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Author Topic: Travelogue observations - 8th September 2019 - Excursion  (Read 3181 times)
grahame
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« on: September 08, 2019, 00:11:55 »

I recall going on a Merrymaker trip by train from Northampton that included a coach to Stoke Bruerne, and one to Oban that included a cruise on the King George V to Staffa and Iona. And I note various offerings on (or off the end of) present day train excursions, though the cost of such excursions has moved them up from the bargain basement to luxury trips.

So here we are on the "Aurora" - not a train but a boat, out on not a day trip but a month's cruise from not Northampton but Southampton (sidebar – I first met my wife in an industrial estate in Northampton), but with a similarity of excursions in ports of call.  For about 10 ports, we have books 2 through the cruise line, one independently, and we're meeting US family on one stop and old school friends on another.

A shore excursion

"Rum, Beer and the Screech Inn". Otherwise known as tourist hotspots and happy hours in Newfoundland.

Coaches at 13:00 from the street just off the ship. With passports checked at Southampton and a Canadian customs / immigration card filled in on board, our ship account card becomes our key to access from the ship to Canada, and a simple scan and we're off down the gangway - out of the dockyard gate a few yards away, and we're directed to the front of three coaches each of which is (in St John's) doing a different trip. 48 regular passengers, a guide, a driver, and the lady who teaches watercolours on the boat on sea days acting as sheepdog to round up the group's stragglers when necessary, and to count us.



And off we set.  "Couldn't let you come to St Johns without seeing Signal Hill" says our guide, and the coach climbs out of the town to the hill high above, featuring beautiful scenery, and Cabot's tower; it was from here that the first wireless transatlantic telegraph messages were sent by Marconi.  20 minutes allowed at the stop; a choice between walking round / taking pictures or briefly visiting into the tower. And of course an opportunity to meet and impersonate a Newfoundland dog.







And so halfway down the hill to our first rum stop. 



The story / history of pirates in these parts, of gibbets and chains, and of the use of alcohol in drinks to preserve water for drinking on long sea voyages.  Of the addition of lime later to counteract scurvy, and of why the pirates chose Newfoundland waters of all the various places in the world they could go.



Two or three people on our coach were less mobile than most of us, and how noticeable it was at each stop that those people were helped off the bus ahead of the rest of us more mobile folks.  On one hand it helped to maximise the time they had to look around, but on the other hand it held back the majority for a significant chunk of the stop.  I have no easy answer – for where equality ends and where inequality in the direction allowed by the (UK (United Kingdom)) law begins.  Me thinks letting the slower people off first where we were going to an event (such as drinking) close by the bus, and letting those who could unload quickly where there was a free flow look around at various elements would be an equitable balance.



And so (hic) back onto the bus (hic) for our next (hic) section.  A further drive around, and an opportunity to see a little of the town - round Qudi Viddi passing the harbour "that you might get a glance of between the houses" and around the lake, where we learned about the coming of thousands of people every year to the racing on the lake competition, and why it was always held on a Wednesday.   Everything has a purpose; scratching my head, I think the purpose of this was to give our guide a wedge of time to actually do some guiding; he was talking for the - what - 15 or 20 minute cycle before we came back into St Johns itself and went into the YellowBelly Inn.

If the stop near the interpretation centre had been for Rum, this stop was for their home brewed beer.







We learned too (or as much as was practical between beers) of the history of St Johns, of fires that had burned it down, and how the new higher level Water Street had been built up basically on the rubble. We went in smaller groups into the brewing room itself, then in true pub crawl fashion left that pub and carried on up the hill to the Screech Inn ... where we learned what it took to be a Newfoundlander (basically come from somewhere in Britain and like "Newfoundland Steak" - a.k.a. Spam (or was it Bolony) and Rum ("Newfoundland Rum" is of course brewed in Jamaica and then sent it kegs to St Johns for bottling.



Lisa and I are both qualified talkers.  Many years ago, at a castle in Ireland we kissed the Blarney Stone and now have the gift of the gab.  And at the Screech Inn we kissed the Cod and we are now both honorary Newfoundlanders. We have certificates to prove it. On - and (hic) we (hic) sampled (hic) present day (hic) Newfoundland Rum.



The return to the boat is a bit of a blur - though we must have made it back here somehow, as I'm writing this on board the Aurora.  I do recall the tour guide talking of tipping traditions, and how they're seen as something of an insult in certain cultures.  He then went on to confirm that is definitely NOT the case in the Canadian culture.  I seem to recall him shaking everyone's hand and wishing us a fine onward voyage too.



