Nancy's pix from St John's and North Sydney

The good thing about this kind of slide show, is it doesn't bore you to death when you aren't interested, right? Well, we have so many wonderful pictures and memories, it's hard to quit posting. So... here are a selection from Nancy's camera, I thought she did well!

Field Trip to the French Fortress at Louisbourg

There is no denying that Canada does a marvelous job  on their national heritage sites and parks. A perfect example is the Fortress at Louisbourg. See the wikipedia article here. The original fort was built in 1720 to defend the French presence on Cape Breton Island from marauding British. The French fished, and traded with the Mi'kmaq indians. The British captured the fort in 1745 after a siege, then returned it to the French by treaty in 1748, and re-took it in 1758 in another siege, at which time the British destroyed the fort. The reconstruction was done meticulously to the original standards by copying the blueprints which had been preserved in France and in Quebec. Only about 30% of the fort has been rebuilt, at cost of some $33 million. Inside are re-enactments of daily life, blacksmithing, weaving, tatting, cooking (yes, real bread in real brick ovens) and a restaurant that serves period food on period style plates and cutlery. Fun.

Remainder of our itinerary

Sadly, our caravan is nearing its conclusion. We have but a few stops left, then disband in Cavendish, PEI. Tomorrow, we drive the Cabot Trail. Here is the final page from itinerary with the remaining stops, FYI

St John's

      Bill in the yellow shirt, Nancy next in the green

 This brewery was in the hamlet of Quidi Vidi, adjacent to St John's, Newfoundland. Their beers won 2nd and a 1st at an international judging of over 500 brews in Chicago recently. Good stuff.

     Newfoundland is Eastern Time plus 1 hour and 30 minutes. (???) Look how far east it is from Cape Cod

If Newfoundland is beautiful wilderness, St John's is it's bustling port city. Sitting facing the small but wonderfully protected deep water harbor, it was one of the busiest ports in North America back in the day of sailing boats. Today, the harbor is used for resupply by fishing trawlers from Portugal to the USA, and for tenders serving the oil rigs off Canada's shores. St John's sports the St John's Basilica, a lovely stone church begun in 1838. During WWII, St John's was the shipping point for troops and supplies from the USA and Canada to Europe. U-boats hung around outside the narrow harbor entrance, but were unable to enter because of steel submarine nets and cannons on Signal Hill. The Rooms, a modern museum and art gallery complex, houses natural history and archaeology exhibits, seafaring stuff, and was exhibiting a magnificent selection of paintings and prints by David Blackwood entitled Black Ice. Night life abounds on George St and Water St, and the Memorial University enrolls 18000 students.