After our five days crossing the North Atlantic our first port was Corner Brook, Newfoundland and then we had another sea day as we transited to our extra visit to Saint John, New Brunswick
Day 7: Friday 30th September 2022: Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Coming into Corner Brook the very large paper mill was the first building that we could see.
We waited until almost the end of service in the Deck 6 restaurant before we went for breakfast. I had been trying to download my emails but the Wi-Fi on the ship was still very poor with only email headers arriving and no access to apps such as Sky News.
We had to remember to stay on ship’s time while in Corner Brook. This was due to the ship’s systems being unable to cope with a 30 minute time change!
Back in our cabin we realised that we had missed any announcements about the port and that we could now leave the ship.
Walking into Corner Brook and West Street
Once off the ship we chose to walk into the town centre rather than catch the shuttle. Once out of the port area, the pavement in places was very uneven, especially on the concrete pavements on the over passes.
As promised there was a celebration taking place on West Street. This part of Corner Brook was closed to traffic. Stalls were set up down one side of the street. A couple of performers were in the open space in front of the church singing to everyone sitting on the slopes.
Walking along West Street we passed the closed micro-brewery that was highlighted in all the tourist information. This mural covered the whole wall of a building that backed onto a gas station forecourt.
After passing all the buildings we came to large open grassed spaces. On our right we could look down onto a park with a large lake.
From the viewing platform there were a series of steps and landings down to the park below. But the posted notices on the fences stated that the park below was was closed for maintenance.
Finding our way to the Margaret Bowater Park and lake
Instead we carried on walking up the hill keeping the park to our right. Then we came to more residential streets with houses on our right that were marked as cul-de-sacs. While we studied the maps we met another couple off the ship walking back up the street, who told us that there was no access to the park at the end of the street.
By now there must’ve been five or six other couples at the end of the road all lost like us. Then a local lady offered us directions but warned it would be a long way round. We had to walk out of past all the houses until we reached a main road, turn right and then follow this road down a hell until we came to the car park for the park.
On the way down we passed a Canadian territorial army base.
The good news was that now we could now see the car park at the bottom of the hill for the park.
Through the Park and back to West Street
Past the car park there was a footbridge that spanned the river that fed into the lake.
On the bridge we met other ship’s passengers coming the other way. Once over the bridge, we walked along a wide path through the trees. Below us to our right we could see the lake.
We were joined by some of our fellow passengers we had met, who took our advice and turned back rather than take the detour around all the houses. Once the path turned down into the trees, we felt as though we were finally in the park.
The pathway wound down through the woods and we could hear both birds and squirrels all around us. The path was very busy with walkers, joggers and mums pushing prams coming the other way.
We stopped to take pictures of unusual trees that have the roots around a boulder.
Unexpectedly, a squirrel appeared in the middle of the branches, followed by what we think was a baby squirrel (a kitten).
Further down the hill we caught up with one of the walking tours led by a local guide. He was busy explaining about the hydro-electric dam that we could now see below us.
Rather than stop on the path and follow the river to the sea we turned and went over another bridge to head back to West Street.
To get there we had to walk through an industrial estate.
