Newfoundland 2003

Tuesday 8^th July

We leave late Tuesday night and fly all night for a family wedding on Wednesday. I buy a diary at PDX and we have enough time to have supper in the Rose City Café. Fiasco with the San Pelligrino, but they knock if off the bill. Long line for the gate but security moves quickly. We board the Horizon Air crop-duster and have a very quick flight with spectacular views over Mount St Helens. Vancouver Airport is empty, there is no one in line for immigration very unusual. Everything is shut up tighter than a drum except Burger King and Starbucks which closes at 10:30. We have tea and write postcards. The last legs between Vancouver and Toronto and Toronto and St John's pass in a sleep deprived haze.

Wednesday 9^th July 21

The wedding was fantastic. Gorgeous bride, handsome groom, short ceremony, good food and plenty to drink. They don't come much better than that. Lots of local flavor and one or two customs new to us. A good time is had by all. Exhaustion catches up with us and we collapse in the room before the dancing starts.

Thursday 10^th July

Rental car fiasco with Hertz I shall write to The Times about it!! Found stamps in a mini-mart while we wait for noon to roll round and our weekend rental rate to kick in. We start at the main shopping area in Downtown St. Johns, Duckworth Street and Water Street. They have some trendy interior stores, mainly for the tourists who come off the cruise ships, which dock in the bay.  I love Attica and Alchemy (the woodwork interior is authentic Im told), but avoid The Weavery as they sell seal-skin slippers. We decide on a brunch of fish and chips, which we buy at Chuckys on John Street and take  to Signal Hill and eat them overlooking the ocean idyllic! The fish is fantastic, I was hoping to have some Atlantic cod again, but was not sure Id get it as the cod fisheries have just closed. Kerry has a caribou burger as the chip shop (and restaurant) also specialized in game meats. The chips are the best Ive ever tasted on the North American continent!!! Cabot Tower at Signal Hill is where Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic radio signal. As a tribute I test my cell phone signal its perfect. It was a beautiful clear sunny day, but incredibly windy.

We tour Cabot Tower and admire the 270 degree view from the top of St John's, it is breath-taking.!!!! We stay for the military tattoo, which is beautifully executed and includes, marching and drilling as well as firing the muskets and canons. We capture it all on film. Afterwards we try to get to Cape Spear, which we were told to visit on a clear day, and as the weather seemed very changeable, we thought wed best do it while we could. But we can't find the road to take us there and end up on the other side of the coast at Conception Bay!! We drive back to St John's and visit Quidi Vidi Village (pronounced Kiddy Viddy), a fishing village, which could have been in North Wales. That night we have Mexican food with the family at Zapatas. Kerry has the cod (pescado). I'm jealous.

Friday 11^th July

We are up early shopping for gifts and souvenirs in traditional Kerry and Maria style. We have breakfast at the A&W, although we had originally planned to have breakfast at the local chain of Tim Hortons but neither of us fancied doughnuts. We buy Screech (Newfie rum), local books, maps and I find coveted French cosmetics. Despite two days married, Kelly and Krista take us to Cape Spear, and the road being squirrelly, I'm not sure we would have found it by ourselves, our mapmaker seemed to have not been sober that day he made our map. The day was clear again and even better than the one previously as the wind had dropped. Cape Spear reminded me much of The Lizard in Cornwall, especially its description of the Cape in the fog!! This is the most easterly point in North America, and I feel closer to England already. If possible the view here is more breathtaking than at Signal Hill. What made it really special was that a pod of humpback whales were feeding in the bay and we saw them flapping tails and fins as well as blowing and surfacing. Very memorable. We drive back to Quidi Vidi Village Krista explains about the local battle of the locals of Quidi Vidi and a view spoilt by developers. We stop and buy souvenirs at the brewery. They kindly give me a free poster. That evening we went out to hear the live music on George Street, There are 27 bars on George Street and nearly every bar has live music on a Friday night.

Saturday 11^th July

We visit a tea shop in Portugal Cove, with Greg and Karen Snow and their daughter Daria who are now new members of our family. Karen is Krista's sister.  Tea By The Sea is owned by one of the wedding guests and a family friend. The scones are so big we can only manage one each and the Partridgeberry jam (which is the same as the Swedish Lingon berry) is homemade. Overlooking the cove and I was once again reminded of Cornwall. Good job we saw Cape Spear the day before because the weather was grey and rainy, but very atmospheric, maybe that's why it reminded me of Cornwall. We were told that the ferry to Bell Island, which leaves from Portugal Cove, was on the tickle. I thought mean it was on the blink, but apparently The Tickle is the stretch of water between the cove and the island. We are also lucky enough to get a mini tour of the architecture of Downtown St John's from Greg and Karen. Things like this you can't buy.

That evening the whole family are invited to dinner at a local hotel, The Battery, close to Signal Hill. There were at least 18 of us. Kerry has the set menu of fish and brewis, seal flipper pie and figgy duff, and to be honest, it looked awful. I had cod. We said goodbye to everyone and went back to pack.

Sunday

We left early to catch our flight at 8:45 at St John's which is s nice airport. Air Canada are slow Kelly and Krista who were supposed to have left a lot earlier were still in the ticket line. Our flight was delayed by the thorough security, they search every corner of my Jo Malone in-flight bag, but miss the matches Kerry had forgotten in his carry on, later found by Toronto security. This made us late for our next flight. The whole homebound trip was ruined by 1) my linen drawstring trousers, busting their drawstring. I had to tuck the trousers into the waistband of my drawers and hope they held. Note to self, buy a rugged denim or canvas skirt to travel in. 2) I got stuck in the middle seat of the middle aisle not once but twice and when the person in front reclines they are in your lap. 3) We were delayed and not sure if we'd make it home on Sunday. All in all a fabulous trip and now we are throwing around the idea of buying a  holiday home in St John's which we could have as a Jeffrey family vacation base and entertain friends and relatives from the UK as there is a direct flight from London to St John's. Food for thought..