St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Day Drinking, and Jane's Birthday

After our port of call in Nuuk was canceled, and even after cruising the Arsuk Fjord, we still had about 1½ sea days of cruising before we landed in Qaqortoq.

Feeling like the Flying Dutchman!

But it wasn’t until we left Qaqortoq that we could see the ship’s track and the zigzag pattern the ship took to kill the time. We always knew that the cruise ships would slow walk the route when two ports of call work relatively close together, but we had never seen this work for more than an overnight cruise.

So after our stormy departure from Qaqortoq, we had another full day at sea until we would arrive in St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hope it's not Wilbur!

After a leisurely breakfast, we spent the morning reading and working on the blog until it was lunchtime. Lunch presented a rather unique protein alternative in the form of a roasted suckling pig. The problem was, it seemed that people were more interested in taking pictures of the animal and they were in requesting a serving!

The afternoon produced another interesting diversion.

Jane showing her jewels

The ship’s gem expert was putting on a jewelry fashion show that featured his $1 million plus gem collection modeled by ladies he had recruited among the passengers. And of course, if it involved jewels, Jane would be involved! She had been recruited to be one of the nine models in the show. Jane had met Christian, the gem expert, when we were in Russia cruising the Baltic Sea on the Viking cruise line back in 2018.

The show began with Capt. Larry in attendance (the mandatory appearance to take pictures!).

All the jewelry models

Each model was introduced with a little background information about her shared with the audience. She then would walk around the lounge displaying the pieces that she wore. Each model wore pieces that were collectively valued at over $100,000, which pretty much suppressed any knee-jerk reaction by the gentleman in the audience to go ripping out their wallets!

Jane's jewels

Capt. Larry had his fun when a lady model from Columbus, Ohio, with a stated interest in college football, approached him to show her jewels. He whispered in her ear: “O-H!” And she retorted: “I-O! My God you’re the second person that’s done that to me!” So you just never know when or where you might run into another Buckeye. After the models had made their rounds, they posed for a group photo to end the show.

Jane and Christian

 

Our ship anchored in the harbor of St. Anthony, a town on the very northern part of the Great Northern Peninsula of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

St. Anthony

St. Anthony has a population of just under 2200 (2021), the largest population center on the peninsula, but the population has been declining for the past couple of decades.

The town’s history of European settlement dates back to the early 16^th century when French and Basque fishermen used the well-sheltered harbor as a seasonal fishing station.

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Happy Birthday, Jane!

While fishing for years was the economic mainstay of St. Anthony, tourism has become an important industry as fishing stocks dwindled.

Welcome!

Tourists today come to see the nearby Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows, a UNESCO heritage site, or to see natural attractions such as icebergs and whales.

Although St. Anthony has a long history as a fishing outpost, its history is not complete without a discussion of the town’s most influential historic figure, Dr. Wilfred Grenfell.

Dr. Wilfred Grenfell

After graduating from the London Hospital Medical School in 1883, Grenfell was sent to investigate the conditions of fishermen in the Labrador region in 1892, and was said to be the first doctor to reach the region. Realizing that conditions in the area needed to be improved, he established a number of hospitals, cooperatives, and schools for people in remote Newfoundland and Labrador towns.

View of the lake

In 1900 Grenfell chose St. Anthony as headquarters for the Grenfell Mission and acquired the first hospital ship, Strathcona 1. He also established orphanages to care for parentless children in 1905. After his death in 1940, his contributions to the region are honored by Grenfell Historic Properties, which comprises the Grenfell Interpretation Center, the Grenfell House Museum, and the Grenfell Handicraft Store.

Ready for a Canadian winter

We tendered over to St. Anthony’s dock and went into the Grenfell Handicraft Store. Jane started looking for some souvenirs to purchase, while Capt. Larry went upstairs to the Grenfell Interpretation Center to get some more information about Dr. Grenfell’s life and mission. After Jane made her purchases, we left the center to find a small strip mall that we were told was very close by. We followed a road that took us along the edge of a very scenic lake.

Beers and a pub band!

We came upon a local, after walking a fair distance, and asked him for directions to the mall. He told us to go up a hill to the main street and go right to the mall. We got to the top of the hill and it was obvious that any mall that the locals were talking about was not going to be close by. So we abandoned our mall hunt and headed back towards the dock. Back at the Interpretation Center, we came across some fellow passengers that were coming from the direction opposite ours.

Playing the ugly stick

We asked if there was anything worthwhile to see and were told that the building with the clock steeple had a pub with a live band.

We arrived at the pub and found the band and the audience to be in full swing. We got a table and ordered a couple of locally made craft beers and listened to the band. The duo primarily played Irish ballads and sailor drinking songs, and encouraged a lot of audience participation. And it wasn’t long before the audience started to become very raucous.

Jane's birthday necklace

They encouraged audience members to come up one stage and play a unique, percussive instrument traditionally used by Newfoundlanders—the “ugly stick.” The instrument can be a mop handle or tree branch with loose flat washers attached that is beat against the floor in time to the music and produces a percussive sound probably most similar to that of a tambourine.

Jane's cake

And if one doesn’t want to play it, there is always the option to dance with it! We finished our beers and listened to a couple more songs, before leaving so someone else could enjoy our table.

Back aboard the ship, we got ready for Jane’s birthday dinner at the steak and seafood specialty restaurant. She went to the jewelry boutique to borrow one of the expensive jewelry pieces (a $45,000 pink diamond necklace) for the evening to celebrate her birthday. We had a very enjoyable meal that was capped off by the presentation of a birthday cake and the singing of “Happy Birthday” by the staff.

The celebration continues!

We returned to our room and were met in the hallway by our maid who told Jane that she had a surprise in our room.

Happy birthday!

Jane opened the door to find pink balloons covering the ceiling and a towel turtle on the bed! It was a perfect gesture to finish off a perfect evening.