We hadn’t set the alarm because a 6:30 wake-up call had been arranged by Francis, our guide. The alarm buzzed at 5:00. Ready or not. Though I’d slept like the dead, I forced myself awake. Mary remained beneath the foggy veil of sleep. If I raced to the bathroom first, I’d be coiffed and dressed without interruption. You know what it’s like when the clock’s ticking and two females have to share a bathroom sink and mirror, right? What was the point of lollygagging?
I couldn’t get the shower to work and worried the fabric shower curtain without a liner wouldn’t keep water off the floor. I took a bath instead, then couldn’t get up though I gripped the safety bar. I resorted to getting on my knees to pull myself up. When had I started falling apart? Did I miss an announcement or a meeting? How dare my body betray me like this and on my vacation?
Soap, shampoo and body lotion were provided; toothpaste and toothbrushes weren’t. I have no idea why I packed them, but lucky I did. Mary had had no expectations, but I did because everything from slippers to shower caps had been made available at every hotel on my last trip.
Luggage was left outside our rooms by 7:00 a.m. Breakfast commenced from 7:00 to 8:00 with departure by bus no later than 8:00. Menu forms were handed out for choices of meals during our tour. Seating rotation was promised to provide everyone with a different view from the bus each day.
Corner Brook Quick Facts:
- Pulp and paper mill – 320 active workers
- Largest single employee
- Population 20,000
- Largest city outside St. John’s
- Newfoundland oldest colony
- Newfoundland /Labrador youngest province in Canada
As forecast, it had rained the night before and a fine mist continued. We wouldn’t be doing much traipsing around Francis said. Everyone seated on the bus by 8:00 a.m., the first order of business was a draw for the panoramic front seat view across the aisle from the tour guide–with a new draw every day.
We drove around the charming town of Corner Brook. All the homes were finished in whimsical array of colored vinyl. Mary and I thought they all looked like they’d been done around the same time. Whoever won the contract must have been laughing all the way to the bank. I know I took pictures, but they’ve disappeared.
Where was everyone on this Saturday morning? Yes, it was wet, but not a single soul could be seen out and about. Only one car passed us going in the opposite direction.
First stop: a historic site where Captain James Cook landed in Newfoundland. A fine mist persisted, making it difficult to take pictures and keep our heads and / or our cameras or iPads dry. The stones and pathways were slippery as was the grass. I wasn’t the only one who leaped at the chance to return to the bus tout suite.
Captain Cook Quick Facts:
- Born 1728
- He was the first to map the coast of Newfoundland during Seven Years War
- Only explorer who never lost a person to beriberi (always had fresh fruit)
- Made three trips to the Pacific
* * *
Irish Welcome:
May those who love us, love us.
May those who don’t, turn their hearts.
If their hearts don’t turn, turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.
Next time on October 30th – Further along the Viking Trail
© 2015 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles. All Rights Reserved.
For more related posts, click on Newfoundland / Labrador tab at the top of the page
October 23, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Drizzly days and site seeing don’t go well together… That was interesting about the different colored vinyl siding homes. A shame the pictures got away. I always enjoy (virtually) traveling with you Tess. Great big hug!
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October 23, 2015 at 6:37 pm
I slipped in a realtor site so you can get a bird’s eye view of what I’m talking about.
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October 24, 2015 at 10:12 am
Oh, I see it now. Charming homes. I’d live there! 🙂
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October 24, 2015 at 10:22 am
I’ve been back how long? I still feel a magnetic pull back. Reminds me of the first little town I grew up in by a lake. All the surrounding water in NFL did something to me. 😀
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October 23, 2015 at 7:01 pm
Five am? That’s harsh. Hopefully you had some coffee or black tea to get your engine revving. 🙂
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October 23, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Love the Irish welcome, sounds like something my Grandpa Joe would say although it might not have been that, er, family friendly. 😉
Thank you for letting us tag along, I hope the drizzle didn’t make you fizzle. 🙂
Hope this weekend treats you kindly, Tess, I look forward to next leg of your journey. 🙂
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October 23, 2015 at 8:30 pm
It doesn’t sound very relaxing with 5 am rising every morning!! I hope at some point you got the panoramic seat 🙂
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October 23, 2015 at 10:27 pm
Tess, what a great trip with lots of adventures. Wonderful scenery even in rain & fog. Enjoy! Chryssa
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October 24, 2015 at 1:56 am
Looks cold and damp – must suppress the urge to get out and explore. Thanks for taking us along on the trip. Much fun to travel with you.
