NEWFOUNDLAND TRIVIA

Fun  Bits and  Pieces

The trans-Canada highway opened in 1962

Cape Spear is the most easterly point in North America. I had thought I’d like to get there for sunrise since it is the first place to see the sun. However, the sun was up a bit before 5 AM and it would mean trying to get a cab very early in the morning for the 15-20 minute ride to the area. However, on our visit, another gal walked with me to the point for a photo op. The rugged coastline is spectacular.

The Newfoundlander dog we ran into was very friendly and behaved well on his leash. These dogs have a thick curly black coat and big webbed feet. The breed was brought to Newfoundland from England over 200 years ago. They are known for their loyalty and their many historic rescues. This Newfoundlander was very agreeable to being petted and actually was the only one we saw.

Mug up is the expression for when friends and family get together to drink, talk, tell stories and sing. One evening we enjoyed the young brother and sister who entertained us. She had a lovely voice and her brother, a junior at Memorial U accompanied her on the piano. It was a fun evening.

The caribou is native to the area, but moose were introduced in 1878. It was hoped the one pair would provide a food source, but the introduction was unsuccessful. In 1902 two females and two bulls were imported from New Brunswick, and now with over 200,000 animals in the province, as they say, the rest is history. Moose are shy animals, graceful in the water, but sort of lumbering on land. They are the largest of the deer family. A male bull can stand seven foot and weigh 1200 pounds. The female cow is smaller. Males grow a rack of antlers and a flap of skin around the neck that is known as a bell. After an eight month gestation period the calf spends a full year with its mother.

St Johns, largest city in the province, is known as the foggiest city in Canada.

At a large grocery store in Gander, instead of a handicap parking spot, expectant moms have a special stork parking space which is painted pink with a stork holding a baby in a diaper in its bill.

Gander is an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle.

The last public hanging in St. Johns was in 1835 when John Flood was hanged for robbing 


the stagecoach.

During WW II 100,000 American servicemen were stationed at five Newfoundland bases.

Screech is a local rum---which many say is pretty terrible.

A Screech In is an affair that makes a person from away an honorary Newfoundlander. The ceremony varies in various parts of the province. But includes drinking screech, kissing a fish and usually eating dry bread and pickled baloney. Entertainment is also included and may include most anything,

Legend says that during WW II when many Americans were stationed on bases in Newfoundland one evening a US sailor wanted to try the local drink. Once he caught his breath he let out a blood curdling noise someone called a screech. And after that the word screech just stuck to the local rum.