Newfoundland Exchange - Newfoundland End

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On Friday July 28th eight of our ten Scouts met at the airport to embark upon an epic journey to Newfoundland - the second half of our exchange with 1st Topsail and 1st Conception Bay South (CBS) troops.  Joining us were 17 Scouts from the 115th Ottawa Sea Scouts, and 2 from the 17th Ottawa Westminster.  Well, technically we were joining the 115th.  Our plane arrived around 10 pm Newfoundland time, and we were quickly whisked away by parents and Scouters of both of the Newfoundland troops to Camp St. George which is owned and maintained by 1st CBS.  It was about a 45 minute drive and we were arriving close to midnight.   Excitement was high as newfound friends re-united.  Since our arrival was so late almost everyone bunked down on the floor of the camp, though a few like your humble author did set up their tents outside in the field.  It was past 1am when things finally settled down and we called for quiet time.


The next morning we awoke for breakfast and once again newfound friends were reestablishing the connection they had formed during the week in Ottawa.  We were on our way to Signal Hill for the day, and after breakfast we all made sandwiches to pack in our day packs.   We loaded up the bus and were on Signal Hill shortly before noon.  Since our breakfast was a bit on the late side we decided to give the Scouts an hour to explore some of the trails in the lower parking lot before embarking upon the
climb to Signal Hill.  We re-grouped at the designated time and had a tailgate lunch (or "dinner" as the midday meal is called in Newfoundland) of hot dogs.  Around 2pm we began the ascent to Signal Hill.  Once there we then proceeded down the east side of the top parking lot to hike the North Head Trail which goes along the east then south sides of Signal Hill, and takes you back into St John's Harbour.

At the end of the hike as we entered the town along Outer Battery Rd, we stopped to reform Patrols to ensure everyone had made it out OK.  It just so happened we stopped in front of "Pearcey's Twine Store and Stage".  Thinking it was a rustic old store we went in to find out that it was no such thing - the elderly gentleman inside was just closing up and said that it was a sort of a clubhouse or "man cave" as he called it, where some of the old boys hang out.  But once he heard that we were a troop of Scouts he lit right up and said that we'd be welcome to come in and have a look.   It was a very interesting place that looked like an antique store since the walls were just completely covered with shelves of old and interesting artifacts under the general topic of "sea faring".  He was a bit surprised when he found out how many of us there were so told us to come in only 7 or 8 at a time.  We eventually let all the Scouts in to investigate, while some of the Leaders listened to some extremely interesting stories from our elderly host.  He told us that he was the 4th generation to own the establishment.  We eventually re-grouped back at the lower parking lot on Signal Hill, and the bus took us back to Camp St. George.  Back at camp we set up our tent city to clear the gear out of the main cabin.

The evening was free time and the Scouts just hung out and continued to get reacquainted with each
other.  The bonfire that evening introduced us all - even the 1st CBS Scouts - to the 1st Topsail's tradition of "woofems".  These require a special stick that is a 2 foot 3/8" dowel with a 3 inch piece of 1.25 inch dowel attached to the end.  You take a small piece of dough (either pillsbury or home made) and flatten it out around the larger dowel, then cook it over the camp fire until it is done.  You first spray the stick with cooking spray to ensure the cooked dough will slide off easily when done.  Once you have your cooked dough ready you fill it with just about anything you like including jam, pudding, or really anything imaginable, then top it off with whipped cream.  Then you "wolf 'em" down, giving us the name!   We enjoyed woofems 3 or 4 times over the course of our stay.  Here are details on how to make woofem sticks.


On Sunday morning we awoke to what was really the only rainy day we had while in Newfoundland.  While there were a couple of short periods of light rain at 2 or 3 other points in our trip, Sunday was the only day one could truly call "rainy".  We packed our lunches and were bused downtown for a walking tour of St. John's.  As it turned out the father of one of the Newfoundland Scouts was a major history buff and also extremely talented at guiding walking tours of the city.  Our first stop was the Catherdral of St. John the Baptist, and this is probably the one landmark that really stood out most for the majority of us.  It is hailed as one of the most magnificent cathedrals in North America.  Your humble author lived for 3 years in Europe and has visited a great number of old churches there, and can confirm that the Cathedral in St. John's easily stands up against any of those.   It is a destination worthy of anyone's bucket list.  Our walking tour lead us to the waterfront where we hung out for about an hour before making our way up the hill to the Rooms Museum.  We had about a 90 minute visit there before being whisked off to Camp Mac Shack for the night.  The forecast was promising that the rain would end around 8pm, but even before then two of our youngest Scouts Alex and Daniel were eager to pitch tents in the field so we provided one and helped them set it up.  The rest of the male Scouts drew straws for one of the 26 bunks.   The remaining 10 Scouts took up sleeping spots on the floor.






Leading up to bed time Skipper Jack of the 115th Sea Scouts read Scouts the riot act about quiet time at 10pm because everyone needed a good night's sleep before the hike to the Spout the next day.  In the hour leading up to quiet time a tent had been set up in the field and declared to be the tent for anyone who did not respect quiet time.  At 10 pm quiet time was declared, and it only took about 15 seconds for the first Scout to get sent out to the tent.   Once an example was made there was not a single peep to be heard from another Scout, and silence fell quickly upon the Mac Shack cabin that the males were staying in.   Nonetheless your humble author could not get to sleep, not being accustomed to sharing sleeping quarters with others.  One of the other Scouters was snoring pretty hard, and even though Scouts were not making noises with their vocal chords, there was a lot of rustling and moving which lead your humble author to go set up his tent around 11pm and move outside for the night.

