Signal Hill - St John's Newfoundland

After our trip out to Cape Spear we head back to our Jelly Bean house for a quick lunch before we head off to Signal Hill.  Jim is doing an amazing jobs of navigating us around town and around the countryside.

Our first stop is at The Rooms, the tallest landmark in St. John's, is a museum and art gallery with amazing views of the city and Signal Hill.  The building itself is a beautiful piece of architecture and well worth a visit if you are in the city.  There was a great display on all the aboriginal groups who live here and the different immigrants who helped make it this beautiful part of Canada.

 

 

These squid are very hard to find, and the subject of many a horror movie.  A large number of them have been found around Newfoundland.  Won't catch me in the water here, LOL, doesn't help that it never gets above 7 degrees C.

Next stop was Signal Hill.  I am so glad we drove up, it was a long and windy road.  There are lovely hiking trails and amazing views when you get to the top.  

In 1762 the French surrendered to the British at the Battle of Signal Hill.

Above is Amherst Lighthouse where you can see the battlements surrounding it.  One very interesting fact I learned was that during the 2nd World War, the Canadian and American troops set up bases here and you can see all the cannon and battlements along the walls.  When I first read Canadian I thought what are they talking about, well guess what, Newfoundland wasn't part of Canada then, and when they finally voted to join Canada they only won by a margin of 52%, a very close vote  Lucky for us they joined.

Above is Cape Spear which we visited in the morning.  

The view of St. John's Harbour, a very busy port and the start of the narrows which the ships have to get through before reaching the open sea.  

We went for a walk along the "Ladies Lookout" trail and when we turned around, voila, another iceberg sitting in the bay beside St. John's.

Another important event that took place on top of Signal Hill was the first wireless/radio transmission.  Marconi sat on top of Signal Hill and received the morse code "S" which came across as pip pip pip from Cornwall England.  This was a major breakthrough in wireless traffic.  The first distress signal from the Titanic was heard at Cape Race on the southern tip of Newfoundland on a Marconi radio set.

Another little fishing village in a pretty little cove.  

These cannon protected the inhabitants on many an occasion.

We went down to the little village we spied from the top of Signal Hill, it was just as quaint as I thought.  There is an amazing restaurant down here called the "Mallard Cottage", featuring fine Newfoundland dining.  It had a set menu which we couldn't get in to, and they recommended reservations.

Another blustery day, so thankful we brought our winter coats and hats.  Luckily we were never uncomfortably cold, and it makes for great walking weather.