Cape Spear, Quidi Vidi, embarcation

11 July 2012.
In the morning we visited Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America. The lighthouse was built in 1832 and is a National Historic site.

Me at Cape Spear.

The Cape Spear lighthouse.

Then Signal Hill (where fishermen's wives watched for their men returning home, sometimes after months at sea), and the historical fishing village of Quidi Vidi (pronounced "kiddy") with its tiny harbour with sheds and stages on the side of a cliff.

We were supposed to embark on the R.V. Akademik Ioffe (a Russian polar research vessel used mainly for expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic these days) at 3:30 pm, but Transport Canada were doing an inspection, there would be a delay. They came in clean overalls and before they left the overalls were dirty - everything was checked. Two hours later we were told we had to carry our bags individually onto the ship where they would be searched for explosives and handguns by the crew. (Normally the bags would be loaded by cargo net.) What was going on? One Ocean who chartered the ship had never had to do this before, and the previous voyage was a circumnavigation of Newfoundland starting and ending in St. John's. 

Transport Canada staff stood by and watched while One Ocean staff inexpertly searched our bags. At last we reached our cabins and could unpack. We were told later that Customs wanted to charge duty on all the alcohol on board, several thousand dollars. Instead OO put it into bond and rented a truck to pick up booze for our trip at the local liquor store. Finally someone had to go to the airport by taxi to collect a certificate of compliance as the marine agent had gone home for the night. It was dark before we left the harbour. Civility and good humour were maintained throughout. 

Rumour had it that Russia had treated a Canadian ship in a similar manner and this was retaliation - but the passengers and charter company was Canadian, so it was Canadians who were inconvenienced by this bureaucratic hoo-ha. (André S. suggests that the search was done in order to meet the more stringent requirements of the Security Compliance Certificate and we had a Coast Guard inspector who wanted overtime for that day - sounds possible.)
It didn't end there - having visited St Pierre (France), we had to "go through" Customs at Woody Point, Gros Morne, on our "return" to Canada. 

Harry and Helen Hope are the first allowed to the gangway. Chris carries the heavy bags.

Leaving the dock.

St. John's Newfoundland

I flew from Ottawa to St. John's on Sunday 8th July, arriving after 11 pm local time (Newfoundland is 1.5 hours ahead of Ottawa).
On Monday, 9 July, I walked along Water Street investigating the shops, and then up Signal Hill Road to the Johnson Geo Centre. This is a geological museum, appropriately carved out of the rocks of Signal Hill, built underground with exposed rock walls. The geology of Newfoundland and Labrador tells the story of the history of the earth, with the oldest rocks in the world (a team of geologists from the University of Tokyo has just found 4 billion year old rocks in the Torngat Mountains, older than the previous 3.8 billion year old rocks found at Gros Morne). What a fascinating museum.

The Geo Centre also included a gallery on oil and gas exploration off Newfoundland, named the Exxon Mobil gallery (Newfoundland's fortunes have risen with the Hibernia oil field, located 315 km east of St. John's), and a gallery on the Titanic story, described as not being about an iceberg so much as about the greed of the owner of White Star, the lack of training of the crew and the lack of lifeboats.

I walked back to the hotel by way of Commissariat House (1820); Government House (1831) home of the Lieutenant Governor, John Crosbie (the cod moratorium fisheries minister);  and the Anglican Cathedral (1847, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott), where church ladies were serving much-needed tea in the crypt.

View of St John's harbour from Signal Hill

The R.V. Akademik Ioffe is moored between the red Coast Guard icebreaker and a tall ship.

On the front page of today's The Telegram (St. John's) was a story about the 7 July launch in Trinity Bay of a 44-foot, two masted schooner, built by 82-year-old Henry Vokey. Apparently small boats are now used for "hunting turrs" or a bit of cod fishing. Turrs are Common murres ("Guillemots" in Britain), members of the auk (Alcid) family.