Brightly Coloured Row Houses
Sunday - September 2, 2007
It was pretty well overcast and drizzly when we woke up this morning but the sun eventually came out although the temperature never got above 15, and the wind was brutal today.
We decided today would be a good day to do the Rooms which is a new building that was opened in 2005 and has Museums, Archives and Art Galleries in it. We got there about 11:30 and found out it doesn’t open until noon on Sundays, fortunately there was a Tim’s right beside it so we went for a coffee until it opened (all this was after we found the place – what a horrible city to find your way around!). The Rooms (I wonder why they couldn’t have come up with a better name for the place) had some very interesting and nice displays, we quite enjoyed touring it and the price was right - $4 for seniors. It was from The Rooms that Canada AM did their broadcast in June and I can see why they were talking about the lovely view – I will post some pictures of the harbour taken from the top floor of The Rooms.
The Tim’s we went to has to have the best location we have ever seen – it is between the main Fire Station and Police Department!
After that we drove through St. John’s and Quidi Vidi – I will never complain about trying to drive in K/W again as it is a breeze compared to here. We wanted to stop at the Hops Shop at the Quidi Vidi Brewery and get a mixed 6 pack but the parking lot looked full (it was a long downhill driveway) and I could see a CLOSED sign so we didn’t bother trying to maneuver the driveway and parking lot, hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday we will have better luck. Have I mentioned that like most other places the roads here are very narrow, there are a lot of steep hills and the street signs are almost non-existent. Lots of fun!
We found a TD bank (the first TD we have seen since leaving Ontario) so I got some cash which hopefully will do us for a while, usually it isn’t a problem getting cash back at the grocery store, but at one point I couldn’t do that and ended up paying fees to do a withdrawl from the Scotia Bank so I thought I would try to avoid that again. Anyways, today was another nice day on the Rock!
We decided today would be a good day to do the Rooms which is a new building that was opened in 2005 and has Museums, Archives and Art Galleries in it. We got there about 11:30 and found out it doesn’t open until noon on Sundays, fortunately there was a Tim’s right beside it so we went for a coffee until it opened (all this was after we found the place – what a horrible city to find your way around!). The Rooms (I wonder why they couldn’t have come up with a better name for the place) had some very interesting and nice displays, we quite enjoyed touring it and the price was right - $4 for seniors. It was from The Rooms that Canada AM did their broadcast in June and I can see why they were talking about the lovely view – I will post some pictures of the harbour taken from the top floor of The Rooms.
The Tim’s we went to has to have the best location we have ever seen – it is between the main Fire Station and Police Department!
After that we drove through St. John’s and Quidi Vidi – I will never complain about trying to drive in K/W again as it is a breeze compared to here. We wanted to stop at the Hops Shop at the Quidi Vidi Brewery and get a mixed 6 pack but the parking lot looked full (it was a long downhill driveway) and I could see a CLOSED sign so we didn’t bother trying to maneuver the driveway and parking lot, hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday we will have better luck. Have I mentioned that like most other places the roads here are very narrow, there are a lot of steep hills and the street signs are almost non-existent. Lots of fun!
We found a TD bank (the first TD we have seen since leaving Ontario) so I got some cash which hopefully will do us for a while, usually it isn’t a problem getting cash back at the grocery store, but at one point I couldn’t do that and ended up paying fees to do a withdrawl from the Scotia Bank so I thought I would try to avoid that again. Anyways, today was another nice day on the Rock!
Saturday - September 1, 2007
Today we woke up to an overcast sky so decided to take it easy. This afternoon we went out shopping, we found two large malls so got our fill of wandering around stores. I got a new pant suit for fall but that was about all. When we went out this afternoon it was very foggy, we couldn’t even see Signal Hill for the fog so we were glad we hadn’t decided to do the Irish Loop as it wouldn’t have been a good day for it. The park here is so well treed we couldn’t see the fog until we got out of the park.
After the malls we stopped at Sobey’s and when we came out it was reallly pouring so John ran for the truck and picked me up out front. We stopped at the library and did the computer stuff after that and by the time we got back it had pretty well stopped raining. All in all it was a quiet day but nice.
