We have now arrived back in Nova Scotia to continue our tour of the Maritimes.

Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Nestled on the shores of Bras d’Or Lake in Cape Breton, Baddeck is a picturesque village surrounded by highlands and calm inland waters. This scenic town was the summer home of Alexander Graham Bell and serves as an ideal base for exploring the world-famous Cabot Trail, offering a perfect blend of mountain scenery, cultural heritage, and tranquil lake environments.

Cape Breton Island sits at the northeastern tip of Nova Scotia, separated from the mainland by the narrow Strait of Canso (now spanned by a causeway). It’s known for its dramatic, rugged landscape – rocky coastlines, forested highlands, and deep lakes, which are most famously showcased in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and along the Cabot Trail, one of the most scenic drives in Canada. The Island faces the Gulf of the St Lawrence to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

The forests that dominate this region are known as boreal. Canada’s boreal forest stretches across roughly 650 million acres, forming a vast band that lies just south of the Arctic tundra. It makes up about a third of the world’s boreal biome and nearly 30% of Canada’s land area. Dominated by cold-hardy conifers like black and white spruce, jack pine, and balsam fir mixed with aspen and birch, it’s adapted to long, harsh winters and short growing seasons, gradually thinning into tundra as it approaches the Arctic Circle. It’s a critical carbon sink, storing enormous amounts of carbon in its trees, peatlands, and soils, and provides habitat for iconic wildlife including moose, caribou, black bears, and hundreds of migratory bird species.

Cabot Trail
Over the next few days we explored the 128-mile scenic highway loop. At times the Cabot Trail runs directly through Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

The Skyline Trail:
Located at the north-western part of the Cabot Trail, the Skyline Trail is a 5-mile loop and is the most popular hike in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The trail sits atop the 1,500 ft French Mountain, and gives an eagles eye view of the Cabot Trail as it it winds its way down the mountain.

At the far end of the loop is an amazing boardwalk section with 275 steps and various viewing platforms that deliver stunning views over the Cabot Trail and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The Cabot Trail road winds around the side of the mountain

The drive through the mountains was great fun!

A number of trees in the boreal forest have died from spruce budworm, a native North American moth whose larvae are one of the most destructive forest pests in eastern Canada

Look Offs:
The Canadian name for a lay-by viewpoint. These are great places to briefly pullover and safely view some of the lovely vistas.

On the road below, a minibus has pulled over on to a ‘Look Off’ to view Pleasant Bay

This ‘Look Out’ offers a great view of the road winding along the coastline

We did complete the whole loop in one day. However, by the time we had crossed over to the eastern side of the Cabot Trail, we were plagued by a monster of a thunderstorm and flash flooding. We only just managed to get back to our hotel. This was obviously not conducive to photography. So the next day, with better weather, we re-visited the western leg of the Cabot Trail.

Ingonish Area:
Ingonish is a small community located on the Cabot Trail, on Cape Breton’s northeastern coast. Split into several villages – Ingonish, Ingonish Beach, Ingonish Centre, and Ingonish Harbour, all spread around the sweeping Ingonish Bay. The area is known for its dramatic scenery, combining sandy beaches with coastal cliffs, and is one of the most popular areas on the Cabot Trail.

St Ann’s Bay early morning on route to Ingonish, with mist still visible on the lower trees

Cape Smokey, the last place before Ingonish

Middle Head:
Middle Head is a narrow, rocky peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and splits Ingonish Bay into, North Bay Ingonish and South Bay Ingonish, and is part of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We walked the popular 4-mile hiking trail that runs along its length, through coastal forest and shrubland out to dramatic cliff-side viewpoints at the tip, looking toward Ingonish Island, Cape Smokey, and the surrounding highlands.

Middle Head is made mostly of pink granite and grey diorite that formed 500 million years ago deep beneath the surface of the earth. Here these two types of rock have mingled as they cooled. The highlands in the background, visible across South Bay Ingonish, are Smokey Mountain, which is a ski resort in the winter. The ski runs can be seen on one of the slopes.

