July 21-22, 2024 – Avalon Peninsula, Eastern Newfoundland Coast

Sunday morning, we left the Bonavista Peninsula and drove to the Avalon Peninsula.  The drive was beautiful but difficult as it was very windy.  We are staying at Bluefin RV Park in Holyrood.

Monday morning, we drove to Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site on the south side of St. John’s Bay.

 

The lighthouse was built in 1836 to guide ships safely into St. John’s Harbor.  It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador and remained in service until 1955.

At that time, it was replaced with this white, concrete tower which continues to guide vessels safely through the waters surrounding Cape Spear.

After touring the lighthouse, we walked to the remnants of bunkers that were part of the coastal defense during World War II. From 1941 to 1945 Canadian and American troops occupied Fort Cape Spear.

A beautiful view from the most easterly point in Canada.

And – we were excited to get to see a whale from the overlook.  We are sure the people in the boat were much more excited that we were!

We then drove to the north side of St. John’s Bay to Signal Hill National Historic Site.  With commanding views of the Atlantic, for three centuries Signal Hill was important for defense and communications.  Shore batteries built in the 17^th century gave way to substantial fortifications on the summit as France and Great Britain battled for control of the continent.  Between the departure of the British military in 1870 and the arrival of American and Canadian forces during the Second World War, the Hill remained an active flag signaling and communication post.  In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless transmission atop Signal Hill.

After a picnic lunch at the Visitors Center, we started up the trail that winds its way to Cabot Tower at the top of the hill.  Our first stop was at the Queen’s Battery.  The name “Queen’s Battery” was chosen in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of England.

For almost seventy-five years during the nineteenth century, Queen’s Battery played a key role in the defense of St. John’s.

We could see a small lighthouse from the Queen’s Battery.

This view of St. John’s Harbour from Queen’s Battery was beautiful.  It is easy to see why the British built the battery here to protect St. John’s Harbour.

We continued our climb to Cabot Tower.  Built from1897 to 1900 it was erected to serve as a perpetual memorial of the 60^th year of the glorious reign of Victoria, Queen and Empress and in commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland by John Cabot.

When we got back down to the Visitor’s Center these reenactors had just finished an exercise in the yard.  We were disappointed that we did not get to see the maneuvers, but we enjoyed watching them as they were practicing.

We stopped at Quidi Vidi Brewing Co. in Quidi Vidi Village for dinner.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner and cold drinks on the patio.  Rex is enjoying tasting the local beers and Nancy the ciders.

The view from our table was great.  This was a wonderful way to end our long day.

We had another great day, especially seeing a whale.