.jpeg)
Week 4
Nova Scotia, Canada
We start our week continuing our journey through Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia translates to “New Scotland” in Latin and over 30% of Nova Scotia’s population is from Scottish heritage.
Nova Scotia is Canada’s second-most densely populated province and second-smallest province by area, both after neighboring Prince Edward Island.
As Nova Scotia is the world's largest exporter of Christmas trees, we consider buying a Christmas tree to take with us to Bethlehem, but ultimately decide against it. Nova Scotia is is also the world's largest exporter of lobster. Its annual export value of fish exceeds $1 billion, and fish products are received by 90 countries around the world.
The Ferry
To traverse from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, we choose to take the ferry, but continue to keep walking on the ferry to account for the miles. The ferry is a big boat which can hold over 900 people and 500 cars. The ferry crossing takes 6-8 hours depending on the weather.
Fortunately, summer crossings are much calmer as winter storms can make for a queasy ride and ferries have been known to get trapped in the ice.
Newfoundland, Canada
As we set foot on solid ground again, we are surprised and pleased to learn there are no snakes, skunks, deer, porcupines or groundhogs on the island of Newfoundland.
Newfoundland also has its own time zone. Newfoundland time is 30 min ahead of Atlantic time and 90 minutes ahead of Eastern time.
Long settled by indigenous peoples of the Dorset culture, the island was visited by the Icelandic explorer Leif Eriksson in the 11th century, who called the new land "Vinland". Newfoundland is the site of the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America.
In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under the Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I of England, thus officially establishing Newfoundland as Britain’s oldest colony and a forerunner to the much later British Empire. Newfoundland officially became part of Canada in 1949.
Gander, Newfoundland
Gander Newfoundland is likely most famous for its airport. In the 1950s, Gander was the world's busiest airport. Before the invention of the jetliner, Gander was the launch point and refueling station for almost all transatlantic flights.
Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gander and surrounding communities welcomed, housed and fed nearly 6,700 unexpected guests for up to five days, when all North American airspace was ordered closed. Ten years later, Gander was presented with two pieces of steel recovered from New York's World Trade Center buildings in appreciation of the Town's extraordinary compassion and generosity.
Come from Away is a Canadian musical and seven-time Tony nominated Broadway musical set in Gander the week following the September 11 attacks telling the stories of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly and spend several days in Gander. The characters in the musical are based on (and in most cases share the names of) real Gander residents as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travelers they housed and fed.
St. John's, Newfoundland
Our final stop in North America is St. John’s Newfoundland, the oldest and most easterly city in North America.
Our long trek across North America was celebrated with a pint at the Quidi Vidi Brewery serving beer made with 25,0000 year-old water from icebergs.
We now stare out over quite a large body of water and contemplate how to best reach the coast of Ireland, 2000+ miles away.
We set a new record again this week covering 825 miles and had 47 people submit mileage! That’s fantastic...and it also again allowed us to take a few suggested detours to take in more sights. While these detours have added to the total miles we’ll need to cover to get to Bethlehem, we’re still on track to make it by Christmas. At this pace, we are on track to get to Bethlehem by Christmas. This week, we’ll solve the riddle of how to cross the Atlantic ocean and learn about this grand body of water while we make our way. If any of our participants has some fun facts for this section of our journey, please email them to Colleen at cdavies67@gmail.com. Let’s keep it up and encourage other members to join us!