NEWFOUNDLAND June 2025, PART 3, EASTERN

SAINT JOHN'S

St. John's is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the easternmost city in North America and is the most populous area of Newfoundland and Labrador, hosting nearly 50% of the province's population. It is also one of the oldest cities in North America, it is noted on a Portuguese map of 1519 as São João, although it was not incorporated as a city until 1888. The city has a rich history; it is the place that the first known letter was sent from North America (Englishman John Rut landed there in 1527 and sent the letter to King Henry VIII saying he found Norman, Brenton and Portuguese ships in the harbour there). It played a part in the 7 Years War (also known as the French and Indian War), the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. It is the place where Guglielmo Marconi received the very first trans-Atlantic wireless telegraph message in 1901. It was also the starting point for the very first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight in 1919 by John Alcock and Arthur Brown. St. John's was a city that was very dependent on fishing, and it suffered when the Cod fishing industry collapsed during the 1990s. After a long period of economic downturn, the city turned around in the early 2000s due to its proximity to the Hibernia, Terra Nova. and White Rose oil fields. A period of economic growth followed, with a population boom and strong commercial development. Over half of the provinces economic output comes from the St. Johns area.

We found St. John's to be a vibrant city with colorful houses on hills that contrast with modern architecture in the city's center, parks, restaurants, and music venues.

Legend has it that the reason the houses in St. John's are painted such vibrant colors is when St. John's was a city reliant on fishing, often times the boats would come in after being at sea for long periods of time. But fog often shrouds the hills leading into the city. So it has been said that people painted their houses bright colors so that the sailors would see their homes as they came into the harbor no matter what the weather was. Truth? Probably not, but it's a good story.

Cape Spear

Cape Spear is the most eastern point in Mainland North America. It has the oldest surviving lighthouse in the Newfoundland-Labrador Province, built in 1836. There are 55 major lightstations in Newfoundland, 23 are staffed. Cape Spear is also a wonderful place to watch for whales and walk the rocks, but it also has unpredictable seas with rogue waves that have pulled unwary people to their demise.

Saint Vincent's

Saint Vincent's beach is a sparsely populated area along the 'Irish Loop Route' (Southwest of Saint John's). It is sparsely populated, but can become very crowded during the whale feeding season. The ground offshore there drops off very quickly, and this allows humpback and other types of whales to come very close to shore in pursuit of their capelin and other sea life. The ability to view the whales so closely to shore has become a major attraction from May to October, but the very best time is July and August.

Brigus

We wanted to visit some of the coastal towns near Saint John's, so we stopped for a couple of days near Brigus. Brigus is a historic and picturesque fishing community on Conception Bay (just West of Saint John's).

One of the things we really enjoyed was learning the names of the places we were visiting. Newfoundland has so many incredibly interesting names of towns and harbors. Dildo aside there were places named "Blow Me Down", "BareNeed", "Burnt Arm", "Cupids", "Frog Marsh", "Ireland's Eye", "Tickle Cove", Happy Adventure", "North West Arm", "Herring Neck" "TooGood Arm", "Nickey's Nose Cove", "Come By Chance" and "Heart's Desire" to name a few. BTW, "Heart's Desire" is just north of "Heart's Content", and just south of "Heart's Delight". The reasons behind the interesting, and often funny, names come from either a literal translation of the original French or English (Cow Head was named Tete De Vache when it was settled by the French, which means.... Cow Head - the early settlers had apparently found a walrus skull there and named the town after that). Another reason was the corruption, over time, of the original name (Twillingate was originally known as Toulinquet) Dildo is another example of this corruption (see below). The third reason was that people liked naming things based on what they saw or what was there or something that happened. (Frog Marsh, Nickey's Nose Cove and Come By Chance are good examples of this)

Dildo

Dildo is another beautifully scenic coastal town - this one located a little further West on Trinity Bay. Although it is a really pretty little coastal town, it is mostly known for the town name. How did this town get its name? The truth is that no one really knows. The name has been in use since, at least, the early 1700s and the origin has been lost. But there are lots of theories... One of the most persistent stories for Dildo’s name is that it was named after the wooden oar pegs of boats. The pegs were called dildos. The theory is that early English explorers thought that land formation in the area resembled oar pegs and referred to the coast by that name… and it stuck. Another idea was related to famously poor winds nearby that sailors found reminiscent of the doldrums (an area near the equator with famously poor wind). While waiting for wind, sailors complained they were in 'the dilly dollies,' and there is a thought that this somehow was transformed into 'Dildo'. Another theory suggests that the name refers here as a descriptive to a deep, narrow bay. And yet another theory posits that the name came from Dildo Island - which was originally named by the French as De l'île de l'eau. Overtime the French was corrupted and became Dildo. Considering how many other Newfoundland town names came from corrupted/anglicized French names, this theory might carry the most weight. The town also came into some fame when the name was criticized by the late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel - resulting in some backlash and some humorous take-back on Mr Kimmel's part (there is more to that story online). Anyway, we where nearby and just had to visit...

