When we last left off it was a Saturday at the City Hostel and I would be hard pressed to be able to pinpoint exactly what happened in our last week there without racking my brain a bit. From what I can recall, I made it through my shift on Saturday and kept a pretty low key evening. I had plans to order the webcast for the Phish shows at Merriweather, which I was very sad to be missing. Instead I got wrapped up in the office, drinking scotch and beers and hanging with my fellow floppers. It was a going-away party for Val, the handyman at the hostel who was leaving to go to Ottawa. We had a great time. Yet another reason why that common room was such a good idea. It definitely helped to bring everyone closer. Sometimes it could be bummer if there was someone hanging out in there that perhaps you wouldn't otherwise want to hang with but it was good for having a place where the staff could hang out and bond.
Sunday was another working day. Opened the office and Krissy did the cleaning. No big shakes on that front, as far as I can remember. We were a little antsy and had to take off after our shifts finished up. We tried to go to Pippy Park and see the botanical gardens and other stuff but the parts that keep operating hours were closing up when we got there and we really couldn't find anything else to do so we went to Avalon Mall and saw a movie - "Sex Tape" with Jason Segal and Cameron Diaz. It was silly but pretty funny. Got dinner at some barbecue-type place called Montana's, deep in the St. John's sprawl, and then headed back to the hostel. Again I had planned on tuning in to the Phish show at Merriweather but we got back too late for that so we just hung out, maybe had a beer or two in the office and then a quiet night.
We were off on Monday and we made the most of it. Woke up at 4am and drove down to Cape Spear to see the sunrise. Cape Spear, you may remember, is the most easterly point in North America, about 20 minutes south of St. John's. It's typically one of the top things to do as a tourist in the city but we were one of only three groups there. It was most peaceful.
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| This future FDM album cover says yes, waking up at 4am is totally worth it. |
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| Sunrise at Cape Spear, |
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| The first glimpse of the sun in North America. |
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| And the day is ON. |
1) Newfoundland accounts for the highest beer consumption per capita in Canada with something like ten million dozen beers sold per year or something.
2) Light beer is the big thing in Newfoundland. You can drink more of it, they say. Most of the beer you find in the stores is light beer. Very few IPAs and other varieties.
3) There is a standardized beer bottle in Newfoundland that is generally not found elsewhere. The reason for this is that the refund on empty bottles in Nova Scotia is higher than in Newfoundland and too many people would load up trucks of empties and take them down, just like that episode of Seinfeld, to get an extra five cents per bottle. So these bottles are manufactured by Coors and are distributed to all the other breweries. That also means that empties of any brand can be returned to the brewery and reused. Iceberg beer, which is made by Quidi Vidi, is the only exception. That comes in an awesome blue bottle and, at least until I make my next homebrew, it is the only beer in North America that comes in a blue bottle.
4) Black Horse, brewed "Only In Newfoundland" by Molson, is not as unique to this area as we thought. The beer is brewed in St. John's and the labels are printed here but it is the same recipe as other provincial exclusives. So you can go to Alberta and drink the local beer but it's the same as Black Horse, but just brewed there instead, with their water. That doesn't necessarily keep me from drinking Black Horse, because it is still pretty awesome, but I am finding myself buying Quidi Vidi more often, for authenticity's sake.
We also learned about their brewery process and all that. It was a fun use of ten bucks and an hour. One of the hostel guests, Omri, was there so we hung out. Cool dude. We also enjoyed the scenery there as well. As I have probably mentioned before, Quidi Vidi is an old fishing community nestled within a tiny, almost hidden harbor. And it has been preserved to look the way that it's always looked. While it is not in use for commercial fishing anymore it is still in use by private individuals. To have a little enclave like that in the midst of the city is pretty awesome.
