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| Cape Spear |
Our scheduled time for docking was 8am, Wanda and I were out on deck around 6:30, I am so glad we were. Entering the harbor at St. John’s we were treated to a beautiful view of Cape Spear, the most easterly point of North America. On the cape sits a completely restored lighthouse originally built in 1836. Just across the harbor entrance is Signal Hill where Marconi received the first Trans-Atlantic wireless signal. Viewing this harbor it is easy to imagine garrisons of soldiers placed on each side of the narrows, guarding the city. The narrows were certainly beautiful and would prove problematic much later in the day.
We were scheduled in St. John’s from 8am until 5pm on this gorgeous Sunday morning. We had a Whale and Puffin Watch planned and were to meet the bus at 10am, dockside. Wanda and I have been on a couple of whale watch tours both in Alaska and Hawaii. All though thousands of miles apart both these tours had something in common, no whales. Newfoundland was no exception; sort of glad we didn’t break our streak. Funny now that I think about it. We organized the tour in Hawaii, no whales. One of the couples on that tour organized this one, also no whales. Next April we will be sailing a Pacific coastal eight day. I’m going to try and find a "No Whale No Way Tour." You still pay but don’t have to go out on a boat which gives you time to do something else.
I would hope by now we are all friends and you all understand I am pretty easy going. I would NEVER go on something organized by a friend and take issue with them if it wasn’t a fun, enlightening experience. When on a cruise we all have many choices on port days. Many people book their tours through the cruise line. Others go out alone, hiring local guides or renting a car. There are also folks who get together and go on a group tour. We have done all of these, have no preference, and will continue to do what appeals to us at the time.
The tour was pretty rough. Later in the day we heard the area had twenty five-mile (or knots?) winds. The boat was a catamaran and darn fast. Wanda and Dennis were hanging on to the front railings and looked like they were riding a bucking bronco. I felt terrible because Sheryl had been very apprehensive and concerned about getting seasick, she thought about canceling. Wanda and I assured her there wasn’t a thing to worry about. I told her they wouldn’t go out if the seas were rough. I know when we got back to the dock she wasn’t feeling very well. It truly was too late in the season to see much. I heard some of the folks saw and got pictures of a few Puffins, I did not as I was too busy hanging on. After the tour we were bussed back to the ship.
The very cool thing about this dock in St. John’s is that it is RIGHT downtown. When you come off the ship I don’t think it is a hundred yards to the first busy street called, what else, Water Street. It was so nice having the freedom to just walk out to the "action." When we returned from the tour we took our stuff back to the cabin. After changing and getting warm the circulation returned to my feet. I thought it was now safe to go back out.
We loved St. John’s downtown. By now it was probably around three o’clock and being Sunday many of the local stores were closed. We were in need of some hair jell and hold spray so we were off to find a drugstore. All of our ports had local people acting as guides and information folks, we were given a nice area map so we consulted that and only walked four blocks in the wrong direction. Wanda soon realized I had no idea where we were going. She took over and as usual got us turned around. A short walk down either Queens or Duckworth Street we found a pharmacy. It was real handy spending money here in Canada since the dollars were just about even. Nobody had to think about or be concerned with any exchange rate. Isn’t that nice? Anyhow, we found what we were looking for and went on our way.
We walked a short distance when I spotted someone with a Starbucks cup. Since we had either bought something or used the restroom in so many stores across England and Ireland I was not going to pass an opportunity in Newfoundland. I had a Zen like experience walking into the Starbucks here, the sights, smells, and sounds we so familiar. For me, now walking into a Starbucks is like, going home. After I spent some time meditating over my latte’ we headed back to the ship.
Time was really moving quickly now. The first four or five days go by so slowly, I feel like we will be onboard forever. Then, as the time spent starts to overtake the time left, my clock speeds up. By now we had two more sea days and one more port, St. John, New Brunswick on Tuesday. I was afraid to blink, I would miss something and the cruise would be over.
