After our very long day taking the scenic route to central, we were more than ready to relax at my sisters cabin. The ocean view is sweet!
The next day we took a short drive to see the Beothuk Interpretive Centre. The Beothuk were the Indigenous people of Newfoundland and have been extinct since 1829.
There was a nice walk to the excavation site. We were only able to observe depressions in the grass. However, we most certainly got our full quota of mosquito bites!!
We had time for one more quick stop and went to see a salmon ladder. Not much activity while we were there. Still interesting. Apparently it is at the site of a previous pulp and paper mill with several partial concrete structures still visible.
Again the scenery was incredible. The lady who was working at the site said the fish get counted as they go through the trap door (not its real name!).
Our last stop was Gander. It was great having dinner with family. Thanks Jacqueline and Peter.
Then we went to the Joey Smallwood Cultural Centre to see Come From Away. Rather special that we saw the show in Gander, where ‘it’ all happened.
When we left St. John’s to head west we were encouraged to take the scenic route. I am not exactly sure what the spit of land we took is called other than it is part of the Avalon Peninsula and is the Baccalieu Trail
We weren’t off the Trans Canada Highway very long before we started driving along the ocean and numerous little towns that ran one into the other. Apparently some of my ancestors lived along this route.
Who could resist stopping to pick strawberries? Not us! And yes we ate a few. They weren’t very big but sure tasty.
After berry picking we carried on. Practically every turn along the shore had colourful houses and boats.
After about six or seven hours on the Baccalieu Trail we were back to the Trans Canada and on our way to central Newfoundland. Then it was just highway driving. Not as pretty but functional!
The next day we thought we would take the ferry and go to Fogo Island as it was only a 50 minute drive. Unfortunately we did not check the schedule. We missed the 11 o’clock ferry and the next wasn’t until three.
The scenery was just as pretty as previously. Although there were more white houses than brightly coloured.
The little town of Stoneville was aptly named.
After a late seafood lunch (cod tongues, cod cheeks, cod fish, squid and scallops) we bought lobster to bring home to have an even later dinner.
In the meantime I am going to sit on this deck, watch salmon jump and listen to the plentiful birds. Ah Marie you have a beautiful spot here.
What a busy day we had in St. John’s. Yesterday was our first full day here and it was foggy and pouring rain. Not conducted to sight seeing. Today was cloudy and not too hot, perfect for being out and about.
Our first stop was government house. We did not get a tour as our timing was off. Government House is the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has been open since 1831.
A large group off bikers were leaving as we arrived. Apparently it was a group of veterans and firefighters who were starting a long trek across Canada from coast to coast.
Raising money for Outpost nursing
The grounds were beautiful
Same totem pole from different angles.
Next we went to the Colonial Building, which was the seat of government from 1850 to 1959.
The building has been beautifully restored. The story told to us is that the fresco painting was done by an artist who had been jailed for forgery. He did get his sentence reduced.
Next we stopped at the Basilica of St John which has been open since 1855. Another beautiful historic building.
The view from the church steps is sweet too.
Our next stop was at The Rooms, a very large museum of Newfoundlands natural and cultural history. We could have spent a full day here.
Our next stop was at Cape Spear, the most eastern point of Canada and North America (excluding Greenland). I had visited Cape Spear many years ago. It sure has changed, including the access road.
There were literally hundreds of steps (ok maybe dozens) to be climbed to see all the sights.
Our last stop in the day was Signal Hill. By the time we arrived it was late afternoon and slightly raining.
We climbed to the top. There were fantastic views of the narrows and the city. There are many hiking trails around Signal Hill. When we were here 15 years ago we walked many of them. Today it was late, cold, wet and windy!
All in all a very full and enjoyable day. Tomorrow we will try a different experience.
When you have a couple of acres of virgin land that will be used as a camp site, there are a few things that have to be done to make the experience totally enjoyable. Actually it is a ton of work! Two summers ago we built the outhouse, a storage shed, and a wood shed.
Then last summer it was time to clear a spot for the trailer.
Amongst other tasks, we built a small deck for the front of the trailer, a water storage shed and a good sized picnic table.
