Happy Monday friends!!  I hope the weather wherever you are is better than ours has been.  Rainfall warning for today with a chance of thunderstorms (which rolled through tonight) and a high of only 11 degrees Celsius. That would be 51.8 Fahrenheit.  That would be turn the heat on or cover up in a blankie.  BUT, its supposed to be in the 20s(Celsius) later this week!!  Yay for summer in Newfoundland!!  Can you sense the sarcasm?  LOL  Its all we ever complain about here.  So, if a bit of rain or low temps is the biggest of our worries, then we are doing just fine.

Cape Spear National Historic Site

Last Friday we finally got a chance to go to Cape Spear!  I can’t believe we waited over 10 years to go back.  Well that’s another summer adventure to cross off our list.  The most easterly point in Newfoundland!  The most easterly point in Canada!!  The most easterly point in North America!!!  We went there first in the morning before our daughter’s orthodontic appointment but could only stay for half an hour.  Knowing the weather was supposed to clear, we decided to come back in the afternoon on our way home.  There was something so surreal about standing on that shoreline and gazing across the ocean knowing you were actually standing on the eastern edge of a continent.  

Cape Spear is a national historic site and the lighthouse at Cape Spear was built in 1836 and is Newfoundland and Labrador’s oldest surviving lighthouse.  In 1955 a new concrete lighthouse was built.  It is the tall one pictured.  There are many trails all around the site.  So many views as far as the eye can see. It was all so very breathtaking.  Even though I’ve lived in Newfoundland my whole life, the views are something I never tire of.  There is always something new to see.

Because of Cape Spear’s location, it was very important during the second world war.  Its close proximity to the convoy routes and St. John’s Harbour made it a perfect defensive position.  All that remains now are two guns and some tunnels and magazine bunkers to explore. There was something eerie and also exciting about looking through the tunnels and imagining the soldiers stationed at their posts all those years ago. We were here for about two hours and I am sure we didn’t see everything.  There were definitely lots of trails left to discover.

Ocean and Shorelines for miles, as far as the eye can see.

We saw so much in the time that we were at Cape Spear.  We only saw one iceberg way off in the distance and a whale just barely breaching the surface of the water (not enough for a picture).  Although we did get a good look at a tour boat that followed said whale for a bit before giving up.  We also saw coast guard ships and fishing boats out on the ocean.  Many sea birds on the land and in the sky.  And we can’t forget the waves crashing upon the shore.  My younger daughter especially enjoyed this.  I could have stayed there so much longer but of course after all that time walking about, the kids were really wanting to head home, which was a two hour drive away.  We weren’t the only tourists there. Some in groups, some families with children.  We passed by one group conversing in French.  As I looked around, I wondered what places others had traveled from.