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!

 

Visiting a Dungeon and a First Landing Site

 Hullo!! Today we are visiting the Bonavista Peninsula and went to see the Dungeon!

It's not that type of dungeon... it's a collapsed sea cave with an arch!

It's pretty cool, and quite a drop down there.

This little bear is staying far away from the edge!

The weather is fantastic and the coast along here is spectacular.

So rugged and jagged.

The entrances to the sea arches are just to the right here, but we can't see them.

We'd have to hike over along the shore to see the entrances. But we aren't doing that.

Nope... cause it is now time for lunch!

You can't beat the view at this lunch spot...

And in addition to the standard hummus and veggies... we have...

Some left-over cooked salmon!!!

That, of course, is entirely for me...

Right... now that we are fed and watered... we are going to do a bit more exploring.

Honestly, these peninsulas are soooo barren!!! There is not a stick of a tree growing anywhere!

But we did cross a cattle guard and we then saw...

... some sheep grazing!!

And then some horses!!

There was a sign earlier that said this area was used for agricultural purposes... but we didn't expect to see anything!

That is a handsome horse...

I was going to approach but it was ripping at the grass quite earnestly... and I thought... best not to interrupt its lunch!

That would also explain why the grass everywhere is so low and well-kept!!

This white horse came closer...

... but again... lunch is not a time to be disturbed!

We kept going and finally found the end of the Bonavista Peninsula...

Oh, and yes... the humans did stop at the Bonavista sign and sing the refrain from the Canadian version of This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land... cause you know... we come from Vancouver Island!! ahem...

This land is your land, This land is my land,
From Bonavista to Vancouver Island,
From the Arctic Circle to the Great Lake waters,
This land was made for you and me 

Anyhow... carrying on... this is a pretty significant lighthouse!

It was built in 1843 and retired in 1962, when it was replaced by an electric light on a steel tower (boring). The lighthouse became a historic site in 1978. You can go up into the light bit at the top and they still have the  seal oil-fueled light thingie that was used in the 1800s!

There's also a bird island off the point here, where you can see puffins!

But we saw the best puffins, up close, at Elliston... so we passed on puffins...

I wonder if this fog horn still works... hmmm... probably! Good thing it is not foggy today!

This lighthouse is one of the most photographed places in Newfoundland & Labrador. It's also a prime spot to spot whales and icebergs, along with puffins.

Speaking of puffins... I met this life-sized puffin in the interpretive centre.

He's a cute little fellow... but I really thought they would be bigger!

There's one more spot to see, near the lighthouse...

That statue up there!

Any idea who it might be? He was a great explorer (not C. Columbus)...

Hmmm... note to self... do not climb the statue...

There's a plaque here for a fella named Giovanni Caboto, who landed here in May 1497!

Do you recognize the name??

It's John Cabot!! He was actually Italian, but because he was sailing under the British flag, they anglicized his name from Giovanni Caboto...

Now we all now that he did not "discover" anything... and besides the Vikings landed in another part of Newfoundland long before Giovanni... but he was a pretty intrepid explorer.

There's also some discussion as to whether he landed here on the Bonavista Peninsula, elsewhere in Newfoundland, or even in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, or further down into Maine...

They didn't have good maps back in those days (like... no maps)... they were the map makers sooo... we'll let that slide.

And that's our big day of exploration! Whew!

On our way back... we had to stop and take a picture of this house... Notice anything odd??? Yeah... there's no stairs/porch to the front door!! We can't tell you how many houses we saw where they had no stairs at the front door! Some say that they are mother-in-law doors... to welcome (not) the in-laws... hah! Others say that after the war, fire safety codes required a second exit to get a building permit, but local regulations didn't require building costly front stairs if the door was never used. Uh-huh... OK...

Soooo... for dinner today... we got something special from our Airbnb host...

Fresh cod!!! Like it was swimming out in the ocean this morning... and our hosts went and caught it... and now we get to eat it.

It looks beary yummy.

I mean... cod is what Newfoundland is built on, you know!

We fried it up with a bit of salt and pepper...

And then ate it... it was delicious!!!

And we had leftovers for the next day, which were even yummier cold!!