Day 23- July 19 Twillingate to St. John's

Day 23- July 19    Twillingate to St. John's

Gone by 9:30 to our Adventure Tour for iceberg and whales.  We set sail by 10:00 in our boat which was about 45 feet long for our 2 hour adventure.  What an amazing trip as we saw majestic icebergs, minkes and humpback whales feeding on caplin. There were two types of icebergs we saw, floaters and growlers.  Growlers can only come in so far and they hit the bottom of the bay and then are stuck there until they melt.  Floaters are pieces of the bigger icebergs that drift with the current about 17 km/day.


Our transportation for the next 2 hours

We saw Long Point Lighthouse from the water, it looked so small compared to being beside it last night.  Fishing season started today and there were many fishing boats out.  One fisherman held up a large Cod fish for us to admire.  Rules are 5 fish/day per person.  We drove through Bergy Bites, which are small pieces of iceberg that have fallen off and are floating in the water.  When an iceberg breaks it makes a very loud growling sound, we heard this last night at our campsite. 

Long Point from down below

So what can you see in this iceberg shape?

Icebergs so close!

Amazing!

Back to our campsite for a quick lunch before heading out.  We passed through Prime Berth with the large whale skeleton and many small fishing villages on our way to St. John's.

That WAS one big whale

Cruised right through Gander as we will visit it on our return trip.  Passed many lakes and people fishing in the rivers.

One of many small villages

We arrived to Pippy Park Campground in downtown St. John's, quickly set up camp as we have it down to a science, unhooked the trailer and ventured out to find yet another parliament building.  We didn't have to look far, but we did have to take a second look as it doesn't look like any of the other parliament buildings we have seen so far.  It looked like a building from the 70's, almost like an apartment building.  No surprise it was under construction too.

John Cabot

St. John's parliament building

Made our way to Signal Hill and the iconic piece of architecture of Cabot Tower.  Signal Hill was a strategic location of  many battles between the English and the French for control of St. John's harbour and it's fisheries.  The last battle was in 1762 when the British defeated the French.  Signal Hill is also known for the first wireless transatlantic signal in 1901 by Marconi from the Cabot Tower. 

Signal Hill at night

Cool night shot of historic cannon on Signal Hill

It was a great view from up at Signal Hill to see St. John's at night. 

Lights of St. John's on a beautiful evening

Drove for 6 hours today, but saw so much from whales & icebergs to St. John's parliament and Signal Hill.