Puffins and Gannets and Whales, oh my! (St. John’s, Newfoundland Canada 06/29/2019)

St. John’s is the oldest and most easterly city in North America.  It began as a fishing village and was particularly renowned for its abundance of codfish.  Reading the history of the area as we wandered through The Rooms, the town’s cultural museum I had to wonder what would make these people want to stay here – crossing a rough and unforgiving Atlantic ocean, water ways that would freeze over in the winter making it impossible to get in or out, bitter cold winds that would knock them off their feet, waist-deep snow they couldn’t drag a wagon through…why ever would you want to come here?  But come the Scotts and English did, joining the native Innuit, Innu and Mi’kmaq peoples to create the “New Scotland” or Nova Scotia.

We spent the morning enjoying this incredibly pedestrian friendly town (if there’s a person on the sidewalk, no matter where they are, cars will stop, just in case you want to cross the street there – it’s great!), catching glimpses of its history and character at every turn.  We learned about Screech, a Canadian brew created long ago by poor folks who couldn’t afford to buy a shot of the Jamaican rum arriving on their shores.  They’d sneak out back, gather up the empty rum barrels, then take the barrels apart and boil the wood to leech out the rum that had been absorbed by the wood.  The result is something like moonshine, with a very high alcohol content and, well, shall we say “unique?” taste.  Rumor has it the drink got its name when an American sailor was having a drink with a Canadian sailor.  The Canadian offered to share his alcohol.  He gulped down his shot and when the American gulped his he let out a screech and forever more the brew has been known as Screech.

Newfoundland is also known for its “jellybean” row houses.  In an effort to rejuvenate the downtown area in the 1970s someone decided to give the area a face-lift by painting the business in jellybean colors.  The idea was such a hit that man homeowners followed suit and now it’s part of the fabric of the community.

We visited The Rooms and gained an appreciation for the depth of community shared by the people who live here, their tremendous pride in their heritage and the difficult lessons they’ve learned along the way about how to blend their different cultures and beliefs.  Newfoundlanders love their music; a favorite pastime is Kitchen Parties.  Friends gather at one another’s homes, usually ending up in the kitchen (thus the name) playing whatever instrument they have handy.  Don’t play?  No worries!  Just grab the “ugly stick” and tap along.  No good host would open their doors without an ugly stick – a large stick (usually a mop or broom) adorned with a wide assortment of noisemakers that is tapped in time to the music being played.

Our afternoon was spent at Witless Bay where we saw puffins, minke whales, northern gannets and humpback whales.  The gannets helped us find the minkes – where there were gannets circling overhead there were minkes circling down below, stirring up the capelin (small fish).  When the minke surfaces to gulp his share of the fish the gannets immediately dive-bomb for their portion.   Gannets dive at a speed of 35-40 mph, their bodies straight and rigid, wings tucked close to the body but angled back, extending beyond the tail, piercing the water like machine gun fire.

The last stop of the day was Signal Hill, where the world’s first transatlantic wireless signal was received in 1901.  It was a full day!

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