As convenient as the outhouse was, once we started sleeping in the trailer it became pretty obvious that we needed to be able to use the facilities. So our next major project was to put in a holding tank.
Getting someone to come dig the hole out in the bush took a while, and the tank actually arrived in Calgary before the hole was dug. Thankfully it fit onto the truck and we were able to bring it to el parque and tuck it away in the woods.
Once the hole was dug then the work really started. That big, thankfully light weight tank, had to go in the hole and be buried. Just Daryl and I and two shovels. Okay, I did some!
Getting the tank into the hole was a bit of a challenge. I probably did not make the best assistant but we did it! Trust me, the base was perfectly level.
Then we shovel, and shovel some more.
By now it was mid October and we were leaving the country in a couple of weeks. The holding tank was going to have to stay half buried for the winter.
Spring arrived and so did we. After a relaxing winter of good food and beaches we went back to work. We finally got the tank buried. Then Daryl started laying the drainage pipe. He started at the tank and worked backwards to the trailer. Many many feet of trench was dug with a shovel and pick axe.
After a few thousand shovelfuls of dirt, most likely a few million, and a similar number of hours of hard labor, the tank was buried and everything worked. Time to attach the manhole which is a foot or two above ground. We also finished filling in and tidying up.
Not that I have tried it of course, but I have heard it is really handy having the cap quite close to the trailer!
And….it’s finished.
We either have a hitching post for any of the wild horses that come by or protection for the manhole from any vehicles that might back into it.
We also have a herd of cattle that regularly drop by. They leave big foot prints and lots of nasty stuff!
Another task completed. I didn’t do much of the work but sure enjoy the benefits. At some point we will get well water and showers won’t be ‘a spray off’. Now time to go home for a real shower.
On our last day in Panama our flight did not leave until the afternoon, which gave us a morning to do touristy stuff. During all our trips to Panama City we had never gone to the old city, Panama Viejo.
Panama Viejo is a World Heritage Site and is the remains of the original Panama City which was destroyed by pirates in 1671.
Most of the ruins are at the far end of the site. You can take a shuttle and work your way back.
We did the opposite, walked to the end and took the shuttle part way back to the entrance as there was just so much to see right from the get go!
We were at the site shortly after it opened at 8:30 AM. We had to be back at the hotel in three hours. That was enough time to see most everything, and the site is not far from downtown.
We did a self guided tour. There was plenty of information available, both in Spanish and English.
Throughout our walk towards the museum and main structures, there were multiple grass covered mounds. Apparently those mounds are ruins to be uncovered in the future.
The evacuation is a work in progress. The cistern is being worked on.
Inside the cistern
Looks like some of the old walls need ‘shoring up’.
Inside the church.
We got to climb to the top of this building.
We made it to the top.
There was a new staircase, although there were lots of old uneven steps too.
Great views from the top.
City view from the top.
The museum was big and well appointed. We could easily have spent a couple of hours there.
A fascinating morning that well worth the trip. It was a good thing it was cloudy as it was hot!
Yesterday we left Pedasi to start the trip home. For the first time ever we were able to take an airplane from Pedasi to Panama City. When you consider it took 40 minutes instead of 6 hours sitting in a vehicle, it was pretty good deal.
We had a day and a half in the city, which gave us time to do touristy stuff. Directly across from our hotel there was a City Sight Seeing office. After breakfast we went to check out what was available, on short notice on a Monday morning. Amazingly lots of attractions are closed on Monday.
A tour to Monkey Island was available….now. Seriously, before we had paid for the trip, the bus was already waiting outside. After about a 45 minute bus ride to Gamboa we arrived at our departure dock.
Monkey Island tour was a boat ride around several islands in the Panama Canal. Our guide was quite informative, she also spoke English and Spanish.
According to our tour guide, this is ‘Herman the German’, a heavy duty crane that is used for lock maintenance. It went to the US, from Germany, after WWII, and in 1996 was sold to Panama for $1.
There were lots of big ship and containers with tug boats attached, on their way through the canal. We looked so tiny going past.
The canal is maintained at a depth of 17 meters, and is constantly being dredged. The material that is collected flows through the pipes below and is used to make new islands, or anywhere else silt is needed.
