On a day saved by antiquities and the antics of marine mammals.

Today was gorgeous: sunny, hot, not humid and few clouds. Before I left the city limits, I had changed into a sleeveless jersey and taken off my tights. Unfortunately, the prevailing winds were against me as was the layout of the landscape and the roads. There were an excessive number of steep hills made annoying by the presence of the Atlantic which it was a case of up, down, up, down.

 I had also a time pressure issue as I wanted to get to Ferryland before 4 in order to check into my B&B and take a tour of the Colony of Avalon. I made it but the pressure took a bit away from the day.

The Colony of Avalon was the first official permanent English settlement on the island started 1608 or so by the man who become Lord Baltimore and also founded Maryland. It was latter handed over to the Kirke family as a reward for capturing Quebec in about 1628. They ran it very well. So well in fact that it was twice captured by the French and once by the Dutch. It wasn't entirely clear why it fell out of favour, though I suspect St-John's made a better place from which to administer this here island.

I was given a tour by an liberal arts student majoring in French who wasn't the best person to given a tour to someone like me who knew far more about 17th century England than she did. ;-) I was impressed at the amount of stonework used in the houses. I would have thought wood would have been any easier material to work with. However, there was something I hadn't been aware of: the ground is quite acidic and plant material is rarely preserved. The guide asked a passing archeologist who was at the end of her day about the "wood" question. It turned out she had actually found a piece of wood the day before and was quite excited about it! I was also intrigued by the fact that they hadn't found the cemetery. I think a sweep by ground penetrating radar might help or by asking a geologist with a background in archeology.

Supper was at a restaurant best described as nothing special except for what it called its million dollar view. I can't quibble with that as I was entertained by the playful antics of marine mammals (to borrow language from Stephen), viz two or three balaenoptera acutorostrata or common minke whales. I get the impression that minkes are hanging out close to shore this summer to the delight of the livyers and those "come from away".