Dildo Dildo Dildo (worth repeating) June 25
Breakfast is not complimentary at the current hotel but we have cereal with us and only needed to pick up some milk . So I thought that maybe we'd sleep in, since nobody was waiting to serve us, but we got up the same time as usual . The big decision was, what were we going to do today. We really wanted to go for a boat ride but couldn't tell whether the weather would cooperate. Wasn't yet in the mood to go very far, so we settled on doing on short loop.
We drove over to Heart's Content to see the Cable Station, a very important part of Newfoundland's history.
In July 1866, after 9 years and several unsuccessful attempts, the first permanent telegraph cable connecting Europe and North America was hauled ashore at Heart's Content. The Cable Station is a time capsule of the communications technology that connected the world, up to the 1960s.
A lot to see and a 20 minute film to watch.
Some more cable station pics:https://photos.app.goo.gl/ye6wWFoQ7CBh1iQX7
It was a shock to the system when we came to the town of Carbonear. It looked so commercialized with new strip malls, and everything from KFC, Subway, MacDonald's to Canadian Tire, Dollarama and Mark's Warehouse.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9e5E6RYWG54WmhhT7
It's been a month since we've seen so many stores.
At that point, we decided against continuing to drive north, because the weather looked promising and the forecast wavered between rain, not beginning until 5, or 6. Figured that a boat ride at 2pm would work out and I called up to reserve a couple of spots on the boat. So we cut over to the east side of the peninsula, to visit the statue of Emilia Earheart in Harbour Grace, a short drive kind of on the way back to the hotel.
https://www.hrgrace.ca/tourism-heritage/attractions/amelia-earhart-statue/
From there, we still had time to drop in at a vendors fair. Michael wants to buy an Ugly Stick. As per Google, "The ugly stick is a percussive musical instrument from Newfoundland, Canada. Made from recycled household materials, such as mops, brooms, bottle caps, and tin cans, the ugly stick has a boot as its base and a “head” on top. It is played by striking the boot on the ground and beating rhythms on the stick.". I know, I know, it sounds like something you can make at home, so why bother to buy one. A better question though, would be, why do we need one at all? In any case, he hasn't found the perfect stick. Yet.
Would you believe that the weather was fine, right up to the point where we boarded the boat? But not so terrible, it only came down for a few minutes.
We were hoping to see humpback whales but that didn't happen. We did get to see eagles. I'm including my very poor eagle pics as proof only, that we saw them. Michael, of course, got some great shots which I'll have access to once we're back home.
Just before going for dinner, the boat's captain knocked on our door, and told us that if he can get a minimum of 4 passengers tomorrow (I think that we were 10 today), we could jump back on tomorrow, no charge. I had kibbitzed with him and his partner, the
entire ride about the tour not being complete without seeing a humpback. The splashes from 3 porpoises just wasn't going to cut it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4NPeJ6YzoyrHycLM7
Despite what it sounds like, he enjoyed my company and I guess he wants me to see a humpback as much as I do. Very nice gesture. We'll see what happens tomorrow. The skipper, Dennis, owns the boat and the hotel. Apparently, his family used to build boats in this building. Ergo, the name of this hotel: The Dildo Boathouse . We had supper here as well.
We'd seen some rain during the drive in Nova Scotia, and there had been some rain when we had been in Burgeo. More like a drizzle. But now, it's definitely coming down. Hope it stops by tomorrow.