Preparations before East Coast Trail Hike

Preparations for East Coast Trail

Today was a slow day in which we took it easy and dealt with a few logistics in preparation for our hike on the East Coast Trail.  Sean got up around 7 am and walked over to Tim Hortons on the edge of campus to retrieve some coffee.  When he returned with the coffee, I was up and ready to go, so we headed downstairs to investigate the complimentary breakfast, which turned out to be cereal, yogurt, toast, bagels, fruit, jam, juice, and coffee.  We shared this simple but filling meal with a fairly large group of other guests.

After breakfast, we headed out on foot to Canadian Tire to buy fondue fuel for our camping stove and visit the grocery store for supplies.  Although the plaza we were heading for was just over 5 km away, we decided to walk there and back to get a feel for the area.  Most of the walk was along a road lined with plazas filled with box stores and chain restaurants similar to those we have in Ontario, but we took a different route home through a residential area, with its colourful siding-covered houses which had a distinctly different feel than anything in the centre of the country. We were able to pick up the fuel, as well as some oatmeal for breakfast, some breakfast buns, and some tea, and return to Memorial University in just under two hours.

Once back in our room, we spent some time making reservations for a boat tour in Witless Bay, for our stay in St. Pierre and Miquelon at the end of our hike, and trying to find the best possible way to sort and pack our bags. 

 
After this, we walked around the pond on campus, where we saw a flock of Mallards, several Domestic Mallards, a handful of Black Ducks, and a Common Tern.

After a leisurely stroll around the pond and some time spent photographing around campus, we decided to head back downtown for some dinner.  One thing we noticed with all the walking around we have done is that St. John's is brimming with lots of colourful artwork.  It can be found on utility boxes, in alleyways and staircases, and even covering garbage cans.  Much of it depicts local or national history, and all is very well done. 

There also seems to be a very lively arts and crafts culture here, with many shops offering local art, knitting, cosmetics, chocolates, or creative and unusual home decorations, as well as an active music and theatre scene.  Altogether it feels like a vibrant and welcoming community.

Around 7 pm we were feeling a bit peckish, so we stopped at one of the downtown pubs, called the Nautical Nelly.  Here a three-person group of singers were playing throughout the evening complete with guitars, a small banjo-like instrument, and a fiddle.  Their traditional music was wonderful to listen to!  We each sampled a pint of Quidi Vidi Iceberg Lager, which turned out to be nice and light and split a tray of nachos.

Although it was tempting to spend the entire evening in the lively, cheerful, warmth of the pub, we decided we'd best get back to our room, as tomorrow's hike is predicted to be a strenuous one, and the first day on the trail is always difficult as your body adjusts to the new demands on it.  We enjoyed the walk back through a warm, pleasant evening, only to discover to our dismay that there is a severe weather warning for tomorrow, in which high winds, lots of rain, and possibly some snow is predicted.  Everyone from the welcome desk staff at MUN to people at the pub, to my parents, have warned us about setting out in such weather, but we intend to move forward and test our preparations and gear!

 

 

See you on the trail!

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