St. John’s, Newfoundland Part 1 (5/29 – 5/31/23)

We left Eastport on Monday morning, with plans to camp on the outskirts of the City of St. John’s. Arriving at the campground, we quickly decided it was not the place for us, so we relied on the travel guidebook and its recommendation of Pippy Park Campground, right in the heart of St . John’s. It turned out to be the perfect place to see all the sights on our collective lists. Despite the cold temperatures and occasional rain and fog, we’ve been going non-stop, as the many pictures that follow will show.

After getting settled at our campsite, you *know* Doug will head directly for the port to see the ships. St. John’s Harbour is certainly not like the sleepy fishing villages we’ve been seeing for the past couple of weeks.
A drive up to Signal Hill will give us a better view of the harbor.
(This shot was taken on Tuesday morning – our Monday evening harbor picture was too dark)
It was atop Signal Hill that Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal in 1901; in 1920, one of the first wireless voice transatlantic transmissions was made here.
Cabot Tower (constructed 1898-1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s voyage to the New World)
Tuesday Morning at Signal Hill
The Atlantic Ocean is calm today.
A drive down Signal Hill and through the streets near the water show the numerous places for food and drink.

We decided to drive over to the tiny fishing village of Quidi Vidi.

It was a struggle, but we managed to park the truck into a parking spot at the brew house, where we had the best fish & chips lunch.
Dick and Sharon are happy to be here!
Eager to walk after a filling lunch, we went over to the Cape Spear Lighthouse and the easternmost point in North America and Canada. There were several dozen steps to climb before reaching these last few.
The lighthouse in the above picture is the second lighthouse constructed (1955); the first lighthouse was built in 1836 and deactivated in 1955.
The sun on the water created beautiful shades of blue.
Houses in St. John’s are colorful, whether they’re in the city or on the shore
Newfoundland has been described as “the most Irish place outside of Ireland.”
On Wednesday, we drove the Irish Loop, hich covers just under 200 miles on the shores of the Avalon Peninsula. The first stop on this chilly Wednesday was Witless Bay. Hopefully we’ll see Puffins on Thursday, on our tour boat out of Bay Bulls, the next town north of Witless Bay.
Our next stop was Ferryland, the unofficial capital of the Irish Shore.
What a surprise to see this iceberg as we crested a hill!
Driving closer to shore, we had a better view.
We wanted to tour the Ferryland lighthouse, but funding cuts and fewer guides resulted in the lighthouse (and the well-known lighthouse picnics) being closed. We found this to be the case in many place, not just on this drive but during the entire month of May.

After returning to our campsite, we had enough time in the afternoon to walk through the Memorial University Botanical Gardens, located in Pippy Park, and very close to our campground.

Spring flowers have just started to bloom, evidenced by the Rhododendron buds behind Doug.
We saw many areas like this on the western portion of the Irish Loop.
These Puffins, named Puff and Finn, are ready for their new “feathers” of annual blooms, soon to be planted by the Garden’s staff.
Beautiful Trillium
We took the trail to the pond, but the gardens were about to close, so we could not linger.
One last stop to admire the flowers
Maybe we’ll have time for another visit before we depart on 6/5.

9 thoughts on “St. John’s, Newfoundland Part 1 (5/29 – 5/31/23)”

  1. Thanks for the beautiful pictures & update. You have certainly had a busy week! Take care & continue to enjoy!

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  2. Such beautiful pictures! Looks like a fantastic time so far!

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    1. Thanks, Linda! We hope to get at least one “frameable” picture from this adventure. Thanks for following our travels. XO

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