Canada and France!

After a grey day at sea we arrived in St John’s which is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. With twice as many people as the whole of Greenland, it felt like we had returned to civilisation. Much warmer, but sadly lacking sunshine.

I timed my departure from the ship perfectly as it started raining immediately. Norwegian were offering $3 ponchos at the exit and I bought what can only be described as a useless plastic garment. I went walking to find a cigar shop 40 minutes away. It wasn’t. It was vapes only. But the gas station with a Circle K attached down yonder was a bit more accommodating. I was soaked and needed to change. I stripped off to my waist behind the motor oil and donned my gilet. For the rest of the day I looked like Bubba from the bayou. The Bangladeshi shopkeeper ordered me a taxi to enable me to continue my adventure. He was from Eritrea, and it was becoming a struggle to meet a Canadian.

He drove me to Signal Hill where the first distress message from the Titanic was received. It was also where Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in December 1901. The letter “S” was transmitted from Cornwall some 3500 km away. Things have come a long way since then.

Mr Eritrea had waited for me and then deposited me in the town centre by Bannerman Park. The rain had stopped and I went on a tour of a trio of churches. First was the Basilica of John the Baptist. Next was the United Church on Gower Street which was my favourite. It felt very “warm” inside. The rainbow painted on the pavement outside was a clear signal that they were all inclusive – even with someone looking like Onslow from “Keeping Up Appearances”. Lastly was the Anglican Church of John the Baptist. Johnny B was obviously popular here.

Monday was another stop, but this time a French territory- the only one in North America, called St Pierre and Miquelon. The dense fog meant we could have been anywhere. The rumour was that they weren’t too friendly and resented the cruise ship stopping there. It’s nice to know that wherever you go on the planet, you can always rely on French hospitality. After going back an hour and a half for St John’s, despite continuing in a westerly direction, we went 30 minutes forward to St Pierre. I think it was just to confuse the more bewildered passengers.

I took advantage of the second tender at 7am with the other eager beavers as most people were still asleep or wondering what time it was.

Right on cue it started to rain and I walked around the empty streets for an hour looking for inspiration. Even the shabby looking cathedral was closed. The highlight was a lighthouse, but in reality it was simply the best lowlight. I knew I’d get a Tina Turner song in there somewhere. I don’t even think a warm sunny day could help St Pierre out of its misery. The word “godforsaken” may have been invented here. Anyway, another place ticked off (that wasn’t even on my radar), and I bought a magnet.

I was back on a tender an hour later with six others. Never have I been on such an empty tender. It was so foggy we couldn’t even see the 965 ft ship.

In season 6 of Peaky Blinders, Thomas Shelby travels to the island of Miquelon to circumvent US and Canadian prohibition. Some of the scenes were actually filmed on location.

Our last stop was Halifax in Nova Scotia. I was here last year in the lashing rain. It was marginally better this time around. I had previously done the main sights – Peggy’s Cove and the Titanic cemetery, so I just went on walkabout and found the Citadel built by the British in 1749 when they were in charge.

Not a lot was going on, other than a strike by longshore workers. They were holding up the tourist buses by continuously crossing the road in front of them. Two ships were in port, but the Princess ship was using tenders. Halifax could accommodate five ships so there was no need to tender, other than to save money on port fees.

On the way back I found a statue of shipping magnate, Samuel Cunard who was a Haligonian (born in Halifax in 1787). He was a British subject because Canada didn’t gain independence from the UK until 1867. It wasn’t until January 1st 1947 that newborn Canadians stopped being regarded as British subjects. Well I never.

The final day was at sea heading toward New York. Wet and grey again. The best weather was in Greenland. Everywhere else has been a bit shit, to a lesser, or greater extent.

The final trivia was “Movie Kisses” and Stuart and I sat there looking like a right pair. We were rubbish and only got 7 out of 20 – the last one was thanks to Paula who turned up at the end. We put “Shakespeare in Love” for four answers. The winner got 20 out of 20 – a bearded chap wearing a Metallica T-shirt.

I’ve had mixed fortunes in the casino, however meeting Claudia and Tim from Jacksonville, Florida has put things in perspective. Tim is 51 and Claudia is 43. They’ve been together for over 20 years. At the birth of her second son,19 years ago, Claudia picked up an infection commonly known as strep. Streptococcus caused her to develop gangrene and she lost all four limbs – legs completely, and arms at the elbow. Without the amputations she would have died. They were not yet married, but they tied the knot in the hospital. Claudia is very attractive with a fantastic personality. Tim is equally terrific and an absolute trooper. It confirmed my belief that the quality of your life depends largely on what goes on inside your head. A person can have an abundance of physical advantages and yet be miserable. A person can have been dealt a tough hand physically and yet find happiness and contentment. A truly inspiring couple, and I’ve greatly enjoyed losing money with them. I hope I see them again.

I was greatly looking forward to sailing in to New York passing the skyline and some of the famous landmarks. Sadly, the time of our arrival was brought forward due to bad weather and we passed all the good stuff around 1 am.

I taxied to Penn Station and boarded the train bound for Virginia 8 hours away.