I am too much of an analyst / cynic. The trip around was worthwhile; probably easier for us to do that and go along with it – had we 'gone solo' we would not have seen as much, or spent so long planning it would not have been worthwhile.  But we probably paid a lot for what we got, and we had no opportunity along the way to say "let's change plans".  Where I was slightly surprised was that no opportunity was offered once we were soused to buy souvenirs of St Johns - for which relief much thanks.

And so we have sailed back out into the Atlantic. Our next scheduled call - Corner Brook - on the other side of Newfoundland, where the last remaining steam locomotive on the island lays dead on a stub of track.  But, sad to relate, things can go wrong with transport schedules.  I understand we have sufficient crew, and that the boat is in good mechanical shape.  However, Hurricane Dorian that wreaked so much havoc in the Bahamas is headed up the coast and there is some doubt that it would be safe of comfortable for us to go into the Gulf of Quebec in the eye of the storm, so that stop has been removed from our schedule and we're headed back out hundreds of miles into the Atlantic to let it pass inwards of us. Once it's passed, we should be able to head back in to see the house where Anne of Green Navels is set. Fortunately, I don't think we were carrying intermediate passengers for Corner Brook, and everyone on board seems fairly stoic about it.  For Lisa and me, the stop has been replaced by an extra bridge lesson.
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« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2019, 01:38:25 »

Bridge, or get to understand even a little of the power of nature, Dorian any time for me, looks like Gabrielle may pop by too.
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grahame
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« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2019, 02:15:35 »

Bridge, or get to understand even a little of the power of nature, Dorian any time for me, looks like Gabrielle may pop by too.

The decision was taken by the master of the ship, not I!
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« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2019, 06:03:03 »

And so halfway down the hill to our first rum stop. 





Reminds me of a long weekend Scottish trip where we went on a whisky tasting trip. There were 12 single malts lined up of which we could choose 6 to sample, 1/2 measure each, of all shades. We had a silver tray with 6 depressions into which our 6 3 inch high "totty" tumblers sat so they wouldn't slide about on the tray as we carried them from the bar to our armchairs. The whisky expert talker went through the history of all the 12 single malts being sampled and that lasted 2 hours but boy, didn't that time fly. One of the ones I picked has become my favourite. I always used to go for Cutty Sark which is a blend but tasting Cragannmore surpassed that. Mind you you won't get much change, if any, out of 2 x £20 notes for a 70cl bottle.
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« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2019, 07:01:39 »

Whilst on the subject of drink, I got a 500ml bottle of a distilled schnapps called Brenivin which translated from the country of origins language into English translates roughly to Black Death. This purchased during my adventures in Iceland, the country not the supermarket.
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« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2019, 09:34:59 »

Changes to cruise schedules are unfortunate by actually quite common. If you join the various Facebook Groups run by P&O Customers you will be able to read lots of stories of schedule changes (and of medical diversions and the like)

On our first cruise (on P&O's Ventura) to the Western Med in 2012, we had a call at Livorno (for trips to Pisa and Florence) cancelled, as in the Captain's judgement the sea was too rough around the port entrance, and the wind too strong for us to safely enter. I knew something was up early in the morning, as the navigation view that you can call up on your cabin TV confirmed that we were in a "holding pattern" sailing around in circles some miles offshore, rather than proceeding into port.

In fairness, he made himself available around the ship to explain his decision to those who wanted to question it. This was all happening only a few months after the Costa Concordia had come to grief not far along the same coastline, so I don't think many did. Money paid for (P&O) trips due to take place from the port of call were refunded.

The upside of this situation was that we spent the day proceeding to our next port of call, Monaco, where our birth was free and we docked for an unscheduled night alongside. We left the ship (along with large no's of other passengers, and off-duty crew!) to take in the sights of one of world's more glamorous and affluent locations.

Hope you managed to enjoy another sea-day and that the schedule change doesn't detract too much from the overall experience.

 
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« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2019, 18:50:50 »

This post seems to have got lost in the ether so I've reproduced it as best I could. The original was posted after my post regarding my sampling of whiskys during a a long weekend in the Highlands of Scotland

And so halfway down the hill to our first rum stop. 





