Wednesday 3 June. Bona Vista

What a fantastic day!! The sun shone all day and it was quite mild. We had one main aim for the day and that was to see puffins but we also knew that there was an iceberg in the same area and as we drove into Elliston, Lorraine spotted the iceberg. Yay! Our first iceberg! Around the bay and through more roadworks and we came to the car park for the puffin viewing, which turned out to be puffin and iceberg viewing.

The sign welcoming people to Elliston announces that it is the root cellar capital of the world. Turns out that there are more than 130 root cellars in the area many of which are still used to keep potatoes, carrots etc in good condition even through the freezing winters. They were once vital for survival through winters here.

There was a gravel path out to the viewing place and as we got closer there were cliffs either side. We were very glad it wasn’t as windy as Monday. There is a rope fence at the edge where people can stand or sit on a rock to see the penguins on their own island 50 metres away. There were dozens of puffins, some walking, some preening, some having conversations and some just sitting. It was great just watching them doing their own thing.

As we were about to leave we saw a group of people taking photos in a different spot and when we joined them we saw one solitary puffin sitting happily on the human side. I think it was his turn to pose for the tourists today.

Later on we drove out to the Cape Bona Vista Lighthouse. There is a colony of puffins there too but that island was much further away, so they were better viewed through a telescope.

We had a late lunch at the Puffin Cafe in Elliston after going back for a second look at the iceberg. It’s appearance had changed as the day progressed and the waves wore it down. Our lunch was terribly slow to arrive and in the meantime a really nice couple from Ontario joined us at the big table and we had a very enjoyable conversation with them. It turns out that the cook was off sick and the rest of the staff were filling in.

Our long, chatty lunch capped off a terrific day.

Tuesday 2 June. Bona Vista

We set off this morning for a journey of approximately 4 1/2 hours to Bona Vista but it took quite a bit longer than that. It took a while to get used to driving on the highway and there were also a lot of roadworks and potholes. Even in St Johns the state of the roads is a worry. Most of the line markings are faded or have disappeared so it’s hard to distinguish lanes, especially turning lanes. It’s also hard to see where to stop at traffic lights because the lights are only on the far side of the intersection, not both sides like ours. 

It was an interesting drive and we could see what was meant when someone told us Newfoundland is basically made of rock. There were lots of rocky outcrops and practically the only trees we saw were some species of pine trees, much smaller than ours. We did see a few birch trees along the way. We saw no farms, no crops and no livestock. There were numerous lakes along the way and as we got closer to Bona Vista we caught glimpses of inlets. We took a detour at one stage and came across a beautiful view of one of these inlets.

We eventually arrived at Bona Vista and found our charming little cottage. The door was unlocked and the lights and heating were on to welcome us. After a cuppa and a bit of recovery time we went for a walk down the road, finishing at Ragged Rocks Gastropub for dinner. We had Moose Soup (I kid you not,) and a lobster roll. We also had a very interesting chat with an American woman, who told us she is spending her money outside the States for the foreseeable future.

Monday 1 June. St Johns

We started the day with another big breakfast in Lorraine’s happy place, Dennys, before heading out into a truly dreary day. It was 3 degrees and the rain or drizzle didn’t stop all day.

First stop, after some kind people helped us work out the parking meter, was the Tourist Information Centre where I was able to get a great map of the whole of Newfoundland. The young man in there was lovely and gave us a few laughs. He was torn between wanting to live in a lighthouse and write poetry or run away with Margot Robbie. We told him we’d put in a good word for him if we bumped into her.

Back to the car and a 15km drive to Cape Spear, the most eastern point in North America. At one stage there was actually sleet on the windscreen. The wind was beyond bitter and I thought my eyeballs were going to freeze once we were out of the car. Lorraine decided to walk up the wooden steps to the lighthouse, while I was happy to photograph it from below. While she went up I followed the path to the cliff edge and checked out the stone marking the most eastern point. The wind on my face was actually painful so it was a relief to turn back and have a tail wind. Putting our coats back in the car was difficult as the wind was trying to blow them away as we were trying to get them off.

It was a relief to be back in the car and we decided to head to a nice warm shopping centre to look for some shoes for Lorraine. She found new Skechers and a couple of bargain priced tops. We had a hot chocolate then went back into the city to visit the museum. It was quite good and we learned a bit about the Irish settlers. At one stage, 2/3 of the population were Irish. There was quite a bit about local birds and animals too. By now I was really tired and happy to return to the hotel before having dinner in Moxies, the other restaurant attached to the hotel. We did not want to go out into that weather again!

Sunday 31 May. St John’s

We are so lucky as there was no wind and no rain today. This meant that we could walk outside quite comfortably. After a Dennys breakfast (Lorraine loves it!) we headed into town and eventually found a parking spot near the water. Most streets are resident permits only. 

We walked up, up, up to Victoria St to see the brightly painted houses, known as Jellybean Row. There are a number of streets painted brightly like this. Then back downhill to cookies Shop Cafe for a hot chocolate and a cake. There was a guy there playing jazz on his guitar, and we had a good chat to him.

Back to the car and our next stop was Telegraph Hill, where the first Transatlantic radio signals were received by Guglielmo Marconi on 12 December 1901. There were great views out to the misty ocean and also back across the whole city. 

The GPS then took us to a nearby supermarket which turned out to be a very trendy little one. We bought some cereal and fruit for our next stop and I replaced the shower gel I seem to have left in Frankfurt. A bit of a break back at our hotel before driving back into town for dinner at a pub called “The Duke of Duckworth”. We had been told that this was the best fish and chips in St John and that we must go there. Lorraine found us a spot sharing a table with a couple of young women who were a lot of fun. We had a great time chatting with them and they told us exactly how we had to have a fish and chips … absolutely swimming in gravy and with a bit of tartare sauce as well. The fish was freshly caught cod and the mushy looking dinner was surprisingly tasty although once was enough with all that gravy.

I’m starting to get used to the huge car now and as they don’t have another one with a GPS we’ll stick with it.