The Scent Alarm

Our alarm went off (kind of) at 6:30 this morning. The smell of our breakfast cooking kind of did it, all of which was made possible because we had the good fortune of having our bedroom window just an extra arm's distance from the open kitchen window.

A great many homes in St. John's have no front yards to speak of, just concrete and asphalt. It's the back yards that seem to hold some promise.

The breakfast bell just sounded...or was that my stomach sounding off again. Nope, that certainly was a bell I heard.

Over the meal table we are going to share our morning plans with Donna and Keith, which is to travel up to Signal Hill and have a look around. See you there.

A young family of three children and their parents sometimes dine with us for breakfast. This morning I am hoping today is one of those breakfasts. The kids are extremely wasteful, and I gladly gobble up what is left on their plates once they have left the room. Tasty things such as untouched sausages, bacon, toasted bagels and ham are left behind.

We Are Here

Signal Hill is directly to the right of 25 Queens Rd. and our B&B. (The red ballon.)
Cape Spear, the most eastern point of land in North America, is in the bottom-right corner of this picture.

We arrived at the top of Signal Hill in plenty of time for the ceremonial cannon firing set to go BOOM at noon.

Carrying in the Ramrods.

Preparing for the noon-hour salute which is twenty-five minutes away.

The barrel is cleaned and primed.

When preparing the cannon for firing, there is a three stage process involved, and each with its own special ramrod.

First the barrel is cleaned of any debris with a sponge, followed by driving the powder and ball into the breech with a rammer. After firing, the last step is to clean the cannon barrel of post-firing residue.

It is now fourteen minutes before noon, and everything seems ready to go.
The last decision I guess is, "where do we aim this sucker."

At least one person seems to have an interest in the proceedings.

With only seconds left before noon, lighting the botefeux is creating a bit of a concern.

And the gun went BOOM with not a second to spare.
The gun was fired precisely at noon daily. The reasons being was to notify the residents of St. John's the time was 12 o'clock noon. The other purpose of firing at the exact hour was that the captain of sea-faring ships could check his nautical position. If the cannon was fired too early or too late, the ship navigator could end up 30 or more miles off course.

"The show is over folks. Please leave in an orderly fashion."

I've made my way down from Cabot Tower and the collection of tourists, to an abandoned bunker. At this moment I am standing in what used to be the toilet's area.

It certainly is a more tranquil place down here.
These ladies are sitting above the St. John's harbour entrance, enjoying the view east out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Fort Amherst is in the background.

The entrance to the harbour, known as The Narrows, is 91 metres wide at its narrowest point, and has a depth of 11.8 metres during normal lowest tide.

Taking Aim

The Provincial Government invested over a hundred thousand dollars to restore this battery of cannon.

Looking further into the harbour.

Our bed and breakfast is on the right-hand side of the harbour, and not too far up from the brown building and the blue boats. Later on this evening I will take a photograph from Donna and Keith's penthouse balcony looking this way, but these pretty yellow flowers will be too difficult to see during those twilight hours.

Creeping beyond those pretty yellow flowers, I carefully peered over the edge.

I'm getting a signal from the hill...I guess it is time to head back up.

A more lay-of-the-land photograph, featuring our B&B, Signal Hill, and Cape Spear.
The TransCanada Highway is the yellow line running from top-centre to bottom-left corner.

Thanks for viewing


Day 23 - to be continued