Over years of cruising, we have learned to really enjoy sea days.  With no port to visit, the ship’s crew usually has extra activities, entertainment and lectures available.  During the lecture on this sea day we were told about the Canadian Maple Syrup Heist. 

Over several months in 2011 and 2012, the contents of 9571 barrels of maple syrup ,nearly 3,000 tons, was stolen from a storage facility in Quebec.  It was valued at $18.7 million Canadian (about $14 million US), the most valuable heist in Canadian history.  

The storage facility was operated by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers which represent 77 percent of the global supply of maple syrup.  They maintain a strategic reserve of maple syrup across multiple warehouses in Quebec.   At the annual inspection in July 2012,  it was discovered that barrels had been either drained and refilled with water, or just drained.  The stolen syrup was trucked to Vermont and New Brunswick where it was sold in small batches to reduce suspicion. Most was sold to legitimate syrup distributors unaware of the theft. Seventeen men were arrested in December 2012.

Netflix featured the heist in their documentary Dirty Money (season 1, episode 5) and Amazon is developing a comedy series called The Sticky, based on the heist.

When we arrived  in Corner Brook the next morning, we had lost our sunshine!

We had a very rainy tour called In the Footsteps of Captain Cook. 

Our guide told us some interesting things about Labrador and Newfoundland but very little about Captain Cook.  

As it pertains to this region, Cook was given command to survey Labrador and Newfoundland from 1763 – 1767.   

He also mapped the eastern seaboard and the Saint Lawrence River.

The province of Newfoundland is pronounced Newfin-land.  They have their own time zone that is 90 minutes ahead of US Eastern standard time.    Newfoundland is the island and Labrador is part of the mainland.

At the tip of the northern peninsula of the island of Newfoundland are remains of a Viking Village, now a Unesco World Heritage Site.  This is the first indication of Europeans in North America, likely Leif Erikson in the 11th century.

Italian explorer John Cabot landed in Newfoundland in 1497 sailing under the commission of Henry VII, King of England.  They found the natives covered in red oker, likely as a pest deterrent.  The term Red Indian was not originally derogatory. 

Newfoundland had periods of British leading and independence. Following a government bankruptcy in 1934, Newfoundland became a British protectorate. 

In 1948 there were referendums to decide the political future of Newfoundland. The choices were join Canada, remain under British rule or go independent.  The eventual result, by a small margin, was for Newfoundland and Labrador to become the tenth province of Canada.  (Our tour guide told us the options were be part of Canada, remain under British rule, or American statehood. I didn’t find validation in my research that statehood was really an option.)

Because Newfoundland is so isolated, there is an attitude of cooperation for everyone’s survival.   

The history of helping with survival was apparent in 1942 when two US warships, the USS Truxtun and USS Pollux were destroyed by running aground in a violent storm.  Unfortunately,  203 people died. However, 186 were saved through the valiant efforts of Newfoundland men.

There are five international airports in Newfoundland, some built by the Americans during WWII.

The helping nature returned again when, on Sept 11, 2001,  US airspace was shut down due to terrorist attacks. There were 4546 aircraft flying over the US. Four hundred international flights were enroute to the US, mostly from Europe.  Two hundred and fifty aircraft carrying 43,895 people were diverted to land across Canada.  Thirty-eight planes landed in Gander, Newfoundland with 6595 people arriving in a town of 10,000 residents.   

The care the town of Gander gave to those stranded passengers was remarkable. If that sounds familiar, I wrote about it when we went to see the play Come From Away this past winter.  We learned about Come From Away while in Newfoundland.

There are very large caribou herds on both Newfoundland and Labrador.  Newfoundland has polar bear as they travel on the ice flow.  Labrador is famous for Northern Lights, puffins, whales and ice bergs.

As part of our tour we were welcomed for lunch at St. James Church.

It appeared to be a fund raising activity for the church which was fine. The food was good, the company was warm and the space was dry. There were a few crafts for sale.

After a soggy day in port we were glad to get back to the ship.

We enjoyed dinner in the main dining room.  We met our waiter, Anthony, on our earlier voyage on Nieuw Statendam and knew to look for him again. He was just as enjoyable on this cruise.

One of our favorite entertainment acts on this cruise was the dueling pianos in Billboard Onboard.  They played most evenings and we were almost always there.

Next up:  Randy’s last day with us.