Our final (*sob*!) destination in Newfoundland was at the biggest city on the island – St John’s. We arrived in the early afternoon at the home of Tom and Shirley McCaughey who were hosting David. All our hosts were there, and the welcome was warm and friendly. We all hit it off straight away with our hosts and sat in the rare warm sunshine on the back deck eating, drinking and getting to know our new friends.
David with his hosts, Tom & Shirley McCaughey:
Colin with his host, Craig Ennis:
We were ominously and excitedly anticipating our first night in St John’s! Having met the St John’s “party crew” delegates at the District Conference, we knew that a big night had been planned for us out on the town on the famous George Street downtown, which is famous for it’s nightlife.
Before hitting up the party scene, we attended with our Rotarians the “Annual Auction and Lobster Dinner of the Rotary Clubs of Avalon and St John’s East”.
There, it was announced from the podium in front of a large crowd that I was looking for a Newfoundland husband, and that he must be rich and have all his own teeth (how embarrassing!). so throughout the night a string of gentleman aged 60 and above came forth to display their own teeth and tell me about the helicopters they owned etc etc. Immensly humourous – however my new host Dave Fowler was kind enough to screen the eligible bachelors on my behalf, and none of them made the grade! Hahaha!
My host, Dave:
After the auction and dinner, we were ready to tackle George Street head on!
I will not go in to detail here about the night’s activities.
I will post a selection of random photos, and the rest will be saved for another conversation at a later date!
The night ended somewhere after 4am. My host Dave Fowler (bless him, on the eve of his 65th birthday!) and myself caught a cab home for 5am.
The next morning Dave and I made it out of bed in time for lunch, where his wife Anne Marie cooked us bacon and eggs.
Dave & Anne Marie:
They then took me on a driving tour of St John’s. We drove to several high points along the city to see the view of the city and the harbour from different angles, including the top of the historic land mark “Signal Hill”.
Signal Hill:
St John’s is known for it’s colourful houses:
That evening the team went to the Quidi Vidi Brewery for raspberry beer tasting, our formal presentation, and quess what?! Another Screech In!!!
This time, the Cod fish was reeeaaallllyyy nasty!!! Big and slimey! I found it really hard to kiss the fish this time!
The next morning (Monday 7th June) the team were taken to 3 significant locations:
City Hall:
Government House (where we had tea with the Lieutenant Governor and his wife!):
Confederation Building:
After lunch, we each went our separate ways for various vocational visits.
In the evening, David’s hosts Tom & Shirley hosted us for a BBQ at their house.
The next morning (our final day together in Canada!) was spent at vocational visits. I was very pleased to be ble to meet with the Artistic Director for the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra at his home for a lengthy chat about all things musical (can you believe they were auditioning that day for a French horn player?!?! Wish I'd brought my horn!).
Lunch was spent with the Rotary Club of St John's Northwest, where we delivered our final presentations.
Team with incoming president Andrea Stack:
That afternoon was more vocational visits (ask Cate about hers - something about meeting a woman who climbed Mt Everest. Cate has a signed book and an enormous smile. Cate wont let us touch the book - we need to ask permission to rest our gaze upon the book - and whenever we ask her about meeting this person, she jumps up and down and claps. I think it was a good vocational visit!!!!!)
We met together again in the evening for one final night out together as a team.
We crammed into the back of a car (we're good at that now!), and headed down town for dinner.
We had a dinner together that was both happy and a bit forlorn. We de-briefed aboout the entire trip, and played tribute quizzes together such as: "Most memorable experience", and "what was your funniest moment?" and "who was the most inspirational person you met?" etc. It brought back some wonderful memories from our time together, and I both laughed and cried.
I can't believe it's over!!! I dont want to come home!!!
Our flights were early the next morning. Colin was out of the country somewhere around 6am. David came to the airport to see myself, Cate and Shannon off. (Really - he just wanted to ensure we were admitted through customs and were definitely out of the country!
From here, we all go separate ways:
Colin - to San Fransisco to visit a friend
David - back through parts of eastern Canada and across to Montreal for the Rotary International Conference.
Shannon, Cate and Suz to New York for a few days. then Cate's going to the Geographical wonderland that is Iceland, Shannon's heading home, and Suz is embarking on a road trip to Las Vegas (look out!), Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles.
What a wonderful experience this has been. Personally, I can't even begin to describe what it has done for me, and the things I have gained on a personal and vocational level. I love the team dearly, and have been continually surprised and humbled by the generosity of our hosts and the Rotarians we have met along the way.
I have learned SO much, and I believe that my growth through this experience has only just begun.
I will leave you with one final photo, taken at a random village outside of St Johns. this road sign was so important, that we stopped two car loads of people on the side of the highway to capture it on camera. We discovered this town many months ago back at a team meeting in Parramatta whilst investigating a road map of Newfoundland.
It really sums up a lot about our team:
Thankyou to everyone.
- Suz
No comments:
Post a Comment