watercraft

Quidi Vidi Village

Published September 1, 2018

Two provinces every year for 5 years. Marathon goal: all of Canada by 2020.

Holiday weekend destination: NEWFOUNDLAND. Nowhere further East on the North American continent. Marathoning Labour Day Monday, holiday same-day both Canada & US. Colorado return late Monday nite; days missed from work: ZERO. Perrrrrfect – stockpiling PTO (vacation days) for Antarctica (Jan 2019).

Denver to Toronto [everything Air Canada involves Toronto] almost missed my connection clearing Canadian Customs (Nova Scotia last summer, 8 extra hours ‘til next available flight). Thankfully this time, an Air Canada rep walked [me] to the front of the line; otherwise, would’ve been Sunday first opportunity to see St John’s.

Newfoundland & Labrador. Newfoundland’s the island, Labrador mainland Canada. #10 of Canada’s ten provinces, joined the Confederation March 1949. Entire weekend spent in St Johns, province’s capital city. Booked a pricey B&B stay downtown (B&B sans one ‘b’/NO breakfast). Old historic home. Unique rowhouse experience. Capital city, sleeps downtown, why rent a car? Walking vacation. By Day 2 that flaw’d be rectified. No Lyft, no Uber. Whole lotta walking. HILL-Y! Like our San Francisco without the busy city part. GORGEOUS scenery however. Over-the-top OCEAN views, unique local foods & Canada’s FRIENDLIEST people. Crazy accent too – super FUN, more Irish than Canadian.

Late to bed, early to rise. 3 ½ hour time difference. HALF hour time change? No joke. Day’s first waking thought: MUST FIND FOOD. Missed a couple meals Saturday. Ready, ready to eat! LOL>

Classic Café East on Duckworth TOPPED the short-list. For a guy who digs diners – absolutely, bang on. Waitress recommended 2 local specialties. Add my first choice (fish cakes) & that’d make THREE. Spending Canadian $$ this trip – bring it on. Words of Scarlett O’Hara: “I’ll never go hungry again.”

Fish cakes & eggs (cod cakes), toutons with molasses (fried dough/fritter) AND salted cod/hard tack & scrunchions (fish/potatoes/onions/mystery meat, skillet’d together). SUPER TASTY. Lotta take-away — big eyes, little stomach.

Boat tour scheduled early afternoon. Plenty of time to walk off breakfast – well, maybe part of breakfast. Who am I kidding? 2½ kilometers to Quidi Vidi Village. Would have to add 40 to that figure to walk off MY breakfast. SOOOO very FULL 🙂

Hafta/MUST do while in St John’s: Quidi Vidi [pronounced kiddie-viddie].

Village on the water, hemmed in the island’s rolling hills. Fishing boats, sea gulls, brightly-coloured dockhouses. Super scenic, quiet/peaceful, reminiscent of Maine. HIGHLY recommended. HUGE FAN of Newfoundland. LOVE LOVE this place ❤️

: Labor Day Holiday

: Jellybean Rowhouses

: fish cakes, toutons, salted cod/hard tack & scrunchions

: HILLY; like our San Francisco without the busy city part

: hip artisan co-op

: day’s WOW pic!

: in from Boston, LIFE’s moments BETTER when SHARED

: fishing boats & sea gulls

: brightly-coloured dockhouses

: LOVE this place ❤️

Quidi Vidi Village, NL

Posted in Canada | Tagged road-signs, watercraft | Leave a comment

Morning Snorkel & Sail

Published January 7, 2018

Saturday: road warrior. Sunday: ocean explorer.

Ok ok not so much exploring, as adventuring under the sea – SNORKEL Day. Christmas present from Ash & Tom 🙂

Sunday a.m. start, 30-minute drive to Kona, party of 6 reservation. Only my 2^nd time snorkeling – both times in Hawaii. Lucky in life. Boarded a small catamaran from the pier. Laid-back island adventure, entirely on Hawaiian time now 🌺

Air temp: low 70’s. Water temp: the same. Sunshine. Pretty much perfect.

Things to Note: Pawai Bay has an excellent variety of tropical reef fish and dramatic terrain, with ledges, caves, shallow shelves and steep drop-offs; and all coral encrusted lava formations. Depths vary from 3-4 feet on the shallow ledges to blue water where the bottom disappears at 100 feet. Average is about 18 feet.

