Today we got our exercise all right. The hosts in the B & B kindly ran us up to the top of Signal Hill. It seems this was where the last battle between the English and French took place in 1762. The hill is literally thousands of years old rock. The Cabot Tower on the peak was built to commemorate the arrival of John Cabot in 1497 (which was hotly contested by the French) and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The views over the ocean and the city are spectacular. What was even more spectacular was the North Head Trail that we took back down. This was a hiking path that leads from the Tower back down to the harbour. It traces the cliffs down and is a combination of wooden steps, and rocky paths. At one point the path is so narrow that there is a chain you have to hold on to on the rock face for safety. The views from this trail are spectacular. St. John’s harbour is small and extremely well protected and you have to enter through the “Narrows” to get into it. The trail takes you through the front yards of the little colourful houses in the harbour. You hear stories of visitors being invited to have tea with the owners. We followed the path up to the “Geo Centre” which was our next stop.
Mary Hayes our host at Cantwell House promised us that after visiting the “Johnson Geo Centre” (http://www.geocentre.ca) we would never look at the earth the same again. She was right. The centre was full of interesting information presented in the most modern, interactive, and creative way. The centre was built to make people aware of the land of Newfoundland and the life-story of the planet. We first saw an interactive video, complete with running water, earthquakes, waterfalls, rain dripping on rocks, narrated by a hologram of Gorden Pinsent. This introduced the rocks of Signal Hill as 550 million years old. It showed what causes volcanoes and earthquakes and how Newfoundland was once a tropical climate, then came the ice age, and how when the glaciers retreated they left the big bolders and rocks that I talked about in one of my former posts. The next exhibition we chose to see was the ExxonMobil Oil and Gas Gallery. It seems that economically there are two important commodities in Newfoundland; fish, and oil. Growing up in Scotland, in a family where the BP Oil and Shale Works played a big part, I am fascinated in the “oil” industry in Newfoundland. The display showed how oil and natural gas are formed in the earth through decomposing foliage which is mixed with sediment and how the heat from the core of the earth “cooks” the foliage and turns it into oil and natural gas. The display also showed the different types of oil drilling. First, a gravity based structure – Hibernia; and second, a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel – the SeaRose FPSO. This second method is used off the coast of the Burin Peninsula and is quite unique because it attaches to the ocean oil well by a hose which can be detached to allow icebergs to pass. Newfoundland is relying heavily on oil production and one can only hope it will be successful. It also strikes me how innovative Newfoundland is . First there was the whaling industry in the 1600s which dried up; then the cod fishing, which has now dried up; and now the oil drilling.
The last exhibit we looked at in the Geo Centre was “The Titanic Story”. I would almost recommend traveling to Newfoundland just to see this! This was an incredibly powerful chronological expose of where the blame lay in the Titanic disaster. It shows the greed, arrogance, and bad judgement that led to over 1500 lives being lost in the first voyage of the luxury liner “Titanic”. The fact that the owner of the White Star company that built, owned and operated the luxury liner was never charged is criminal. He blatantly jeopardized the lives of the passengers on the ship in an effort to put his competitor “Cunard” out of business. Many, many mistakes were made from the innocence of the two Marconi wireless operators who were so busy transmitting messages from the passengers that they failed to pass two of the nine iceberg warnings from other ships to the Bridge, to stinginess in the building of the ship, to the lack of appropriate life boats and defective staff training prior to the voyage, and finally, an arrogant and incompetent captain.
We strided out from the Geo Centre across town to “The Rooms” (http://www.therooms.ca). (Oh no, there is a news item on TV on “bed-bugs” and how prominent they are in hotels in North America just now!! I guess I shall have to be even more vigilant in checking beds in the various places we stay. Can’t understand why the owners of the hotels wouldn’t be constantly checking??). Since we arrived in St. John’s we have heard many people praise the rooms, and some have said they are far ahead of the ROM and in particular the new Michael Chin addition to the ROM. The structure of The Rooms symbolizes the typical house in the outports. The word “room” means a gathering place where families came together to process their catch. The Rooms in St. John’s houses a museum, an art gallery, and the archives. When we first arrived, we went up to the 4th floor cafeteria and had a snack overlooking the city of St. John’s, the harbour, and the Narrows. The view was stunning. We saw some great exhibits. First, a photograph exhibition of the works of James Andersen. His photos illustrated daily life in and around Makkovik, Labrador. The pictures showed life events such as fishing, marriages, celebrations, children, camaraderie, etc. etc. Very expressive and fun to view. The other exhibit I really enjoyed was “This Place and Its Early Peoples”. This was all about the animals and various peoples that live and lived in Newfoundland. It showed black bears, polar bears, fox, Newfoundland wolf (now extinct), mink, beaver, otters, moles, Arctic hares, etc. etc. Absolutely fascinating. There were tons of other interesting displays, but I had enjoyed everything so much, that I was quite mentally saturated. The displays were truly first class. So, about 6:30, we walked back to the B & B. On the way, we tried to get into the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, but unfortunately, due to vandalism, it was locked.
Dinner was gross. We ate fish and chips at Ches’s – an institution in Newfoundland! The reward – a certificate that we “tasted the finest fish and chips to be found in Newfoundland.
