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Day 10: Return to St. John’s
Water Street was again aglow in colour as we approached the city in the early morning hours. I felt a sense of completeness, a fullness of experience, and a readiness to end the trip.
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I could not help sometimes feeling a difficult sadness, however, about a way of life being turned into a museum piece, on display to attract tourist dollars.
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The images of Newfoundland’s wild places are burned in my memory. I was charmed by the warm and open character of the people we met in the isolated communities around the island, impressed by the liveliness of their culture, and inspired by their courage and tenacity. I could not help sometimes feeling a difficult sadness, however, about a way of life being turned into a museum piece, on display to attract tourist dollars. And I wondered how far tourism development can keep the economy alive. If the fisheries cannot sustain the economy, how many of these outports will be able to stay alive through tourism, revenues from the oil development off the east coast or through other types of industry? I was glad to have been able to experience Newfoundland at this point in time, and I hope the best things about its history and culture carry forward into a vital future.
Epilogue
Less than two months after delivering its passengers back to St. John’s, the M/S Explorer was steaming through the Antarctic Ocean, retracing the route of the 20th century explorer Ernest Shackleton, when it hit an unidentified object near the South Shetland Islands. The ship’s passengers and crew were evacuated onto lifeboats and drifted for five hours until being picked up by the Norwegian ship MS Nordnorge. There were no injuries nor loss of life. The ship sank at 19:00 UTC on November 23, 2007, ending an illustrious career of almost 40 years, during which it travelled to many of the most remote and exotic locales on earth. It was the first custom-built expeditionary cruise ship.
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About
Steve Fick: Artistic Statement
Daily Journal
Day 1: St John’s & Salmonier Nature Park
Day 2: Change Islands & Tilting
Day 3: L’Anse aux Meadows & Raleigh
Day 4: Cape Charles & Battle Harbour, Labrador Coast
Day 5: Gros Morne National Park
Day 6: Grand Codroy Valley
Day 7: White Bear Bay & Ramea
Day 8: Conne River & Francois
Day 9: St.-Pierre, France
Day 10: Return to St. John’s
Related Stories
Ghost
coast
Torngat
Mountains
Resources
www.fick.ca
www.danielpayne.ca
Adventure Canada
Newfoundland & Labrador
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