Our crew, Anglo & Hawaiian, bantered back-n-forth but both had a great knowledge of the reef.

Lotta talk ’bout ‘Tonys’ – local term for tiger sharks (as in Frosted Flakes’ mascot: Tony the Tiger). More sharks off the Big Island than others in the Hawaiian chain. Who knew? Luckily, no fins this day.

Triggerfish, Yellow tang, Parrotfish, Bannerfish, Hawaiian Sergeant Fish, Cauliflower Coral – but NO sharks (or eels or barracuda…or anything else with teeth – LOL>). 3 hours, 2 reefs, FRESH PINEAPPLE snack break. FAAANNNTASTIC!

Late lunch at Kona Brewing Company. Taste highlight: Sweet Potato Pie. 2^nd purple vegetable I’d eaten this trip (Sis ordered Poi the night before). HUGE fan of purple Okinawan sweet potato (not so much for pasty Poi).

: Kona, Hawaii ☼

: Hawaiian time 🌺

: Wonder Twins snorkeling adventure

: Pawai Bay

: DOLPHINS!

: Sweet Potato SPLURGE

Solo evening plans.

Local trail, petroglyphs, Hawaiian ocean sunset. Otherwise known as: ”lost at night on a lava field”. 2-mile jog morphed into a 6-mile night hike – with only an iPhone for light. Dropped a pin on my Google map, jumped a rock fence off the 7^th green on a ritzy golf course, bushwhacked quarter-mile to a residential road. Phone-a-friend rescue, Foodland-rendezvoused in nearby Puako (thanks Stephen).

Hiking Captain Cook in the a.m. – 2 miles/2000ft down, 2 miles/2000ft UP. Just another Big Island Day 🌺

: Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve

: rough lava-rock trek

: lights OUT

Posted in Alaska/Hawaii, Family | Tagged hiking, petroglyphs, watercraft | Leave a comment

Niagara Falls

Published May 6, 2017

12:30am arrival – even the best of friends say ‘take an Uber’ after midnight. My Canadian bestie? Short cat nap, greeted me just past Customs…then hit the highway. HUGE surprise. Middle-of-the-night trek to Niagara Falls. Hotel slept, woke directly across from North America’s greatest free falling water. Chilly a.m. mist but whatta morning run!

GREAT to wake in Canada! Purchased 2 tickets on Hornblower Cruises. Would be seeing the Falls up close & personal. Donned my plastic ‘Hornblower pink’ rain jacket & boarded the boat (America’s competing ‘Maid of the Mist’ provide jackets o’ blue).

Niagara Falls is actually comprised of three waterfalls: American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls. The first 2 lie in the U.S., the latter straddles both U.S. & Canada borders. Elaborate walkways built on the American side provide ‘a’ view of the Falls. Canada however, positioned directly across from the Falls, claims BEST view…by far.

Cruise first passed by American & Bridal Veil. Lotta opportunity for selfies, water crashing over large boulders below. Seagulls darted in & out of the Falls, diving into the water below fishing for dinner. Provided some of the day’s favourite shots.

When folks think of ‘Niagara’ Falls, it’s Horseshoe Falls we’ve seen. Powerful, thunderous water, tinted green of mineral-eroded limestone. The force of falling water created a wide spray across the entire boat. Whatta memory – SUPER FUN (& wet)! One of the most wondrous, magical, ‘take your breath away’ places on Earth. I was here, May 6^th 2017. Could not stop smiling ❤

Boat disembarked. Slow-walked 2 miles down the boardwalk, past flowering Queen Victoria Park. Watched fast moving water pour over Horseshoe Falls, self-surrounded by a swath of daffodils. Hot chocolate at Tim Horton’s. a WOW kind of day!

Rode the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), over Burlington Skyway Bridge, then the 407 – to Sarah’s flat in Brampton. Impromptu pull-off to view an old grounded ship on Lake Ontario. Unplanned excursions, highly recommended. Many thanks Sarah, much LOVED!

The Grounded Ship was a replica of the Grand Hermie used by Jacques Cartier in 1535-1536 and 1541-1542 to explore Canada. This ship was built in 1967 for Expo 67 [in Montreal] as part of the nautical theme as Expo 67 which was on islands in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The ship was taken to Quebec City and abandoned in 2001.

Marathon in early a.m. – but not before dining fancy in North America’s tallest building, the CN Tower. No regret, B-I-G life 🙂