After the malls we stopped at Sobey’s and when we came out it was reallly pouring so John ran for the truck and picked me up out front. We stopped at the library and did the computer stuff after that and by the time we got back it had pretty well stopped raining. All in all it was a quiet day but nice.
Friday - August 31, 2007
Boy, it’s hard to believe that summer is over and the kids will be back to school on Tuesday, I know Cara is looking forward to starting high school and Derrick said he doesn’t mind going back, but I haven’t talked to Brent to see if he is ready to go back. I am sure Kel & Pat wish they had more summer before having to return to teaching!
Today was another beauty so we headed for Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America. The lighthouse and light keeper’s home there have been restored back to the time it was built in 1835 and the furnishings in the house are lovely. The attendant there said that the lighthouse keeper made about $70,000/year in today’s wages, so they were very well off and usually had much nicer household furniture, dishes etc. than the normal person at that time. It would be a very lonely, isolated life so I guess that is why they were paid so well. We had a long walk (over 200 steps) up to the lighthouse then we took another path along the edge of the cliff back down – very pretty.
From there we drove down to Bay Bulls, with at stop at Petty Harbour for lunch, then drove across to Conception Bay to take the Admiral’s Trail along the coast, that was a disappointing drive as it didn’t really go into the coves, just through the built up areas, so we are hoping the Irish Loop will be nicer when we do that.
When we got back we stopped at the library but it had closed and won’t be open until Tuesday. Fortunately, we could get the signal in the truck so I managed to update my blog, check e-mail etc.
Today was another beauty so we headed for Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America. The lighthouse and light keeper’s home there have been restored back to the time it was built in 1835 and the furnishings in the house are lovely. The attendant there said that the lighthouse keeper made about $70,000/year in today’s wages, so they were very well off and usually had much nicer household furniture, dishes etc. than the normal person at that time. It would be a very lonely, isolated life so I guess that is why they were paid so well. We had a long walk (over 200 steps) up to the lighthouse then we took another path along the edge of the cliff back down – very pretty.
From there we drove down to Bay Bulls, with at stop at Petty Harbour for lunch, then drove across to Conception Bay to take the Admiral’s Trail along the coast, that was a disappointing drive as it didn’t really go into the coves, just through the built up areas, so we are hoping the Irish Loop will be nicer when we do that.
When we got back we stopped at the library but it had closed and won’t be open until Tuesday. Fortunately, we could get the signal in the truck so I managed to update my blog, check e-mail etc.
Thursday - August 30, 2007
We certainly aren’t complaining about the weather this week, it has been gorgeous. Today we drove around St. John’s – what a confusing place to find your way around! We drove through Quidi Vidi Village then went to Signal Hill and the Cabot Tower, what a beautiful view of the city, the harbour and out into the Atlantic. While at the Tower we met Stephane Dion, got to shake hands and have a brief chat with him, did we get to chat with the next Prime Minister??
We then toured the Signal Hill Visitor Centre, they had a very interesting film on the history of St. John’s and the part Signal Hill has played in its history since the mid 1700’s. From there we drove through the downtown area – what a busy place and the streets are very narrow so it makes for interesting maneuvering at times!
We came back and I did laundry here at the park – it cost $13.50 to wash and dry 3 loads! After I finished the laundry we drove out to Torbay, then did a loop up the peninsula to Pouch Cove and then came back through Portugal Cove, St. Phillip’s and Paradise. When we got back we found a Swiss Chalet so had dinner there then stopped at a large Dominion, which is the same as our Super Centres at home, and picked up a couple of groceries.
We are finding a lot of traffic here, we have got quite used to the quiet roads on the rest of the island and it is hard to get used to all the traffic again.
We then toured the Signal Hill Visitor Centre, they had a very interesting film on the history of St. John’s and the part Signal Hill has played in its history since the mid 1700’s. From there we drove through the downtown area – what a busy place and the streets are very narrow so it makes for interesting maneuvering at times!
