The Fluvarium

Last week I attended a meeting involving scientists, managers and fishermen about the assessment of one of the local cod stocks. Basically the scientists say there are very few fish and the fisherman (in true fish tales style) say the fishing has never been this good. Fishing is such a huge part of Newfoundland life that the managers generally agree with the fisherman and allow large fishing quotas that are more than likely unsustainable. It was a good, though at times tedious, learning experience. There is almost as much arguing amongst scientists (often Peter and myself vs the rest) than between scientists and fishermen. The best part was that is was held at this building called the fluvarium (on the left of the picture above) at the bottom Pippy Park, a large forested park at one end of St John's. The building is a learning centre about rivers and one side of the basement level is made of glass so that you can see into the natural river flowing along the side of the building. Basically a freshwater aquarium with lots of trout. 

Monster Of The Deep!!!

I was roaming around the building today and came across this preserved giant squid in one of the lobbies. It's not as big as they get but it is longer than me. Apparently it was caught by a Spanish trawler - no doubt there was a lot excitement on board when that came out of the net!

Autumn Colours!

The seasons are changing but before the pall of white decends the landscape is bursting with colour from the myriad dying leaves. Its all very dramatic... 

Introducing Disco, The Photo Gnome

Those of you with eagle eyes will have noticed that his character has appeared in two of the previous photos. I decided to give a visual signature to any shots I took that were devoid of people or any noticeable aspect to show it was uniquely a photo of mine. Disco, named after Stu who gave him to me, is that signature. So in future Disco will make Wallyesque appearances in many of my photos. 

The Map I Never Had

Got lost in St John's for the first time today. It ended up making me half an hour late for a cod stock assessment meeting I'm attending. After waiting 20min for the bus outside my house I got as far as the university campus when I suddenly decided the bus was heading in the wrong direction. So I got off at the next stop and started walking the other way. I carried on walking for half an hour untill I realised that if I had stayed on the bus I would have got to where I needed to be in about two minutes. Basically my internal clock was reading north as south and it took me over an hour and a half from home to meeting. I printed out this map at the venue and managed to walk home afterwards in 35 minutes. 

Pubs Galore!

The start of George Street, Downtown St John's. Rumour has it that there are more pubs per square kilometer along this road than anywhere else in North America. I haven't had a chance to visit it yet at night but its only a short way from my house so I'm sure I will soon. There are only pubs and a few rerstaurants on this street which is about 5 or 6 blocks long. Apparently there is lots of live music of all sorts, it's blocked off to cars at night to allow drunken stumbling from pub to pub and there are frequently street parties/carnivals held on it. 

My Humble Abode

This is the house I now live in on 114 Campbell Ave, St. John's. My room is top left, above the doorway. I share the house with a Frenchwoman, a Newfoundlander and an Iranian. Sounds like the start of a bad joke. Celine is doing her masters and is based at the DFO (where I work), Janine is studying at the Memorial University and Ali, who I haven't met yet, is doing his PhD at Memorial as well. The street is fairly busy but nothing like Main Rd where I used to live in Cape Town. Its close to the bus stops, shops and a 10min walk to downtown/city centre near the harbour (though its a 20min walk back because there are some serious hills to contend with). 

The symbol of Newfoundland

The pitcher plant - an uninspiring, rugged, hardy little bastard. Eats flys. Lives in the bogs. No, its actually quite an interesting carnivorous plant that traps flys in these pitcher-shaped traps at the base. The newfies reckon it symbolises there "strength of character" and "fierce determination". Got this photo on a walk along the sea cliffs at Cape Spear. Couldn't get a shot from the front because of the 'black mud' in the bog which you can apparently sink in quite easily. 

Cape Spear

Here's a picture of Ruth (the 8 year old daughter of my supervisor Peter who's house I've been staying at) at Cape Spear - the most easterly point of North America. Its a bit of a scam actually considering that Newfoundland is an island so not really part of the North American continent except politically - like saying the most southerly point of Africa is on Marion Island. 

St John's will never be the same again!

Well here I am in St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. As far east as you can be while still in North America and as far north as I've ever lived. I've ended up arriving in the middle of fall (autumn) with winter well on its way - though apparently the snow is still not due for two months. I will need to invest in some serious snow jackets, hats, gloves, socks etc. because already the temperatures are the same as the middle of winter in Cape Town. It's going to be a great adventure and I will try to keep all of you (well, at least all of you who are interested) posted with my goings on and new experiences...