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St. John’s is one of the friendliest towns on earth, and it’s really easy to strike up conversations with people that you meet.

Since asking questions is one of my favourite pastimes, I was able to come home with some good bits that I will share with you here.

First, if you’re lonely and needing to talk to someone, O’Reilly’s Pub on George Street is the place to go. I was able to wear people down pretty quickly here, and hence got some good facts.

Fact 1: St. John’s has history.

From the pub owners Brenda O’Reilly & Craig Flynn, I learned that they are busy opening a second pub in St. John’s, to be called The YellowBelly Brewery and Public House. For the past 4 1/2 years they have been lovingly restoring one of the oldest buildings in North America to its former grandeur.

The cool thing about the edifice, constructed c. 1847 after the fire of 1846 but survivor of the great fire of 1892, is that it has the distinguishing feature of having not one, but two addresses. Watch for the opening of the brew pub soon at 288 Water Street and 1 George Street, known as Yellow Belly Corner.

Fact 2: Newfoundlanders love the sea.

On my right I met the second mate of a supply ship that services Hibernia. I smiled politely when he told me that, but I had no idea what that meant.

After shaking his head a couple of times, he soon took pity on my landlocked upbringing and started to spill.

Hibernia is the oil rig off the coast of St. John’s. There are about 82 men working on it, and they need supplies. Thus cargo ships are constantly going back and forth between the island and the rig.
The ships that service the rig are 280 feet long. It takes 18 hours to get out to the rig. The Second Mate is ranked number three on a ship (wow) and in charge of steering and navigation.

This job is mostly computerized now, but once there, the trickiest thing is to keep the boat steady and close to the rig so that cranes can load and unload crates off the boat. Translation – don’t bump the rig.

I asked if he was scared the first time he had to do this. He said yep. But his father was a seaman, and so was he, and it was the sweetest gig ever because he had one month on the boat, and one month off, so plenty of time to go home and spend time with his sweetie.

Awwww.

You too can learn Nautical Science at MUN, the local university, where he studied. Or you can just get on the boat and work your way up, which takes a bit longer.

Fact 3: Newfoundlanders are really environmentally conscious.

They are also very socially minded. I found out that Johnny Ruth, the style leader in ladies’ wear retailing is no exception.

Owner Kim Winsor, president of is Johnny Ruth, is intent on ensuring that the store is a socially responsible, ethical and transparent retailer. In other words, sweatshop, child labour, and meanness free, as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

I saw her in the store putting up the new “transparent retailer sign” in the window. This means they hide nothing, and will answer any questions you have about the clothing, manufacturers, suppliers. Also, if you know something they don’t know – do tell them. This info is to be shared.

You can read more about their policy on buying only “clean clothes” on the Johnny Ruth web site.
You can also catch Kim dancing in an African dance troupe with Baptiste Neis – Producer, Pope Production party planner, and president of the Nickel Festival.

Fact 4: Newfoundland is a rock.

And the rock is some of the oldest in the world. Scientists from all over come to study these rocks which have preserved their tale of colliding continents.

St. John’s resident preeminent goldsmith Christopher Kearney works his custom magic and specializes in a Newfoundland rock called Labradorite.

Christ initially trained in watchmaking, his father’s trade, but later switched to goldsmithing. His shop is on Duckworth, with a view of the narrows.

You can learn more about the rock formations of Newfoundland and our planet at The Johnson GEO CENTRE museum, which is heated by the Earth itself through holes drilled over 150 metres into the rock.

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