We came back and I did laundry here at the park – it cost $13.50 to wash and dry 3 loads! After I finished the laundry we drove out to Torbay, then did a loop up the peninsula to Pouch Cove and then came back through Portugal Cove, St. Phillip’s and Paradise. When we got back we found a Swiss Chalet so had dinner there then stopped at a large Dominion, which is the same as our Super Centres at home, and picked up a couple of groceries.
We are finding a lot of traffic here, we have got quite used to the quiet roads on the rest of the island and it is hard to get used to all the traffic again.
Wednesday, - August 29, 2007
Well, we are now on the last leg of our trip to Newfoundland – we arrived in St. John’s this afternoon and will be here until next Wednesday when we head to Argentia to catch the ferry on Thursday morning.
Today was a gorgeous day and it is warming up – it was about mid 70’s today. At Outside Pond Park they have a boardwalk up a quite high hill with a gazebo and lookout at the top so we walked up there this morning (we were waiting for a really nice morning to do it). There are also a couple of other boardwalks, one to the lake and one to an island in the lake which has a gazebo on it. This park certainly is lovely and the boardwalks would have been quite an undertaking, I imagine they got big time provincial grants to do the park and boardwalks and it would be covered under the tourism industry, which I think is very big here.
The view was fantastic from the top of the hill and we could see the Hauser homes from there, they are perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking Trinity Bay – I bet they have a wonderful view! John saw a whale surface once but then we couldn’t see it again – darn.
We got away about 12:30 and had a good drive to St. John’s, it was only about 145 km so not too far. We got in and set up and all around us are Airstreams, I guess we finally caught up with the caravan that left from New Brunswick in early July. After we got set up I went down to pay and asked about wi-fi, the fellow said there is a communications centre in the park but I would need my visa card to use it but he also said the library is only a couple of blocks away. He gave me directions and a map to the library so I headed there and managed to get my blog updated and pictures posted. It took me well over an hour to do it as I hadn’t done it since last Friday but it is now done again.
Now that I know where the library is we can stop in there easily and try to keep up to date with the blog, that way it doesn’t take so long to do. John washed down the trailer and windows and cleaned the bathroom while I was gone and is now washing the truck – it certainly needed it. I checked the laundry here and it is $2.50 to wash and $2 to dry – seems quite pricey so I think I will check out a laundromat elsewhere and see what their prices are.
Now we hope this nice weather continues for us for the next week.
Today was a gorgeous day and it is warming up – it was about mid 70’s today. At Outside Pond Park they have a boardwalk up a quite high hill with a gazebo and lookout at the top so we walked up there this morning (we were waiting for a really nice morning to do it). There are also a couple of other boardwalks, one to the lake and one to an island in the lake which has a gazebo on it. This park certainly is lovely and the boardwalks would have been quite an undertaking, I imagine they got big time provincial grants to do the park and boardwalks and it would be covered under the tourism industry, which I think is very big here.
The view was fantastic from the top of the hill and we could see the Hauser homes from there, they are perched on the edge of the cliff overlooking Trinity Bay – I bet they have a wonderful view! John saw a whale surface once but then we couldn’t see it again – darn.
We got away about 12:30 and had a good drive to St. John’s, it was only about 145 km so not too far. We got in and set up and all around us are Airstreams, I guess we finally caught up with the caravan that left from New Brunswick in early July. After we got set up I went down to pay and asked about wi-fi, the fellow said there is a communications centre in the park but I would need my visa card to use it but he also said the library is only a couple of blocks away. He gave me directions and a map to the library so I headed there and managed to get my blog updated and pictures posted. It took me well over an hour to do it as I hadn’t done it since last Friday but it is now done again.
Now that I know where the library is we can stop in there easily and try to keep up to date with the blog, that way it doesn’t take so long to do. John washed down the trailer and windows and cleaned the bathroom while I was gone and is now washing the truck – it certainly needed it. I checked the laundry here and it is $2.50 to wash and $2 to dry – seems quite pricey so I think I will check out a laundromat elsewhere and see what their prices are.
Now we hope this nice weather continues for us for the next week.
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