Wednesday, 05 July 2006

St. Johns (Newfoundland)

It was overcast in the morning as I walked downtown from the University via the Rennie River Walkway but it had all the signs of turning into another lovely day. After breakfast I walked out to Signal Hill and spent a coouple of hours at the Johnson GEO CENTRE which has exhibits and information about the geology of the earth and Newfoundland and Labrador in particular. (http://www.geocentre.ca/) There are also galleries dedicated to the Titanic story (sank just 350 miles from Newfoundland) and the local oil and gas industry.

By the time I came out (most of the building is underground) the cloud had gone and it was a lovely sunny day. I continued my hike up Signal Hill to the Cabot Tower with its panoramic views of St. Johns and the surrounding area. I had always assumed that John Cabot was British as there is a Cabot Tower in Bristol and the name sounds English, but he was Italian - Giovanni Caboto. Prehaps I should change my name to reflect whatever country I'm in.

From the tower I hiked back to town via the North Head trail, which isn't quite as dramatic as it looks in some of the photos I've seen but it is very scenic as it runs around the cliffs, through The Narrows and into the harbour. The afternoon was mostly taken up with chores; cash, cycle shop, typing up blog, etc. The blog has become a millstone around my neck - typing it in that is not the writing of it.

There are large areas of St. Johns that are wooden terraced houses - very pretty in their different colours, but you can certainly imagine how whole towns used to disappear in giant conflagrations.