After a short 10 or 15 minute ride, we arrived at the monkeys island. The capuchin monkeys were the first we saw and are as cute as a button. They are not at all shy to come into the boats for fruit. We also saw howler monkeys from a distance as they stayed way up in he trees. There was also a whole stack of tamarin monkeys but I did not get a picture as they were too busy moving about.
Those little critters are some kind of bat, they are all lined up having a nap to get ready for evening hunting. Apparently they go back to the same tree every morning.
This lizard has the distinction of being called a Jesus Christ Lizard as it can walk on water.
The crocodile was very large and quickly slithered into the water.
This is our first year being in Pedasi during the month of March. While there are always lots of colourful shrubs and trees here, it seemed, come March there was an explosion of colour.
I have no idea what any of those shrubs are called. They sure are pretty and eye popping.
Some of the trees have looked dead for months. Then you could be driving on a road and seemingly from one day to the next it would pop with big colourful pompoms or flowers. The most common colours were pink/purple, yellow and white. A couple of days later the colours are gone and the trees start leafing out.
Too bad the colour did not show up properly in this picture, but the red and white blooms sure looked pretty on the beach.
Blooms even on the beach
Even the dead looking tree in a corner of the property bloomed…kind of. Although it still has scant leaves.
Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, for me the colourful blossoms are beautiful.
During our visit here, in 2022, Daryl decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and become a Panamanian land owner.
The deal was finalized while we were in Canada during summer 2022.
On our first visit to check out this piece of land in early November, the weeds were a good three feet tall.
Then it took about a month to find someone to go out and give the property a haircut.
It took three guys with machetes and a whipper snipper a full day!
Now we can see our neighbours.
Across the front road there is a thick line of trees that makes a great privacy barrier…. it’s so busy sometimes we even have two cars at a time go by 🙂 The trees are called limoncello (I think), it has tons of fruit that is totally inedible. It also has more spines than any barb wire fence.
The limoncello hedge came with friends. Apparently if you leave them alone they don’t bite and are good for pollination.
We also had a couple of good size termite houses. Daryl saw to their demise.
A machete works, although I am sure flip flops are not the most appropriate footwear.
The yard had trees across the front and barb wire across another side, leaving only two sides to be fenced. It took a while before Daryl found somebody to do the job. As the plan is to plant a privacy bush all around the yard, we only needed a barb wire fence. It was very interesting listening to Daryl organize this with a guy who does not speak one word of English. Apparently the small sticks are alive and will develop roots to keep the fence sturdy.
“The guy” left an opening for the gate. then Daryl and I built it. We found four sticks in the bush and attached it to the barb wire to create the gate. It was 30+C, fortunately this property aways seems to have a lovely breeze. This time of the year it is north – south. It is also only about a kilometre from the ocean so hopefully we will also get east – west breeze when the wind changes.
Last summer we transplanted so many trees, I seriously thought we would never do that again. Not so, we found a uvilla tree and transplanted it. Oh the spines! Now we just have to see if it grows.
Sunset, best time to workAnd another no name transplant
We have gone most every day for the last month with 20 litres of water for ‘the garden’.
Everything is growing like crazy.
The ‘barely there’ pot has cactus plants. The other is a loofah plant, we tried sprouting several seeds, only one took, and now it is growing like a weed!
Now we wait to see what everything looks like next November,
Our goal was to get the plants in the soil for a good month before we left to give roots a chance to get established.
The challenge, there will be no rain for the next month or two. Good chance everything will die.
This has been a different winter for us, feeling less like a tourist and more ‘normal’ living.
The first house that we stayed in had some lovely shrubs and bushes. I particularly liked the red ginger plant. There was also a pretty pink variegated hibiscus, plus a bunch more. We thought as we were going to be in Pedasi for five months there would be plenty of time to experiment. And according to YouTube it should not be that difficult.
After four months we planted the ‘fruits of our labour”. Don’t believe everything you read/watch.
It’s a flower bed….really!
We started with soil, pots and Daryl digging up three small ginger plants,
Anybody who knows me, knows that I have a perfect brown thumb.
We were still getting rain in November, everything looked so lush.