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| Pretty much all you need to live in Quidi Vidi. |
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| A well maintained fishing stage in Quidi Vidi. |
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| A detail of Quidi Vidi's label hall of fame. If you place an order large enough, like for a wedding or something, they will do custom labels for you. |
From there we went to Pippy Park and checked out the botanical gardens. We only had an hour or so before it closed and I really wish we had a full day. The gardens were really beautiful and we saw all of that but there are also lots of trails that go through the park and we didn't get a chance to do much of that. Just one trail that went down by the pond. When we got there pretty much all the ducks in the park swam over to us....they probably thought we were there to feed them.
From there I dropped Krissy off at the Rocket Bakery so she could read and I went back to the hostel to clean up and rest a bit. Ran into Regine, who was back in St. John's, and we walked down to meet Krissy and went to YellowBelly, which is a brewpub down on Water Street. We sat in what is known as the Underbelly, which is a pretty sweet spot in the basement level that is set up like an old speakeasy, with beautiful dark wood and candlelight. I got a sampler flight of all their beers, most of which were quite delicious (i wish i could buy that in bottles) and a great burger. It was a grand old time. I tried to take pictures there but it was way too dark.
While we were walking back we stumbled upon an outdoor movie which they show every Monday evening on Water Street. The movie is shown on the side of a building that faces a parking lot and the lot was totally full of folks in camp chairs and much of Water Street was closed as well. It was wall to wall people when we got there but we were determined to watch the movie because it was Goonies. We climbed onto some scaffolding as well as a fire escape but they only offered obstructed views. We eventually found the ledge on a roof and even though it was dirty up there it was a good spot and we watched the movie. That was actually the first time I'd seen Goonies since I saw it in the theater when it was new but it was exactly as I remembered it. What a silly movie.
Krissy worked the office on Tuesday and I did the cleaning. We were having a party of sixteen checking in, some tour group, and were a bit antsy about that. And with good reason since a group like that tends to come and go as a whole which means that I'd be in the middle of dinner and all of a sudden there are a dozen people in the room. They were nice enough so that was okay. I hung around the hostel while Krissy went to get the second part of her tattoo. That is now complete and it is pretty awesome. Photo to follow.
We spent the evening in the office with Stefan, Martin, and Felix, drinking beers and playing Taboo. It was the two of us versus the three of them and we killed it. Of course the odds are ever in our favor so it would have probably been more fair had we formed different teams but it is always fun to play with Krissy. Team Anderson rules.
Wednesday I opened up the office and Krissy did the cleaning. It was our intention to spend the afternoon doing all the stuff that we had meant to do before leaving town but hadn't gotten around to yet. That didn't happen. Instead it was spent dealing with laundry and packing and stuff like that. While Krissy sequestered herself in the hostel's apartment annex (across the street) to read and do laundry I rove down to Goulds to stock up on moose sausage and moose burgers. It was a wise trip. I also spent much of the afternoon calling family and it was great to hear their voices. Spent most of the evening just hanging out and trying to avoid all the tour group people.
Thursday was our last day of work at the hostel. Krissy worked in the office in the morning while I went out and dealt with buying new duffel bags (not traveling any further with bags that entered a place where bedbugs were found, no way) and packing a couple of boxes of random clutter to be sent home. I worked the office in the afternoon and Krissy took care of the rest of our laundry and such. We had a nice last night in the city. We opted against going out and instead had a nice little soiree in the parlour with us staff as well as Sophie and Connor, two hitch-hiking travelers who had just come off from volunteering at the Skerwink hostel. They were both quite hilarious and we had a good time hanging out with them and drinking beers and we ordered pizza and the whole bit. I was up late hanging out with Martin and that was a blast. I miss those folks.
For all the ups and downs of our time at the City Hostel it was definitely made better by our fellow Floppers - Martin, Felix, and Stefan. And Chloe, in the beginning, as well. And then there is Dennis, who lives in the hostel and runs the city and whale tours. They are all good people with great stories to tell. Thanks to all the above for helping to make our St. John's leg of the odyssey that more enjoyable.
