Quidi Vidi

The small fishing village of Quidi Vidi is shockingly picturesque and worth at least a quick visit when visiting the Newfoundland and Labrador capital city of St. John's.

The village of Quidi Vidi is located next to and east of Quidi Vidi Lake.

There is limited parking, so it's easy to see why Quidi Vidi could feel really crowded later in the summer than our early June visit in which we had no problems finding parking.

We only spent a short time at Quidi Vidi, but its proximity to St. John's and its gorgeous views made for a rewarding quick visit.

Signal Hill and Cabot Tower

One of the most well-known locations in St. John's (Newfoundland) is Signal Hill and Cabot Tower.

On a clear day (which is not to be taken for granted in St. John's where fog can move in at anytime), the view is amazing.

We were fortunate to experience the Signal Hill views on a nice clear day on our first day in St. John's because it was really foggy when we returned after seeing other parts of Newfoundland. That said, the fog created a different and interesting perspective.

Cabot Tower is on the top of Signal Hill and has certain hours that it is open to the public.

The Parks Canada Directory of Federal Heritage Designations page on Cabot Tower states in its "Historical Value" section:

The Cabot Tower is one of the best examples illustrating the evolution of communications in Canada from the earliest aural and visual systems, through to the long-distance, wireless transmission of the human voice. The tower housed signalling functions until 1958, and is associated with Guglielmo Marconi who received the Nobel Prize in 1909 for physics and communication and who received the first trans-Atlantic transmission of the human voice at Signal Hill in 1920. It was built as a monument to John Cabot’s 1497 voyage to North America and to the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign.

There is a Visitor Centre that is part of the Signal Hill National Historic Site with its own dedicated parking lot on the way up to the Cabot Tower parking lot. The admission includes access to exhibits and viewing the film "The Hill" about the history of Signal Hill.

There are interesting views in many directions from the top of Signal Hill.

After experiencing Signal Hill's beauty and learning about its historical significance, it's easy to understand why it's so well known and so prominently featured in popular culture such as The Republic of Doyle.

Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site

Cape Spear is a short (approximately ten minutes) drive from where we were staying in Petty Harbour, making it really easy to visit.

We arrived at Cape Spear in the late afternoon after visiting Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve and Witless Bay earlier in the day.

When we arrived in the late afternoon, it was overcast but not foggy.

In fact, we could see the lighthouses of Cape Spear from well below them (see them at top of next photograph).

However, the fog appeared quickly and was with us in just the few minutes it took to get to the Cape Spear parking lot, park, pay our admission, and start up the steps to the lighthouse.

Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site is "on Canada's most easterly point of land" and features "the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador."

These photographs were taken inside the lighthouse.

There is a newer lighthouse at Cape Spear now.

Cape Spear is the easternmost point in Canada.

There are some gorgeous views from Cape Spear. Our long range visibility was reduced significantly by the fog that arrived so quickly but it was still a beautiful coast.

In addition to the lighthouses and views, Cape Spear features remnants from its days as Fort Cape Spear.

The fog had moved in quickly and it became evident why lighthouses were and are needed here.

Cape Spear presents interesting history, gorgeous views, and the novelty of being the easternmost point in Canada.

Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve

One of the first things we experienced during our first time in Newfoundland was Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve and it turned out to be one of many of our trip's highlights.

The parking lot in front of Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve's Interpretive Center is a little over 2 hours drive from St. John's.

There is a scenic trail that starts at the Interpretive Center and heads to "Bird Rock."

This relatively short and relatively flat hike has been said to provide the "most accessible Northern Gannet colony in North America."

The trail has also been called the "most accessible seabird colony in North America."

It is also stated that "Cape St. Mary's is the most accessible seabird rookery in North America."

The next photograph, taken near Bird Rock, provides an idea of the distance from the interpretive center (building to right of lighthouse) to Bird Rock.

The number of birds on Bird Rock is incredible, but even more incredible is the number of additional active and noisy birds flying around Bird Rock.

Bird Rock lives up to its name.

It's almost an overwhelming experience that photographs do not adquately capture to see and hear all of these aquatic birds amidst such beautiful and colorful scenery.

Visiting Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve was our first activity of our first full day in Newfoundland and I cannot think of a better way to start this trip.

Niagara Falls: Skylon Tower

One of the things we like to do when visiting new cities or towns is to get a view of them from an elevated position. This can provide perspective and orientation for the new place we are exploring in addition to being simply beautiful views. In this post, I talk about our experiences at Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls, Canada.

We went to the top of Skylon Tower twice while in the Niagara Falls area in early October 2019. We went once for dinner in the revolving restaurant and access to the observation deck is included in that dinner. We went again a couple days later with the one organized tour group we participated in on this trip (Over the Falls Tours' "Niagara Falls in One Day: Deluxe Sightseeing Tour of American and Canadian Sides"). The photographs featured in this post were taken on those days/nights.

We went up the the rotating dining room first a few minutes before our reservation and were seated just as our seats were beginning to view the American side of Niagara Falls.

This was perfect because we were able to watch as we revolved toward the Canadian side.

We had rotated around 360 degrees just as we were finishing our entree, so we were fortunate to get to view both the American and Canadian sides of the falls again while eating dessert. It was now dark and photographs do not do the view of the lit-up falls at night justice. Several different colors of light were used, but these photographs were taken when the light was blue.

We enjoyed a tasty dinner and spectacular views at Skylon Tower's revolving restaurant. Unfortunately, that particular night was too cold and windy to spend much time outside on the observation deck, but we returned earlier in the day the next day and were able to spend time outside on the observation deck. Here are some photographs from that.

The views from Skylon Tower of the American and Canadian Niagara Falls are simply spectacular.