-Today was another pretty nice day in St. John’s. While there were times today, such as now, when the sun was not shining as brightly as possible I still am willing to call it an acceptable summer day. One element that was particularly nice about today is that it wasn’t too hot, just around 20 degrees all day. This means that one doesn’t need a jacket but also won’t sweat buckets while walking. Hopefully we have a few more like this in the near future.
-Today, for the second time in about two months, I had a haircut. While not as much was chopped off this time as last, I still did managed to lose a few inches all over. The driving force behind this haircut is a dinner that I have to attend tomorrow evening. It seemed that having semi-orderly hair might be appropriate for a somewhat formal dinner.
-Since yesterday was a nice day I decided to risk exposure to the sun but instead to stay inside and play board games. At times up to eight of us were at my house playing Settlers. Eventually we branched out to Pictionary. And is usual at our house, we played Pictionary the way it was meant to be played – on easels. (Actually, on several occasions, typically before a wall needs to be painted, we have played on the walls).
-Since Friday was my birthday I played it low-key. I managed to get through most of the day with out much fuss and then make it back to have nice rare steaks for dinner. All of this was topped off by an early bedtime.
-I will be heading out for another night of Rose and Thistle trivia tonight. The regular host won’t be there (as he will be at sea) and the event will be hosted by the regular fill-in (whose name I can’t remember at the moment). For some strange reason we seem to do better when she hosts, even though Brian writes the questions for both of them.
Also, there has been some suggestion that we finally go in for the big name change. Since our night we have been “Team Steve,” but this hasn’t really been working all that well for us the past few weeks (meaning that we haven’t been winning as much). Maybe by switching up the name we will be able to get something going. It seems as though the most probable replacement name will be “Team Dynasty.”
-On Sunday I was able to return to Biscayan Cove, a location my friend Peter and I had visited earlier in the year (on an overcast day). It was pretty amazing to see the place on a sunny day. Even more amazing was that some number of people used to live there, in what must be a particularly harsh environment. It seems that the only buildings that are in use now are a few cabins in and surrounding the old town site.
-For the past few weeks the number of discussions I have had about numbers being ‘hot’ is incredible. It seems that a day can’t go by without someone suggesting that either the fives or elevens are hot, or damn hot. The only unfortunate part about this is that Neil isn’t hear to experience these comments, particularly as many are said in his honour, knowing that he would appreciate people noticing the hotness of certain numbers during supposedly random dice rolls. (Hint: Build on five, they’re hot)
Showing posts with label Biscayan Cove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biscayan Cove. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Trips to the Northeast Avalon
For a few years I have been aware of my incredible lack of personal knowledge of the towns and geography of Newfoundland. Unfortunately, aside from glancing at maps occasionally it has been hard for me to find ways to rectify this problem.
One obvious solution seems to be to visit some of these towns. Unfortunately, this has frequently been difficult for me to do. As my family has only ever had one car, the idea of me taking the car for an extended cross-island trip is usually out of the picture. Furthermore, the idea of just driving great distances for no tangible reason has been discouraged on both environmental and financial grounds.
So when I had unlimited access to the car these past few days it seem an appropriate time to try and get out of St. John's, if even only by a few kilometers.
The weekend before last, my friend Peter and I cruised on over to Petty Harbour, a small town near St. John's. For some reason I was of the long-standing belief that I had never visited Petty Harbour. Upon arrival I came to the conclusion that I had in fact visited Petty Harbour, though it must have been before the age of 10. As Peter had transcribed headstones in cemeteries there we ended up with a visit that was slightly slanted towards gravesites. Anyway, it turns out that there are three cemeteries in Petty Harbour, all of which have very different feels.
This past weekend Peter and I continued our journeys, this time heading to the North of St. John's. Our first stop was the Torbay cemetery. While there we saw the monument for Father Troy (a big figure in Torbay) and the monument for the three Torbay rowers who drowned during a race at the Royal St. John's Regatta.
From Torbay we drove up to Flatrock. While we did not stop to visit a cemetery in Flatrock (mainly because we didn't see one) we were able to stop and visit the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. It seems that during his 1984 visit Pope John Paul II paid a visit to this site. This visit was of such consequence that there is now a stone marking the very spot where the Pope knelt to pray.
From Flatrock we continued on to Pouch Cove (pronounced ‘pooch’). As it turned out this visit was really just a drive by. The somewhat heavy rain in part motivated this weak excuse for a trip to Pouch Cove.
From Pouch Cove drove North along a dirt road for what seemed like a half an hour. While driving along this road we passed over all kinds potholes and rocks. We also managed to see about 7 or 8 hares while driving along this route.