Oh yeah, so the owner (Dave) tried to book our room for guests and move us on our last night. It took a great deal of work to get it smoothed out but we were livid for quite a while. Stefan wound up being our roommate on the final night but that was okay since he's cool. But there had to be one last shakeup during our time there, you know, to make it easier to leave. I suppose. Anyway, it was good to have those folks around. And Jarjar. We miss that cat tremendously.
Anyway, Friday morning we woke up casually and got the car totally packed up and hit the road, probably around noon or so. We stopped and got an oil change and also got lunch and then started making our way back to Trinity East, stopping in Clarenville to do some grocery shopping. We got to the hostel right around dinnertime and it was quite surreal. The house was full and we could not find anyone we knew for quite some time. Turns out there are a lot of volunteers here at the moment and I will admit that it's a bit odd. We were used to being the only ones. Everyone who is volunteering here is really nice but we don't hang out and bond like we did back in June. At least not as of yet. Maybe (hopefully) that will change. The work schedule is a bit stiffer than it was before - six hours a day, every other day. It balances out to be the same but it's easier to do three hours every day than to have to deal with a six hour stretch, especially since we are usually doing some sort of manual labor. Of course the stupid thing is that we are technically entitled to stay here for free, since we have a letter that says we worked at an HI hostel. But we are still volunteering because we are pushovers, I suppose, and we also love this place. We are, however, considering cutting our time here short by a few days but the verdict is still out on that.
Oh yeah, so Friday night. We eventually ran into Regine (who was out here yet again...she would leave for Europe in two days' time so this would be the last we saw of her, on this voyage at least) and hung out with her for a while. After some time Kent, Mel, & Melanie showed up and it was hugs all around. It was so awesome to see them again. We wound up going with them down to a neighbor's house for drinks. Justin was there and it was excellent to see him and catch up. He's such a good dude. There were others there who we recognize from other gatherings and goings-on about town. It was a good time even though, in the dark, we walked through a field of stinging nettles. Those things burn.
Saturday we woke up and walked down to the waterfall and swam for a bit. The water was cold going in but it was easy to acclimate. Rather than wade across, like we should have done, we went up the side of the bank, up the hill, and got there that way. The reason for that was because Krissy wasn't supposed to get her tattoo wet. The grass was tall and wet and, well, it happened anyway. Our swim was short but very refreshing. Came back and worked for a little while (this day was only three hours) moving some furniture and helping to sort stuff for a trip to the dump. We also wound up setting up our tent in the back, up on the hill, because there were no beds for us. Which is also kinda bullshit. But whatever. Not bothered because I quite like it up the hill and my air mattress is more comfortable than a hostel bed anyway. Then again, it's a rainy day today so my tun may be changing sometime tonight.
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| This is our view from the tent if you look to the right. |
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| And this is our view if you look to the left. Who needs a dorm bed? |
Sunday we had a bunch of work to do but first we went to Trinity with Justin and hiked halfway up Gun Hill and hung out. Had some good long chats and then went to the Mercantile to get a tasty lunch. He doesn't really hang out at the hostel these days like he did before so any chance to see him is a treat. We got back to the hostel and did some work. The day before we had dug some holes for wash-line posts so we got the posts installed and did the concrete on that. And I spent the rest of the day taking down all the long grass with a whipper-snipper (which is what they call a weedwacker up here and is my new favorite word).
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| A bit of Trinity from Gun Hill. |
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| The old Anglican church in Trinity. |
After getting cleaned up there was a lively round of Dutch Blitz (a "vonderful goot" card game that i so triumphantly won during our first stay here). Mel and Melanie came by and they were in on the game, at points, as well as Krissy and Kent's mom, Gillian, and maybe someone else or so. I once again came out on top. Went out and hung with Mel for a while and it was good to have some one-on-one time with her. She and Melanie are two shining highlights of our trip. Even though we don't get to spend so much time with them we always have a good time with those two wonderful souls. They are getting married on the 30th of this month and we are totally rearranging the next few weeks of our trip in order to come back for the wedding. It is going to be an epic event and it will be an honor to witness it. Stay tuned to the blog for further tales from that adventure.
