Live. Travel. Play.

At Quidi Vidi Battery.

After all those long and sweaty driving days…all those camping nights listening to drunken neighbours, screaming children, and RV generators…all the times we used gross public washrooms…and all those desperate moments searching for a decent WiFi connection so that we could make conference calls and meet work deadlines…

…Visiting St. John’s made it all worthwhile.

After our ferry arrived in Placentia Bay (July 16), we wondered if we would see good weather again. We heard that the sun rarely shines in Newfoundland, so we braced ourselves for the worst.

It was overcast and cool on our 2-hour drive to St. John’s. Then, just as we pulled in to Jan and Mel’s house, the sun came out. Jan is Gregor’s step-sister on his Dad’s side. Her husband, Mel, is originally from St. John’s. Their 5-year-old son, Alex, greeted us at the door and we got long-awaited family hugs. After we settled in, Jan and Mel asked us when we were going to move to St. John’s. They were on a mission to recruit us.

The five of us piled into the family car to tour the city sites, with Mel at the wheel. Mel is a proud Newfoundlander and he acted as our intrepid tour guide. We visited the downtown (Water St. and George St.), Signal Hill (where Marconi received the first Trans Atlantic radio signal from Britain), Cape Spear (the most eastern point in Canada), and Quidi Vidi Battery (near Quidi Vidi Brewery, which produces our new favourite beer: Quidi Vidi Light). We decided that we liked St. John’s. It felt vibrant and easy going, and the harbour and surrounding coastline was just beautiful, especially on that clear day. Mel told us that the rumours we heard were untrue, and that it’s normally clear in St. John’s year-round.

That evening, we met our friends Ted and Cheryl, who moved from Calgary about 2 years ago. After sharing a round of hugs and catching up on latest news, they asked us when we were going to move to St. John’s. Gregor and I started to feel like there was a conspiracy going on. Even though we were already impressed by the city, we were still skeptical about the sunny and hot weather. But Ted and Cheryl confirmed: “Oh yeah, it’s like this all the time.” St. John’s seemed like a plausible place to settle.

We all went to a vegetarian BBQ hosted by the owners of a yoga studio where both Cheryl and Jan teach. Always the conformist, Ted brought a huge T-bone steak to throw on the bar-b. We chatted with the locals and learned more about the city. That’s when we found out the truth: The weather in St. John’s normally sucks. Lots of overcast days and rain, drizzle, and fog (RDF). One local even said: “If you can stand the weather, St. John’s really is a nice place to live.”

For the remainder of the week, every local we met commented on what a bad summer it’s been so far. We even saw a documentary called Rain, Drizzle, Fog, which showed interviews with several famous Newfoundlanders (including Mary Walsh from This Hour Has 22 Minutes). Each one commented on the depressing weather on the island. One interviewee even said: “Some days, you just want to put a bullet in your brain”. And wouldn’t you know, after watching that film we walked back up the steep hill to Ted and Cheryl’s place in the rain.

Miraculously, that was the only rain we experienced that week. And despite a few overcast days, we had a fantastic time in St. John’s with friends and family.

Some highlights:

• Went to the Rose and Thistle Pub downtown and danced to live Rasta/Reggae music (them Townies got rhythm).
• Hiked to Torbay Point with the whole gang (including the dogs, Cookie and Charlie) and we saw a whale!
• Visited ‘The Rooms’ museum and art gallery (a funky building with a gorgeous view of St. John’s harbour).
• Attended Cheryl’s restorative yoga class (Ted snored through shivasana).
• Walked up and down the windy streets and steep hills of St. John’s (Yikes, we’re out of shape).
• Read the city’s plentiful interpretive signs and historical monuments (I’ve never seen so many in one city).
• Had dinner at Mel’s mom’s place (that was the best cod we’ve had in our lives, Mildred!).
• Drove through Jan and Mel’s old neighbourhood in the town of Mount Pearl (Geez, what a hole…What were you guys thinking?).

We also enjoyed the food:

• Ate awesome “fish and chips with dressing” at The Duke (Gregor thinks chips with dressing is better than poutine! Sacrilege!).
• Celebrated Mel’s birthday at Aqua (Killer good food…Gregor had caribou burger and I had lobster poutine – yum).
• Had excellent desserts and coffee at The Rocket and Hava Java (Jumping Bean roasted coffee rocks).
• Tried partridgeberry jam and Purity brand “Jam Jams” (soft jam-filled cookies – mmmm).

And we learned the local dialect:

• “Townie” – a resident of St. John’s.
• “Bayman” – anyone who lives outside of St. John’s.
• “Skeet” is the Newfoundland equivalent of “trailer trash”.
• “The mainland” is “The rest of Canada”.
• “C.F.A.” is “come-from-away”, a person who has moved to Newfoundland from elsewhere.
• “T.C.H”, found on highway signs across the island, stands for Trans Canada Highway.
• “Some”, used as an adverb, is like the word “very” (e.g., When young Alex awoke from a snooze, he said: “That was some good nap.”)
• “It is what it is”, a saying along the lines of “Can’t do much about it, so you may as well accept it.”

“It is what it is” is now our motto for this trip. We may not have perfect conditions every day, but we can suck it up and move on because, eventually, the sun will come.

St. John's harbour.

Buildings in St. John's.

Fog at Cape Spear.

Cheryl and Janice, Torbay Point.

Gregor, Mel, and Alex, Torbay Point.

Ted on a coastal hike, telling stories by the sea.

Mel's Birthday dinner at Aqua.

With Alex and his favourite blanket.