Thank you, guys!
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June 23, 2013
Tomorrow is a holiday for many in Newfoundland - our 516th birthday. Happy Discovery Day, b'ys!
It's also the 125th anniversary of the incorporation of City of St. John's. That's not a lot of years for such an old city but for most of its history, St. John's was governed directly by the government of Newfoundland. An additional layer of government, in this case municipal, was only added in 1888. And, even then, we did it our way: for many years, there was no position of Mayor and the city was governed by a council of equals. During the worst of the First World War, the municipal government was scrapped and the city was again ruled directly by the Newfoundland government. And, with peace in 1918, we adopted the style of municipal government that we still have today. So, happy anniversary of your incorporation, St. John's!
I went back to Cape Spear today because yesterday was such a poor depiction of what whale watching here is like. You can always get up close and personal when you're out in a tour boat - but usually the views from shore are almost as impressive.
And today I lucked out. A mother and calf humpback whale were having a grand old time scratching themselves on the rocky shore and feasting on capelin. And they were just two of at least a half dozen whales inshore.
I couldn't use anything other than a traditional Newfoundland folk song for today.
• Video Link
(31 years old and still tear up at the line, "Let me be a man and take it when my dory fails to make it.")
Tourists examine a whale skeleton on display near the parking lot.
I overheard a well-meaning local family telling a large group of German tourists about all the Nazi-era sites of interest in Newfoundland and Labrador. I cringed. They talked about Nazi weather stations in Labrador, about the movie theatres and other sites their soldiers frequented when they snuck ashore from Uboats (we know because we found their ticket stubs on the subs after the war. And they're suspected of setting the deadly Knights of Columbus Fire - which was at a dance broadcast live on the radio. People in town heard the teenagers screaming as they burned to death.). They even told them about the passenger ferries and other boats the Nazis torpedoed and how they can arrange to dive the wrecks. The Germans looked absolutely horrified - deeply offended this was brought up, but unwilling to express their offense, as a gracious guest wouldn't. I felt so bad for them.
St. John's is directly behind the hills in the background. You can even see peeks at the city between the peaks.
And what were all those tourists looking at? Whales!