Monday we had the day off so we drove up to Ellison to check in on the puffins. They were in full force and have now gotten to the point where the will come over to where we are. The last time we were there one came over for a bit but this time there was upwards of a dozen, just hanging out and walking on the ledges and, perhaps even, checking us out. We could sit and watch those clumsy, classy birds all day. Or at least for an hour or so. Which we did.
Get ready for a whole bunch of puffins.
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| Puffins. |
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| The bird islands., |
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| The baby seagulls have entered their awkward adolescence. |
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| The puffin's good side. |
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| Puffins look ridiculous head-on. |
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| Puffin gives a good head shot. |
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| Five puffins fly in the background while buddy looks on. |
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| This puffin meditates on the ledge. |
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| Two puffins, doing what it is that puffins do. |
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| You can't really see it here but there are a lot of terns on this little island. |
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| Tern sings the blues. |
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| Baby terns are much more adorable than baby seagulls. Still awkward though. |
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| Tern meditating. |
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| A brief glimpse of Elliston. |
Oh yeah, I should now take this moment to introduce you to the scout leaders. There is a group of ten people, all at the tail end of middle-aged, all staying here. They are somehow affiliated with the scouts, who are holding their jamboree in Trinity and Trinity East. But they might only be the ones actually organizing it and not actually scout leaders. No one really knows. Either way they arrived here the same day we did and booked in for seven nights. And they have completely taken over the place. One of the wives does all the cooking for the group and most of the time she is commandeering the kitchen so you can't bake or cook or get around or do anything. They act friendly enough but they are really pushy and apparently they complain a lot. Um, I mean, you're staying in a hostel. Get over it. There is nothing to complain about. They have like twenty coolers on the back porch and their own grill and they all take up so much room. They aren't particularly rude but they are intrusive. They are not shy or ashamed about taking this place over either. It's like they just expect everyone else to deal with it. I am looking so forward to them leaving. My mood will surely be in a much different place then.
In fact, I came down to the house this morning at 5:30, specifically in the hopes of dodging them, and they were already up. Commandeering the kitchen. I mean....sheesh.
So, Tuesday we got up and got to work. Our big task was to take down a fence up on the hill where the tents are, as well as whipper-snipper all the grass up there. It was good to carve out the paths a bit better but that machine was being really difficult and stalling out a lot. I was in a pretty grumpy mood as well. It's okay to be grumpy from time to time - so much of this trip has been awesome, and a whole lot of awesome in high doses, that it gets exhausting. Also the work is tiring me out. I am starting to think that this much woofing, without a break even, is wearing me down. It's totally becoming like work and I find myself getting very cranky. And that is a bummer because we are in Trinity East, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I should not have to be cranky. Mostly that crankitude is due to lack of sleep and too much work along with my left shoulder (an ongoing ailment that is nearing 25 years old). It's gotten to the point that everything I do jostles it and it hurts like hell. I definitely believe there is a surgery in my not-too-distant future. So yeah, I was a right old bastard. It happens.
For dinner we went to a place called the Seaport Inn, in Port Union. We've driven past it many times and were curious. It was meh. We got a seafood platter which was the most expensive thing on the menu and split it. The good thing is none of it was deep-fried, which is big in Newfoundland. Everything was either pan fried or sauteed. The bad thing was it was all overcooked and just not plentiful. We shan't go there again.
We spent the evening drinking beers in the living room with Kent, Martha (who runs the hostel now...actually her family owns the place), Jess, Tara, Zoe (one of the guests), and Melanie, who came by and made the best cod I've ever tried. If only I had not just gone out to eat I totally would have snatched that fish from her. I did take care of a good deal of it and it was fantastic. Just writing about it is making me very hungry.
Had one last good powwow with Kent up in our little tent city. It is always a trip hanging out with that kid and we are both going to miss him a great deal. We definitely intend to stay in touch and hopefully it won't be too long before our paths cross again.