Looking into North Bay Ingonish

Tree Cemeteries – next to the trails were a number of groups of dying trees, like this one behind Charlotte. Middle Head is a narrow, low headland with almost no shelter from Atlantic wind and salt spray on both sides. Trees on exposed points like this often die back from chronic salt exposure and wind stress, leaving standing dead trunks. Once the bark sloughs off, the bare wood weathers to a pale, bleached-white look.

Larch Bolete (Suillus grevillei) edible mushroom. It grows exclusively near larch trees during summer and autumn.

Rocky cliffs dominate the tip of Middle Head, here with Cape Smokey in the distance

Looking north from the tip is Ingonish Island in the distance

Blue Heron

Ingonish Beach sits at the beginning of the the Middle Head peninsula and has a freshwater lake behind it, that was once an ocean bay, before it was cut off by the beach. Cape Smokey is in the distance.

North of Ingonish is Lakies Head Look Off, with views of Broad Cove Beach. Ingonish Island juts out from the distant headland.

Our last stop of the day was a ride to the top of Smokey Mountain on a gondola, with sweeping views of South Bay Ingonish and Middle Head jutting far out into the ocean.

Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site
Our last stop in the Cape Breton region was to a fabulous reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress.

History:
The French came to Louisbourg in 1713, after ceding Acadia and Newfoundland to the British by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. France’s only remaining possessions in what is now Atlantic Canada were the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, which were then called Isle Royale and Isle Saint-Jean. The French used these islands as a base to continue the lucrative cod fishery off the Grand Banks. In 1719 they began to construct a fortified town at Louisbourg, which was only completed on the eve of the first siege in 1745. The town and settlement along the harbour shore soon became a thriving community.

The cod fishery accounted for most of Isle Royale’s prosperity. Louisbourg became a hub of commerce, trading in manufactured goods and various materials imported from France, Quebec, the West Indies and New England.

The first attack came in 1745 following a declaration of war between Britain and France, when New Englanders mounted an assault on Louisbourg. Within 46 days of the invasion the fortress was captured. To the chagrin of the New Englanders, only three years later the town was restored to the French by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1758 Louisbourg was besieged a second time. Without a strong navy to patrol the sea beyond its walls, Louisbourg was impossible to defend. Attacking with 13,000 troops supported by a 14,000 crew on board 150 ships, a British army captured the fortress in seven weeks. Determined that Louisbourg would never again become a fortified French base, the British demolished the fortress walls.

Reconstruction:
As a fishing port, military base and centre of commerce, Louisbourg briefly shared front rank importance in France’s overseas empire. Home to a transplanted European civilisation, it flourished for less than half a century, and then it was extinguished by military conquest. None of its structures survived the next two centuries.

In 1961, the Government of Canada began a $25 million project aimed at reconstructing approximately one-quarter of the original town and fortifications. Within this area the buildings, yards, gardens and streets were recreated as they were during the 1740s, immediately preceding Louisbourg’s first siege. Almost all of the buildings on site are reconstructions built between the 1960s and 1980s, though many incorporate original foundations.

View of fortress town from across the bay

Dauphine Gate, the principal land entrance – The guard will not let Charlotte in, as he suspects her of being an English spy!

The French are normally worried about the English invading, not Canadian Geese!

Frédéric Gate – The gate’s name honours the royal minister who managed France’s colonies and navy. Through this gate came most of the people, news and merchandise of the colony. Most large ships anchored offshore. The crews launched boats and then pushed and carried their cargo over the wharf and through the narrow gateway.

Kings Bastion was home to a barracks, military chapel and the Governors apartments. French soldier re-enactors are on the parade ground behind the barracks. The enclosure in the foreground is the live store, containing a dovecote and grazing for sheep, pigs and chickens. The Governors horse was also stabled here.

View across the town from the battlements of the Kings Bastion

The Louisbourg Lighthouse in Nova Scotia, built in 1734, was the first lighthouse in Canada, and the current structure (rebuilt in 1923) still stands near the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. The dead and fallen trees were the result of Hurricane Fiona in September 2022, which caused significant damage to the local area.

The Island of Newfoundland

The island of Newfoundland is part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The provincial capital, St. John’s, sits on the island. Despite the province’s name including “Labrador,” most of the population and the capital are on the island of Newfoundland itself. It is a large island about 80% of the size of England, yet it’s population is approximately 500,000. About 90-95% of the island’s land area is essentially uninhabited.

