Monday, 1 October 2012
Thursday 27th September 2012 St. John¹s Newfoundland, Canada: Who forgot to tell the Pilot we were leaving at 5.00pm?!! 3.5hrs BST
The Sail Away Party was in full swing, the Captain had announced that all were aboard and we were just waiting for the pilot. 5.00pm came and went, 5.15pm and still no sign of the ship departing. 5.30pm the Captain announced that the ship’s agent had forgotten to tell the pilot we were leaving this evening and so he had gone home!! It took another hour before another pilot could be found and he had a 40-minute drive to get to the port so in the end we left at 8.00pm with a none too pleased Captain and since it was dark by this time we were deprived of a spectacular sail out through ‘The Narrows’ entrance to St. John’s harbour.
As I write this last posting we are about halfway back across the North Atlantic with a Depression following us but not causing us too much trouble. On the whole an interesting cruise and I am still in love with Canada well at least the Maritime Provinces and British Columbia but with the exception of Quebec City I am not so keen to return to French Canada and certainly not to Montreal but I would still like to take the Trans-Canada train and see Toronto and Ottawa.Although everywhere we have been we have received a very warm welcome, and clearly the ports along the St Lawrence are working very hard to redevelop their economies away from pulp and paper making to tourism.
I must not forget that our journey began via Kinsale andthat has wetted my appetite to explore Ireland in more depth and in particular southern Ireland.
It is a pity we had to miss out so many ports to avoid the hurricane but better safe then sorry.
My most memorable image – the sail back past Quebec City on a sparking early autumn morning with the maples just beginning to show their autumn hues.
Thursday 27th September 2012 St. John¹s Newfoundland, Canada 3.5hrs BST
After a day at sea and a time adjustment of 30 minutes forward we arrived on another sunny morning in the harbour of St. John’s Newfoundland and not to be confused with Saint John Cape Breton. St. John’s is so named because is was discovered by the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) in 1497 on Saint John’s Day during a voyage commissioned by Henry VIII of England. Cabot described “a sea so full of fish that a basket thrown overboard is hauled back brimming with cod”.
St. John’s was claimed to be the British Empire’s first permanent settlement in North America by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and has remained an important commercial and fishing centre until last 20 years or so when amoratorium on cod fishing decimated this industry. There are still fishing vessels to be seen in the port but by far the most important economic activity today is support and servicing of the offshore oilrigs and of course tourism – St. John’s is a popular destination for cruise ships.
For one Russian cruise ship earlier this year it marked the last port of call. After inspection by the Canadian authorities it was condemned and the passengers it had arrived to pick up were turned away. It makes a forlorn site moored in the harbour waiting for its final fate.
St John’s is also where Marconi received the world’s first transatlantic wireless message in December 1901 at Signal Hill (See below) and from where the first non-stop transatlantic flight, piloted by Alcock and Brown, took off in 1919.
Our shore excursion this morning was to Signal Hill and Cape Spear – the most easterly point of North America.
The building of Cabot Tower at the top of Signal Hill began in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Cabot’s arrival. The Tower offers commanding views over the harbour entrance known as “The Narrows” (See photo), the open Atlantic and the city of St. John’s.
Cape Spear lies some 6 miles to the southeast of St. John’s and boasts an iconic lighthouse perched high on the majestic cliffs at thismost easterly point of North America. In fact there are two lighthouses here, the original built in 1836, the oldest in Newfoundland and now a museum and a new automated lighthouse added in 1955. A breezy but sunny climb up 200 steps – sensibly not tackled by Peg – was rewarded with magnificent views back towards Signal Hill and the town.
Our last visit this morning was to the pretty fishing community of Petty-Harbour set in a small cove around the headland from Cape Spear. It reminded me very much of Peggy’s Cove near Halifax – Nova Scotia and not Halifax England! – with its working fishing boats and piles of lobster traps (Again see a later photo posting).
I ventured out for a further exploration of St John’s after lunch. With its very steep roads it reminded me of Ushuaia. What it must be like to walk in the winter I shudder to think although the gulf stream combining with the Labrador Current give St. John’s a ‘slushy form of snow and a rather grey damp climate’ according our morning Guide. The town is characterised by Queen Anne style wooden houses set on the steep hills with gaily-coloured facades. The story is that fisherman painted the houses the same colour as their boats so that they could find them when returning home drunk! Well I have heard that said of many other places including Burano in the Venice Lagoon!!
