We drove down to Cape Spier to start the day; the most easterly point in Canada. Anywhere we go from there is basically heading home. We wandered the historic site and learned of some of the British/French history then the role the lighthouse and later fort would play during WW II. As is his habit, Pete was winning over hearts of seniors the world over. This day was New Zealand, England, USA and Canada. Pete doesn't care, he just loves the attention he gets.
We carried on to St John's for the rest of the day (Google calls it Street John's) and started off in the older part of town checking out the colourful row housing in the Jelly Bean area. Some of the places really do look cool in their bright colours and detailed stained glass windows. The town is hilly so walking the streets is a bit of work that can work up a thirst. We carried on to Bannerman's Brewery for a latte and beer (and cookies across the street). What we hadn't counted on was the traffic and people; there is just too much of them. I've been enjoying the small town and back woods over the past couple of weeks so getting into the city just felt a bit uncomfortable.
After getting into the Quiddi Viddi neighbourhood we got the van into a tight turnaround area that took a fifteen point turn to get out of there; only to snag tree branches with the van roof rack. When we finally got out of there we found the back hiking trail to Signal Hill so we parked up and got Pete out to stretch his legs. We took the Ladies Trail to the lookout that the ladies would take back in the day to watch for ships returning with their husbands, sons, or boyfriends. On the way down we got directions from another trail walker about a bald eagle nest. The directions were along the lines of "go to the view point and there is a trail that takes you to a place where people stand a lot; look down and the eagle is right there." That didn't work for us but we did spot the eagle further down at another spot where people stand a lot. Mandy was so excited since she had her binoculars with her so we got a good look at the bird.
We came down the hill and drove around to the front side of Signal Hill and walked up and checked out the old Marconi Station (Cabot Station) where we found four too many tour buses for our liking. We toughed it out and went to the roof top looking out over the city and the bay. I enjoyed the history on the Marconi radio; we had been in Ireland a couple of years ago at the place where the signal was sent to St John's. After escaping the gift shop crowd we headed to Battery Road but that was too tight for the van and I was about done for the day so we decided that the Terry Fox memorial will wait for our next visit (there will be a next visit). We headed up to Anderson Cove by Dildo and parked up for the night.
We met a fun couple of new retiree's from Calgary doing a similar trip with a similar non-agenda to us. He had built out his Sprinter van so us guys were comparing notes. After dinner we sat around their propane campfire enjoying good conversation with like minded people. The night was a cold one and we all got chilled through by the time we got into our vans for the night. Morning came and it was a beautiful start to the day with blueberry pancakes. We met up again chatting into the morning. We were catching the Argentia ferry later in the day so we were in no rush to be anywhere, and neither were they. We are hoping to connect with them in Calgary in the future.
We finally got on the road, filled up with fuel and headed to Placentia for a sandwich, then went up to Castle Hill before going to the ferry. Pete was loving the attention from the ferry workers but was anxious once on the ferry. The last time he got left in the vehicle, but this time we have the overnight ferry and a pet friendly room. He is happily laying on the floor but gets spooked by the strange ferry noises and other dogs in the pet friendly cabin area.
The ferry sailing was uneventful other than Pete refusing to pee at the designated relief station. We had the cabin with showers so we upped our shower count and had a decent night's sleep in a cabin that anyone else would call cramped, but it seemed spacious to us after a couple of months in the van. We arrived in North Sydney Nova Scotia to a dreary morning and rain, lots of rain. Pick your direction and the wind was blowing from there. We got off the ferry and stopped at the first tree we could find and Pete's relief was obvious as he emptied his bladder. With the rain we decided to make this a chore day. We need some groceries and need to get laundry done before we head out on the Cabot Trail.
It’s awesome you went as easterly as you could go. Now you can truly say you’ve done a cross Canada trip! 🇨🇦🍁