August 21, 2023 St. Anthony, Newfoundland

August 22, 2023

Approaching St. Anthony, Newfoundland at 6 a.m. it was foggy. The ship was anchored by 7 a.m. and the tender boats were lowered. The first excursion was off the ship shortly after 7 a.m. for l’Anse aux Meadows. We had breakfast in Lido Market. The sun was shining and there were a lot of clouds, rain was predicted for later in the day. Temperature was 15° C, wind SW 9 km/hour.

We picked up our tender boat tickets at 8 a.m. as Tjalling announced that tenders were operating. There were only four people on the boat when we got on. We waited another few minutes. The trip to the St. Anthony pier was less than 15 minutes. Onboard was the port agent and she gave us information on Wi-Fi and places to visit. There was an information booth as soon as you left the pier that had maps. We were in the Grenfell Center by 8:30 a.m. uploading the blogs of the past few days on a reasonable speed Wi-Fi for 45 minutes until more people were ashore and got on to the network. The speed much slower for the next 45 minutes.

Just up the hill from the Visitor Information Center was the Curtis Memorial Hospital, which the hospital for the north peninsula of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. Inside the main entrance is a rotunda with its encircling walls covered by eight tiled murals by Jordi Bonet who created the memorial to Dr. Charles Curtis in 1967, in honour of his 48 years dedicated “to the well-being of those who lived in northern Newfoundland and Labrador”. We walked along West Street toward the town centre and stopped at Rebel Coffee for coffee, but there Wi-Fi would not connect to the internet. The temperature had warmed to 17° C by 11 a.m. As we left, Tjalling was getting a coffee. There were only two other people on the patio so he could be anonymous for a while. We continued to the municipal offices and library building, where there was a stuffed polar bear over 2.5 meters tall. It ventured into town in 1984. There are bear sightings annually in the spring when the icebergs float down from the north. Even though the library was closed the Wi-Fi password was posted.

We walked back to the pier to join the line for our 11:30 a.m. excursion. There were two buses of about 40 people each going to the Viking Feast at the Great Viking Feast Dinner Theatre. We were transported in comfortable school busses about three kilometres to Fishing Point where the buffet restaurant is located in a replica sod house like the one Leif Erikson built at L’Anse aux Meadows 1,000 years ago.

The actors welcomed the visitors into the dimly lit sod house. They explained about the Viking Curt of Law – Althing. If someone wronged you or your family, the grievance would be brought to the Althing and damages, bondage or banishment could be the penalty if found guilty. Eric the Red (Leif’s father) was banished from Iceland and established a settlement in Greenland. The chieftain assigned the different tables boat names and called each boat in turn to the buffet. The plates were small platters to hold all the food. First was a garden salad. Next baked beans, Moose Stew, slices of roast beef in juice, shrimp fried rice, cooked cabbage and baked cod. The port agent earlier today said that today was the first day of cod fishing. Each cod fishing license allowed the fisherman to catch five cod per day and 15 was the limit for the boat.. She said that cod is plentiful in the area. It is not unusual to catch one over a meter long. Included in the meal was one beverage, alcohol or soda. There was a blueberry slice for dessert and tea or coffee. There was time for a brief trip across the road to the souvenir shore, which had a tiny bear museum. The temperature had risen to 21° C, but it was cloudy and signs of the forecasted rain.

Back at the pier, we walked over to see Grenfell House on the hill just behind the hospital then returned to take the tender back to the ship. The shore security did ask for ID as well as a look at your key card.

The captain made his announcement just before sail-away at 4 p.m. There was a possibly of rain during the night. The waves were about 1.5 meters high and the swell was two meters high. This was consistent during the day, making entering and leaving the tender boats from the ship a little tricky as the waves bobbed the boat up and down. The 272 nautical mile voyage to St. John’s will take about 17 hours at an average speed of 16 knots. The captain said that the entrance to St. John’s Harbour is narrow, just 90 meters wide.

There was a Sail Away Wine and Cheese at the Lido Pool on Deck 9 at 4 p.m. as Zuiderdam sailed away from St Anthony. There was a choice of wines, cheeses and fruit by the pool.

At dinner all of us looked for lighter choices on the menu. Cee Kay and Brad were on the same excursion for the Viking Feast and attended the wine and cheese.

Tonight was comedian Sid Davis’ third and final show. He received lots of laughs.

Total steps were 11,516