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Edition
28: September 20, 2002
In our
Twenty-Eighth edition of the Bed and Breakfast Traveller,
we take you to the well-travelled Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.
 The
Avalon Peninsula is shaped like a double-decker anchor that's been dragged
about the bottom for a long time. Or you could consider it a collection
of peninsulas connected to an isthmus. The marine and geological comparisons
are both apt because this easternmost part of North America has a rugged
shoreline surrounded by an ocean teeming with life.
 Just
half an hour south of St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador,
the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve is the summer home of millions of nesting
seabirds, thousands of migrating whales and, most years, rapidly melting
icebergs. It's a trio of natural wonders, either of which on its own would
make the place famous. This is where you go to sea to smell a berg - actually,
the air bubbles escaping from a 10,000-year old berg - and have a whale
cock an eye at you while a blizzard of seabirds overhead hunts for seafood
for hungry hatchlings.
If the thought of
bobbing about on the ocean makes you queasy, you can hike the East Coast
Trail and take in the same three wonders from shore.
 Further
afield, at the southwestern tip of the Avalon about two hours' drive from
St. John's, the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve wows thousands of visitors
every year. You can stand overlooking a huge colony of nesting Northern
Gannets just 50 feet away and wonder how, out of the thousands of nests
atop this sea stack, can the adults pick out their own young. This is
a loud bird colony: thousands of birds squawking at the same time creates
quite a din, but the birds don't seem to mind.
As the closest place
on this continent to Europe, the Avalon's history is full of seafaring,
from fishing to piracy to wartime squadrons - as in, the Seven Years'
War. The last battle in that war was fought on Signal Hill in St. John's
in 1762 when the English routed the occupying French. The military tradition
continues today with a military tattoo on the hill during summer.
 Signal
Hill overlooks both St. John's and the adjacent coastline, including the
harbour. This nearly perfect shelter from the Atlantic remains a busy
port, where offshore oil service vessels have replaced fishing draggers
as the main traffic. Surrounding the harbour, the "old city"
is not that old, its current layout dating from only 1892 when fire destroyed
just about everything. The city was laid out for horse and cart, not auto,
and its hills are, well, just a tad steep in places.
The nightlife belies
the town's age. This is a lively place, but also peaceful. The main nighttime
combat is a constant battle of the bands waged in pubs where musicians
of many tastes tempt strollers to drop in and stay awhile.
 The
northern part of the Avalon - Conception and Trinity Bays - retains many
traditional ways that date back hundreds of years to when fishermen settled
the coves and inlets to be near the fish. It was here that pirate Peter
Easton terrorized the first English colonists in Canada in the early 1600s,
and where the first successful trans-Atlantic telegraph cable came ashore
in 1866.
The southwest Avalon,
around Placentia, is where the French settled. One of their old forts
is now a National Historic Site.
Wherever you go, the
roads are paved, there are loads of B & Bs, and when someone asks
you if you like cod tongues, say yes. They're unusual yet familiar. But
so is the Avalon.
Oct 14
Mount Pearl, Route 60 K19
OKTOBERFEST CRAFT FAIR
Contact: Karen Bowering
Tel: 709-748?1008 Fax: 709-364?9429
Email: kbowering@mtpearl.nf.ca
Web: www.mtpearl.nf.ca
Choose from over 40 exhibitors and enjoy a sausage & sauerkraut luncheon.
Location: Reid Community Centre.
Oct 16 - 20
St. John's, Route 1 K19
ST. JOHN'S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL
Contact: Katie Nicholson
Tel: 709-754-3141 Fax: 709-754-3143
Email: filmfest@thezone.net
Web: www.womensfilmfestival.com
Join us in celebration of women and film making, in the city by the sea,
St. John's. Come be entertained and enjoy learning about the latest technological
and stylistic developments in the film industry through our exciting workshop
series.
Oct 23 - 27
Mount Pearl, Route 60 K19
CHRISTMAS AT THE GLACIER
Contact: Sandra Myler
Tel: 709-738-1750 Fax: 709-738-1755
Email: kinetic@nf.net
Web: www.kinetic.nf.net
A festival of craft and art featuring exhibitors from Newfoundland and
parts of Canada. 175 booth showcase representing approximately 200 craft
producers and artists at the Glacier in Mount Pearl. In its 10th year.
Date & location subject to change.
Late Oct
St. John's, Route 1 K19
FUN HOUSE
Contact: Barry Ross
Tel: 709-722-6907/753-9866 Fax: 709-722-3099
Email: kittiwake@nfld.net
Web: www.kittiwakedancetheatre.ca/franticfun.html
Haunted house for kids (under 10 must be with an adult). Four floors of
frantic fright and fun.
NOVEMBER
Nov 9 - 10
St. John's, Route 1 K19
NEWFOUNDLAND (ALL BREED) KENNEL CLUB CHAMPIONS
Contact: Debbie Garland
Tel/Fax: 709-437-1785
More than 50 breeds of dogs will be judged by an international panel.
Call for exact location. Three Conformation Shows & two Obedience
Trials.
Nov 14 - 17
St. John's, Route 1 K19
CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR
Contact: Renee Finlayson
Tel: 709-753-2749 Fax: 709-753-2766
Email: info@craftcouncil.nf.ca
Web: www.craftcouncil.nf.ca
The annual four-day market of the finest crafts of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Works range from high quality traditional knits to contemporary expressions
in every craft medium. A St. John's tradition for over a quarter of a
century.
Nov 24
St. John's, Route 1 K19
ANNUAL DOWNTOWN CHRISTMAS PARADE
Contact: Bob Fagan
Tel: 709-726-8244/578-4139 Fax: 709-579-1636
Email: sjddc@nf.sympatico.ca
Web: www.downtownstjohns.nfld.ca
Join over 50,000 spectators as historic downtown St. John's is transformed
into a magical Christmas wonderland. See magnificent floats, marching
bands, cheerleaders and a cast of crazy clowns and characters delight
both the young and old.
Hospitality Newfoundland
and Labrador:
http://www.bbcanada.com/associations/hnl/
http://www.hnl.nf.net/
107 LeMarchant Road
St. John's, NF
Canada A1C 2H1
Phone: (709) 722-2000
Toll-free: 1-800-563-0700
Fax: (709) 722-8104
E-mail: hospitality@hnl.nf.net
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