This handsome stetch of coast, a lookout station during the second world war, still boasts a working lighthouse and status as a national park. Wild yellow lupins, thistle, milkweed, and black eyed susans bind the soil with their roots and prevent it from blowing away. The evergreens all bend in the direction the wind blows and lose their needles on the eastern side.
After a pass by the settlement of scenic Petty Harbor, we drove through downtown St. John and up Signal Hill.
We could see our cruise ship from this site that overlooked both the harbor and the Cape Spear lighthouse. I climbed the steps to the Marconi Turret where the first wireless transatlantic signal was exchanged.
Our guide Laura, a young Newfoundlander, though less steeped in history and fact than our other guides gave us the best demonstration of what it was like to live in the area as she joked with the driver and shared personal anecdotes.
The locals easily gave us our best welcome and our best send off of the cruise. At the pier, huge furry Newfoundland dogs, Canadian mounted police, actresses in Victorian dress and a Tv crew greeted us. As we departed, our friendly hosts lined the piers, cliffs and roads surrounding the inlet and waved to us until we passed from sight.
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