Before St. John’s, we need to leave St. Pierre et Miquelon (SPM). I sailed out on Sunday morning for the return trip to Canada. The border crossing back and forth between Canada and France is a pretty low key experience. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the €60 I have left – maybe I need to find another portion of the EU to visit.

A four hour drive brought me to St. John’s, Newfoundland, one of the most sheltered ports in the world. Below is a photo of the harbor from the top of Signal Hill.

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I climbed to the top of Signal Hill along the road and then took the North Head Trail back into town. I was ecstatic that on the way up the hill is Memorial University’s Geo Centre, a museum dedicated to the geology of Newfoundland and Labrador! I’m sorry that I have nothing to report.

The picture on the left is the start of the trail, from the Cabot Tower parking lot. The middle of the trail did have a sign noting the narrowness and steep fall risk on this section. Still, I can’t imagine they have a US insurance carrier. The picture on the right is the trail turning back toward port, and the town. Signal Hill is the spot that Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission in 1901.

I hadn’t realized the volume, or the specialization of ships using the St. John’s Harbor. Apparently they all serve the off-shore oil rigs and each one has a specialty. I learned that at the geology museum.