Easternmost Point in Canada at Cape Spear

 Hullo! Today we are at Cape Spear - it has the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland (built in 1836)... but there is a lot more to see here.

For one thing... there is a Gun Wrangler on site! 

See those tents up there? They are filming Sainte-Pierre - it is a police show by CBC supposedly set on the French islands of St. Pierre & Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland. And I guess they need a gun wrangler...

Over there... one one of those heights is Signal Hill, at the mouth of the harbour...

We have perfect weather for our day here!

 

We are headed to the point here... because it is the easternmost point in Canada... but there are a lot of concerete foundations as well. Was there something else here back in the day?

Oooh... there is an underground section here... let's go down and check it out!

Oh wow...

There is a whole maze of bunkers down here, from the Second World War!

I had no idea that the army had an installation here during the war. Although it does make sense.

There's still a massive old gun here.

Cool! And these openings are quite hidden! From the ocean... I don't know if you could see them...

Ah, and here we are at the easternmost point in Canada... some would say it's the easternmost point in North America, but technically Greenland is part of the North American continent, so geographically... not quite there. And... there are some Alaskan islands that are on the eastern side of the 180th merdian soo... let's just stick with... easternmost point in Canada!

And yes... there are is a bit more land east of this point - like the rocks below this viewpoint!

Seee.... more eastern bits east of the easternmost plaque!

Oh well... let's carry on!

Oooh... another big... hmmm... gun? Cannon? Mortar? Artillery? Anyhow... these guns were on disappearing carriages... they could be raised up to fire, and then sink down so they were out of sight of the enemy. Fort Rodd on the west coast had a similar set-up...

There's more underground bunkers and stuff, but let's get up to the lighthouse!

Oh, and somewhere over there is Europe!

There's the lighthouse... and yes, there were a LOT of people here...

And lots of stairs to climb up... ugh...

But we got up here!

I guess they get a lot of tourists here because it is so close to St. John's...

 

And that's a wrap for Cape Spear... pretty cool. And it had way more than we were expecting (lighthouse and easternmost point in Canada)... One more stop and we are heading home!

 

Bays with Bulls and No Wits

 Hullo! Today we are moving back in the direction of St. John's. Our trip to Newfoundland is almost over. And we are in another weirdly named place... Witless Bay!

It is the Home of the North Atlantic Puffin! Um... have we not all seen enough puffins??

But you are in luck... because the puffins nest over on that big island in the background. We could get a boat tour to go there but... some tummies would not handle that all that well. There are actually 4 islands out there and they are named... Gull, Great, Green and Pee Pee... uh-huh... sigh. This is the biggest puffin colony in North America!

Whew... but let's see what else is here.

There are puffin chairs!!! Seriously... between the lupines and the puffins... the photography of this expedition has had a field day.

There wasn't much else to see in Witless Bay although we did learn why it has such a weird name. One of the earliest European settlers in the area was Captain Whittles. He then died and his wife and kids moved back to England... so it became known as "Whittles-less" which eventually morphed into Witless...

We drove up the coast a bit more and came to Bay Bulls. I'm not sure if this is related to the Running of the Bulls in Spain or... nope... Apparently, the name could come from the French Baie de Bois, meaning "wooded bay", or it might be a reference to the Dovekie, a common seabird known locally as a "bull bird".

It had an interested garbage can. I gather that Carnation Milk was a staple in Newfoundland kitchens before fresh milk deliveries took off. Which makes sense. Some of these places are seriously remote!

Bay Bulls had an interesting crosswalk...

And a war memorial with one soldier on it from the First World War (Private John Frampton who died 1 July 1916), and two from the Second World War.

We stopped here for lunch... at a restaurant!!!! No more hummus for us!

If you've been following along, you know that our picnics relied heavily on hummus and veggie sticks!

But today is salad...

And pasta!

Yum!!!!

And... a dessert... a chocolate dessert! Yum!!

One thing we finally got a picture of was... invasive Japanese Knotweed. It is EVERYWHERE in Newfoundland and a very nasty weed.

 It crowds out native plants and its roots can go very deep and crack house foundations.

We have tiny patches of it here but in Newfoundland, there were huge swaths of it everywhere. Scary stuff. Right... onwards!! We are almost done our trip...

Bus Bingo Prize Mail!

 Hullo, we received some mail today!!

Except... um... uh-oh...

Um... Houston... we have a problem. A BIG problem!!

"Cocoa? Do you see what I see??"
Yes, I do Navy... yes I DO.""

Seriously Beanie Mouse... what were you thinking???

Now, now, let's not get our noses out of joint... it could be a simple innocent mistake?

Innocent mistake, my tail!!! 

Look at this!! Look at it!!!

Who is the SOLE addressee??? It is Sandy Bear! Not a mention of a Mouse!!

From our COUSIN no less! What are we?? Minced cheese curds? Hmph!!!!

"If that's the way Beanie wants to be... then FINE!!!"

Oh dear... Maybe it's just a sekrebeary typo (write-o) on the front...

Let's open it up and see...

But first let me get a pair of scissors to get into this Fort Knox of an envelope...

There's a lot of stuff in there! But I think I have it all!

Right, let's take a look...

It's a card... Resistance is ...utile... Eh?

I know my Star Trek: TNG and I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be "Futile"! Good image of a Borg by the way!

Oh, it's a lovely card and it is addressed to...

Moi...

And only moi... hmmmm....

There's a nice pin badge from The National Gallery...

And another one that adds a line to the Beatitudes... "Blessed are the cracked for they let the light in"...

That seems like a good addition!

And a post card of an astronomical clock at Hampton Court Palace - cool!

And a magnetic book mark! Those are much better than turning over a couple of page corners!

Oh, and a little corner note... hmmmm... it's supposed to missing an F... "Resistance is Utile"?? Apparently "utile" means "useful"... and it was used before "useful" came on the scene! Cool... That'll be a good one to keep in your backpocket for Scrabble... Somebody puts "tile" down and you can score big with that "u"!

Thanks Beanie Mouse!!!

"Yeah... Thannnnkkkkkssss for nothing Beanie Mouse!"

Ooops.. we have a peanut gallery!

Who you calling peanuts???? We are NOT peanuts, even if we are small... we may be be small but we are mighty!!  I think we should make up our VERY OWN bus bingo cards... so we can get our VERY OWN prizes. Hmph (x2).

Ummm... so yeah... Beanie... any thoughts??