En Route to Fort Amherst 

Every time I've visited St. John's, a drive up to Signal Hill is always on my list of "must see or do" activities. I am still a tourist when I'm on the rock (heck I'm admittedly a tourist wherever I go, whether that's at the end of a ten hour drive or a ten minute drive!). I grew up in Labrador City and never actually lived on the island of Newfoundland so when I'm there, I'm visiting my parents. I don't have memories of venturing up that sinuous road with my high school buddies after the movies at night ignoring the fact that one or more of us would probably have been told not to venture up there after dark!! I have never played Cabot Tower tour guide for visiting relatives and stood back and watched as they were swept away by the breathtaking views of the metamorphic masses of fog floating across from them over the craggy cliffs (although I am certain that I would have been very happy to do so!)

And yet in all the times that I've stood in awe at the top of Signal Hill, undaunted yet feeling very small in the face of its powerful climate and majestic vistas, I've never seen it completely. I've never explored the trails that wind around the lower hills and around the edges of the rock and I've never viewed it from the other side of the harbour. So during my most recent trip just a couple of weeks ago, I made the request to cross off one of those experiences: "Can we drive to Fort Amherst?"

Fort Amherst is visible from the front yard of the Cabot Tower, across the harbour, and far, far below reaching out into the ocean from the outer tip of the land.... on a clear day, that is! And just as you are never sure how far you will be able to see from up on the hill, the low-slung cloud cover is just as capricious down on the other side!






But I was patient and managed to capture some images of the tower while I was there. I didn't actually get all the way in to explore the fort itself.. something to look forward to in the future!

I was also enjoying a front row seat to the St. John's Harbourfront and Battery, images that I'll be posting in future entries! Let me just say that now I know where photographers are standing when they capture all those enchanting jelly bean row house ensembles lining the harbour!!