Thank you, guys.
*****
June 22, 2013
It was a beautiful afternoon so I went for a drive from the northern tip of the St. John's Metro at Pouch Cove and Flatrock to the southern edge at Bay Bulls. I spied more than a few tourists, and even a few whales.
This is the shortest distance between the two, at 65 km (40 miles):
A happy, brainless summer song for the drive...
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In most areas of Newfoundland, the seagulls are, for the most part, dependent on people. They've learned to hang around garbage dumps and McDonald's franchises rather than fish. But, for some reason, the vast majority of seagulls around the capital are still all but completely wild. Watching them dive for fish is hypnotic.
The walking trail along this cliff is especially thin with a steep drop to death on either side. I love it.
The Town of Torbay, which celebrated its 450th birthday to great fanfare last year.
There's a reason our nickname is The Rock.
Many of the best views are accessible to those who don't particularly care for hiking.
Many of the wealthiest families on the island have their homes in the amalgamated town of Lower Cove-Middle Cove-Outer Cove. You can tell when each family became wealthy by the style of its home.
Torbay from behind.
Flatrock, one of the very few predominantly Roman Catholic towns north of the capital city.
Clotheslines are still all the rage in Newfoundland, even in the capital city. While it's now illegal to string them between homes, over the street, most city blocks are still a tangle of clotheslines in the back.
The Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Flatrock is a popular pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics.
Newfoundlanders tend to live along the coastline - and not on the shores of interior lakes as is the case in most of mainland Canada - but new subdivisions around highland lakes are popping up all the time.
Bay Bulls.
Bay Bulls is quickly becoming one of the more popular communities in the commuter belt around St. John's.
And it's also a popular stop for tourists.
The amalgamated town of Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove is not only part of the St. John's Metro, it's part of the City itself.
The whale-watching tour boats didn't have to stray far from the shore of Cape Spear today.
And neither did the tourists. The collective gasps whenever a whale would emerge from the blue was fantastic to hear. The farthest-from-home license plate I saw in the parking lot was Chilean.
This tour boat is heading back to the city, which is just around the next hill.
The switchback roads are a joy to drive, especially in Newfoundland where the normal traffic flow on roads with a posted speed limit of 50 km/hr is usually closer to 80 km/hr.
There she blows. This whale was one of a group of three enjoying the feast of fish just offshore.