The next morning ( July 31 ) we awoke and concentrated on sending off those who were going to the Spout.  They had first dibs on breakfast, and we all worked towards getting them off.  Tent parts got divided up between those staying together in it, and group gear and food got divided up by Scouter Dwain.  The talk started about pack weight and I had mentioned that I had a luggage scale with me which was intended to ensure none of our baggage was over the airline's 50lb limit.  Scouts and Scouters alike immediately started lining up to have their backpacks weighed.   The heaviest Scout pack by at least 5 lbs was John's at 45 lbs, but the heaviest overall was Scouter Paul's at a whopping 55 lbs!  The first group got shuttled away around 9:30, and the second around 10:30.  Since I did not go on the Spout hike I can only report on what the other group did.

We spent the next 90 minutes or so cleaning up the two camp buildings to ensure they were left in better shape than how we found them.  A hornet's nest had been discovered on the back corner of the bigger building, but we did not have the means to deal with it so we left it alone and later reported it to the Mac Shack contact.  Shortly after lunch we were ready to leave, and since Venturer Shae was the only one who knew the route he lead the hike over to La Manche.  It was a 5 to 6km hike along the coast from Bauline East to La Manche, and we stopped at Doctors Cove along the way.  The route took us across the impressive La Manche Suspension Bridge, and right after the bridge there was an amazing swimming hole that begged us to stop for a dip.  When we arrived at La Manche the leaders who had been ferrying vehicles already had the cook shelters set up, so Scouts all pitched in and set up the tents.

August 1st was a "free day" for the group at La Manche, and shortly after lunch we decided to hike up to the waterfall.  When we arrived Scouter Alan checked the trail which lead to the top of the waterfall and deemed it safe for Scouts, so most of the Scouts hiked the extra 100 meters and got to enjoy the view from the top of the cliff.   We doubled-back to the spot below the waterfall where some swam while others hiked down the river along the massive boulders in the riverbed.  We made our way back to the campsite for 5pm and let Scouts cook their supper before those from the Spout hike started to arrive.  Around 6pm they started to arrive from the Spout hike and as they rolled in we formed ad-hoc patrols to cook their supper of steak and potatoes.

August 2nd was a breakfast of bacon and toutons - which is a traditional Newfoundland meal of yeasted bread dough fried like pancakes.   Several of the leaders spent the early afternoon preparing foil packets of codfish for the campfire on the beach that evening while Scouts had free time in the early afternoon.  One group got together and hiked out to the suspension bridge while the other group stayed behind and did the "Leftover Lottery" for dinner / lunch.   One of the Scouters compiled a list of all the uncooked food that was left over from previous days' meals and categorized it into 3 categories - protein, starch (rice, potatoes, pasta), extras (onions, peppers). The 8 patrols (groups of 5 or 6 Scouts) drew numbers to get random ingredients and then had to make a meal out of it. Leaders were expecting that maybe 1 or 2 of the 8 meals would be edible and were amazed that 5 or 6 of them were fantastic and the others were perfectly edible. One - which won the competition - was something you'd order in a fancy restaurant including the professional plating.

Mid-afternoon we loaded ourselves onto the bus and headed to Gatherall's for our whale watching tour.  This would be without question the most memorable activity for most Scouts - we spent 90 minutes on the water in what the ship's captain afterwards described as the most active whale-watching tour he'd conducted in his 19 years in business.   We got to see countless humpack and minkie whales including two full breaches where the whale came up completely out of the water.  We also got to see a couple get "screeched in" on the boat (see video).

After the whale-watching tour we gathered on the beach next to Gatherall's where we had a bonfire and cooked a massive scoff of seafood including the cod we'd prepared earlier, crab, and scallops.  After eating all the come-from-aways got screeched-in with purity syrup instead of Newfoundland Screech.  This ceremony included talking like a Newfoundlander where we got lessons in some of the most colourful local expressions, as well as kissing the cod.   We loaded ourselves back onto the bus and headed back to Camp St George around 9:30 pm.

August 3rd we were all hiking from Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove to Cape Spear - the eastern-most point of North America.  Your humble author was in the group responsible for shuttling vehicles so was a good 45 minutes behind the main crew - and most of the pictures account for this.  Not many Scouts in them.   We did eventually end up catching up with some of the slower Scouts.  Along the way we learned about some of the local wild edibles including several types of berry as well as the roots of the fern where fiddleheads come from.  It was a leisurely 10km hike which took between 2 and 4 hours depending upon whether you were one of the slowest or one of the fastest.   A few of the slower ones got to witness a full whale breach just offshore near Herring Cove.  It pays to take your time when enjoying nature!

August 4th was a day at Camp St George with a few options on the offering including : a trip to the local wildlife preserve, a paddle in the canoes, and a swim down at the lake.  I chose the latter and so that is what the photos represent.  By 4pm we were all back at the camp getting ready for the big farewell banquet which started at 6pm.  The banquet was potluck and a lot of parents cooked some fantastic foods for it.  Scouts made centerpieces for the tables - there was a competition for it.  Someone brought a giant chunk of an iceberg for cooling our drinks which was pretty neat - and Scouts got to eat chunks of it directly.

August 5th was our last day and was all about packing up and farewells.  We were on the bus at 11:30 and on the plane by 2pm.   The flight was uneventful except for a pretty rough landing in Ottawa.

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