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Saturday 7 July 2012

Newfoundland

Good morning ya'll


I am on holidays...Yippee and writing to you from a rainy St. John's Newfoundland.  It is stunningly beautiful here.  There is so much history and character to this little town that it has captivated my heart.  The people are friendly, their accents endearing, they are laid back, relaxed yet efficient, their food all deep fried but yummy and the landscape...
BREATHTAKING.


I fell in love with the jelly bean houses.  One of the cab drivers told me that the boats in St. John's were their number one priority since they fished for a living.  They would paint their boats different bright colours so they were easily recognized from land.  Whatever paint was left over would go on their houses and voila...



...from the boat

We toured Signal Hill, where Marconi first received a trans-Atlantic signal.  The view was spectacular.


I loved this lighthouse

behind Sergio is a fresh water pond that goes sooo deep no one has been ever to measure it...they put down a 1500 meter cable at one point and still didn't touch the bottom





The people of St. John's love their pubs.  There is a famous George Street. The street is closed to all motor vehicles except for the police.  At 10:30 each evening every pub has a live band playing and the pub lined street is filled with people drinking, dancing and having a great time. 









 We had a great evening and we even had their famous screech.  It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  In fact I kind of liked it...way better than grappa that's for sure.   A few years back in the history books, Jamaica would trade their rum for fish from Newfoundland and the rum became part of their culture.  








My most favourite part of the trip was the whale watching.  I even got to drive the boat through the narrows.  





We went with a small group with two great guys Trevor and Jason (Dee Jay Charters) that talked about history... pirates, dead man's coves,  told us about all the birds and fish in the area and finally these amazing men brought us to the fin whales.  The next pictures are the best ones that I could capture with the waves throwing us around on the boat and only their backs coming to the surface.










This was the most exciting thing I have ever experienced on the ocean!!  They surrounded us for at least an hour.  Four beautiful, majestic 90 foot fin whales playing peek-a-boo with us..in my glory!!! 



For pics of other whales and iceburgs go to this website
http://www.deejaycharters.ca/photo_gallery.html



On the way back we got a great look at Cape Spear...the most easterly point in North America.  The light house there was stunning.




Thank you to my son Mykel for taking care of my muffins on the farm so I was able to enjoy this unforgettable experience.


So long from Newfoundland folks.  I'll catch ya'll up on the farm when I get back.



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