We arrived on the Island after a 6 hour ferry crossing from Nova Scotia. As we drove north for some 3½ hours to our first stop (yes there are long distances between the larger towns), it was soon clear that the landscape was different to the rest of the Maritime region. Rockier and more mountainous, rugged and exposed. A lot of the coastline is treeless, with cliffs and fjords rather than beaches. It was stunning.

Early morning mist sits on the mountains as we drive along this beautiful landscape

Bonne Bay, Newfoundland

Bonne Bay is a spectacular fjord in Gros Morne National Park, carved by glaciers to create towering cliffs and deep inland waters. This UNESCO World Heritage site exemplifies some of Earth’s most dramatic geology, where ancient ocean crust has been thrust onto land, creating landscapes of international scientific importance and breathtaking beauty.

Gros Morne National Park is famous for its dramatic fjords, flat-topped mountains, and the Tablelands – an otherworldly landscape of exposed mantle rock that offers rare geological insight into plate tectonics. It’s one of the best places in the world to see the Earth’s mantle up close, alongside stunning hiking trails and boat tours of Western Brook Pond.

When we first arrived we hiked up the Lookout Trail. This 4-mile long loop, climbs 1,000ft to deliver panoramic views of the Bonne Bay fjord and surrounding landscapes. Bonne Bay is fed from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and further inland, splits into two, named South and East Arms.

Towards the summit, a boardwalk crosses the highland wetlands.

The boggy wetlands are the perfect conditions to find the insect-eating Pitcher plants, which are Newfoundland and Labrador’s official flower.

Paddletail Darner Dragonfly resting on the boardwalk

The Tablelands are a striking, barren plateau of orange-brown rock that looks almost Martian against the surrounding green landscape. They’re made of peridotite, mantle rock pushed up from deep within the Earth millions of years ago during plate collisions, and its high metal content and lack of key nutrients mean almost nothing can grow there. This rare exposure of mantle rock is a big part of why Gros Morne earned UNESCO World Heritage status, since it offers geologists a rare glimpse into plate tectonics in action.

Inland from the fjord is the start of the Tablelands

Another fabulous location for Park Canada’s ubiquitous red Adirondack chairs!

Bonne Bay flowing into the South Arm to the right

A 180 deg. panorama view from the lookout of Bonne Bay splitting into two arms on the left, and flowing into the South Arm to the right

The next day in the park started with a beautiful and dramatic sunrise viewed from our hotel.

View across Bonne Bay to the Tablelands partially lit by the rising sun

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse
This historic 1897 lighthouse is located near Rocky Harbour, is now run by Parks Canada as a heritage interpretation site with exhibits on the region’s maritime and logging history. A network of short trails winds around the headland, offering coastal views and access to the rocky shoreline.

Lighthouse and interpretive centre

Lobster Cove beach is covered in layered limestone and shale rock formations.

Lobster Cove with its colourful fisherman’s cottages. The top of the lighthouse can just be seen at the top of the forested hill.

A most unusual location for the chairs!

Coastal Trail
To finish our second morning in the park, we walked a 4-mile trail along the Gulf of St Lawrence coastline to Green Bay, which included coastal wetlands.

Freshwater ponds form on the wetlands, close to the beach

A freshwater brackish stream flows from the wetlands into the sea

Black-backed Woodpecker

American Toads, are a small toad, normally measuring about 3 inches long and can be poisonous to dogs

Green Bay

On the way back from the walk we came across this lovely view of Gros Morne Mountain and Rocky Harbour Pond.

Gros Morne Mountain is the second highest peak in Newfoundland at 2,644 feet.

Bonne Bay Boat Trip
In the afternoon we joined a 2-hour boat trip around Bonne Bay and its two Arms. Bonne Bay is approx. 6-miles long, and 2-3 miles wide. The East Arm is approx. 10-miles long and about 1 mile wide in places. The smallest is South Arm at about 5-miles long, and less than a mile wide.

A close look at the Tablelands mantle from the top of South Arm

A Bald Eagle looks over it’s territory in Bonne Bay

A floating sauna; apparently is quite the rage, well at least this chap thinks so!

