St. John's and Beyond

Well, we did the city of St. John's and are now on the Avalon Peninsula in Ferryland.  Back to St. John's.  Found our very good Extended Stay Deluxe hotel - there didn't seem to be any B & B's available.  It worked out great though.  Wandered down to Water St. to Velma's for dinner the first night - So So.  Up the next a.m. for a city tour with Dave -recommended by our hotel desk clerk.  We wanted to get the feel for the city with some good background before doing our own thing.   Well..........it was a whirlwind swing through the sites - Cape Spear in the fog, Petty Harbour - very pretty, Signal Hill, a swing past Danny Williams Mom's house, and then Danny's digs - hmmmmm - not bad - a gorgeous house.  We were dropped off at Dave's recommendation for lunch - it brought new meaning to the phrase "greasy spoon".  Never mind, it was a slice.  We then headed across the street to The Rooms - which was a very informative and impressive display of Newfoundland natural history and history in general.  We enjoyed the hours we spent there.  From The Rooms, we wandered Duckworth and Water Streets, checking out the shops.  Dinner was at Oliver's - the best for value so far on the trip.  We agree, we are done with the city.  Off to the Avalon.

Cape Spear - Still all bundled up - what can we say

Petty Harbour - the sun is coming out - well almost - yea!

We dawdled along the coast, checking out Bay Bulls, Witless Cove.  Joy has told us about a great hike into La Manche - a bridge and remains of a settlement.  The story goes that a rogue wave hit the coast many years ago, wiping out the bridge and settlement.  In 1966 the bridge was rebuilt, a very substantial swing bridge over the river emptying into the cove.

Swing Bridge at La Manche

We did two small parts of the famous East Coast Trail

Wednesday, June 29 dawns with sunny skies and warm winds.........and there is a kayaking outfit in Cape Broyal back up the coast that does trips.  We sign on and are scheduled for the 2:00 p.m. tour.  But before that, we head down to the Avalon Colony archeology dig and an extremely well done presentation.  Our guide takes a full hour to exlain the many dwellings on the site and we see 4 young people actually working on the dig, meticulously scraping dirt away from what is explained as a very large dwelling.  One brings down a very small clay pipe and hands it to our guide - found  just an hour ago.  A backhoe and dumptruck are hauling away the dirt excavated.  The truck driver gives us some stats - he has hauled 14 full loads of dirt and small rocks away from the site since last fall - all scraped and dusted by hand by the excavators.

Stan - kayak guide serving sea urchin - yummy

Kayaking at Cape Broyal

The kayak trip is a dream come true.  Blue skies and the bluest of seas (2nd. day with full sun on the trip).  There are 10 of us in 5 double kayaks - and 3 guides.  Along the way we are treated to the taste of fresh, raw sea urchin hand picked and presented by our guide - many star fish, a waterfall and then a crossing of the bay at the narrows to follow the north shore back.  There we are invited to take our boat - one at a time - up the 'devil's nostrils'.  It is actually 2 very long narrow caves extending in about 70 or 80 feet - side by each - hence the name.  We are instructed to stow our paddles under the bungie cords and use our hands to guide the boat in and back out.  Well......the surge of the sea did it for us .......pushing us at a pretty good speed in and then sucking us out real fast - the 'devil's nostrils sure had a good blow - and Kathy saw the most amazing fossil on the cave wall as she sped past - no time to stop and gaze.

Evenings at Shirley's B & B are a fun, sit around and have a drink and chat - kind of evening - with snacks brought out around 10 - Shirley's generosity and care will be remembered.

Meet Shirley and Sean Maher in Ferryland.  Ark of Avalon B & B.  Sean is a crab fisherman; he has a license to fish crab and is allowed out from April to Aug. At times he goes out 200 miles off shore.  The crab business is good this year - plentiful and good pricing.  There aren't any restaurants in the town that don't do deep fried something so we got our own dinner at Foodland and Shirley treated to ice cream and teabuns for dessert.  Breakfast was huge - bread pudding, 2 slices of toast, scambled egg, ham, yogurt.  "I'm used to feeding fishermen." is Shirley's response to our gasps, holding our stomachs after breakfast.  Lovely, generous Newfoundlander woman.  Shirley and Sean have 2 daughters and a son - one daughter is still close to home in Bay Bulls, their other daughter is in Cold Lake, AL, their son is apprenticing as a millright - wants to go west.  It is a different generation, the young people are migrating away from home - many west - to the lure of good money and more stimulation than they can find in a small fishing village.