Our departure time was 5:00pm with a special salute to Constellation listed in the daily activities. "Salute to the Ship at the Queen’s Battery" base of Signal Hill will be performed by a costumed soldier in 1850’s attire. (Three shots will be fired from a musket as the ship exits the narrows, weather permitting). Well heck, it was easy to figure someone wouldn’t want to stand out in the rain and try and keep his or her powder dry. It was close to five and a little chilly but the sky was clear.
Somehow I became directionally challenged again. I wasn’t sure which side of the ship would pass what and besides there had been a local color band set up dockside. We walked down to the promenade deck and hung out with a group of folks, waiting. We waited, and we waited, and we waited a little more. It probably goes without saying (isn’t that a stupid saying?) one thing we never do on a cruise, worry about time. We figured that sooner or later we would get going. We had to wait for a tour in Cornwall after all. I honestly can’t remember how long we did wait, I’m pretty sure it was close to or a little after 7pm when the Captain addressed the ship. To make a long story short (he didn’t say that) the high winds and narrow harbor prevented our safe departure; we were spending the night in St. John’s. We would be leaving some time in the morning.
Well, this was interesting. The gangway was going to be left in place and we could go into town if we wished. It was a shame it was Sunday as so many places were closed but we took advantage of the circumstances. There is a very busy street, George Street, only a few blocks from the ship. There are a number of pubs located there and Sunday didn’t seem to be an issue. When we first left the ship it was dark, however local security was on site and would be all night. When we approached them Wanda asked if the area was "safe." Her reply "safe? "This is Newfoundland." While re-reading some literature for the city, I noticed that the area has "the lowest rate of violent crime in North America." After exploring a little and talking with the local folks it’s easy to understand why.
Here we had been on this cruise, been in England and Ireland and I was still waiting for my fish and chips. Tonight was going to be the night. There were some stores open so we did some walking and looking and window-shopping. After a while we went over to George Street and found a local pub for dinner. When we first walked in and sat down I realized they had a performer singing and playing the guitar. My initial reaction was, too loud. Before we moved we listened to this fellow, he was pretty good. It somehow seemed appropriate to be listening to Irish Folk songs in this place, so we stayed.
Newfoundland has several locally produced beers and I had an 1892 that was very good. Wanda and I split an order of the fish and chips; both glad we did as the serving was huge. The TV’s in the pub were set to various sports programs. The one directly in our sight line was a NFL game from San Diego. Wanda leaned over toward me and said "Can you believe we’re sitting and eating fish and chips in a bar in Newfoundland?" I did because I was there; it’s something I will never forget.
After dinner we walked around a little before we went back onboard the ship. No one had yet heard what the future plan was, only we would be leaving (we hoped) in the morning. The theater showcased an "International Soprano Sensation" named Izzy, late show was 9pm so we missed that. The disco had a "Sock Hop" but I was running low on socks so we passed on that. It had been a long day and we were pretty tired. We went up to the library and grabbed a couple books then up to deck 10 to check out desserts. There is nothing like a good book and a piece of pie, or cake, or a cookie. We didn’t get much reading done as it soon became obvious we were both really, really tired.
Wanda fell asleep about three minutes after her head hit the pillow. I couldn’t sleep. As I said I was very tired but after a half-hour I was wide awake. I started to get a little frustrated when it hit me. We weren’t moving! After a week of getting rocked to sleep including those three nights on the Atlantic, we were stopped. It was still, it was quiet, and I was not falling asleep, period. I don’t know how long I lay there but it was the first time I have ever heard noise from people out in the passageway. I finally dropped off close to 2am with no idea what daylight would bring.
All things considered it had been a good day. We went on a hell of a boat ride. We spent a delightful evening eating fish and chips. We also discovered one more place we would like to visit again some day, the list just keeps growing. The more we travel, the larger this planet becomes. But the more places we visit, the smaller it appears.
There are a few pictures from Newfoundland posted. I hope to have the rest up late tonight or early tomorrow, Chuck
Pictures Day 5 to Day 9 Newfoundland
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