The Canadian’s like their lighthouses. This mock version is available as an AirBnB!

The real lighthouse! The Woody Point lighthouse was built in 1959 and overlooks the inner waters near where the South Arm branches off from Bonne Bay

Some buildings don’t survive the brutal weather so well!

Some are brightly painted. The door on the roof extension is nicknamed the ‘Mother-in-Law’s Door’!

According to our guide this is the ‘poshest AirBnB’ in the bay. Access is a little tricky, but the views are fabulous!

Norris Point is one of the many small villages in and around the bay. It is difficult for the provincial government to provide education and healthcare services, as they are so expensive. The larger yellow building in the middle is our hotel.

On the way back to our hotel we spotted this important local government building. As Norris Point is a very small community, local services are often in shared buildings!

Western Brook Pond Cruise
Our last exploration of Gros Morne National Park was to visit an extraordinary lake. To pick up the boat for our trip on Western Brook Pond, we had to walk along a 2-mile trail, through boreal forest and wetland bogs, to reach the dock.

The steep escarpments that surround Western Brook Pond are called the Long Range Mountains. They are composed of ancient granite and gneiss (pronounced ‘nice’). These mountains run along the west coast of Newfoundland and are the northernmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains. They are among the oldest mountains in the world, formed hundreds of millions of years ago during tectonic collisions.

During the last ice age, massive glaciers flowed down through the Long Range Mountains toward the coast. Where the ice found a weakness or fault line in the rock, it gouged out a deep U-shaped trough, that became Western Brook Pond. The cliffs flanking the water are the walls of the mountain range that the glacier sliced through.

No longer a true fjord, Western Brook Pond, was originally connected to the sea, but the land extended after the ice melted, cutting it off from saltwater. It’s now technically a ‘fjord lake’, filled entirely with fresh water.

View across Jack’s Pond to the escarpment. The pond water is dark ‘tea’ coloured, because of the peat bogs and minerals within the soil.

Wooded Ridges and Boggy Hollows – along the trail are ridges of limestone conglomerate, that run parallel to the front of the Long Range Mountains and are separated by layers of softer shale. Hollowed out by erosion, the shale layers create wet conditions for bogs, and alternate with the drier, limestone ridges. Conifer-rich boreal forest tops the ridges of limestone. Balsam fir, familiar as the Christmas trees dominates the forest of Gros Morne.

We finally reached the docks to board our boat.

Western Brook Lake is 10-miles long, and in places it’s nearly 600 ft deep. The lake is fed by streams draining from a plateau made of igneous rock with very thin, poorly developed soil, so is low in nutrients. The consequences of this are much lower fish populations, compared to similar bodies of water.

The white colour of the rocks show more recent exposure to the elements. These rocks are either cracked or have partly broken, showing the newly exposed rock underneath. Over time they will darken like the rest.

Blue Denim Falls

The ‘Tin Man’ from The Wizard of Oz – can you spot it?

This black and white image highlights the rock that has partly broken away, exposing the white mottled rock beneath, on this 2,300 ft cliff.

The old man at the top of the mountain!

White Point Falls

Pissing Mare Falls, with a total drop of 1,25ft is one of the tallest free-fall waterfalls in eastern Canada/North America

Diabase Dykes – these steep fractures in the rock were formed when the ancient supercontinent split apart. The splits filled with molten magma, that cooled to form the these visible fractures.

Gander, Newfoundland

After a 4-hour drive we crossed to the northeastern side of Newfoundland to visit Gander. While primarily known for its aviation history, the town sits amid Newfoundland’s boreal forest and provides access to pristine wilderness areas, numerous lakes, and rivers rich with wildlife, as well as being a gateway to the beautiful coastal area of Twillingate.

North Atlantic Aviation Museum
Gander’s aviation story is one of the most remarkable for a town its size, and it’s tightly bound to its geography – it sits at one of the closest points in North America to Europe, making it a natural refuelling stop before long-range jets existed.

Origins (1930s): Gander was built in the 1930s specifically as an airport, chosen for its flat terrain, fog-free conditions relative to the coast, and position as the last landmass before the long Atlantic crossing. It opened in 1938 as one of the largest airports in the world at the time.