I see there is no white rum in the samples unless the cloudy looking one is a milky white one but I refer to white rum as a colourless beverage.

I have a 700ml bottle of Takamaka Bay which is referred to on the label as COCO-RUM and is described as ;-

An exhilarating blend of Takamaka Bay white rum and tropical coconut.

and the serving suggestion states ;-

serve chilled and straight up as a deliciously calm and cosy tropical digestif or serve over cracked ice with a handful of freshly pressed lime wedges and a splash of sweet fresh pineapple juice.

I describe the taste over cracked ice as being that of Pina Colada.

Sampling this beverage was the highlight of the party we had after we had completed and received our certificates of proficiency after an adventurous week learning to scuba dive in the Seychelles which include swimming with turtles in the lagoon and dolphins off the coral reefs. I did come face to face with a great white shark although it was only 4 foot long and it was in an aquarium. Great whites do not survive long in captivity and that one was caught in a fishermans nets and kept alive long enough to get it to the aquarium and display it but it wasnt expected to survive more than a week or two. Shark nets are deployed around the coral reefs to keep marauding predators at bay and freelance scuba divers are not recommended to dive outside the limits of these nets as the inevitable has happened to some unlucky individuals who 'took the chance'.
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« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2019, 19:35:05 »

And so we have sailed back out into the Atlantic. Our next scheduled call - Corner Brook - on the other side of Newfoundland, where the last remaining steam locomotive on the island lays dead on a stub of track.  But, sad to relate, things can go wrong with transport schedules.  I understand we have sufficient crew, and that the boat is in good mechanical shape.  However, Hurricane Dorian that wreaked so much havoc in the Bahamas is headed up the coast and there is some doubt that it would be safe of comfortable for us to go into the Gulf of Quebec in the eye of the storm, so that stop has been removed from our schedule and we're headed back out hundreds of miles into the Atlantic to let it pass inwards of us. Once it's passed, we should be able to head back in to see the house where Anne of Green Navels is set. Fortunately, I don't think we were carrying intermediate passengers for Corner Brook, and everyone on board seems fairly stoic about it.  For Lisa and me, the stop has been replaced by an extra bridge lesson.

That appears to have been a wise move, judging by how wild it has been around Halifax and up through the Gulf of St Lawrence. From Environment Canada:

Quote
The centre of Dorian is moving into the Strait of Belle Isle. In addition to storm to hurricane force winds, rainfall at times heavy continues north west of the track. Winds will gradually diminish as the storm passes east of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and moves off into the Atlantic. Winds will diminish gradually in its wake.

1. Summary of basic information at 12: 00 p.m. ADT

At 12:00 p.m. ADT port-tropical storm Dorian was located near latitude 50.1 N and longitude 59.3 W, about 65 nautical miles or 120 km west of Daniel's Harbour. Maximum sustained winds are estimated at 65 knots (120 km/h) and central pressure at 969 mb.
Dorian is moving northeast at 23 knots (42 km/h).


2. Summary of latest information.

There were over 500,000 power outages for the Maritime Provinces,
with over 400,000 cases for Nova Scotia, which may be the all-time record. There have been countless reports of outages of trees uprooted, a large construction crane in Halifax collapsed over a building, and there has been serious coastal damage.

Storm surge along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia reached near record levels for Halifax Harbour. Along East Coast of New Brunswick, the surge reached record values for Lower Escuminac and for Shediac exceeded warning levels easily but was not a record.

The winds have diminished significantly for most of the Maritimes,
with the Magdalen Island ending their wind warning this afternoon. The highest gust reported on land is 145 km/h for Beaver Island in eastern Nova Scotia.

Rainfall is mainly over for the Maritimes, but is continuing for the Gaspe Peninsula, Anticosti Island, and part of the Quebec Lower North Shore. The highest rainfall amount recorded was

Hurricane force winds are still possible for the west coast of Newfoundland but will diminish as Dorian continues east into the Atlantic.

* Port Daniel is about 120 km north of Corner Brook on the west coast of Newfoundland - about 3 hours as the Post-tropical Storm flies. ADT is four hours behind BST.
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grahame
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« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2019, 20:01:22 »

That appears to have been a wise move, judging by how wild it has been around Halifax and up through the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Many thanks for that update - yes, it appears a wise move indeed.  And far more than normal sources on board so far (mind, we have been practising bridge not following news).  Saying "hello" from the Atlantic where instead of Corner Brook we have:

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