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| One last laugh out back. |
We lost another volunteer today as well. Tara went home to Ontario this morning. But Paul, who had nipped off to St. John's for a few days, is now back. So the balance is still not upset. The other helpers we have are Jess and Stef (who is here from Germany and has spent time volunteering at the City Hostel so we've had a bit to talk about). Also, speaking of the City Hostel, Felix is slated to come here on Saturday to volunteer. He originally was going to come two days ago but changed it to the weekend. It will be great to see him and work with him again. If only they had enough volunteers there for Martin and Stefan to come out as well, if only for a weekend, that would be awesome. I'd love to hang out with them in this place. This is such a great place for hanging out. It'll be fun for our two worlds to collide a bit. I don't know what kind of work there will be for so many of us but I'm sure Martha will come up with something. She's good at coming up with ways to kill our six hour shift.
Today we are off which is a wonderful thing. It is my intent to do as little as possible today. Finish this blog, maybe take a nap. I might go into Trinity and pay Aunt Sarah a visit and pick up some chocolate covered almonds. I have been greatly missing those. That might be the extent of my travels today. Tonight there will be moose burgers on the grill. Hopefully those scout jerkuses won't get in my way. I can't wait until next week when they are gone and we have a more wide range of guests in the hostel. They are far more interesting and easy to handle when they are only here in ones and twos.
Also we shall see about how long we actually wind up staying here. We are slated to be here until the 14th but now that we are coming back for the 30th plans are changing. We had a plan to go to a three day music festival in Burlington, which is over near Springdale, but I fear that it might cut too much into the rest of our time on the island. We were originally to take the ferry from Port aux Basques on the 1st of September but that is all the way in the southwest corner of the island and is a long drive to make from here. So we will go out of the Argentia ferry on that same day. That one is sixteen hours instead of seven but leaves from much closer to here.
The places that we intend to see between the time we leave here and the time we come back include:
Gros Morne - yeah, we've been there already but it was cold and there are a few major hikes that we want to do that weren't open/accessible when we were there last. we'll only be there for a few days. this is at the top of the priority list so other destinations will be based on proximity to this stop.
Burgeo - Burgeo is on the southern coast, about three hours south of Corner Brook...it's in the middle of nowhere but Sandbanks Provincial Park is supposed to have the best beaches in Newfoundland. We really have to weigh our options to see if going there is the wisest use of our time. Every time I decide to cut burgeo off the plan someone (usually Kent) reminds me of how amazing it is and how much we should go. So it's still a contender.
Change Island - This is up near Twillingate and is supposed to be wonderful. Regine was up there camping and found it to be magical. Also in that area is Fogo Island which is also a choice destination. Despite having been to Twillingate we have not been to these islands yet so that would be awesome to knock off the list.
St. Pierre et Miquelon - Not too far off the Burin Peninsula, about three hours south of where we are now, sits a small archipelago that is owned by France. Those who go there say it is the most European place in all of North America and is a must-see. Getting there isn't a hassle but it is not all that cheap. You need a passport to go there, you need to change your money into Euros, and you can't take your car on the ferry. Fortunately St. Pierre is a small island and all of it is walkable. I also hear that the bakeries are phenomenal. It would be very awesome to be able to make this work.
The Gathering - This is the three day music festival that is near Springdale, on the Baie Verte peninsula. There are lots of traditional bands playing there but Sam Roberts is also going to be there. This was more of an option when we had more time but it is seeming less and less viable.
Terra Nova - We are already slated to spend a few days here after we leave the Skerwink. We might cut that down to two days. Because Gros Morne is better.
As soon as I get the formula right I will report further on our future plans. In the meantime we will continue to adjust to Skerwink, Round II.
That is about it for now. I will do my best to not go so long without a blog post. The gaps keep you guys guessing and makes these really long to write for me. And really long to read for you. So I shall now take my leave but before I go:
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| "Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road" - Walt Whitman Apropos for this adventure and any further adventures as well. |
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