We ate lobster all across Nova Scotia, and we ate cod all across Newfoundland. Newfoundland is on the extreme eastern end of North America, a 16 hour ferry ride from the eastern end of Nova Scotia. It feels like the end of the world, with only 500,000 people living in a province bigger than Montana. It is also near the Great Banks, which was once the greatest fishing area in the world. When overfishing on the Great Banks caused a crash, Newfoundland became even more isolated. It now fishes just enough cod for itself, but that catch is spectacular--fresh, flaky, salty-sweet.
You can see on this map the path of our travels. We started in Halifax, on the southern coast of Nova Scotia (yellow), explored Prince Edward Island (purple island, north of Nova Scotia), drove along the east coast of New Brunswick (brown) to the Acadian area of Cavernet, then southwest to Fredericton and St. John, then back across Nova Scotia to its eastern end of Cape Breton, where we visited the Bras d'Or and Ft. Louisborg. We then took the ferry from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Placentia, Newfoundland, and drove on to the capital of Newfoundland, St. John's, on the easternmost tip of the island.
The ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland was like a small cruise ship.
We were impressed with the speed and efficiency with which the ship employees packed the hold with cars and trucks, including our Jeep.
Our cabin was the nicest we have had on any of our fourteen cruises!
The ferry left port in the late afternoon of August 17, 2018, and arrived the next morning. We stopped by the buffet for some good English roast beef, the only non-fish dinner we had on the whole trip.
We watched the sun set on the Atlantic, completely out of sight of land, before falling asleep to the rocking of the waves.
Next morning, we drove 90 minutes along the Trans Canada Highway to the province capital, St. John's.
St. John's has a fascinating history. During WWII, convoys of ships delivered troops and equipment from the US to England by hugging the eastern coast of the US and Canada as long as they could and then finally venturing out into the Atlantic from St. John's, the easternmost point of North America. German U-boats lurked around Newfoundland, the last port of safety for Allied ships, and attacked the ships as soon as they ventured far enough into the Atlantic so that planes from the Canadian Maritime provinces could not protect them. During WWII, German U-boats tried to torpedo the St. John's harbor.
The "Newfies" of Newfoundland are very proud of their flag and culture. Newfoundland did not become a part of Canada until 1947. The culture revolves around fishing and the sea, and we heard the same haunting songs about the sea from each Newfie crooner.
We were reminded of how remote Newfoundland is as we watched huge containers being unloaded in the St. John's harbor.
Many Newfies come from Ireland and Scotland. We planned to spend the evening at O'Reilly's, listening to Newfie/Gaelic music, but we were just too tired. Another time?
There are probably more moose than people in Newfoundland. There were signs along the Trans-Canada Highway warning us to watch out for moose. This restaurant featured Moose Burgers, Moose Nachos, and Moose Poutine (moose with French fries, gravy, and cheese).
We took a walking tour of St. John's, circling past the dock and along the main street, with some charming buildings from the 1800s. Newfoundland swung back and forth from French to English ownership from the 1500s through the mid-1700s, but it seems all English now.
There is still a frontier feel to the city, as in the name of this restaurant, "Mustang Sally's." I'm not at all sure, though, that there were ever mustangs in Newfoundland....
Brightly painted row houses are a distinctive feature of St. John's.
We stopped by Quidi Vidi, a quaint fishing town where the English fought the French in the 1700s. It is now best known for its picturesque buildings and its brewery.
We drove to the Citadel, high above St. John's, where the first transatlantic telegram was received from England by the Italian inventor, Marconi.
We could see across the headlands to the Atlantic and also down into the city of St. John's.
We drove to the easternmost point of Newfoundland, outside St. John's, where we could still see the concrete fortifications and guns which protected North America from German hostilities.
The easternmost point of North America.
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