CAPE SAINT MARY'S

Cape Saint Mary's is home to the Cape Saint Mary's Ecological Reserve. Also known as “the Cape”, the ecological reserve is one of Newfoundland/Labrador’s major seabird colonies. A huge number of seabirds nest here during breeding season (approximately 30,000 Northern gannet, 20,000 black-legged kittiwake, 20,000 common murre, 2,000 thick-billed murre, and much smaller numbers of razorbill, black guillemot, double-crested cormorant, great cormorant, and Northern fulmar). It's also very accessible - meaning that you can see most types of the nesting seabirds from land. At the reserve, the most popular spot is 'bird rock'. This is a large rock formation separated from the land by maybe 10 yards, and it is absolutely teeming with nesting birds (mainly northern gannets). For birders and photographers it is an amazing opportunity to view seabird nesting at close range. While popular amongst the birding crowd, the town is truly a remote fishing town and has very few amenities. Visitors should literally bring everything that they will want or need. That includes your morning coffee, since the closest coffee shop is about an hour away. The town did have one restaurant open for lunch and dinner (probably).

Northern Gannets

Northern gannets are the largest seabird in the northern Atlantic. They are monogamous and may remain together for several seasons (although not necessarily for life). Males and females have a very similar appearance, but very different behaviors during nesting. For example, females will not react when a different male approaches a nest but will react fiercely if other females approach. This is similar to human female behavior in nightclubs. Northern gannets are also fairly intimate while nesting, and will often wrap their necks together (such as in the image below).

Some fun facts about Northern Gannets: Northern Gannets can dive from heights of 130 feet (40 meters) to a depth of 72 feet (22 meters) on their initial plunge, but they can go down to 115 feet (35 memters) by using their wings and webbed feet to "swim" after their prey. If that isn't incredible enough they reach speeds of 62 mph (100kph) when they hit the water.

The video below shows some of the gannets plunge-diving into the ocean in search of fish. If you look closely, you can even see them moving about underwater.

Below is a phone video of 'bird rock' at sunset. Most of the gannets (and other birds) have stopped flying, but there is still a fair bit of noise from all of the birds on their nests.

Common Murres

Small numbers of common murres (AKA common guillemots) share the nesting areas in and around Cape St Mary's, although it is not a major nesting area for these types of birds. These are yet another fascinating pelagic seabird, that are in some ways similar to puffins. Both species are relatively small seabirds that only come to shore to nest. Puffins are a bit smaller and generally do not dive as deeply for food. Murres can dive as deep as 600 feet (possibly deeper) while searching for food, but puffins can only dive to about 200 feet. They both generally mate for life, and they both use their wings to swim underwater as well as fly in the air. Both types of birds undergo dramatic changes after the breeding season.

During the breeding season the common murre has an entirely black head (with the exception of white 'bridled' marks on some few birds, which is a polymorphism that becomes more common the further north the breeding area). After the breeding season the face becomes white with a dark spur behind the eye, and there are often dark streaks along the flanks. Furthermore (and this part surprised me) common murres become flightless for 45–60 days after the breeding season because their flight feathers are changing. While puffins nest in burrows that may be very near to other burrows, murres nest on bare rock - and barely a wingspan away from other nests in nesting areas with high populations. Enough fun facts! Here are some pics...

16 HOUR FERRY RIDE

Depending on your past experiences, a 16 hour ferry ride may sound like torture. However, our 16 hour ferry ride was great. It was like a cruise ship (not that I've ever been on one of those). There was a nice restaurant, a cafe, a bar, a movie room, etc. The ferry seems pretty new, so that might be a factor as well. Also, we did not have any expectations regarding our 'cabin'. It actually had it's own bath with shower! It wasn't huge, but it was perfect to relax, do some image work, and sleep comfortably.