100 days

[turtlemichael]

That's sad Michael. It was very interesting after having come from Greenland and Eric the Red's settlement at Brattahlid. Where did you anchor? We were off St Anthony and bussed from there.

We anchored, for about 30 minutes, off L'anse aux meadows and then we were on our way.

 

[turtlemichael]

We have docked at Corner Brook in Newfoundland. It seems to have been a long trip from Narsarsuaq in Greenland. We might have a race with the weather today as it is sunny and mild (14C) at the moment but rain is forecast for a couple of hours ahead. It's a pretty spot at the top of a fjord. As it is Labour Day here the town should be quiet.

 

[turtlemichael]

Well, I, or rather the Canadian Weather Service, was right about the weather. Very quickly it turned from sunny to heavy rain. It wasn't cold but it was persistent. The place itself was of moderate interest. The city of 20,000 is at the head of a fjord and nicely situated. From a tourist point of view it is spoilt by the huge paper and pulp mill right in the centre. It is very important to the economy here though its employee numbers have declined from thousands to a few hundred. Fishing is also in decline so what is left is tourism and government services such as the hospital and schools.

The poor weather made the day a bit ordinary but the enthusiasm of the locals made up for that. We had a one man band performing as we disembarked, people handing out maps and Hershey chocolates, and the few locals around on a wet public holiday saying hello (or something!). The Newfoundland dialect is not easy to understand!

We did a Bay of Islands tour and did not see too much because of the rain. We did stop for morning tea at a local church hall and the good ladies of the parish had gathered to sell us their wares and provide coffee and chocolate cake.

It was a pleasant couple of hours.

The one man band at Corner Brook pier.


Very pretty fjord.


Until you notice the pulp and paper mill. They need it here but it is ugly!


Bottle Bay

 

[turtlemichael]

Corner Brook.




We did buy table mats for a relative's birthday.




The view from the bus!


This appealed to me as a dog lover.

 

[turtlemichael]

A fisherman showing us how he catches lobster.


The ship and the pulp and paper mill.

 

[turtlemichael]

Captain Cook spent 4 years mapping the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1760's and that might have earned him the gig to head to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia.


The magnificent Caribou which is used on many Canadian war memorials.


The Anglican Cathedral

 

[turtlemichael]

And now we are barrelling across the Gulf of St Lawrence heading towards Quebec City in 36 hours. Rather rough.

 

[turtlemichael]

We had a great night last night. After another excellent La Terrazza meal we went to Cruise Director Vicki's show. She has great talent and is extremely funny. She also has a very good singling voice. She was assisted by Oliver who can sort of sing. Those here who have been on Silversea probably don't know Geoffrey, one of the wait staff, as I think he is quite new on board. The previous night at the crew show he dominated. Geoffrey likes to put on a frock and does it very well. Most people seem to love him. I know tgh is boarding soon so I won't spoil it for him. It is good that the cruise line has staff who are a bit outside the cookie cutter.

 

[turtlemichael]

As a goodwill gesture to make up for the two missed ports we all have free internet for today. It's therefore at glacial speed. I would have rather had the ports.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Glad you liked Miss Vickis show I agree about the crew show - we never miss it - it really is amazing the talent they have on board.

 

[turtlemichael]

Glad you liked Miss Vickis show I agree about the crew show - we never miss it - it really is amazing the talent they have on board.

She did the splits, emulating Geoffrey, and can't walk today!

 

[turtlemichael]

We are heading up the St Lawrence River towards Quebec. (Well down in a geographic sense!) We had to slow down to 10 knots for about 10 hours in the protected zone to give the Right Whales a fighting chance to get out of our way. We looked out but didn't see a whale. As soon as we got out of the restricted area and increased our speed to 17 knots what do we see but whales everywhere? Can't they read they read or follow the rules?

Not a great pic of a whale but there were lots of spurts!

 

[turtlemichael]

We reached Quebec, Quebec (so good they named it twice!) at lunchtime and spent 4 hours wandering around the place. We are here until late tomorrow then it is overnight up the St Lawrence River to Montreal and this cruise is over. The approach to Quebec via the river is amazing - the Plains of Abraham above the cliffs on the river are clearly visible and it becomes quite obvious why winning this place meant wining Canada as Montcalm found out to his cost!

The weather is very ordinary - mild but drizzle and rain and tomorrow is forecast to be even worse. It is still an amazing city and worth anyone's time. As always, wish we were here longer. We were here 15 years ago and the weather then was even worse so that is good I suppose. We are going out for lunch tomorrow and then have to come back to pack. A big compensation is that we lashed out today and booked the "world" cruise 2019 from San Francisco to London via the Pacific, Australia, Asia and Africa. January 6 to May 19. We are not telling the bank manager.

There are flowers everywhere in this city. You turn round every corner and it seem like a movie set.

The hotel below is the Chateau Frontenac, a Canadian Pacific hotel built in 1893. It is said to be the most photographed hotel in the world.


As you approach by the River, when you see these cliffs and the Plains of Abraham above, it is not hard to appreciate that when Wolfe beat Montcalm he also won all of Canada.


Amazing huge street mural.

 

[turtlemichael]

Around Quebec.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

We will be in Quebec - arriving by ship, in August 2019 ! Kudos on booking the world cruise !!

 

[turtlemichael]

Quebec




We couldn't quite work this out in the Catholic Cathederal. They were at least 3 metres tall.


Fountain outside the Hotel de Ville.



In the Church of England Cathedral.


Organ in the Anglican cathedral

 

[turtlemichael]

Our ship on the St Lawrence.


The local Hilton - it doesn't fit in this city but they often don't fit in!


On the ramparts


The Chateau Frontenac from our cabin

 

[Rugby]

I've just spent a couple of hours getting up to date on your fabulous trip - excellent. Your booking of the 2019 cruise is the best case of 'booking the next trip before the current one finishes' that I've ever seen

 

[Pushka]

I've just spent a couple of hours getting up to date on your fabulous trip - excellent. Your booking of the 2019 cruise is the best case of 'booking the next trip before the current one finishes' that I've ever seen

So busy looking at the pictures I missed that! A world trip? How wonderful. And what a map that will be.

 

[turtlemichael]

This very good cruise is 11 hours away from being over. Where did 28 days go? We still have a month to do before we are home but the cruise part has been great.

In ordinary weather today we went out for a nice lunch in a restaurant I had researched on the internet. The weather eased enough for us to come back to the ship via the ramparts, the Plains of Abraham and the Citadel. You do feel the history here. Quebec is an amazing city and should be on most peoples' lists of the great places to go.

Now it is a sleep and a quick transit through Montreal.


Restaurant Saint-Amour in Quebec - very good.




A cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon blend from Lake Ontario. Very decent wine.


Duck


There are flowers everywhere in Quebec.