Sunday – August 6, 2017
I had trouble sleeping last night because the ship pitched and rolled as it crossed into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on its way from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Corner Brook, Newfoundland. This morning the sun was shining brightly at 7:40 AM and it was a brisk 59 degrees. According to the captain’s log, we’ve traveled 905 nm since leaving Boston.
Corner Brook, located on the western side of Newfoundland, is the second largest city after St. Johns’ with a population of about 22,000 people. The Rotterdam was docked when I awoke and outside our balcony there was a new multi-level apartment complex. The city looked prosperous probably due to the large paper mill just off our starboard bow. When the wind shifted, pungent odors wafted over the ship from the mill’s smoke stacks.
After breakfast, Jeff and I were walking down the gangplank at 9:20 AM. Recorded Celtic folk music played a welcome song as passengers disembarked. At the end of the dock there was a woman sitting on a bench holding the leash of a huge black dog, a ‘Newfie” or Newfoundland Retriever, named Satchie. They have been greeting passengers for many years.
The city was built on hills rising above the harbor, so we were glad to catch a school bus shuttle into the main part of town. The driver took the long way around Corner Brook giving us a scenic tour and then let everyone out near Village Hall. Local people had set up tables outside and were selling a variety of arts and crafts.
We hadn’t booked an excursion because they didn’t interest us. We looked up the main street. It was Sunday and most of the stores were closed. I suggested a walk to Tim Horton’s to take advantage of their wifi. This chain is the Canadian version of our Dunkin’ Donuts but with better coffee. We had a couple of “Timbits” and coffee while I checked my email and wrote to my family again. There wasn’t much to do in Corner Brook, although people greeted us and locals said “Welcome” as they passed us on the street.
We rode the shuttle back to the ship and ate a light lunch in the Lido Cafe. Our cabin happens to be across the hall from one of the few Laundry Rooms on board. Lucky me! So I did a quick wash & dry during lunch. In the afternoon, we had time to explore and take photos of some of the authentic art objects displayed all over the ship. The Rotterdam is the flagship of the fleet and proudly exhibits its museum quality art collection.
By 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, the temperature was a comfortable 75 degrees with the sun peeking out from behind clouds. We relaxed for the afternoon and at some point went up to the “Crow’s Nest” for a Trivia game. We didn’t lose too badly and it was fun!
The ship pulled away from the dock punctually at five o’clock. We went up to one of the top decks and watched the men on shore cast off the lines. The Rotterdam blasted its horn and we were sailing away from Corner Brook. The weather was beautiful so we sat for a while to watch the beautiful scenery of Newfoundland pass by.
We had pizza and salad for supper at the “New York Pizza” station. It was decent pizza, but it definitely was NOT New York pizza! Not even close to the ‘olive oil dripping down my hand and arm’ New York pizza of my youth! It was pizza at sea!
We kept ourselves busy with several activities: blogging, trivia contests, walking around the ship, etc. And time moved quickly. Later at night, we stopped by the B. B. King Blues Club to hear some music. At ten o’clock, we went to the second show of the Not Really Three Tenors comedy act with singing. They were two tenors and a baritone and they were funny and very good singers!
