Welcome to the newest province of Canada!
Newfoundland and Labrador are both considered one province, and we cover a lot of ground! Let's see...
The Island of Newfoundland is about 585 km (363 miles) from north to south, and 515 km (320 miles) from
east to west, and the coastline measures about 10,000 km (6,000 miles). Labrador is 1,082 km (672 miles)
north to south, 840 km (522 miles) east to west, with a coastline of 7,886 km (4,900 miles). With so much space, and
a relatively small population, you can bet that we have some of the world's most pristine wilderness! It's absolutely
beautiful. Because we have such a large landmass, there is great variety - forests, fjords, rugged coasts, sandy beaches, grassy plains,
barrens...I could go on!
But, there's so much more to Newfoundland than St. John's...
Oh, the background on this page was made with the Newfoundland tartan, by the way...scanned from a tie belonging to my father.
I hope you've enjoyed this little taste of Newfoundland. If you're planning a vacation here, (which is a pretty good idea)
For Schedules and Reservations:
   Thanks to GuestWorld for my alternate guestbook.
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The
Dominion of Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province on March 31, 1949,
by vote of the people - it was a pretty close vote, but we are proud to be Canadians.
We number about 600,000 and almost 90 percent are of British ancestry. Newfoundland was
settled four centuries ago by English, Irish and French colonists. We also boast the only known
Viking village in North America, in L'Anse aux Meadows (on the Great Northern Peninsula).
Here is a photo of what we call the "Narrows". This is the entrance to the harbour of St. John's, our province's
capitol city. We are the eastern-most point of North America. Keep going in this direction, and you'll hit Ireland, eventually! St. John's harbour is enjoying
a boom these days - lots of cruise ships coming in, along with the usual Coast Guard, fishing, military and cargo vessels. Ships from all around the world make stops here!
You can also find a nice collection of tourist cruisers here, mostly for whale watching and visiting bird sanctuaries. These cruises are a lot of fun, with music, food and drink.
Lots of visitors get "screeched in" on the tourist boats. What is getting "screeched in", you ask? To put it simply, it is a ritual involving a taste of Newfoundland's own special brand of rum,
called Screech, and kissing a cod, along with a few other variations (depending on who's in charge). Once the ritual is completed, you are an honourary Newfoundlander!
St. John's, our capitol, as seen from the harbour. It is a unique city, a mixture of old and new. The main building in this photo is the Roman Catholic Basillica, and is a
major landmark here. It is located in one of the oldest parts of town, although glass buildings are popping up all over the place just a few blocks away. About 96,000 people live in St. John's, but that
changes seasonally - we are a great big University town, with students moving in and out all the time! St. John's has several walking trails (yes, right in the city!), parks, there's even a camp ground within city limits.
Downtown is "fair bursting" with new convention centres, huge bank buildings, and tons of little shops. You can find some pretty unique things in these little shops...
A common view along the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, spectacular icebergs start their break-up in early spring, and spend the rest of the summer moving south with the Gulf Stream.
Some of these bergs are huge, and by the time they've reached our coast they've been carved into amazing shapes. If you're at all handy with a camera, you're bound to capture something really beautiful. My father, who grew up in St. John's, tells me
the favorite past-time of young boys in spring was to hop from one pan of ice to another in the harbour. I bet if his mother knew he was doing that, he'd be done for! We can assume that those pans of ice are a lot smaller than your average iceberg...
Newfoundland has the world's most beautiful park lands. I think Gros Morne, on the Northern Peninsula, might be the most famous, but it is only one of many. There are national and provincial parks scattered from one end of the
province to the other, and they're all spectacular. Most of the parks provide camping facilities, which makes for a nice, leisurely tour of the whole place. And you need not fear snakes while camping - there are none on the Island!
