July 12th – July 19th
Wednesday was a travel day, to North Sydney, for the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, “the island” as the locals call it, and rightly so as NL is an island. The ferry is normally 16 hours, an over-nighter. We ate a nice lunch at “Bette’s Diner” in North Sydney which was unique. The restaurant started as a food truck 3 generations ago and the pictures of movie stars on the walls were of that same period. Our journey onto the boat took a little longer as there was an accident, a minor one we’re told, between a camper-trailer and a big rig and they must fill out reports and take pictures. That cost just shy of an hour and a half of our time and made us late into port in NL. We had a cabin with beds and our own shower and toilet, it was like a luxury hotel room after camping for the last 5 weeks. We could feel the gentle rocking of the ship port to starboard and back but otherwise the ride was smooth. We had been tipped off about the price of libations on the ferry and so brought our own, which was not disallowed. We ate a light, ala carte dinner in our room with our own beverages.
Thursday As Scot was out on the starboard deck watching us come up a long estuary into port, he saw whales off the starboard side, got a couple pictures of tail fins, but no breeches. Looked like humpback whales to and the “experts” around him who were also watching and filming. The whales left us when the estuary narrowed to a channel and we arrived in Argentia, NL, shortly thereafter. Our first stop on the way to our campground in St. Johns was the town of Dildo and the Dildo Brewing Company for lunch and beers made at their restaurant and brewery right there in Dildo. We had to walk to the Dildo Gift Shop across the road and check out their supply of authentic Dildo merchandise, some wares made in Dildo too. Of course, we bought Dildo merchandise and took our obligatory picture in front of a sign announcing we were in Dildo to complete the entire Dildo experience.
We made our way to the campground, which was really in Mount Pearl not St Johns but it was only 5-6 miles between the towns. There was a very nice, walking, hiking, biking path made of old train track bed that ran for miles into St Johns and beyond, and connected to other trails along its length. From our campsite it was 10 km to St Johns downtown, but we didn’t walk the full distance, just a couple kilometers and back as we had to meet Benny and Karen for dinner at their campsite as they were in St John’s now too. We had a fire, ate some “dinner” charcuterie-board style, quaffed many a fine beer and cider, enjoyed a fire and conversation with our friends. Most enjoyable and relaxing after a long travel day for both couples.
Friday we four gathered again and headed off to Signal Hill at the Cape Spear lighthouse and historic site near the entrance to St Johns harbor, having protected the city for 200+ years (1750’s to 1960’s) and Cabot Tower atop the hill, also a historic site, built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landing in 1497. The tower is medieval in its appearance, crafted out of natural stones and mortar it bespeaks impregnability. There are kilometers of trails at Signal Hill, some short, others long and some connect with other established trails and can take you almost anywhere. We opted for a shorter hike of a few km’s, toured the Cape Spear lighthouse buildings but couldn’t go up in the light room level, only 1st 2 floors. The materials, tools, etc. were preserved in strikingly good condition and there was a quasi-museum with lots of interesting facts regarding life as a lighthouse keeper and the isolation that can come with it. We also saw whales frolicking offshore at varying distances from us. These were Minke whales, lots of fins or short swims on the surface but no breaching out of these whales either.
We drove down the western coast to Petty Harbor to see about a boat tour but were out of luck and soothed our bruised egos with ice cream products, at least Benny and I did. We made a short stop at Witless Bay but no whales or icebergs to be seen. Then on to La Manche Provincial Park and a couple km hike to a suspension bridge over a roaring chasm of rushing water, on the path to a ghost town/abandoned village. The town of La Manche was wiped out in a storm decades ago and the park service has rebuilt the bridge and a staircase that winds upward a couple hundred feet to the top of the rocks and the ruins of the village. We took the bridge over and climbed to the first outlook but did not make the ascent to the village. Our rough hike to the bridge and short climb was enough exercise. Of course, we had to get back for a “Screeching” ceremony at our campground that night.
We got back and had dinner at our campsite then prepared to join in a Screech-In! This is going to take a little bit of explaining. When we returned Thursday after our first day in St Johns, we met a guy named Aaron, a local Newfi’lander, with a complex accent and speech pattern but not as laced with Newfie (slang for Newfoundlander) slang and the thick brogues that can make what a Newfie’s saying seem unintelligible at times. Aaron was a self-appointed “official” Screecher, one who puts someone who “comes from away” (a non-Newfoundlander) through the Newfoundland screeching ceremony and makes one an honorary Newfi’lander. Aaron was a personable guy, living at the campground for a few weeks this summer, with his girlfriend/fiancé in the camper. Aaron had made the rounds of the campground, meeting people and talking up the ‘Screeching’ ceremony. When we heard about it, I was immediately in, Mary, Karen and Benny were a little hesitant but in the end they screeched their way to being honorary Newfi’landers.