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October 24, 2015 at 2:14 am
Love your adventures and your blessing! Safe travels…
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October 24, 2015 at 7:01 am
love that phrase ‘lollygagging’ even if I haven’t a clue what it means.
You do seem to have a talent for picking the wet weather tours!
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October 24, 2015 at 10:22 am
Every time you talk about ‘leaving luggage outside the door’, I cringe. I’m just not trusting enough.
I’ve toured a pulp and paper mill. They are fascinating places.
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October 24, 2015 at 10:25 am
Me too. I tended to lurk by the door and what surprised me, at least in NFL, they were picked up within minutes.
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October 24, 2015 at 10:27 am
Tess, you were provided with robes and slippers? I’ve never been that lucky. Most lodging for me has had the little bar of soap and the bottle of shampoo and conditioner combines, That’s it.
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October 24, 2015 at 10:32 am
Yes, in China all these extras were provided, plus a new bottle of water every day. We did have to call down for toilet paper though, because if the last guest left a half-roll, that’s all you got unless you asked. No extra roll to tide you over. Doesn’t seem to make sense, does it. Where’s the balance? 🙂
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October 24, 2015 at 10:51 am
I like grey days for picture taking. I’m looking forward to the next meal Tess. I like discovering parts of the world I won’t get to, through your travels.
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October 24, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Your bus routine sounds very familiar..I traveled in Italy via bus tour. Sometimes the fog and mist add to the adventure, no? If not, it keeps some of the crowds down! We took a tour one day in Cape Town, it was rainy and chilly, and we were the only two in the van. Private tour! Look forward to reading more about your trip.
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October 25, 2015 at 8:24 am
This is my second ‘bus tour’ type adventure. The more people with whom I talk about this I learn some of the routine are classic and across the board. 🙂
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October 24, 2015 at 5:09 pm
You left no stone unturned! From paper mills to Irish sayings. Captain Cook really got around. Didn’t he get killed by natives in Hawaii?
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October 25, 2015 at 8:32 am
Yes, Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii.
Thanks so much for reading J.B.
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October 24, 2015 at 8:46 pm
That misty scenery looks like Niagara Falls mist. And you had pictures that suddenly vanished? 🙂
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October 25, 2015 at 8:34 am
Sometimes neither mine nor my sister’s iPad would click, not take pictures. We thought it might be the damp. The trouble is I haven’t learned to check if the picture took or not before I more on. I wasn’t much enamored of the drizzly weather. 😮
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October 25, 2015 at 12:51 pm
Oh, the technical woes we must endure Tess! 😦
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October 24, 2015 at 8:48 pm
Your tours are always so interesting, though the rise and shine time maybe not so much. I think I would have fought the shower a bit harder. You are so right about the houses!
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October 25, 2015 at 8:39 am
Someone before our arrival must have set the alarm that early. I’m used to getting up by 6:30 anyway so the ‘normal’ wake up call wasn’t bad but travelling and sharing a bathroom with another female, even if she is my sister, brought me back to our growing up years where the first one in the bathroom got to laugh at the others waiting in line at the door. 😀 😀 😀
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October 25, 2015 at 7:01 am
All so very interesting. My hubby´s step mother is a direct descendant of Captain James Cook. Just got back from a Mediterranean cruise and met a lovely couple from Newfoundland.
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October 25, 2015 at 8:44 am
WOW. A direct descendant. That’s so cool.
It’s a small world after all, isn’t it, Darlene. Sometimes you have to travel the world to bump into your neighbors. 🙂
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October 25, 2015 at 9:09 am
So true!!
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October 25, 2015 at 8:56 am
Shame about the mist and rain but, none the same, sounds like a good start and we’ve still more to come from the viking trail. Raincoats at the ready?
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October 28, 2015 at 10:40 pm
Nothing anyone can do about the weather… Grrr. Wasn’t so bad. There was a weather thing going on in the Atlantic eastern side the night after we arrived. Must have had to do with the rain we experienced on the western coast. 😦 ❤
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October 25, 2015 at 8:57 am
I’d love to take this trip. Just love your travels.
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October 25, 2015 at 10:01 am
Enjoying this visit to Newfoundland, Tess 🙂 and I love the Irish welcome! 😀
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October 25, 2015 at 10:30 am
Thank you, Cathy for reading along. Our tour guide was 5th generation Irish Newfoundlander. He was most entertaining. Loved him. He made the tour awesome. 🙂
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October 25, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Dear Tess,
I have always wanted to go to New Foundland, especially since they discovered the remains of the Viking village there. Am enjoying your trip vicariously and hoping one day to follow in your footsteps. Thanks for sharing!
