The Speares

Day 1 Jun 12/13 One of those bus tours, except this one was small group and what that means is that the

bus is only half-full but it's half full of doctors (radiologists in fact) and people who run global hedge funds and then us. But apart from that it's your normal bus tour. They sure do keep you busy. On the 12th we flew into Deer Lake, the only flat place near destination, which was Cornerbrook. Got there in the wee hours of the 13th. The hotel was really nice, the Glynmill Inn, just

shy of 100 years old. It has a fabulous trail going around a little lake, and there are trails nearby going up a rather steep hill to a lookout. As we got more adventurous we hiked up to the Cook memorial which has stunning views of Cornerbrook and surrounding areas.

Day 2 Jun 14 The next day we drove to Frenchman's Cove, and stopped at a charming little fishing village

on the Bay of Islands called Lark Harbour. There we had lunch at Myrtles-on-the-Bay. Enroute we were travelling up the Humber Arm, and saw (the plume, at least, of) our first whale.

Day 3 Jun 15 On Thursday the actual trip begins. Off to St. Barbe to catch the ferry tomorrow. Enroute we passed through Lobster Cove Head and found some really old fossils, one of a fish I think. St. Barbe is a pretty rustic place.

Day 4 Jun 16 Bloody cold would be a way of

describing the ferry crossing into Labrador. Icebergs everywhere. We passed by the hotel which was in L'Anse-au-Clair and went to Red Bay which is a really old Basque whaling station, and there we climbed up an old lighthouse.

Day 5 Jun 17 Back on the ferry to St. Barbe, then off to L'Anse-aux-Meadows, a Viking settlement. The ferry ride was cold again but not so windy. That old boat is no pleasure cruise. The Viking settlement is pretty neat and we had the most amazingly personable guide there who apparently was one of the original workers on the site.

Day 6 Jun 18 On to Gros Morne. A quick stop at

The Arches, a neat rock. Then a seal fur shop and of course a lighthouse. In the afternoon we had a boat ride on Bonne Bay where we saw a few critters - might have been a seal or an otter and a whale or two.

Day 7 Jun 19 Now we're starting to head towards St. John's. Destination today is Gander to hear about 9/11. Gander is an amazingly large airport for a tiny little town which is what Come From Away is all about.

Day 8 Jun 20 Today it's Twillingate, Terra Nova

National Park and then on to Clarenville. All very scenic towns. A stop at an interesting though somewhat eclectic private museum of fishing paraphernelia.

Day 9 Jun 21 Off to Trinity, a 300 year old fishing village. The whole town is kind of a museum, and there's a really neat trail that climbs a hill with some good views and an old cemetery just kind of in the middle of the woods. Well I say old; there's some new people there from reading the inscriptions.

Day 10 Jun 22 Witless Bay is pretty cool. The ocean

fairly explodes with puffins and the rocks there are solid birds. After the boat ride we made it to St. John's and Cape Spear, the most easterly point on the continent. There were a few whales doing whale stuff in the water, but it's hard to get a picture of them. There's an amazing network of trails at the point which I believe go all around the Avalon Peninsula. Quite the to-do in the skies. A tourist sub sank while diving to the Titanic and all sorts of military aircraft from all over the place were flying overhead, landing at St. John's with submarine stuff.

Day 11 Jun Tour of St. John's and surrounds in the morning, then a fairly brutal hike up to Signal Hill. In the evening it was the farewell supper with the screeching in ceremony. Is ye a screecher? Indeed I is me old cock. And long may yer big jib draw. Deb didn't kiss the cod directly, only through a handkerchief. I went for the gusto. We both got covid anyway.

A very fun trip. Next time we'll do Iceland.

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