261020042034 St John's, NL

Well a week and a half into the St John's adventure and I've already taken a couple of days away. I met a couple of people at the hostel and we decided to hire a car and tiki tour (to non-NZers: wander about) around a bit of the island. I had handed out a few CVs/resumes half-heartedly the night before but didn't really expect to hear back for a bit. Naturally on the morning I was supposed to leave, everything else happened. I had to drop a CV off to a cafe that morning (Thursday), which I did before Kyla and Jan (as in German guy's name, not unfortunate girl's name) picked up the car. I had one of the restaurants call me that morning and ask me to come in that afternoon, but I couldn't since I was leaving. I had a lead on a place to stay, and I spoke to the landlady just before I left. I also worked out that my friend Lisa (who I met in Vancouver) was arriving that night. Typical!

I went on the trip anyway, and despite the rain and cold, and missing a job interview, it was a great couple of days. Kyla and Jan managed to get a PT Cruiser for the same price as the smallest car, so naturally I was happy! After seeing so many German couples driving them around all summer, I finally got to get in one, and with a German as well! We drove up through Terra Nova National Park, after a detour to see the scenic town of Dildo (it had to be done, and I have the pictures to prove it). We had some issues with finding a place to stay north of the park, but ended up in some "Efficiency Units" in a town called Eastport, on a very pretty peninsula. We had been told that there were some huts that you could stay in for free, but after finding out that they were just three walled shelters with cook stoves in them, we decided that the cold was too daunting and decided on actual accommodation instead. The next morning we were aiming to do a bit of hiking in the park but the miserable weather deterred us (there's no point when all you're going to be is cold!). We drove all around the Bona Vista Peninsula, but didn't see any moose. Bona Vista itself wasn't that pretty, but the Cape was amazing, and I took loads of photos. We went to a regional park called The Dungeon, which was pretty impressive. [I've updated my photos by the way]. We stayed in a hotel in Bay Roberts the next night after eating way too much fried chicken. The next day we headed back to St John's, went back out to Cape Spear, and then had a mission trying to find Jan some moose or caribou meat before having to drop the car back. We thought the place was called "Begoods" (actually it's called "Bidgoods"), but the locals that we asked all thought we were looking for beagles. It was hilarious.

Since being back, I've managed to not get that job that they called about (initially they'd already hired someone, and then that didn't work out, so they called me back. But I couldn't lie about how long I was going to be here for and it all fell through!), but have a place to stay! Let me know if you want the address/phone number etc. I will be there til early December.

Better split, but go look at more photos ...