but for me they always are. Never mind ....  Sleeping at 15°C temperatures was great.

Ferrying to and camping in Newfoundland and Labrador for a month was a real adventure. We lived and loved every minute; in fact, we hope someday to return and spend an entire summer!

All aboard! Wed, August 4th, 2010

When Jimmy called Marine Atlantic on Sunday evening to check on our scheduled departure from Argentia NFL for the overnight trip to Sydney NS Tues evening 8/3, the lady on the phone said, "No, you're scheduled to leave from Port aux Basques Wed morning 8/4." Jimmy said, "Nope, uh, our reservation has us departing from Argentia." [near where we were camped]. She laughed and said, "Sorry, your departure has been changed and you're booked 8/4 from Port Aux Basques." Hmmm ...

Apparently due to breakdowns, the ferry service was "a mess." Our plans were abruptly changed for us. We had to drive approx 900 kilometers (hundreds of miles) from Witless Bay - the very East Coast - to Port aux Basques, the opposite West Coast. While the ferry trip was much shorter with the new schedule, and also free because of the snafu, we lost two days driving in fine weather. Poo!

 

 

 

The Joseph and Clara Smallwood ferry

coming into and docking at Channel-Port aux Basques.

We made it, tho, and boarded the Smallwood - a huge ferry! - and landed in Nova Scotia on Wed eve. Because of the lateness of our arrival and the fact that we hadn't been able to book a reservation anywhere, we spent the night camped in a Walmart parking lot, along with several fellow ferry RV'ers (our first time). It was all right and also free, of course.  Not something I'd want to repeat very often, but handy when you just need a spot to park.

St Johns and Celtic Rendezvous 7/30-8/03

We stopped overnight in St John's (Provincial Capital) in an overflow site, not an ideal set-up. The next morning, we walked around the harbour area and visited their indoor Saturday Farmer's Market - filled the fridge with fresh lettuces, spinach and other tasty stuff (raspberry preserve-filled croissants ... ohh), whole grain bread, etc. Nice stop for us. Otherwise, we didn't see much of St John's, but we're not big on cities.

 

 

Jimmy (middle) at St John's Farmer's Market (we bought good stuff!).

 

 View from our dinette of the wonderful Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Islands.

Moving down the East Coast from St John's, we spent three days at Celtic Rendezvous RV Park (before departing Newfoundland via Argentia ferry).  Parked on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Witless Bay Islands (what a name!) we soon realized what a marvelous birding location this was, especially with binocs!  We even pulled out the bird scope, positioned it on the headland and spied on millions of birds (puffins, etc.) ... offering the scope to other campers for a look-see.  Minke whales were spouting near the island. I could've spent many days sitting on the headland, it was that good.  At the dinette on our last morning there, we watched a humpback whale feeding in the cove, its tail slapping the water. 

Awesome place to camp! Funny thing is - we tried to get an RV site at the local nearby provincial park, but it was full, and their sites don't have water views ... serendipity, for sure!

Puffins! Dungeons! Root Cellars! 7/28-29/10

The Atlantic Puffin, also known as the common Puffin, is a species of seabird in the Auk family. It's the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. Lucky us to be at this Puffin colony!

 

 

Binocs in hand, we're watching puffins (et al) at Elliston and Cape Bonavista.

 

 

Both ground and air were alive with these little birds milling around and flitting about.

Puffins aplenty! Black guillemots, Common Murres, Terns, Kittiwakes, and Gulls! Thousands and thousands of seabirds! First at Elliston and then at Cape Bonavista -- we were a stone’s throw from their breeding islands. The puffins fly like a wind-up toy, and were the most fun to see.  They're cute, but not graceful!

Puffin nests are burrows in the ground, and we’re told the chicks aren’t seen till they've fledged (at night) … to keep the gulls, who strategically place themselves nearby, from “free dinner!” As waves crashed on the rocks below and whales spouted further out, the skies around the islands teemed with birds. Of course, gulls were the noisiest of the lot. We loved sitting on the rocks and watching ....

 

Howz this for a claim-to-fame: Elliston -- "The Root Cellar Capital of the World”?  We investigated and, sure enough, Elliston has lots of ‘em – the oldest documented root cellar was built in 1839. We actually went inside one! Tours are even offered.  Fascinating.

Finally, at dusk, after a long, full day, we drove just south of Cape Bonavista to what's called The Dungeon – a very unusual rock formation – a twin-entranced sea cave with a collapsed roof which has been carved into the cliff face by the sea. It’s huge and sort of scary. I thought it looked like a giant’s uvula!!  Entering the sea cave might have been fun in a kayak, but not for us today.  Our day was wonderful as is!

Skerwink Trail, Trinity East 7/28/10

Today we decided to hike the Skerwink Trail, an award-winning 5.3 km enhanced hiking path that encircles Skerwink Head, a short 10-minute drive from Trinity.  We picked a stellar day to be Out and About.  This trail is situated in an historic area, one of the first places to be settled in Newfoundland.  In case you're wondering, like us, where the name comes from ... "Skerwink is a local name for the Shearwater, a pelagic seabird species that lives mainly offshore."

 

Up and up and up the trail.

 

Looking toward the town of Trinity.

We are fixin' to hike out onto this headland.  Gorgeous coastal landscape.

 

Minke whales spouting below us.

 

Google Minke whales to read more about them.

 Perched on a steep cliff, surrounded by flowers!  What a beautiful day!

 

Whales and sails - in the blue waters of Trinity Bay - what a wowzers sight!

 

More whales.  We could hear them spouting, as high up as we were.

I'm reading a sign before continuing to the next headland.  Look at this view!

We put on more than the 5.3 km loop, as we sought out some of the side trails.

 

Sea stacks with interesting shapes.

 

Pristine water you can see through ....

  Enlarge this map to view the trail.

Easy to find, this moderate/difficult looped coastal trail featured lots of up/downs with such great views that Travel and Leisure Magazine selected it as one of the top 35 walks in North America and Europe! We rate it in our top five! One of the best parts for us was seeing Minke whales in many of the coves as we hiked along the cliff path.  They were so close inshore that we could not only hear spouting, but also a “whale’s voice.”  It was thrilling.  They were devouring Capelin (a smelt-like fish). 

To quote a fellow hiker: “It’s a great day when you see more whales than mosquitoes!” Truly outstanding hike.