Newfoundland

May 24-27, 2024
AC694 YYZ-YYT, AC697 YYT-YYZ

We have always enjoyed our visits to Newfoundland, and decided it was time to return. We planned our visit for the end of May, thinking that we might have a chance of some good weather and perhaps a chance at iceberg sightings. Unfortunately, neither of those scenarios came true, but we did have another great visit and look forward to the next.

May 25

We had arrived the night before, and recognizing that the weather dynamics were unfovourable for a trip further west, we focused our day on St. John’s and the Avalon Peninsula, which had the best-forecast weather. We even rolled the dice on a visit to the notoriously fogged-in Cape St. Mary and had some extraordinary luck.

Morning fog starting to clear in St. John's

Exploring Government House grounds

Government House and attached greenhouse

Newfoundland scene carved into dead tree outside Government House

Statue commemorating the history of turning yarn into income by outport women

Colonial Building

Monument to Reverend Morris

Basilica of St. John the Baptist

Navigating the hills of St. John's and the famous painted houses

More of the iconic brightly painted homes of St. John's

Newfoundland Dog statue in Habourside Park

St. John's harbour traffic

Not the number you're looking for on the safety sign

Terry Fox monument commemorating the start of the Marathon of Hope

Another view of the monument depicting the start of the journey

The fog and clouds finally clearing at Cape St. Mary's reserve

One of the thousands of nesting northern gannet

Capturing more flight movements

Gathering nesting material

Cliff face covered in nesting birds

The fog and haze continued to come and go in waves at the cape

Gannets nesting on top of the rock outcropping

Common murres nesting separately

A black-legged kittiwake in the mix

More evidence of the size of the largest nesting garnet colony in North America

More of the less colourful, but beautiful common murre

Not the biggest contribution to the nest

A little play action in the nest

The flat and grassy terrain just above the sea cliffs

One last view of the again fog-covered cliffs show us how lucky our timing was

Some serious camping or invaders from Luxembourg; we're not sure

Back in St. John's, walking the famous George Street bar area before the crowds arrive

St. John's very colonial Court House

After a successful day of driving and exploration, we we found dinner at a pub downtown before turning in for the evening.

May 26

With our revised itinerary, we only had one night in Gander with a little bit of time to explore the sites along the way. Since first watching the Broadway musical Come from Away, I’ve been fascinated with the story of the planes traveling from Europe to the US being diverted to Canada on Sept 11, 2001, when the U.S. airspace was closed. Gander, the base for Come from Away, with its history as a refueling stop for trans-Atlantic flights prior to longer range planes, had a large airfield capable of accommodating 6600 passengers on 38-US bound wide-body aircraft. This was our first chance to get to Gander and visit the historic airport, and we made a few stops on the way. Before leaving town, our first stop was Cape Spear, the very blustery eastern edge of North America.

Photo of Cape Spear fortification doesn't really capture how cold this late may morning was with very cold wind and mist

Capturing Cape Spear Lighthouse before running back to the warmth of the car

We took a detour and stopped for lunch in Dildo at a nice micro-brewery that leaned in to the illustrious name

Stretching our legs at the Terra Nova visitor centre and Saltons Cove

Completing the short trail

Hiking the Mill Cove lookout trail

Looking out at the northeast pond

Panoramic view from the peak of Mill Cove trail

Making our way back down the stairs we'd climbed to get to the top of the rocky hill

Returning to the forest we started in, looking back on the hill we had just climbed

The newly restored Gander Airport

Arrivals hall restored to its 1950s heyday

Canada Arrivals for a time when there was regular international arrivals

Mural decorating the arrivals hall, now mainly used for events and as a waiting area for the restored movie theatre

A large section of the World Trade Center (WTC) donated in recognition of the hospitality of Gander in hosting the displaced passengers bound for America

The flight museum also commemorates the creation of the Come from Away musical with the sheet music from the opening song

We really enjoyed taking in all of the history of the airport in the museum, including both its role in 9/11 and its strategic importance in air travel, and the history of welcoming famous people like Queen Elizabeth, Elvis Pressley and JFK. After a great day making our way across Newfoundland and exploring the Gander airport, we checked into our hotel and found a pizza place for dinner.

May 27

For our last day in Newfoundland, we had a bit more time to explore Gander and Terra Nova National Park on our way back to St. John’s.

A 9/11 monument (with another portion of the WTC) in front of Gander City Hall

Airport lights at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander

Early flight training simulator

Aircraft interior

De Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth

Gander mascot, next to all of the 9/11 thank-you notes acknowledging the work of the community

Another piece of WTC metal shared in recognition of the community

WWII era Lockheed Hudson Bomber on the museum grounds

A more modern CF-101 Voodoo also on the grounds

Silent Witness Memorial, commemorating the Dec 1985 crash of a US military plane departing Gander

More of the Silent Witness memorial

Recognizing the 256 lost soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles"

Taking a short hike in Terra Nova National Park

Southwest Brook

Evidence of moose, but no sightings on the trail

Southwest arm at the end of our round-trip hike

Panoramic view from the lookout tower

More views of the beautiful park

Making my way back down from the fire lookout tower

Looking back on the tower and so glad that the park made it available to visitors

Looking back out at the arm we'd hiked by earlier

After checking out a few highlights of Terra Nova, we headed right to St. John’s Airport, and relaxed in the lounge before our evening flight home to Toronto.