Eventually we arrived in what I assume was Biscayan Cove, something that seemed to be an abandoned fishing village. We did find an operational lighthouse with helipad. Strangely, this odd complex looked more like a bunker than a traditional lighthouse.
From Biscayan Cove the decision was made to return to St. John’s as the weather was not really ideal for touring. Additionally, the lack of food from which we were both suffering was getting to us.
Amazingly the next day the sun was out and the sky blue. I called Peter and suggested that we pick up where we left off and head to Bauline.
Upon entering Bauline we immediately located the cemetery. While in the cemetery we noted that the names LeGrow and King were particularly common. The next stop was the wharf. We then noticed that there were all kinds of crab legs on the bottom of the harbour. This is something I still can’t quite figure out, as there isn’t a plant in Bauline. Out a little further than the crab legs there seemed to be another batch of foreign objects. At first I couldn’t quite make anything out, though eventually I came to the conclusion that some of the things that I was seeing were rib cages. This led me to the presumption that what I was looking at were seal carcasses (I kind of hope that is what I was looking at based on all of the available options).
The huge rocks that formed the breakwater also proved to be an interesting place to explore. Aside from the pleasure derived from hoping from rock to rock, it was impressive to find evidence that these massive rocks actually moved on a pretty regular basis. In many cases it was possible to see pieced of driftwood trapped between rocks that must have each weighed several thousand pounds.
Hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to see a few more communities in the region. Though I will still be an “uncultured townie” I will least have seen a little more of the province than before.
One obvious solution seems to be to visit some of these towns. Unfortunately, this has frequently been difficult for me to do. As my family has only ever had one car, the idea of me taking the car for an extended cross-island trip is usually out of the picture. Furthermore, the idea of just driving great distances for no tangible reason has been discouraged on both environmental and financial grounds.
So when I had unlimited access to the car these past few days it seem an appropriate time to try and get out of St. John's, if even only by a few kilometers.
The weekend before last, my friend Peter and I cruised on over to Petty Harbour, a small town near St. John's. For some reason I was of the long-standing belief that I had never visited Petty Harbour. Upon arrival I came to the conclusion that I had in fact visited Petty Harbour, though it must have been before the age of 10. As Peter had transcribed headstones in cemeteries there we ended up with a visit that was slightly slanted towards gravesites. Anyway, it turns out that there are three cemeteries in Petty Harbour, all of which have very different feels.
This past weekend Peter and I continued our journeys, this time heading to the North of St. John's. Our first stop was the Torbay cemetery. While there we saw the monument for Father Troy (a big figure in Torbay) and the monument for the three Torbay rowers who drowned during a race at the Royal St. John's Regatta.
From Torbay we drove up to Flatrock. While we did not stop to visit a cemetery in Flatrock (mainly because we didn't see one) we were able to stop and visit the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. It seems that during his 1984 visit Pope John Paul II paid a visit to this site. This visit was of such consequence that there is now a stone marking the very spot where the Pope knelt to pray.
From Flatrock we continued on to Pouch Cove (pronounced ‘pooch’). As it turned out this visit was really just a drive by. The somewhat heavy rain in part motivated this weak excuse for a trip to Pouch Cove.
From Pouch Cove drove North along a dirt road for what seemed like a half an hour. While driving along this road we passed over all kinds potholes and rocks. We also managed to see about 7 or 8 hares while driving along this route.
Eventually we arrived in what I assume was Biscayan Cove, something that seemed to be an abandoned fishing village. We did find an operational lighthouse with helipad. Strangely, this odd complex looked more like a bunker than a traditional lighthouse.
From Biscayan Cove the decision was made to return to St. John’s as the weather was not really ideal for touring. Additionally, the lack of food from which we were both suffering was getting to us.
Amazingly the next day the sun was out and the sky blue. I called Peter and suggested that we pick up where we left off and head to Bauline.
Upon entering Bauline we immediately located the cemetery. While in the cemetery we noted that the names LeGrow and King were particularly common. The next stop was the wharf. We then noticed that there were all kinds of crab legs on the bottom of the harbour. This is something I still can’t quite figure out, as there isn’t a plant in Bauline. Out a little further than the crab legs there seemed to be another batch of foreign objects. At first I couldn’t quite make anything out, though eventually I came to the conclusion that some of the things that I was seeing were rib cages. This led me to the presumption that what I was looking at were seal carcasses (I kind of hope that is what I was looking at based on all of the available options).
The huge rocks that formed the breakwater also proved to be an interesting place to explore. Aside from the pleasure derived from hoping from rock to rock, it was impressive to find evidence that these massive rocks actually moved on a pretty regular basis. In many cases it was possible to see pieced of driftwood trapped between rocks that must have each weighed several thousand pounds.
Hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to see a few more communities in the region. Though I will still be an “uncultured townie” I will least have seen a little more of the province than before.
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