The ceremony started slightly before 8pm. Aaron had gathered a crowd of about 10 people to ‘Screech-In’ at his campsite, all of us sitting in (roughly) a circle and awaiting the start. Aaron had a karaoke machine he was using to emcee the ceremonies, complete with flashing, multicolored disco lights from his speakers and mounted on his camper as well. Everyone had been told the ceremony involved kissing the cod and taking a shot of Screecher rum to ‘seal the deal’ and we anxiously awaited the start of the Screeching!
As emcee a Newfi’lander asks the supplicant the first question, “Would like to be a Newfoundlander?”, to which the answer is, “Yes by’s!” Then you are asked, “Is ye a Screecher?” To which one answers, “Dead I is me cock! And long may your big jib draw!” [Translations – “Yes by’s!” (pronounced yes buys) means “Yes boys”, “Dead I is me cock!” means ‘Yes indeed my old friend’, and “And long may your big jib draw” means “And may your big sail draw wind” (or “May you have good fortune for a long time”)] After the questions are successfully answered, the supplicant has to eat a piece of Newfoundland steak (bologna), then kiss the cod, this is a dead cod that has been split open like a fillet but still attached to the head and skeleton. The emcee puts his hand in the mouth of the cod, the body is draped over his forearm, and you are compelled to kiss the cod somewhere on its mouth, head or body. Then the supplicant gets a shot of Screecher rum (yes, there is a special rum made just for Screeching-In) and does a shot with the emcee, then he/she is an official, honorary Newfoundlander – if you say it fast like a native, it sounds like “Newfi’land” or “Newfinland”. The emcee gives you an official looking certificate, signed and dated as to when the bearer was officially made a Newfilander.
Benny was called to be the first of the supplicants to be Screeched-In. He gently kissed the fish on the head. Benny’s wife Karen was next to go, and she set a high bar with her kissing, giving it a French kiss, tongue and all! I was third and had to set the bar even higher by taking the cod’s whole head into my mouth and laying a drunk, messy kiss all over its head. Not sure if it was good enough to out-do Karen so let’s call it a tie. Mary was the last of our foursome to go and I had worries because she is not a hard liquor drinker, but she gave the cod a kiss and threw down that rum like an old sailor. Now we four are official, honorary Newfi’landers! There were 6 more of us to get Screeched and while this was going on, a few people stopped by to see what was happening and were invited to join the Screeching-In. A a couple from Quebec who spoke more French than English joined in making it 12 supplicants for the evening. As you can imagine, Aaron, the emcee, was about out on his feet after doing 12 shots of rum to confirm the 12 of us as Newfi’landers. I can drink a lot of rum and stay on my feet, but Aaron did his 12 shots in 2 hours of Screeching-In ‘come from aways’ like Mary, Benny, Karen and me, so hats off to Aaron for that task and for graciously hosting a GOOD TIME!
Saturday we spent the day in St John’s with Benny and Karen sightseeing. We did some touristy things like strolling the streets with the painted houses. In St John’s people in parts of the city have painted their houses in different colors, red, green, blue, purple, yellow, cranberry and goldenrod, etc. It is a feature of much of the Maritimes villages and towns and is prevalent in the bigger cities like St John’s also. There are sections of the city where they comprise several contiguous blocks and there are several parts of the city where these houses can be seen. We also visited the Fluvarium, a museum/learning center where there is a portion of the Rennie’s River that runs past/through the Fluvarium and large glass panes have been installed so that one can see the life of the river, from the small creatures feeding in the mud at the river bottom, to seeing brown trout swimming by. It is more geared for kids but is a great time for adults that dig learning more about the nature of a river ecosystem.
We ate lunch on a sidewalk-patio for the Celtic Hearth pub, grabbing some shade as most of Newfoundland was under a heat advisory for temperatures exceeding 31 degrees Celsius (92+ f). We found and walked down George Street, the “party street” in the city and home of the “official” Screeching-In bar, Trapper John’s. We pushed on from there and settled at Broderick’s Irish pub for a cold drink to relieve us form the heat outside, and a bit of Irish music from a duo on stage. An hour later they took a break and we moved on. There was a section of the downtown, main thoroughfare blocked off and turned into a street fest that happens every day apparently. It had some vendors and free live musicians playing but was mostly filled with restaurants, shops and tourists. We walked along the harbor and waterfront for a ways but had to turn back inland when it got too industrial for pedestrians to navigate safely.
After broiling in the sun all afternoon, we headed back to our campsite for cold beer and cider and relaxation. We had a fire at Benny and Karen’s and charcuterie for dinner again as we were too tired to cook and too full of libations to eat a full dinner. As it was the last night together in St John’s we opted for easy prep and clean up. Tomorrow, we set out for Twillingate for iceberg and whale watching, among other things.
Okay … a town called Dildo (!), Scot … and the fish (!), and the whole Schreechin’ thing! What a memorable time! Congrats! and thanks for sharing!
We go where the action is Peter! Some days you gotta kiss a fish! These things happen.