Newfoundland Dog Statues

Location: St. John's, Newfoudland, Canada
Address:  Harbourside Park, Water Street
Date: June 2017
Website: www.stjohns.ca

  In the lower section of St. John's Harbourside Park stand two dog statues.  These are the Newfoundland and the Labrador dogs.  Labrador is the portion of the province Newfoundland & Labrador that is attached to mainland Canada.  Newfoundland is an island and is the eastern most point of Canada.  The statues are 1.5 times larger than the dogs are in real life. The statues were sculpted by Luben Boykov who was born in Bulgaria but now lives in Newfoundland.

  The dogs look out across St. John's harbour towards Signal Hill.  The Newfoundland dog is the larger and shaggier of the two.  Newfoundland dogs love to swim.  They are adapted for swimming because they have a thick waterproof coat and even have webbed toes.  They also have a large tail which acts as a rudder while they swim.  These strong dogs are perfectly suited for the wet, cold environment found in Newfoundland.

  Up over the hill and past the colourful houses stand two more dogs.  It is another pair of Newfoundland and Labrador dogs. They are located near the GEO Centre as you head up Signal Hill.

    The Labrador is better known as the Labrador retriever.  It is descended from the Newfoundland dog but weighs about half as much.  It is better suited as a household pet since the Newfoundland is too big and from what we read, constantly salivating.  The Labrador also has webbed toes and loves water too.  Labradors come in chocolate, black and yellow colours.

  This pair of dogs at the top of the hill look back towards the St. John's harbour where the other pair of dogs stand.

  From the top of the hill we couldn't see the Harbourside dogs since the Atlantic Griffon  (last orange boat on the left) was parked in front.  The Atlantic Griffon is part of a fleet of offshore support vessels which also include other bird named boats such as the Atlantic Shrike, Atlantic Kestrel, Atlantic Merlin and more.

  While we didn't get a chance to see a real Newfoundland dog during our visit, the closest we came was seeing Sable Chief at The Rooms museum.  Sable Chief was a popular mascot for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I  and is preserved for all to see.

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Map of Our World:
Newfoundland Dog Statues (Harbourside Park) , Newfoundland Dog Statues (GEO Centre)
The Rooms

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Post # 210

Montmorency Falls

Location: Quebec, Canada
Address:  5300 Boulevard Sainte-Anne
Date: Aug 2017
Website:  www.sepaq.com

  Montmorency Falls is one of the highest waterfalls in Canada.  It is the highest waterfall east of Alberta.  After visiting Quebec City we stopped for a visit on our way to Tadoussac.  We took a cable car up to the falls then crossed over the falls on a bridge and then descended hundreds of steps back down on the other side.  This allowed us to go full circle around this impressive sight.

  We purchased our tickets which allowed us to park our car, ride the cable car and stroll the grounds surrounding the falls.  The cable car whisked us up to the top in no time at all.

  After exiting the cable car we found ourselves at the base of the steps leading to Manoir Montmorency.

  Manoir Montmorency is a restaurant situated next to the falls and clinging close to the edge of the cliff.  After passing the restaurant you take a walkway to a bridge that goes across the falls.

  This bridge is where you experience the true force of the water as it passes beneath you and drops 84 metres.

The water from the Montmorency River flows to the edge of the falls.

  The water then prepares itself for the big drop as people admire it from above.

Then it falls.

All the way down.

  The water then continues on its way into the St. Lawrence River.   The day we visited the water levels were quite low which makes us wonder what the falls would have been like after a big rainfall.

  After walking over the falls we crossed another smaller bridge and from the top of the hill we were treated to an excellent view of Quebec City.  Montmorency Falls are just a short drive north from the city.

  The next part of our journey took us down a series of steps built on grey slate rock.

From the stairs you could get a great view facing the falls.

  You could also get a great view of the zipliners racing past the brink of the falls.  We had seen the zipliners picking out their helmets and building up their courage inside Manoir Montmorency earlier.

  As we looked down into the mist a rainbow formed.

  Finally we reached the bottom of the stairs and ventured onto a platform covered in the mist from the crashing water.  

  In the winter this mist and spray forms what is called the Sugarloaf or Le Pain de Sucre.  It is created by the mist collecting and freezing to form a huge bump at the base of the falls. 

  We travelled along the edge of the grey slate slopes until we found ourselves back at the cable car station.  Our journey had now come fulll circle and we had admired the falls from every angle.

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Map of Our World
Montmorency Falls

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Post # 209

Flinders Street Station

Location: Melbourne, Australia
Address:  Flinders Street
Date: May 2012
Website:  whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au

  On Flinders Street in Melbourne, Australia stands a beautiful gold, orange and green building.  This is the oldest and busiest railway station in all of Australia.  The current building was completed in 1910 but a train station has exisited on this spot since 1854.  We admired the building as we drove by on one of Melbourne's trolleys and while we waited for a tour bus in Federation Square.

  The station boasts the fourth longest railway platform in the world.  The photo above was taken from across the street at Federation Square and only shows a portion of the width of the platforms.  The station portion is enclosed but where the trains arrive is mostly open to the air.

  One end is the main entrance and it has clocks just above the entrance which show the different train departing times.  We loved the colour of the facade and the copper dome roof which has turned green with age.

  The opposite end has a large clock tower showing the actual time.  We never did make it into the station, but we found this to be the most beautiful building in all of Melbourne.  We drove rental cars and flew as we travelled around Australia, but maybe next time we should take the train.

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Map of Our World
Flinders Street Station

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Post # 208