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St. John’s is a city that has been on the go for over 400 years. That’s a whole lot of life, death, love, murder, passion, intrigue, treachery and… did I mention death? That’s a whole lot of history, spilling out into the twists and turns of the narrow streets. No wonder it’s a hotbed of hauntings.

It’s one of my absolute favourite events of the year. The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival kicked off its five-day run last Tuesday night by slamming it down and packing a few punches.

Lauren Suarez, a 17-year-old high school student from Greenwood Indiana, recently travelled to St. John's for the first time with her mom and her mom's best friend, Laura. They stayed with Laura’s relatives who made the experience so unforgettable that Lauren wrote to tell us how completely she fell in love with Newfoundland & Labrador and its people.

Karen Moores is a cities-focused travel writer who calls St. John’s, Newfoundland home. She is proud of her city’s commitment to historic preservation while retaining a hip, modern vibe. Check out her insider tips to the Canadian city.

We took a short trip with friends to Newfoundland this week and had the sort of memorable time that everyone talks about whenever they return to Moncton from a visit to St. John's, a city like no other in Canada.

I recently returned from a visit to St. John's, Newfoundland, North America's oldest and most easterly city. St. John's is known to be saturated with Irish traditional and Celtic rock music, but for a smallish city on a fairly remote island, I was surprised by its many other live music offerings.

There are so many things to enjoy when I go back home to Newfoundland. From spending time with family and friends to hiking along the rugged coast, and taking in live music in St. John's. One of the things I look most forward to is getting out in a boat to catch a few cod.

I fell in love with St. John's, Newfoundland after spending 8 days and nights there in late summer 2011.  It's North America's oldest and most Easterly city. In the 2nd installment of an ongoing series of articles about this rocky wonderland, here's a fond look back at the hiking and walking opportunities.

As our trip to Newfoundland stretched out before us, I knew I would blog about it and I knew instantly that the theme would be gratitude to the people of Newfoundland. So it’s serendipitous that in the last few days I started reading so many words of thanks to the people of Newfoundland from the stranded passengers of 9/11 who were taken into their homes and made to feel like family.

I spent last week getting culturally back in touch with my English Lit student days. First, I went to see Hamlet on a hill, then Henry IV, Part 1 out in one of North America’s oldest and most historic towns, Cupids...

Last week I went to catch the final performance of Hamlet – one of the 2011 Shakespeare By The Sea productions. I realize writing about this festival when it’s already happened and you can’t now go and see the shows (if you unfortunately missed them) is a bit of a tease, but I’m hoping this post will encourage anyone out there who’s already thinking about a 2012 trip to Newfoundland and Labrador, to plan on seeing a performance or two next year.

Well, it can’t be denied. The Folk Festival this year was a damp one. But it also can’t be denied that the performances were as amazing, and surprising as ever – and the vibe of the audience was gun ho and game for anything.

Windswept and wild, friendly yet forlorn:  the island of Newfoundland is a corner of Canada steeped in beauty and sadness...

"Remember, give'r till ya shiver," says the man responsible for my safety just before I jump off a boat into freezing water. I've come to the most easterly point in North America in the hope of having an up close and personal experience with whales.

St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, is in its annual prime. The city is on creative wheels. There are so many events, festivals and theatrics going on it’s quite a panic trying to figure out what things you can possibly bear to miss in order to see the things you absolutely can’t.

There is no shortage of hikes to take in St. John's. One of my favorites is around Signal Hill - the North Head Trail. Before starting our hike we went to the Park's interpretive center. There we learned about the many battles between the French and English that have taken place on its rocky slopes.

Hiking the East Coast Trail outside St. John's last fall, I had one of those rapturous, living fully in the now, experiences.

My wife, Kathy, and I had seen nobody for an entire, glorious September Sunday. The trail, the forest, the sea belonged to only us. Or rather we to them.

Amazing Place. How sweet is Newfoundland?

I once was lost…but now am found. Well, make that, lost in my own time zone! Don't worry, I didn't go off the grid, more like I was operating on Newfoundland time. Yes, interestingly enough – being the easternmost point in North America merits Newfoundland its own special time – a half an hour off kilter with the rest of the world. So, in essence, I was lost in this unique space- time continuum that exists in Newfoundland, Canada. Hence, if you really looking to "get away" [both literally and figuratively] – this is the place to go!

Recently, my Dad and I took a two hour drive south from St. Johns to Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. Named because it was a navigational hazard mistaken for Cape Race, it is one of the world's most significant fossil sites. Here you can find the oldest complex life forms anywhere on Earth. The main fossil layer preserves the ecology of a 565-million-year-old deep sea community.

Nicky's Nose Cove. It's over in Green Bay which is in Notre Dame Bay which is on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. You can't miss it. No relation to Jerry's Nose over around Port au Port, though.