After our sea day we arrived in St John’s Newfoundland. Before we had left the UK, we had read about P&O ships being unable to enter St John’s because of high winds and storms. By the time of our visit thankfully the storms had subsided.
Day 20: Thursday 13th October: St John’s Newfoundland
The pilot boat woke me up as it came out to meet Sky Princess. The good news was that this give me time to get prepared for when we entered the harbour.
The entrance to the harbour at St John’s is called ‘The Narrows’ for good reason.
On the port side from our balcony we could see houses and boats.
Entering St John’s Harbour
When Sky Princess began to spin in the harbour we had views of the city as well of the rest of the harbour.
Walking to The Narrows
We went upstairs in the quiet part of the buffet to have a late breakfast.
After breakfast we left the ship and turned and walked down Harbour Drive to Water Street. The busy port area to our right had the large ships that were used to service offshore oil platforms. At the end of the road there was a large pile of salt ready for the local roads in the Winter.
Our plan for the morning was to explore along the side of the Narrows. On our previous visit we had been on a tour and had spent time at Signal Hill above us on the hill. We turned left up Temperance Street past the five stone built houses there.
At the complicated junction (!) we past the small park and walked up Signal Hill Road to look at the multi coloured houses there.
Boundary Café did look very tempting but for now we carried on walking towards the three Battery Roads (Battery Road, Lower Battery Road and Middle Battery Road)
The mural by the Craig Dobbin Memorial
At first we climbed up a hill and then we went down a steep incline on Outer Battery Road. Below the Craig Dobbin Memorial on the wall on our left there was a mural painted.
The road carried on going down then made a sharp left with a sheer rock face on one side and a sheer drop on the other. Above us was Fort Waldergrave.
Outer Battery Road
Below us we could see dilapidated buildings on the side of The Narrows.
We then came to houses on the other side of the road as it narrowed.
The twists and turns along with ups and downs made for an interesting walk. The houses were all different with some clearly restored and others looking a little careworn.
The road came to a small car park and became just wide enough for a single car as it climbed up the last hill. At the top of this was where the road ended at a sty. From there onwards we can see paths leading into the park.
From the map by the sty, we can see trails that lead up and around the cliffs to the lighthouse and to Signal Hill above us on the clifftop.
On way back down we noticed that the first building was a small gin distillery.
This was the home of The Newfoundland Distillery Company and their Sea Salt Gin.
Boundary Cafe
By the time we had walked back to Signal Hill Road we were ready for a sit down and a coffee at the cafe. There were seats outside but we chose to go inside and as usual added a cake to our coffee order.
While we drank our coffee we met up with two ladies off the ship who had been with us on the walk up the East Side of Manhattan earlier when we had been in New York.
Duckworth Road
Rather than head back to the ship we walked along Duckworth Road and visited more parts of St John’s that we had not explored before. We were heading for George Street and hopefully lunch.
We stopped at some eclectic shops on the way that sold included souvenirs, mixed up with clothes and other assorted things.
This mural was on the wall of a building by a small open space.
And this mural was around steps.
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Mural celebrating the St John’s great fire of 1892
As we walked down McBride’s Hill to Water Street and on to George Street, we noticed this mural on the high walls. This celebrated the fire that had ravaged St John’s in 1892. Hidden in the mural was the symbol to show where the fire had started. We stopped for over 10 minutes looking for where the fire started.
The Great Fire had started from a dropped pipe in Timothy O’Brien’s stable, which was at the top Carter’s Hill on Freshwater Road.
Water Street then George Street
On our way to George Street we continued to window shop along Water Street.
Turning into George Street we were by now seriously looking for somewhere to eat. The bars we passed had the ‘morning after look’ with rubbish piled up or were all closed up.
This visit we hadn’t find anywhere for lunch by the time we reached the end of George Street.
Saltwater restaurant on Water Street
Turning to the left we re-joined Water Street and started to walk back. To our relief we did come to restaurants that were open for lunch.
Once inside Saltwater, we were directed to a table at the back of the restaurant. Almost every table was occupied and the two folks we could see serving were literally rushing around. The menu listed an impressive number of beers. None were available in draft so I just chose an IPA in a can at random. My IPA came already poured into the glass.
On the table next to us four passengers off the ship had settled their bill, when they noticed that things were wrong. They had been given a bill from another table and it was for much less money. The time it took to sort out created chaos as no one was picking up food or dealing with customers. We just sat and waited and rested our weary legs.
When I asked for the Wi-Fi code the barman explained that the Wi-Fi circuit was for the tills so it wasn’t available. In any case, our food arrived and we concentrated on eating the excellent food.
Behind us were the lead singer and guitarist from the house band came and sat down. The lady server gave them the Wi-Fi code as soon as they asked! We chatted to them and their manager about the band playing in the Vista Lounge that evening. A number of passengers, including us, been lobbying for several days for them to be allowed to play again on a stage rather than in the Piazza.
When we came time to pay the guy apologised for not giving us the codes. He explained that this has been how he had been working all season. But the lady working with him that day was the owner’s wife and she had decided to give the codes. Rather than bother with Wi-Fi before we left, I asked for a different favour – please can I see the can that my beer had been poured from.
As we said goodbye to the band members, I told them how much we enjoyed their performances in the Piazza. Plus the awful rendition of Hotel California that we had briefly suffered in the Vista Lounge a few nights before. This brought smiles and a request for us to make sure we were in the lounge that evening.
Water Street
On our way back to the ship we resisted calling for an ice cream on Water Street. They did look very good though.
I watched a guy working on the walls of a building – here are some of the patterns.
Delayed departure from St John’s
We watched the traffic ‘cruising by’ from our balcony. The ship was attracting quite a lot of attention. The cars and trucks were going backwards and forwards past.
The ship’s departure was delayed as an ambulance was on the quayside to take away a passenger. This meant that the ship missed the tide for a transit through The Narrows.
The afternoon in St John’s turned into evening.
Later when the ship did move we wrapped up and went out on our balcony.
The first manoeuvre Sky Princess did was a very slow spin in St John’s harbour.
The St John’s Narrows
Then she went slowly through the Narrows. On the port side we could now see the roads and houses that we had been walking past earlier in the day.
Ocean Boulevard in the Vista Lounge
After dinner, we headed to the Vista Lounge to see Ocean Boulevard perform on the stage. The lounge was indeed packed and we were lucky to find a table close to the side of the stage.
At lunch I had asked if it was okay to take pictures of the band. For their performance in the lounge I had my camera plus portrait lens ready.
In between dancing, I captured these images.
At the start of their last set they dedicated their next number, Hotel California, to me – and what a great performance they gave.
We now had five days on the Atlantic crossing back to to Southampton.
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