Newfoundland

Ok, now to post a wee bit on the the Newfoundland trip... :-) Now that was a fun time!

The Ferry
For those who have been on ferries this part you can probably skip, me however I'd never really been on ferries before and so was actually quite enjoying the journey.. It's about 14hrs to go from North Sydney to Argentia (which is literally just the ferry station), followed by a 2hr shuttle ride to St John.

I was really surprised at how roomy and how much stuff was on the ferry, you don't need to get a cabin or bunk bed as the seats in the tv area recline and are actually quite cumfy, even if others found them not comfy enough to sleep on... They've got a decent-ish bar, games room, theatre, tv rooms, cafeteria, the works... :-) Finally got to see 'School of Rock' and some other movie I can't remember the title of (something about child-hood stars)

St John
Ok, this place is hilly! And considering that the hostel is up the top, and the shuttle drops us off down at the bottom, dang that was a walk! Added to the hostel is on Young St, which is not on the lonely planet map, and most of the locals don't know where it is... So after a long and sweaty uphill slog I and this other Aussie Marcus (that I met on the shuttle) made it to the hostel, and a needed shower, ahhh... :-)

The Gang
At the hostel I got to meet some great people who I proceeded to get into mishief with for the rest of my time in St John... They are:

• Marcus A bit of a nutty Aussie I happened to run into on the shuttle.. Have you found that number yet?
  
• Jen A full on party machine from Toronto, lots of fun though, particularly as it was her birthday over the weekend!
  
• Dane A Canadian from Jasper who I'd previously met in Halifax. What were those girls name again?
  
• Gavin Another Aussie from Brisbane who enjoyed a good drink and chatting up every female in uniform (not that I blame him, they seem to love the accent!) Hope you've found some work in Halifax
  

Cape Spear
Well on the first day in Newfoundland after that refreshing shower, we (being the gang 'cept for Dane), were able to talk Bill (the Newfie manager of the hostel, and a great guy) into driving us down to Cape Spear and showing us a bit of the local area... Now Cape Spear for those who don't know is the most easterly point of Nth America, and has one of the oldest lighthouses in Nth America (may even be the oldest..), it's also a great look-out point with some spectacular views! Jen tells us she even got to see some whales off the coast, but I saw none... :-(

Drinkies
Well I'll only mention this the once, but let's say the locals and us (being the gang) did enjoy to partake in the amber liquid, and we did... frequently... and at length... ;-) And much merriness was had by all! :-)

Ok, given the length of this post, I'm going to continue Newfoundland on another post... Where one of my personal highlights (a whale sighting) occurred, I'll also see if I can get a piccy up!

B