Back on “da rock”

Good Afternoon every one. I am coming to you live and in color from beautiful St. John’s Newfoundland. 

 I had full intentions of posting a couple post overseas blogs to chat about travel essentials, planning etc however like always, the intentions were there but the drive was not. I apologize as it’s been a hectic couple months since I came home from the fall travel adventure. That being said, I am in the middle of travel once again, this time for Christmas. 

 I arrived in St John’s Saturday at noon after a red eye flight out from Edmonton via Montreal. I am please to say that every thing was on time and the flights themselves were quite nice but extremely tiring. I did fly business again this time for the extra room and amenities however it didn’t make up for the fact that I can’t really get an actual sleep on a plane. I was high on adreneline by the time I touched down in St. John’s. I collected my bags, picked up my rental vehicle and headed downtown to my hotel. I then crashed for a couple hours before becoming mobile again. 

 I would like to take a moment and give a traveling newf endorsement to this hotel. I am staying at the Alt hotel on Water street and I am extremely impressed with its tech. I walk in my room and there is a touch screen where I can operate all lighting, temps control, blinds, and more. I can touch the “please make up room” or “ Do not disturb” function and it will light up outside my door what I would like. There is also touch screens by the bed where I can open/close blinds, reading lights, temps etc as well. It is quite impressive. The room itself is also nice with a view of the harbour and is close to everything downtown. I can see both the harbour and water street from my room depending on the window I use. There is also a nice terrace out back where you get a full on view of the harbour, Signal Hill and all the ships. I have a affinity for port cities and St Johns is atop that list. The room doesn’t have a fridge or microwave which is unusual these days but they did deliver a mini fridge to my room upon request. There is a parking garage but for some reason, it isn’t included in the room price. Aside from that, great hotel and I get it my thumbs up! Moving on…

 It has been a very busy couple days here in the capital. Although tired, I did do quite a bit of running around on my first evening/night. As I always do, I went for a drive to Torbay to see some family members old homestead. Although they haven’t lived there for many many years, I still like to drive by the house on Motion lane. I know it may sound a little odd to do that but I have so many wonderful memories attached to that house so I always feel the need to see it when I’m in the area. The area has changed so much now but the house looks the same, just a different color. From there, the next stop at the Mary Browns at the Avalon Mall food court. My favourite spot! After a great feed, I went to up to Signal hill to get some shots of the city at night. It was freezing cold, and windy, but I did capture a nice shot of the city. From there it was off to Bowring Park to see the Christmas lights. I go there every year as they really put on a nice display. I also checked out some Christmas lights on some houses in the King William Estates area of town and they did not disappoint! I ended the evening with a walk up and down Water Street and Harbour Drive. For those who haven’t been, downtown St Johns is very reminiscent of a European city. It is alway nice to walk around, look at the window displays and listen to the street musicians throughout the area. Of course world famous George St is just around the corner as well. 

 Yesterday morning was an early start as I needed to accomplish what I came here to do. That being to get some Christmas shopping done before I head across the province to home tomorrow. I started with Costco….yes…..Costco on a Sunday……before Christmas! I popped some invisible valium and headed into the storm. I met up with my cousin Pam there so we could storm the trenches together. It was an experience navigating the thousands of people with a giant Costco shopping cart…each! However it was as we expected so we forged on. The only advice I can give Costco, perhaps don’t have your Zamboni machine plowing through people during the busiest time of the week and year! Surely that could wait til after hours! On an unexpected bright note, I did run into an old friend and classmate Angela Decker which was a wonderful surprise. We chatted briefly however she was on her way out to catch the Fogo Island Ferry so we kept it short. Hopefully I’ll run into her again out home. 

 After escaping Costco feeling torn and tattered, we had a nice lunch and did some more shopping around the city. When Pam and I get together we revert back to kids and everything becomes funny and an adventure. It is always much needed escape from reality. Every where was busy but it did have a nice Christmas feel to it. Something that is often lacking in Christmas these days. 

 Another thing I made a point to accomplish while in St Johns was to visit my Aunt Mabel who is currently in hospital here in town. She is always one of my first stops on the island when I visit home. I always go for a tea at Aunt Mabes! She has been dealing with a some health issues as of late and is currently here in town. Pam and I paid her a nice visit before supper. Cousin Paula (her daughter) was there with her as well. It was a nice visit and another reminder as to why I come home twice a year now. My family is aging and things are changing.  It is very important to spend the time I can with them. 

 After the hospital visit, we went for a nice dinner at Kelseys where we ate too much and laughed about it. The waiter must of thought we were somewhere mid way down on the spectrum but we did leave him a nice tip for his service. From there, I drove Pam back to her vehicle as she left it parked at Costco, and then called it a night. I headed back to my hotel and relaxed for a bit before bed. 

Today set forth another busy day. I had an early start as I needed to do a little running around before the mandatory site seeing later. As always, I headed up Signal Hill to get some pics. It was very windy and cold but I stayed long enough to watch a ship go through the narrows. Then it was a bee line for the car and its heat!  Another spot I like to go is Quidi Vidi village. Nice little picturesque spot on the end of St Johns. I recommend a stop here for any one visiting the area however they have closed off a lot of the parking for some reason so there aren’t many places to park now. By this time, I was feeling peckish so I headed to Mary Browns again for a snack. It turned out to be an interesting experience as the cashier clearly understand my name and the receipt said my name was “dents”. I don’t know any one named dents but the order guy yelled out “order for dents” in front of a crowd of people. Ahh well……It was delicious also that’s all that matters. 

 As it was already into the afternoon by then, I headed off for the drive over to Cape Spear. Although I have been there many times, I made it a point to go there this trip specifically for the reason that 6 months earlier I had been to Tofino BC, the most westerly point in Canada. Cape Spear is the most easterly point in Canada, and actually North America. Now I am able to say I was at the most westerly and the most easterly points in Canada within a few months or each other. Nothing particularly special about that but I just wanted to be able to say it. It was a nice sunny afternoon but fairly windy but then again, it’s often windy there given its location. It’s winter, although it doesn’t look like it, so there wasn’t many people there. I was able to get some good pics without waiting for others to move out of the shot. 

 Since I had dinner plans with cousin April and Jamie, I headed back to the hotel for a little bit to relax and write this and another blog I am working on. April, Jamie and I met up at Montana’s and enjoyed a nice meal and conversation. Always nice to meet up with them. After we parted way, I headed to cousin Pams place in CBS for tea. That concluded my last day in St. John’s. 

 This morning I got up early, packed up and then recalled my Tetris skills as I packed up the rental SUV. A full load already and I still have to stop in Paradise to pick up a package from Pam and again in Whitbourne to pick up a package from her sister Kim. Hopefully from there its a non eventful drive out to Gander where I will meet up with my parents, return the rental and head on with them. We are staying at my uncles in Lewisporte for the night and then off the final trek out to the Fogo Island tomorrow. Fingers crossed at least one of the ferries are running. 

 In a nutshell, that has been my past couple days. I will write again on the island but for now I bid you adieu. Thank you for checking in and we will chat again soon. Cheers from St. John’s.