Monday 24th September 2012 Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Canada: The Birthplace of the Confederation of Canada - 4hrs BST
The city of Charlottetown is known as the birthplace of the Confederation of Canada. Led by Sir John A Macdonald, reputed to be a ‘gin swilling Scot’ who became the first Prime Minister of Canada, the “Fathers of the Confederation” first met in 1864 in Province House in Charlottetown (See photo). Macdonald was said to have brought 150,000 bottles of champagne to the meeting – to oil the wheels perhaps? It took some three years until 1867 before the Dominion of Canada became a reality and the modern Canada of today was not completed until British Columbia (BC) joined in 1871 and later still Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 1873. BC only agreed to join on the promise of rail link to join Montreal and Vancouver. The first train between these two cities ran on the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1886. For those interested in reading more about this railroad read my Grand Alaska Blog at http://terry-grandalaska.blogspot.co.uk/
Named in honour of Queen Charlotte of England the town was incorporated as a city in 1855. Today Charlottetown is the smallest provincial capital in Canada with a population of 30,000.
Tuesday 25th September 2012 Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada: Peg Goes on the Fiddle! - 4hrs BST
Founded in 1785 by Col. J.F.W. DesBarres, Sydney was first settled by Loyalists from New York State, who were followed 20 years later by immigrants from the Scottish Highlands. At the end of the 1700’s this area of Cape Breton became an industrial centre with the consolidation of several coal mines and the establishment of the Dominion Steel & Coal Company. Today this steel plant is the largest in North America and with a population of 26,000, Sydney – often called ‘Steel City” - is the largest city in Nova Scotia.
The Italian Inventor Guglielimo Marconi spent several years in Cape Breton setting up 3 transatlantic wireless stations. On the 15th December 1902 the first transatlantic wireless message was sent to England. Although claimed by the Italians, Marconi was bankrolled by the British and of course went on to establish the Marconi group of companies in the UK.
Cape Breton was also home to Graham Alexander Bell a Scot, best known for his invention of the telephone but also for his significant contributions in the fields of medicine, aeronautics, marine engineering, sound and speech transmission. In collaboration with others he assisted with the design of the ‘Silver Dart” aeroplane in 1907 and the HD-4 Hydrofoil which set a world water speed record in 1919. Bell is reputed to have said, “I have travelled the globe. I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps and the highlands ofScotland, but for simple beauty, Cape Breton rivals them all.”
Unfortunately we were unable to visit either of the museums connected with these two great inventors since of course we had been scheduled to visit Sydney on our outward journey. Our call today coincided with the visit of the Veendam - a Holland America ship (A small block of flats really) - that I last saw in the Ushuaia, Argentina in November 2011 and as a consequence there were insufficient busses to put on the tours programme. Since we were also at anchor, and would have to be tendered ashore, Peg and I spent a relaxing morning on board listening to the mutterings and moans of fellow passengers about the time they had to wait to board tender, taking an early lunch and walking straight on to a shore bound tender for our stroll round Sydney once more in sparkling sunshine. It proved to be a quaint city of colourful wooden houses with their steep roofs, dormer windows and verandas – it made me feel quite homesick for my own cedar shingle home!
We wandered into a church hall where a local handicraft group had set up stalls. Some wonderful knitwear and a 2 by 3 metre quilt made up of squares depicting American Lighthouses. I spoke to the lady who had made this quilt and she told me it had taken two-and-a-half years! We also found some jewellery made from the local coal. To achieve this the coal is ground and mixed with a resin that can then be poured into pewter pendent or bracelet moulds. Peg found a delightful pendent made from this material which we purchased and which she has worn a number of times since – a perfect souvenir of her visit to Nova Scotia.
Monday 24th September 2012 Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Canada: Peg Tackles a Mooey Gooey PEI Strawberry Ice Cream - 4hrs BST
If there I one thing Peg adores, it is a good ice cream. I could make an album of photos I have taken in Italy and Mediterranean of Peg enjoying her favourite treat – well after chocolate éclairs!!
There is a famous dairy and creamery on PEI appropriately called ‘Cows’ that produces exotic ice cream with flavours such as ‘toffee with sea salt’ and textures such as ‘Mooey-Gooey’. The queue was almost out of the door since I think the entire complement of passengers and crew of the Balmoral were determined to savour one of these delights before returning to the ship. Patience was, however, rewarded, although signs of a mutiny erupted as the last portion of Gooey-Mooey was dispensed (!) but thank goodness the supplies of strawberry – and not just strawberry but PEI strawberries – ice cream did not run out before Peg and I reached the head of the queue.
It made for a fitting end to a wonderful day in this lovely part of the world.
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