Stop 32: St. John’s, NL
Welcome to St. John’s! Capital city of Newfoundland, home of Jellybean row, Mummers, toutons, and some of the most wonderful people (In my completely biased opinion). St. John’s is the most easterly city in North America and has a rich culture.
Our venue this city is an interesting one. The Johnson Geocentre is located near Signal Hill, overlooking the city of St. John’s with the ocean just around the corner. We set up in their atrium under a model of the solar system. A wonderful atmosphere to talk about science!
Since we were in the east coast, we had the chance to visit Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America! Cape Spear has a beautiful coastline where powerful ocean waves come in just below a lighthouse overlooking the water. This is a historical site where large, out of commission cannons still sit. This was one of the points protecting St Johns harbour from enemy ships during WWII.
We also visited the small town of Bay Bulls for a boat tour along the coast. The tour usually searches for whales and brings folks to puffin island, but since this time of the year they all have left to migrate, we instead got a tour of the coastline. Incredible geology, a sunfish sighting and “the spout” which is a natural geyser powered by ocean waves!
Per tradition, any non-islanders must be Screeched In to become an honorary Newfoundlander. This involves saying a Newfoundland phrase (When asked “Is ye a Screecher?” you must respond with “Deed I is me ol’ cock and long may your big jib draw”. Meaning, “yes I am, and I hope your sail draws wind”), eating some Newfoundland steak (Aka. bologna), drinking a shot of Screech (Jamaican dark rum which was traditionally traded for cod) and kiss a cod (Yes, a real fish!). Where I’m a born and raised Newfie and Cat was Screeched In while at Memorial University, it was now time for J.T, Lucija and Sam to become part of our culture.