Day 8 - Signal Hill and the Village of Quidi Vidi
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To the north and east of St. John’s harbour, Signal Hill rises above the town and is capped by Cabot Tower, the spot from which Marconi succeeded in receiving the first wireless transatlantic message in 1901. The hill’s name comes not from that event, but from its earlier role as the point at the opening of the harbour. From Signal Hill, ships could signal with flags why they were coming into the harbour and what they might be carrying. The flag signals were replicated on Signal Hill to transmit messages to the city below.
The wind on top of the hill makes lingering nearly unbearable, but the sight of the harbour below is astounding. The town stretches out along the edge of the water, and illustrations show how the town would have appeared from the hill in years past – before the main pier was built, when shops and warehouses had a multitude of finger piers reaching into the water, and after the devastation of the Great Fire in 1892, which destroyed much of the city.
After taking in the views from the top of Signal Hill, we’re on to Quidi Vidi (most commonly pronounced “Kiddy Viddy,” the strangely named fishing village just outside of St. John’s. Quidi Vidi sits on a small bay with a sea inlet that appears to be only a handful of meters wide. When cod fishing was a booming business, Quidi Vidi housed numerous fishermen and a fish packing and processing plant, but since 1992, when a shortage of cod led to a national moratorium on cod fishing, it’s become considerably quieter.
In 1996, the village got an economic boost from David Rees and David Fong, two off-shore oil engineers who decided to get into business in Newfoundland and Labrador. The business they decided to start was a brewery, and the story goes that one of the David’s visited the site of the old Cabot’s Seafood Plant in Quidi Vidi and decided to purchase the building for his new brewery all in one day.
One of Quidi Vidi Brewing Company’s newest and most interesting beers is “Iceberg,” made from water melted from actual icebergs near Newfoundland. They also have a range of interesting brews from one called “7” – it has seven percent alcohol by volume – to “Eric’s Red,” which won a world beer award in 2001 and is a delightfully smooth red cream ale. One of the highlights of the brewery visit is a chance to hear the stories of Charlie Rees, brother of founder David and an obvious contributor to the brewery’s personality.
Heading back towards town for a quick bite and then a return to the ship, we get to experience another taste of Newfoundland. Pearl-sized hailstones rain down just as we’re finishing up a lunch of fish and chips, as suggested by our guide, and we’re all looking a bit comical, as we’re carrying cases of Quidi Vidi beer down the street.
“Where’s the party?” asks some passerby, and soon we’re queuing to re-board the Norwegian Jewel.
View interactive map of the voyage
Back to Travel Diaries
Read the other articles:
Day 12 - Air vs Sea
Day 12 - Homecoming
Day 10 - Battle of the Brews
Day 10 - A Taste of Halifax
Day 10 - Halifax: Ghosts and Breweries
Day 9 - The Cultural CV
Day 8 – A Very Special Privilege
Day 8 – Quidi Vidi Brewery – Beer, with a side of history
Day 8 - Signal Hill and the Village of Quidi Vidi (you are here)
Day 8 - North America's Far East
Day 8 - New Found Land
Day 8 – Land! Land! St. John’s, Newfoundland
Day 7 – You Have Permission to Enter the Bridge
A Peak at the Inner Workings of the Norwegian Jewel
How to Pour Champagne in a Moving Vehicle
Days 5-6 Shetlands to Iceland
Days 0-4 Dover to the Shetlands
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