Our Walk Along the East Coast Trail (ECT)

Exploring Memorial Botanical Gardens  St. John's Newfoundland This morning, we woke up early in our warm, dry room, slightly disoriented by the sounds of the air conditioner, traffic, and construction outside our window. A quick glance outside revealed that although the sky was overcast, the predicted rain and wind had not yet arrived.   We had a leisurely morning, starting with showers and then heading down for breakfast. After that, we did some laundry and dried out our camping gear. We also made reservations for a bed and breakfast in Bonavista for the next two nights, as well as for the shuttle to get there. Surprisingly, despite the numerous B&Bs in Bonavista, most of them seem to be fully booked for the next few weeks. Memorial University Botanical Gardens By noon our chores were finished, so we decided to check out the Memorial University Botanical Gardens .  The very helpful students at the check-in desk printed off a map for us which showed how to get the...

Winter Storms on the East Coast Trail Soaked through on ECT Hike Well, we survived the night – warm, dry, and in our tent.   Every trip involves a moment when the best-laid plans give way to reality, and during the night we decided that the realities of Newfoundland's shifting weather fronts meant that a change in approach was required. It was a hard night without sleep, during which I had to leave the tent at one point to re-peg down the tarp.   The wind was blowing so hard it had ripped the pegs out of the ground and flung them over the tent along with the tarp.   All I will say about that is that they were hard to find in the dark and driving rain, but I now know how to peg a tarp where it can withstand 70-80 kph wind gusts for over 9 hours.   This was meant to be a learning experience, and so far it has been just that. As it started to get light the rain hadn't abated any, the wind seemed to be picking up, and the temperature felt like -1 C.   ...

Exploring Historic St. John's Newfoundland Our adventure began at 2:45 AM when the Airlink airport shuttle picked us up to take us to Toronto's Pearson International Airport  from which we would fly to St. John's Newfoundland . We ended up sharing an uneventful ride with two other couples and arrived at the airport around 4:30 am.     After checking in we discovered that we did not have seat assignments. Upon inquiring we were informed that on this flight you received your seat assignment just before boarding. About 10 minutes later we were given our seats but were not put together. Assuming that we were the only ones in this situation we boarded the plane, only to watch as half the passengers began trading seats so they could sit with their travelling companions. Not wishing to join in the confusion we both simply went to our assigned seats. After that, it was a smooth 2-hour flight on Air Canada to reach St. John's Newfoundland. Just before we landed we w...