During the Canada Day weekend, my wife and I did something a little different – we decided to explore Canada a little more and went to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Of course, we’ve heard all of the jokes about fish and Screech (it is a local dark rum which accurately reflects the reaction you have upon drinking it) and wanted to learn more about our most easterly province first hand.

Anne and I stayed at Angel House Heritage Inn in St. John’s. The owners, Patrica and Russell, took possession of the B&B in late 2005 and have completely and very beautifully renovated the house. It was an absolute joy staying there – not to forget, I think I gained a few pounds with their gourmet breakfasts each morning!

One thing I really enjoyed about their property was the garden. They have an acre of land which contained hundreds of Lupins (which I love), Foxglove and many other lovely species of plants and flowers. One could literally get lost in there.

We spent a day down in Witless Bay. From here you can go visit the Ecological Reserve where we were able to see North Atlantic Puffins (cute little guys, eh?) and Humpback Whales. They were quite the sight!

Oh yes, I must not forget Melissa, our tour guide, musician and our boat’s local comedienne!

We also made a visit to Cape St. Mary’s Bird Sanctuary in the southern part of the province, a 3 hour drive from St. John’s. It is literally several steep cliffs (some of the steepest I’ve ever seen) covered in birds, primarily Gannetts. Funnily enough, we had to wear our raincoats as it was easy to get “rained” upon even though it was a clear sky that day… so as you can probably guess, they weren’t raindrops falling on our heads. Good thing cows don’t fly.

It was a short visit and we’re glad we made the trip. We Canadians live in a beautiful country and I encourage all of you to get out and see it!