Thursday July 6 - We await the arrival of the kids. Last night they made it to Edmunston NB, so they still had 900 k's to do today. But they figure they'll be here by 7 p.m. They have heard from Clare, who had a rough flight, mainly because of late departures out of Toronto and Vancouver. Result: she missed her flight to Wellington, so had an 8 hour wait in Sidney until the next flight. And one of her bags didn't show when she arrived in NZ, so she has to hope it is soon delivered. However, she was housed in a hostel, last report, so she will need to have a huge catch-up on lost sleep.

Meantime, back to St. John's for a couple of highlights. On Friday, we walked all the way down to the Quidi Vidi harbour, which is next to the main harbour, for a kitchen party. Every Friday night, local musicians get together to perform, their only pay being all the beer they can drink. We were told to arrive early, which we did, the result being we had to stand outside for quite awhile in the cold onshore wind so we could be assured of getting in, as they only take about 80 people. We were all ashiver by the time the doors opened.

But a beer in hand and warm air inside made it all worth while. The music was great...local tunes, well played, lots of good repartee and humour, and a very responsive crowd, a mix of tourists and locals. We shared a table with several people, including three very nice teachers from Montreal, who had to leave early because of a 6:30 flight next morning. They were very friendly and chatty, so we had a nice visit with them. Their place was taken by three really nice local ladies, one of whom had spent a winter in Ottawa getting a heart transplant. She couldn't say enough about the care she got in the Heart Institute. Another lady at the end of the table is a local, who sings in a choir that has gone all over the world performing. She's at the kitchen party every week.

The neat thing about the evening was the enthusiasm of some of the younger women, who got all kinds of people up dancing. Gail was one of the first hauled to the floor, and she had a great time. We ended up dancing quite a bit, and had a lot of fun with the folks, who were so welcoming. True kitchen parties usually involve anyone who can play or sing showing up and joining in, but in this case, the musicians are really good, and are the regulars, so it would take someone with a lot of skill to have the nerve to get up and do something. After two sets, we headed back to the trail for another walk of 6 or 7 k's to get back to our park.

Next day, down we hiked again, about 2/3 of the previous day's walk, to take in Canada Day. From 2 to 4, there was a good variety of performances...music, dance, multicultural, a good mix. There was also a lineup for free burgers, and other goodies, which we took advantage of. For the kids there  were a half-dozen bouncing enclosures, and lots of other stuff for them to do. Energy bars, popsicles, yogurt, popcorn, all handed out free, along with Canada Day decals, stick-ons and the like.

We stayed until near the end, then walked, yes, more walking, downtown to see what was happening on George Street, the pub party center. Thought we'd find a pub, have dinner, and listen to some music. There was music blaring from the street, but there was a 30 dollar admission just to get on the street, so we gave it a pass and went to a nice pub instead. Food was okay, although nothing special.
So, guess what!! We walked all the way back to the Canada Day Celebration Site to hear the last part of the Sheepdog concert, which was also free. For you older folks, the Sheepdogs are a band from Saskatchewan that has made it big, and we enjoyed their performance a lot. Then, as the fireworks began, we headed for a shuttle bus that took us back close to the park. Needless to say, by the time we got back, we were done.

However, next morning, despite a heavy fog, we decided to go to Signal Hill. Couldn't see anything near the top, but Gail was determined, so we parked in the first lot we could fined, thinking that there might not be space for an r.v. at the top (turned out there would have been). We climbed up a back trail, came over a ridge, and saw some troops dressed in British 18th Century uniforms, bright red tunics visible in the mist, and wondered what they were doing. As we moved up, we saw soldiers armed with muskets squatted down behind barriers. What the heck? Then we saw a guy in civvies come running our way, behind the crouched soldiers, and wondered where he was going. Turned out he was coming to rescue us, as we were in direct line with a cannon that was about to be fired. We had stumbled upon the first military display of the season, so we were quickly hustled over to where the rest of the audience was located, to enjoy the rest of the show. They did fire the cannon, which made a huge sound, and wouldn't have been good to be in direct line with. Despite the continuing fog, we continued on up the hill after the show to reach the tower, where we could barely see the harbour below. Cold and clammy, but we did it, and Gail was happy.

That's it for St. John's, a city we have learned to really appreciate for it's atmosphere, history, color, harbour, friendly people, music, pubs, and hilly streets. A great place to spend a few days.

What to do for the rest of the day in the fog? Stay tuned. More later.