World War II: During the war, Gander became a critical hub for the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, which flew thousands of bombers and other aircraft from North American factories across the Atlantic to Britain. Its strategic location made it indispensable to the Allied war effort.

Post-war “Crossroads of the World” era (1940s–1960s): After the war, Gander became a mandatory refuelling stop for transatlantic commercial flights, since early piston and jet aircraft didn’t have the range to fly non-stop between North America and Europe. Airlines from around the globe passed through, and Gander’s terminal became famous for hosting a remarkable mix of international travellers – including heads of state, celebrities, and Cold War-era dignitaries. Its International Departures Lounge, with striking mid-century modern design and murals, is still preserved today.

Decline of the refuelling role (1960s–1970s): As jet aircraft like the Boeing 707 and later wide-bodies gained the range to fly non-stop across the Atlantic, Gander’s role as a mandatory stopover faded. The airport shifted toward general aviation, military use, and diversions.

9/11 and ‘Operation Yellow Ribbon’ (2001): Gander’s most famous modern moment came on September 11, 2001, when U.S. airspace closed and 200 transatlantic flights were diverted. Gander alone took in 42 planes and about 6,600 passengers, nearly doubling the town’s population overnight. The town’s hospitality during that crisis became internationally known and later inspired the Broadway musical, Come From Away.

Today Gander still serves as a diversion airport and a symbol of the town’s outsized role in aviation history relative to its size. We visited the quaint North Atlantic Aviation Museum, which is dedicated to the town’s remarkable aviation history.

This was a small museum, but had a great story to tell

The museum has some interesting and unique artefacts, particularly around 9/11

The next day we spent in Twillingate Island
Located on Newfoundland’s northeast coast, Twillingate Island is where the town of Twillingate sits. The town is a historic fishing community often called the ‘Iceberg Capital of the World’ for the massive icebergs that drift past its shores each spring and early summer. Once a major hub of the cod fishery, the rugged coastline is now known for whale watching, sea cliffs, lighthouses, and hiking. Twillingate Island is home to the ‘Rockcut’ network of trails, which wind along dramatic coastal barrens and headlands, offering panoramic views of the North Atlantic along the cliff-side paths.

Here are some pictures from our walk on the 4-mile long French Beach Trail, around the Durrell peninsula on the north of the island.

Charlotte has great views from the top of the cliff

The water was crystal clear and azure blue in colour

View across wetlands and the bay to the town of Twillingate

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Crow Head & Long Point Lighthouse
Crow Head is a small community located right at the tip of Twillingate Island in Notre Dame Bay, essentially the northernmost point of the Twillingate area. Crow Head is also home to the Long Point Lighthouse, one of the most popular spots in the region. It’s perched on a high cliff and offers spectacular views of the rocky coastline and Atlantic Ocean.

However, the main reason we visited Crow Head was for the Crow’s Nest Cafe, which serves excellent barista coffee. Outside of the larger towns and cities in eastern Canada, cafe’s are rare, the only places you can get coffee is restaurants and diners. They typically serve drip coffee, which is often not fresh. The Crow’s Nest was the first time Charlotte had a proper Cappuccino in at least 2 weeks!

The Crow’s Nest Cafe

Long Point Lighthouse

And yes the views from the lighthouse were stunning…

The Atlantic Ocean crashes into the rugged coastline

Clarenville, Newfoundland

Clarenville sits at the gateway to the Bonavista Peninsula, an area rich in natural beauty and Newfoundland culture. Located on the eastern side of the Newfoundland, the town offers easy access to diverse landscapes, including sheltered bays, rugged coastlines, and the unique Newfoundland interior. It is also great place from which to explore the Terra Nova National Park and the wider Bonavista Bay area.

Terra Nova National Park
The park sits on Newfoundland’s east coast, along the shores of Bonavista Bay. It includes a rugged coastline of fjords, wetland bogs, and forested hills, and over 50 miles of hiking trails.

We tackled a relatively short hiking trail, which was however, very steep and rocky. It led to a lookout over the Northeast Arm of Alexander Bay, one of many fjords fed from Bonavista Bay.

