Floyd's Travels and Thoughts on Life: August 2023

In August 2023 I enrolled in a Road Scholar program to travel and hike Newfoundland's Discovery Trail. I arrived in St. John's 4 days early so that I could explore Newfoundland's capital city, one of the oldest cities in North America and the easternmost city on the North American continent. Newfoundland and neighboring Labrador have been inhabited by humans for about 9000 years. There were 5 indigenous cultural groups, the S. Inuit, Inau, Livyer, Mi'kmaq and the Beothik. The Beothik lived in Newfoundland but went extinct in 1820. The other 4 indigenous cultural groups comprise about 9% of the current population. Then came the Vikings, Leif Ericson and others, around 1000 AD, and in 1497 explorer John Cabot, carrying patents from King Henry VII, "discovered" Newfoundland. Soon many English and Irish explorers and fishermen immigrated to Newfoundland, mainly to take advantage of the rich fishing grounds and especially the abundant and easily caught cod. A thriving Salt Cod Industry developed with large shipments of cod being shipped annually to Europe.

I enjoyed exploring St. John's, a lovely city with one of the world's most sheltered harbors. After 4 days I joined the Road Scholar group, and after hiking up Signal Hill to Cabot's Tower, and then travelling to the Cape Spear lighthouse, the easternmost area of land in North America we boarded a coach and travelled 3 hours away to Port Union on the Cape Bonavista peninsula. It was from here that we would explore the towns of Port Union, Trinity, Elliston, Bonavista, and King's Cove, and hike different sections of the Discovery Trail for the next 6 days. Here are some photos that illustrate the scenic beauty of Newfoundland.