Well, it’s the very last day of my trip, with a few hours before my flight home, and it is gray and raining in St. John’s.  But, yesterday was beautiful!  Very warm and sunny with a blue sky and lots of happy tourists and locals strolling around downtown.  Thank you St. John’s!

Immediately after checking in at Memorial University, I took a bus to downtown and then up to Signal Hill which has been the site of St. John’s harbour defences from the mid 1600s up to the second World War.  I was too tired to read all of the signs and take in much of anything, but I was surprised to learn that a decisive battle for control of North America took place here in 1762 between French and British forces.  Of course, Signal Hill is also famous as the place where Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless communication in 1901.  Cabot tower, which now stands on Signal Hill, was built in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landfall in 1497.

I was more interested in just taking in the views of St. John’s harbour and city, and in searching the blue Atlantic for signs of whales or icebergs.  None were there to be spotted, but the horizon was a deep blue line full of possibilities.

From the top of Signal Hill, I walked down to the little cove and village of Qidi Vidi.  It was a very quiet and peacful walk down, though I was conscious that the trip back up would be strenuous!  Here are some pictures of my walk to Qidi Vidi, and then of the cove itself.

 

After taking my pictures, I started to feel quite tired, as well as hot, so rather than walk back up and over Signal Hill, I begged a ride back to town from a young couple, both teachers from Winnipeg.  They let me off on one of the hillside streets, a few blocks above Water Street, and I had a fun time looking at, and taking pictures, of the colourful and historic houses of St. John’s.

 

 

I was rapidly running out of steam, so I walked into the cool and silent sanctuary of the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and I rested for a few moments, enjoying the high Gothic arches and the stained glass windows.  Somewhat rejuventated, I headed back out into the warm afternoon and walked the few more blocks to downtown to find George Street, famous for its row of pubs where tourists get “screeched in” and become honourary Newfoundlanders by drinking screech and kissing a frozen codfish.  Many of the pubs had a very Irish pedigree!

 

 

Finally, I walked the last block down to the harbour and saw this enormous fishing boat!  I had no idea they came this big.  Fishing on an industrial scale.  No wonder there are few fish left in the sea!

Here are some other pictures from the harbour in St.  John’s, and then looking across to the entrance of the harbour, called “the narrows”, and to Signal Hill.  I think the big orange ships, Atlantic Raven and Atlantic Eagle, are fishing vessels as well.

Now, I was really quite tired.  It was only 4 p.m. Newfoundland time, but I’d been up since 5:00 a.m. Irish time, nineteen and a half hours earlier.  So, I caught the bus back to the university, had a quick food court supper at the university centre building, and then retired to my room.  I thought I would blog last evening, but I had trouble staying awake, so  I gave in to sleep and slept for a good 10 hours.

Now, after a quiet morning, it’s almost time to head to the airport.  Thank you very much to everyone who has been following my journey through this blog.  Thank you for reading, and thank you so much for your supportive comments.  Until the next adventure, then.

All the best,

Christine