Four months later the ginger is planted in our garden…it’s a small one. The three original plants have now morphed into 10 or 12.
Most of the tall parts died, but new shoots came up through the soil. The ginger was our most prolific grower, think it might easily take over.
Below is the momma plant, what we hope ours will look like in the future. Of course there is the small item of not being around to water for about six months. Thankfully, here it will be wet season for a part of that time.
We dug up and planted a bird of paradise (I think) and a few days later this pretty little leaf showed up. In a short while it dried up and disappeared. A few weeks later one tiny little green shoot came up and it has just kept on growing.
Who would have known hibiscus would have been the most difficult to grow. We watched so many different videos and tried two different methods. Truthfully, if we want them in the future, it will be a whole lot easier to go buy them.
What we want.
We planted shaved hibiscus sticks in soil and put branches in water. Either way, we read, in two weeks the plants should be established. That was a pipe dream! Thankfully a couple survived
We started out with dark pink hibiscus cuttings, tried rooting in water and planting the ‘sticks’ in soil. Nada
Then we tried yellow hibiscus and watched them whither and die.
Next we went for red, apparently that colour is supposed to be the easiest to root and grow.
Well, we have something in our little plot, I guess we just have to wait and see what we have actually ended up with.
Pineapples are cheap, juicy and sweet. Daryl found a YouTube video on how to root. So he cleaned two tops and stuck them in water. Eventually they did root and were planted.
It has taken a long time, one is doing well, the other not so much. We were at friends house a couple of nights ago and they have a pineapple patch in their garden. Apparently, all you really need to do is stick the cut off top in the dirt and it will grow. Although it will take about two years to get fruit.
The avacados we have been eating here are long neck, they taste and look different from the hass we generally get at home. Daryl put a pit in water to root, it did, but took a very long time, probably 6 weeks to 2 months. But once it was put in a pot you could practically watch it grow. it has now been transplanted in our newly created flower bed.
On the left is a cutting from a maracuyá, or passion fruit, vine. This house has a vine growing along a fence that produces quite well. We have taken several cuttings and tried to root in water (that’s what YouTube said to do) and they have all died. This time we took a cutting and planted it. A week later and it still looks healthy. On the right is the loofah plant that we were able to root. We tried a dozen or more seeds and only one sprouted. That too is a vine that grows along a fence.
Bird of ParadiseElephant EarNo idea, we found it in the yard and replanted. It’s growing g.
We have closed in all four sides to shelter our little plants from the intense sun and the wind. Two more weeks of watering and they are on their own for a long time!
Planting Time4 Months Later
It will be interesting to see what our little flower bed looks like in November.
A couple of days ago, we left our house early in the morning to go to Spanish class. Our road was being paved but we were able to get out of the area. A couple of hours later we wanted to go home but impossible. Every access point blocked and was going to be for hours. So what do you do but go on a road trip.
We had driven by the sign for Oria Arriba many times, once we had even started the drive, but it was getting dark and we had absolutely no idea where we were going, so we turned around. Maps was not helpful, looked like we were going across country even though we were on a newly paved road.
It was an interesting drive, with the road going straight up and then straight down….over and over. At one point we took a side road that was not paved, just to see where it went! Well, it was straight up with loose gravel. Once the tires started spinning and going nowhere, Daryl had to back up. After my millionth time of saying, “don’t go over the edge”, it was suggested I could get out and walk 🙂
I can’t quite decide if the ‘tree’ fence posts with barbwire are to keep cattle inside or to keep cars from going over the edge 🙂
Eventually we were able to see a little town, with a lake or a very still river, in the distance.
As we got closer to the water the arid landscape changed and we passed a nice field of sugarcane.
The river is so pretty.
We were standing under this lovely big tree and all we could hear was plop, plop. We could see the dried opened seeds?? all over the ground and watch them, literally falling like rain. Sure would not want to be hit by one as they were coming down with quite a force. Imagine that spike going into your scalp.
Well, I was taking a picture of the orange tree, but look at that cow hide!
Some of the trees are absolutely massive.
Even though it was unplanned, it was another successful road trip. It takes a bit of looking, but there is so much variety in the landscape around here.
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