Charlotte climbing towards the summit, accessed at the end via wooden steps, visible on the top left

The steps close to the summit

Charlotte finally reaches the top!

The road winds up the coastline of Northeast Arm and crosses over a causeway in the distance, creating Broad Cove behind it.

View to the other end of Northeast Arm, where a causeway/bridge combination connects to Culls Harbour on the northern shore

Panorama of Northeast Arm from the summit

Salvage
Salvage sits at the tip of the Eastport Peninsula in Bonavista Bay. In the late 1600s, English migratory fishermen, many from southwest England including Dorset, arrived in the spring and left in the Autumn. The headlands off Salvage provided some of the best fishing grounds in the bay. A permanent settlement took hold in Salvage in the 1780s. For generations Salvage was the commercial hub of the peninsula, and it remains one of Newfoundland’s most picturesque fishing villages.

Pretty coloured buildings decorate the coastline of the harbour

Burden’s Point was once considered the heart of Salvage. It is now a picturesque part of the community and is only accessible via boat or on foot. The last two houses standing are a mere shadow of a once bustling area which had many dwellings, bridges, wharves and lobster canning factories.

View across Doctor’s Pond to Burden’s Point

No wind, produces a perfect reflection and tricks the eye!

Panorama of this magnificent reflecting pool

Net Point is a lookout that provides sweeping views of the ocean and Bishop’s Harbour, which is the one of the two main basins that make up Salvage.

Wild Blueberry bushes – the environment around Salvage is perfect for these plants, namely Acidic, thin, rocky soil and open, exposed terrain with a cool climate.

The next day we explored the Bonavista Peninsula.

Cape Bonavista
Cape Bonavista is a headland on the northeast coast of the peninsula, often cited as the spot where explorer John Cabot first landed in 1497. It’s known today for its historic candy-striped lighthouse (built in 1843) and its rugged coastline.

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse, which operated from 1843 until 1962, is now a provincial museum, containing an exhibition about life in a lighthouse during the 1870s

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), an Italian explorer sailing from England, is traditionally credited with making landfall at Cape Bonavista in 1497 during his voyage aboard the ‘Matthew’, making it one of the earliest documented European landings on North American soil since the Norse voyages centuries earlier. According to popular tradition, upon sighting land he exclaimed ‘O buona vista!’ (‘Oh happy sight!’), which is said to be the origin of the town’s name, Bonavista, though this is more legend than documented facts.

The exact landing site is actually disputed among historians, since Cabot’s own logs were vague and no definitive records survive pinpointing the spot. Newfoundland has nonetheless embraced Cape Bonavista as the traditional landing place, and a statue of Cabot stands near the lighthouse commemorating this claim. In 1997, a replica of the ‘Matthew’ sailed from Bristol to Bonavista to mark the 500th anniversary of the voyage, reinforcing the town’s identity as Cabot’s ‘official’ landfall site in Canadian and Newfoundland heritage.

Statue of John Cabot

The rocks around Cape Bonavista Lighthouse are made up of flat, angular sedimentary shelves that have fractured into striking geometric, tile-like patterns along the shoreline.

Looking down the face of a slice of fractured rock

Charlotte adds some scale to these impressive rock formations

It looks like giant slabs leaning against each other

Dungeon Provincial Park
Dungeon Provincial Park is a small park near Cape Bonavista, named for a dramatic double sinkhole where the roof of a sea cave collapsed, leaving two connected holes that the ocean surges through.

Double Sinkhole

North Atlantic coastline around the park

St John’s, Newfoundland

St John’s is North America’s oldest city and Newfoundland’s colourful capital, famous for its rainbow-hued row houses and dramatic coastal position. It is also the provincial capital of Newfoundland & Labrador. Perched on steep hills overlooking a natural harbour, the city combines rich maritime history with rugged Atlantic beauty, offering everything from historic architecture to the continent’s most easterly point, where icebergs and whales pass close to shore.

This was our last stop on our road trip around the Maritimes. Here are the highlights from our 3-days spent in the city and around the local area.

Interesting and colourful Victorian era homes. These homes are in an area nicknamed ‘Jelly Beans’, after their mixed colours. Even new properties are now being built in this same style.

