St. John's Newfoundland

July 3 to 8: We were in no rush and arrived late afternoon at our camp in St. John's. The Pippy Park Campground is on the outskirts of St. John's.

The first day started late. We had to read about the public transit system first. A Metrobus stop is right outside the campground. We had to change buses at MUN (Memorial University) only 2 minutes away. $2.50 and less than 60 minutes later, we were downtown. There are two different downtown's from MUN. #10 is to the City Hall and #15 goes to Quidi Vidi Village. We took #10 and disembarked earlier than planned when we saw The Basilica of St. John the Baptist. The completion was in 1855, after 14 years of construction. Several additions and changes occurred over the years. The pipe organ was installed in 1955. The artwork and details in the basilica are amazing.

The Battery Café
From there, we walked towards the famous Jellybean Row. We were looking for the sign "You are at Jellybean Row" but without success. However, we found The Battery Café. As we pointed out before, finding a place in Newfoundland that serves real Americano and Espresso is no easy task. Well, we hit the jackpot here.

Jellybean Row
Back to the Jellybean Row. So many streets in St. John's have colourful houses. In the end, it doesn't matter if we found The Jeelybean Row or not. We enjoyed the walk and sights. We found a postcard to send to Switzerland. Yes, postcards are still 'a thing'. A jewellery store along the way had a nice collection of Labradorite necklaces. To my surprise, the name has nothing to do with Labrador, but it means coloured reflections caused by internal structures that selectively reflect only certain colors.

Signal Hill National Historic Site
Across the road from The Battery Café was a small park that unmistakably pointed us to our next destination. We walked the 1.5 km up to Signal Hill, but stopped at the Visitor Center first. We read about Signal Hill and went on to the top. The view is amazing. I was more interested in the vacuum tubes (or electron tube). It is the predecessor of the transistor. Today's transistors can fit thousands of these vacuum tubes on a square millimeter. We also noticed that all the lighthouses we visited had a room with flags. More about these flags later.
Yes, we took pictures from the tower, but the history surrounding the place is already documented on many other websites.

When it was time to get down the mountain, we chose the North Head Trail with the gazillion steps. At least we could take them downhill.

Towards the end, the trail gets narrow and continues on the Harbourside Walk East. There is the Inside Outside Battery smartphone app when you walk there. We didn't feel like downloading the app after we had already walked for over 4 hours. We still had to get to George Street. We admired the big painting on the wall and the ships in the harbour.

George Street
We arrived at the corner of Water and George Street. The YellowBelly Brewery is right there in the corner. We visited the brewery at a later time, not for food, but beer and a specialty coffee. We had Christian's Pub in mind to become honorary Newfoundlanders. They have the ceremony at 5, 7 and 9. We didn't go in, it was loud and we were 15 minutes late. Our dinner destination was St. John's Fish Exchange and it was an outstanding choice. We were lucky to get in, it was packed. The place may not be as photogenic as the pubs on George Street, but they excel with ambiance and menu choices.

No matter where we turned in St. John's, we always got surprised by yet another artwork. This is an amazing city to visit. Make sure you plan enough time to see it all.

Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site
The day after we visited St. John's and Signal Hill, we drove to the Cape Spear Lighthouse. There are two of them, we only show the old one here. It is not operational anymore, but Parks Canada staff is there to answer questions. The flagpole resembling a mast is used to hoist specific flags depending on the occasion. Some merchant ships had their own colours and were raised when they approached. The flag was raised on the side from where they came. The same flag was raised on Signal Hill to inform the town. Today they raise these flags at both locations to educate the visitors and keep the tradition alive. The light in the tower was replaced with a camera, but I was not able to find the live feed.

Fort Cape Spear
The Fort Cape Spear is just above the Easternmost Point of North America. The tunnels are a nice escape from the heat, they keep refreshingly cool.

The end of the trip is near
We didn't do much planning after St. John's, so we tried to book our ferry from Argentia to Nova Scotia. She was booked solid! After all, it was mid July and the tourist season was in full swing. It was time to leave Newfoundland and head home. We reviewed our options and concluded that we should head to Port aux Basques and take the ferry there. We were in no rush and camped one night on the Bonavista Peninsula on top of the most amazing cliff. The next three nights we returned to Crescent Lake RV Park outside Roberts Arm and the last night we spent in lane #10 on the ferry dock, waiting for our 6:30 AM passage.

It took us 30 years to revisit Newfound and it was an amazing journey. When we left, we both agreed that we won't wait another 30 years to come back.

Ferry and gasoline cost
We had to know which route is the most cost effective to get from Montreal to St. John's. The prices are based on the following:
Price per liter in Quebec: $1.75
Price per liter in Newfoundland: $1.60
Labrador surcharge for gasoline: +$0.35
Gas milage 15 litre per 100km

A vehicle up to 20 feet for one driver and one passenger in order by price.
Montreal via Port aux Basque to St. John's = $876
Montreal via Argentia to St. John's = $957
Montreal via Labrador to St. John's = $970

A vehicle up to 30 feet (with small treailer) for one driver and one passenger in order by price.
Montreal via Port aux Basque to St. John's = $934
Montreal via Labrador to St. John's = $987
Montreal via Argentia to St. John's = $1,077

The lower the gas milage of the vehicle, the cheaper the Trans-Labrador highway gets.
The Argentia ferry is by far the most expensive. The prices do not include a cabin, it is a 16 hour trip.
The driving distance is as follows
Montreal via Argentia to St. John's = 1,579 km
Montreal via Port aux Basque to St. John's = 2,346 km
Montreal via Labrador to St. John's = 3,298 km