Gallivanting Grandma

Tuesday – September 5, 2017

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY to our granddaughter HAN!!!

I noticed something different and unique for the first time this morning: the sun was shining directly onto our balcony and into our cabin!  We were finally heading south and since we’re on the port side, the rising sun was right there beyond the beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

The captain had announced we would arrive just outside St. John’s about nine o’clock and he would pick up the harbor pilot.  So we got ready, had breakfast, and went out to the forward area on the deck six so we could watch the Rotterdam enter St. John’s harbor  The sun was shining and there was a 28 knot stiff breeze and it was a glorious 59 degrees!  So far we’ve traveled 8,297 nautical miles. Amazing!!

The ship turned westward.  The Atlantic Ocean was behind us and the rocky shore of Newfoundland was in front of us.  The rocks reminded me of Greenland, or Iceland.  Comparison wasn’t difficult.  I could barely make out the tiny opening between the rocks which was the entrance to the harbor.  The captain said the harbor was only about 100 meters wide.  I wondered about the dimensions of the ship and someone said the Rotterdam was about 33 meters wide.  Hmmmm…

On the right, high above the ship was Signal Hill with Cabot Tower perched on top.  Walkways with people hiking lined the cliff below Cabot Tower and the rocky hill dropped into the water.  There was a short light above the water and a marker below it to starboard.

Below is a photo of brightly painted houses built on the rocks along the inlet, below Signal Hill.

To port, there was a small lighthouse and ancillary buildings built into the cliff.  Below the lighthouse there were military bunkers with huge “guns” pointing in our direction.  It was a reminder of the role that St. John’s played during World War Two as a strategic military base for the Allied forces.

In front of us was a tall green channel marker sticking out of the water.  Yes it was narrow.  The harbor entrance was very confined.  Unbelievably limited.  The ship proceeded very slowly into the constricted space.  It was an exciting entrance into St. John’s Newfoundland.  (The photo below is looking back, out into the Atlantic from inside the harbor.  It’s a great naturally “protected harbor.”)

After we passed through the narrow opening, the harbor opened to reveal the city of St John’s.  The ship continued to the commercial port and easily “parked” at a dock in the center of the city.  It’s fun to watch the gigantic ship slowly move sideways and come alongside the dock.

We were finally in The Republic of Doyle!!  :-)  I’ll explain.  There was a Canadian television program which aired for about six years  finally ending in 2014.  It was about the antics of a family of private detectives, named “Doyle,” and it took place in St. John’s Newfoundland.  The photography was gorgeous and every episode highlighted the beauty of St. John’s with ariel photos.  In the summer – on sunny days.  The characters were quirky and funny and the plot was silly but the program was very entertaining.  Apparently, it was a big hit in Canada.  Jeff and I watched every episode of the Republic of Doyle and I wanted to see some of the specific places.

Below is a photo of a ship which services the offshore oil rigs off Canada.  There were several of these near our ship, loading up.

We booked a short excursion called “Highlights of St. John’s and The Rooms.”   We boarded a lovely new tour bus with about 50 other passengers and drove up Signal Hill to see the fantastic view.  The guide said it was the most amazing view we will ever see and I could almost agree with her.  The 360 degree view was spectacular!!

We continued on the bus with a quickie tour of St. John’s more interesting sights, eh.  It’s a lovely city, eh?.  There were many brightly painted houses built on the hills rising out of the harbor.  The guide commented that the hilly streets of St. John’s makes San Francisco look flat.  Eh?

The guide pointed out the house that was used as the exterior of the Doyle family house on the television show:

And the “Duke” of McMurdo’s Lane which served as the watering hole for Jake Doyle and his friends & enemies:

The Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, finished in 1855, was built on top of the highest hill and has an imposing view of St. John’s.

The bus drove up the hill, passing the cathedral, and dropped us off across the street at The Rooms.  This is a huge complex of museums and cultural centers and restaurants built around a glass enclosure with a commanding view of St. John’s.

We walked around, enjoyed the live music, peeked at the museums which told about the history of Newfoundland and the immigrants who fished and mined and developed the region.

We ate a late lunch of fresh fish at a really good restaurant overlooking the harbor.  We were fortunate to have a table at the edge of the view.  That’s the M.S. Rotterdam in the harbor below The Rooms:

Afterwards, we walked down the very steep street back to the waterfront and our ship.  After 36 days living aboard the Rotterdam, it felt like “home.”   We were lucky to have glorious weather today and we had fun exploring ‘The Republic of Doyle.’  In a couple of days we’ll be chugging into Boston harbor and we’ll really be “HOME.”  Almost….

Monday – September 4, 2017

We left Nanortalik, Greenland Saturday afternoon and cruised for two nights and all day yesterday across the Labrador Sea, aka “Iceberg Alley.”  I have a cold so I fell asleep early and slept well despite the ship heaving on the ocean swells.  We’ve traveled 8047 nautical miles since leaving Boston on August 2nd.

I was awake early this morning before I heard the crew lowering the tenders at six ‘o’clock.  I looked out to see Canada, and I felt we were almost home!  The Rotterdam dropped anchor near the protected harbor of St. Anthony on the tip of the peninsula at the eastern end of Newfoundland island.  It looked a lot like many of the rocky shores we’ve been seeing during the past several weeks, but there were trees above the rocks! There were no forests in Iceland or Greenland.

The weather was clear, about 50 degrees with a cool breeze blowing.  The Vikings were said to have come this far south and settle nearby at a location now called l’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site.  There were excursions from the ship to see the 11th century Viking mounds and other excavations.

We rode the tender ashore and the first thing I noticed was that we were back to “red right returning” buoys.  When we entered other harbors in Europe, the ship kept the green buoys to the right.  It was an interesting tender ride past commercial fishing boats which lined one side of the long U-shaped harbor.  It was Labor Day in the U.S. and today we learned that Canadians celebrate it on the first Monday of September also.  Therefore, nothing was open except the hospital across the road and the Grenfell Museum and Interpretive Center at the tender dock.  They probably opened the center for the cruise ship.

The M. S. Rotterdam was anchored in the larger harbor pictured below.

St. Anthony is an unusual town because it goes around the jagged edge of the lengthy harbor, without a town center.  Houses and commercial buildings lined the waterside all the way around.  The harbor of St. Anthony was used by French and Basque fishermen as seasonal fishing stations in the early 16th century.  Three centuries later, Dr. Wilfred Grenfell was the first doctor to come to this remote region in 1892.  He established hospitals, cooperatives, and schools all across rural Newfoundland and Labrador.  We walked around the buildings of the Interpretive Center and, of course, the gift shop.

We returned early to have lunch aboard the ship and relaxed.  I walked around the ship to take photos while most of the passengers were on shore to have a record of the interior of the ship.

Lido Cafe for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and leisurely suppers:

Aft Deck – aka The Retreat:

Indoor pool with retractable roof for warm days:

The Atrium – center of the ship:

Jeff in the Library blogging:

Captain van der Wal announced we have 267 nautical miles to go to reach St. John’s, Newfoundland our next port of call!  He said the weather would be raining in the morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon.  We’ve been so lucky with weather on this adventure, it would be okay to have a rainy day.  Just less photos!