St. John's

Halifax overview

Days spent: 7
Percentage of time spent sleeping: Close to 50%
Change of plans: 2
Theme song/s: Architecture in Helsinki - Vanishing

Newfoundland

I was quite excited to leave Halifax and move onto a new place. St. John's in Newfoundland was the destination, and though I was to spend a seemingly unreasonable span of time in Canada's easternmost province, I was hoping that the island would be filled with things to do. Alas, upon landing at the provincial capital, my hopes were dashed. It's a small city, just like Halifax, but for some reason it didn't feel the same way. It felt more isolated, with less things to do, and indeed less people around. I hear the pubs are big at night, but that wouldn't really keep me occupied for too long (well, ok, it may be able to, but that would involve lots of money). Of course, that being said, I still haven't had a good look around and see what I may be able to do around here, but at the moment St. John's doesn't seem like a place that I want to stay for more than a week.

The rough plan that Matt and I have in mind to get to Gros Morne National Park is still in the works, and I'm hoping that eats up at least half a week, providing some fun in terms of hitchhiking and just plain hiking, as well as other activities the park has to offer. The original plan included a trip to L'anse aux Meadows, the Viking settlement at the north tip of the island, but after talking to a few people, it doesn't seem like it would be worth the long trip. Ironically, it was because of this (going to Newfoundland early so that I could have somebody to travel around with) that has made my stay in Newfoundland longer than I anticipated.

I've already started to make some contingency plans for what is to happen after we get back from that little journey. I've called the owner of a little Maritime operation called Salty Bear Adventure Travel to answer a posted advert to work at Cape Breton Island for free accommodation and food. I am awaiting the exact details of this, and am hoping that this will work out, especially according to my schedule, but failing that, I might look for something to keep me occupied for two or so weeks here in the island.