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October 28, 2015 at 10:37 pm
Yes, I have pictures. Can’t say they are great. You really had to be there. There are so many layers I couldn’t replicate in a photo It was amazing. Sights, sounds. Hope you can get something out of it when I post.
Thanks so much for coming along. My journal isn’t half as interesting as yours, so I’m tickled you’re along for the ride. 🙂 🙂 ❤
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October 26, 2015 at 9:39 am
Did the town smell from the paper mill? Years ago I visited a town in Nova Scotia that really stunk because of the paper mill. You write such a great travelogue. I love the personal stuff, like trying to get out of the bath. :-0 So frustrating!!! But keep on doing what you’re doing!!!
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October 28, 2015 at 10:35 pm
I can’t say about the smell. It was raining and we stopped in the bus.
Glad you think it’s ok to share stuff like the bathtub dilemma. Shocked me. Thought someone reading might experience a similar u.n.e.x.p.e.c.t.e.d. surprise. 😀 😀 When they’re not looking.
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October 29, 2015 at 11:08 am
You wrote it as a public service. Good job! 🙂
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October 26, 2015 at 10:59 am
Sounds like you had a memory making vacation. However, I prefer sun and beaches. My bones don’t ache as much. LOL Jean’s Writing
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October 28, 2015 at 10:32 pm
Nice to see you Jean. I did sun and beaches when I was young-ER. Now I want to SAVE my complexion. Ha ha.
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October 29, 2015 at 5:20 pm
Oh, I wear like 90 SPF and stay under an umbrella. I’ve got enough wrinkles. LOL
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October 26, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Ooh I love your travel writing, I learn so much!
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October 28, 2015 at 10:31 pm
I try not to get academic. Just the things I enjoy and share. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, Gilly. I’m tickled you’re along for my little trip. 🙂
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October 26, 2015 at 7:09 pm
Having shared a room with my son last November/December for a month’s rip around new Zealand let me assure you Tess that young men and their bathroom will not be parted. I can imagine the mizzly rain that gets into every crevice too – poor Cook, standing their in all weather. And the Irish greeting is just perfect – a bit like my great uncle’s grace ‘Thank the Lord, me belly’s full, an inch above the table. I’ll be dammed if I have crammed, all that I am able’
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October 28, 2015 at 10:17 pm
I’m not used to sharing a bathroom, neither is my sister. I’m surprised we did as well as we did
Ha ha. Two guys. I never thought about that. 🙂
The Irish greeting, of course, came from our 5th generation Newfoundland Irish guide. I loved the guy.
Love you great uncle’s grace. 😀 ❤
Thanks much for tagging along. I appreciate your interest.
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October 27, 2015 at 10:43 am
Tess, I love your slideshow. Good for you for mustering on through such a sloppy day. I think your Irish Welcome is the best I’ve ever heard. 🙂 ~Terri
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October 28, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Isn’t it cute. Got it from our guide. Had to scribble as fast as I could manage and then couldn’t read the scribble. My sister remembered without scribbling anything. Go figure. ❤ 😦
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October 28, 2015 at 4:43 pm
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Tess has been very busy this week and if you have been following her trip to Newfoundland here is the start of the Viking Trail.. I had no idea that Captain Cook had actually landed there.. great post.
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October 28, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Thank you, Sally. *blush*
I was surprised he landed in NFL as well.
I understand, his mapping of the coast was excellent even in today’s standards. ❤
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October 28, 2015 at 9:50 pm
What a wonderful trip you had. Looking forward to the next installment. 🙂
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October 28, 2015 at 10:11 pm
Welcome. Welcome. I’m pleased you’re along for the ride. ❤ ❤ ❤
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October 29, 2015 at 9:49 am
Actually, one of my coworkers was limping the other day. >Eyes narrow<
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October 29, 2015 at 10:49 am
😀 😀 😀 Sorry to hear that.
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October 29, 2015 at 10:53 am
Gotta love those quaint toasts! I believe they have a lot of them in that part of the world.
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October 29, 2015 at 10:58 am
Indeed, they do. 😀
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October 29, 2015 at 4:45 pm
Interesting post. There should be a low preventing rain on vacations. I’d have been back on the bus with you.
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October 29, 2015 at 5:06 pm
What a fascinating place, I’ve always been so interested in Captain James Cook since my history days and he a sort of hero 🙂 You take great holidays Tess, it’s great that I get to share them here with you, so enjoyable, thank you! Oh…and yes, great idea to get in that bathroom first, definitely 😉 🙂 😀
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October 30, 2015 at 12:25 pm
I hope the weather improved and the showers (the indoor ones, though).
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