Tomorrow we move on from St. John’s. We have enjoyed this small city – 99,200 population - . The people have been warm, courteous, and very considerate. They are survivors, and you have to respect that. Mary Hayes and Lewis, our hosts at Cantwell House are well informed and have helped to make our stay educational and interesting. The location of the B & B is fantastic, and the car hasn’t moved for 3 days. And it is clean, and charming. Check it out if you are thinking of visiting St. Johns: http://www.cantwellhouse.nf.net/
Mary Hayes our host at Cantwell House promised us that after visiting the “Johnson Geo Centre” (http://www.geocentre.ca) we would never look at the earth the same again. She was right. The centre was full of interesting information presented in the most modern, interactive, and creative way. The centre was built to make people aware of the land of Newfoundland and the life-story of the planet. We first saw an interactive video, complete with running water, earthquakes, waterfalls, rain dripping on rocks, narrated by a hologram of Gorden Pinsent. This introduced the rocks of Signal Hill as 550 million years old. It showed what causes volcanoes and earthquakes and how Newfoundland was once a tropical climate, then came the ice age, and how when the glaciers retreated they left the big bolders and rocks that I talked about in one of my former posts. The next exhibition we chose to see was the ExxonMobil Oil and Gas Gallery. It seems that economically there are two important commodities in Newfoundland; fish, and oil. Growing up in Scotland, in a family where the BP Oil and Shale Works played a big part, I am fascinated in the “oil” industry in Newfoundland. The display showed how oil and natural gas are formed in the earth through decomposing foliage which is mixed with sediment and how the heat from the core of the earth “cooks” the foliage and turns it into oil and natural gas. The display also showed the different types of oil drilling. First, a gravity based structure – Hibernia; and second, a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel – the SeaRose FPSO. This second method is used off the coast of the Burin Peninsula and is quite unique because it attaches to the ocean oil well by a hose which can be detached to allow icebergs to pass. Newfoundland is relying heavily on oil production and one can only hope it will be successful. It also strikes me how innovative Newfoundland is . First there was the whaling industry in the 1600s which dried up; then the cod fishing, which has now dried up; and now the oil drilling.
The last exhibit we looked at in the Geo Centre was “The Titanic Story”. I would almost recommend traveling to Newfoundland just to see this! This was an incredibly powerful chronological expose of where the blame lay in the Titanic disaster. It shows the greed, arrogance, and bad judgement that led to over 1500 lives being lost in the first voyage of the luxury liner “Titanic”. The fact that the owner of the White Star company that built, owned and operated the luxury liner was never charged is criminal. He blatantly jeopardized the lives of the passengers on the ship in an effort to put his competitor “Cunard” out of business. Many, many mistakes were made from the innocence of the two Marconi wireless operators who were so busy transmitting messages from the passengers that they failed to pass two of the nine iceberg warnings from other ships to the Bridge, to stinginess in the building of the ship, to the lack of appropriate life boats and defective staff training prior to the voyage, and finally, an arrogant and incompetent captain.
We strided out from the Geo Centre across town to “The Rooms” (http://www.therooms.ca). (Oh no, there is a news item on TV on “bed-bugs” and how prominent they are in hotels in North America just now!! I guess I shall have to be even more vigilant in checking beds in the various places we stay. Can’t understand why the owners of the hotels wouldn’t be constantly checking??). Since we arrived in St. John’s we have heard many people praise the rooms, and some have said they are far ahead of the ROM and in particular the new Michael Chin addition to the ROM. The structure of The Rooms symbolizes the typical house in the outports. The word “room” means a gathering place where families came together to process their catch. The Rooms in St. John’s houses a museum, an art gallery, and the archives. When we first arrived, we went up to the 4th floor cafeteria and had a snack overlooking the city of St. John’s, the harbour, and the Narrows. The view was stunning. We saw some great exhibits. First, a photograph exhibition of the works of James Andersen. His photos illustrated daily life in and around Makkovik, Labrador. The pictures showed life events such as fishing, marriages, celebrations, children, camaraderie, etc. etc. Very expressive and fun to view. The other exhibit I really enjoyed was “This Place and Its Early Peoples”. This was all about the animals and various peoples that live and lived in Newfoundland. It showed black bears, polar bears, fox, Newfoundland wolf (now extinct), mink, beaver, otters, moles, Arctic hares, etc. etc. Absolutely fascinating. There were tons of other interesting displays, but I had enjoyed everything so much, that I was quite mentally saturated. The displays were truly first class. So, about 6:30, we walked back to the B & B. On the way, we tried to get into the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, but unfortunately, due to vandalism, it was locked.
Dinner was gross. We ate fish and chips at Ches’s – an institution in Newfoundland! The reward – a certificate that we “tasted the finest fish and chips to be found in Newfoundland.
Tomorrow we move on from St. John’s. We have enjoyed this small city – 99,200 population - . The people have been warm, courteous, and very considerate. They are survivors, and you have to respect that. Mary Hayes and Lewis, our hosts at Cantwell House are well informed and have helped to make our stay educational and interesting. The location of the B & B is fantastic, and the car hasn’t moved for 3 days. And it is clean, and charming. Check it out if you are thinking of visiting St. Johns: http://www.cantwellhouse.nf.net/
1 comment:
I'm glad that you have gotten away from it all, including the internet, apparently. Nice isn't it?
Randall
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