EXCURSIONS

Saturday 16 July



#1: Cape St. Mary's and "The Old French Shore" (08:30 to 17:30)

We will drive the Irish Loop to the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve, the most accessible and spectacular seabird colony in North America. This area is known for the thousands of northern gannets, who have a wing-span of over six feet, which nest in a few thousand feet of space. Also making their home in this area are razorbills, murres and other seabirds. We will visit the Interpretation Centre and hike along the top of sheer cliffs to a huge sea stack called Bird Rock. After lunch in St. Bride's we will travel to Placentia to the Castle Hill National Historic Site. Here we will view exhibits of French and English military history and life of the area in the 17th century.

Price per person: $125.00, includes transportation, guide, lunch, and entrance fees, and tax
Minimum 6 participants; maximum 100


#2: Whale Watching & Bird Islands Tour (08:30 to 12:30)

This excursion begins with a drive up the Southern Shore to the historic Irish outport, Bay Bulls. Here we take a boat ride out to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve Bird Islands, home to thousands of Atlantic puffins, murres and kittiwakes in the spring and summer. July is peak whale season in Newfoundland and Labrador, and this morning we should get a good look at these giants, who come to our shores to feed on capelin.

Price per person: $90.00, includes transportation to and from Bay Bulls with guide, and tax
No minimum or maximum


#3: Colony of Avalon (09:00 to 16:00)

We will travel to the Southern Shore of the Avalon Peninsula along the winding coastline of the beautiful Irish Loop, which is dotted with the small 'outport' communities for which Newfoundland is so famous. Following a gourmet picnic lunch at the Ferryland lighthouse, we will visit the Colony of Avalon Archaeology Site, where the remains of an early-17th century settlement is well preserved. We will walk on a 17th-century street, see a 17th-century herb garden, and look at the remains of everyday life in one of the earliest European colonies in North America. The colony was founded by George Calvert, later Lord Baltimore, in 1621. Most people have no idea that permanent European settlement in North America dates so far back, and that Newfoundland played such an important role. The Ferryland settlement was "forgotten," and its remains lay undisturbed for centuries.

Price per person: $125.00, includes transportation, McCarthy's Party guide, picnic lunch, entrance fees and tax
Minimum 6 participants; maximum 50


#4: Outports, Lucky Rocks, and John Guy's Colony (09:30 to 16:30)

We will go "around the bay" along the picturesque coastline of Conception Bay, the home of pirates centuries ago. We will stop in Holyrood to search for 'Lucky Rocks' on the beach. We also stop for picture taking as we make our way to Brigus, one of the historic sailing ports of Conception Bay and home of Captain Bob Bartlett who took Peary to the North Pole. Here we have the opportunity to visit Hawthorne Cottage and take 'the walk' around the community. Lunch and local entertainment on this day is in Cupids, one of the oldest settled communities in Newfoundland. 2010 marked the 400th anniversary of John Guy establishing a colony in this area for the Merchant Ventures' in Bristol, England. Lunch is catered by Viola Wells of Skipper Ben's Bed and Breakfast and the local community. After lunch we will visit the museum in Cupids and the archaeology site where the old colony is being rediscovered. Our guide will regale you with the history, culture and language of the Newfoundland people.

Price per person: $125.00, includes transportation by motor coach, McCarthy's Party guide, all entrance fees, lunch, and tax
Minimum 6 participants; maximum 100


#5: The Far East of the Western World (14:00 to 17:00)

Tour old St. John's this afternoon, with plenty of time to see such national historic sites as Cabot Tower, Signal Hill, the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and the Basilica. Hear the legends of Dead Man's Pond and Government House, and the history surrounding the Colonial Building. This tour will orient you and give you a feel for the history, legend and lore of St. John's, the oldest community in North America. Next we are off to visit the National Park at Cape Spear, the most easterly point of land in all of North America. Here the lighthouse has been restored to circa 1836. Explore the bunkers built by Canadian soldiers in the side of the cliffs here during the Second World War. Now you can say you have been to the other "Far East" where you can stand with your back to the Atlantic and face every other being in North America. Or you can turn your back on them; the choice is yours.

Price per person: $50.00, includes transportation, guide, and entrance fees, and tax
No minimum or maximum