Some of the streets are also very steep, making driving a challenge during the long, cold, icy and snowy winters!

Murals can be found throughout the city and often relate to the maritime history

Charlotte always likes a tipple!

Quidi Vidi is a historic fishing village and harbour tucked into St. John’s, known for its colourful houses and the popular craft brewery

Signal Hill is an historic site overlooking St. John’s harbour, famous as the location where Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901. The hill offers sweeping views of the city, the North Atlantic, and the narrow harbour entrance known as the ‘The Narrows’, making it one of the most iconic viewpoints in Newfoundland.

Its centrepiece, Cabot Tower, was built in 1897 to mark the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landing and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The area also has military significance, having served as a defensive position from the 1700s through World War II, and today it’s part of a National Historic Site with hiking trails along the coast.

We decided to walk to Signal Hill via the North Head trail from the city, up the face of a cliff and to the top of the hill. It was a combination of rocky paths and wooden steps.

Fortunately, they provided a couple of red Adirondack chairs for a rest halfway up the cliff, with views back across to the ‘The Narrows’ and harbour

At this point on the walk we could also see Cabot Tower on the top the hill and realised how much more we needed to climb!

As we walked further around the headland we could see the entrance to Quidi Vidi harbour, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean

Cabot Tower

St. Johns from the top of Signal Hill, looking across the Queen’s Battery below as the cloud starts to move in.

By zooming into the city centre, one can see the ‘Jelly Bean’ housing more clearly spread across the slopes, with ‘The Rooms’ and Catholic Cathedral looking over them

Looking back from Queen’s battery, we could clearly see the trail that we had just walked. However, we decided to take the easier, shorter route back by walking alongside the road down from Signal Hill!

Cape Spear is the easternmost point of land in North America, located just a short drive from St. John’s. It’s home to Newfoundland’s oldest surviving lighthouse, built in 1836, along with a later lighthouse still in operation today. The site also has remnants of World War II coastal defence batteries, including gun emplacements and bunkers built to guard the entrance to St. John’s harbour. With its rugged cliffs, crashing Atlantic waves, and status as one of the first places in North America to see the sunrise, Cape Spear is a popular spot for sightseeing, hiking and dramatic coastal scenery. However, it can often be covered in mist and low cloud.

Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic site, with it’s two lighthouses

The old lighthouse

The new lighthouse, still working today. The low cloud is starting to roll in.

View across to St. Johns, ‘The Narrows’ and Signal Hill

The Atlantic waves crashing into the coastline

The low cloud suddenly rolls in and visibility is dramatically reduced!

Petty Harbour is a small, picturesque fishing village just south of St. John’s, known for its working harbour, colourful houses, and role as one of Newfoundland’s oldest and most iconic fishing communities.

The birds perch on the rooftops waiting for the fishing boats to return with their catch

This rather imposing, modern contemporary building is ‘The Rooms’, St. John’s flagship cultural facility. It combines the Provincial Museum, Provincial Art Gallery, and Provincial Archives in a striking modern building, inspired by the shape of traditional Newfoundland fishing ‘rooms’. Viewing platforms at the rear of the building offer panoramic views over St. Johns harbour.

Inside of ‘The Rooms’

View of the harbour from ‘The Rooms’, viewing platform. The ship entering ‘The Narrows’ is a platform supply vessel (PSV). They are used to support offshore oil rigs, ferrying supplies, equipment, and crew to and from platforms out at sea. Other PSVs can also be seen docked in the harbour. To the left is Cabot Tower on Signal Hill.

Now at the end of our Canadian east coast road trip, we will be travelling to Greenland to meet our ship for the Arctic cruise. More photos to follow.

Before we leave Canada, we wanted to share one final image with you that defines what will be our overriding memory of driving on the roads of the Maritimes….

Sign of the Week – The ‘Potholes Ahead’ warning signs are a well-known, near-permanent fixture on roadways across Newfoundland, serving as a humorous yet frustrating symbol of the province’s intense ‘pothole season’ every spring and winter. The severe freeze-thaw cycles and snow plough damage are the main problems. Instead of immediately repaving crumbling roads, authorities resort to putting up permanent warning signs. We think the UK has a problem with potholes!