Tourism
Attractions within walking distance of the conference facility:

  • Newfoundland Railway Museum - Water Street West
  • Devon House - Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council, Duckworth Street East
  • Cabot Tower, Signal Hill
  • The Four Sisters, Temperance Street - The stone quarried to construct Cabot Tower was also used to build these four houses.
  • The Battery (Inner, Outer, Upper, and Lower)
  • Quidi Vidi Village
  • Bannerman Park, Military Road
  • Government House, Military Road
  • Colonial Building, Military Road
  • Canada House
  • National War Memorial, Water Street
  • Supreme Court House, Duckworth Street
  • Court House steps - the area adjacent to the court house was formerly a public market and gallows
  • Duckworth Street/Water Street/George Street
  • St. Andrew's Church, The Kirk - Presbyterian (Gothic Revival)
  • The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - Anglican (Gothic Revival, visit the Crypt Tea Room)
  • The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist - Catholic (Romanesque Revival)
  • Newfoundland Science Centre - the Murray Premises (a restored fishing premises), Water Street

Attractions within 15 or 30-minute drive of the conference facility:

  • Topsail Beach (30-minute drive)
  • Sunshine Park (20-minute drive)
  • Cape Spear (20-minute drive) - the most easterly point of land in North America (lighthouse, World War II gun battery and cannon on site)
  • Middle Cove Beach (20-minute drive)
  • Bowring Park (10-minute drive)
  • Lester's Farm (20-minute drive)
  • Flatrock Grotto (30-minute drive)
  • Bell Island (20-minute drive to the ferry terminal at Portugal Cove, then a 20-minute ferry ride to Bell Island) - Bell Island was the only place in North America to have seen enemy action in World War II. A pier where 80,000 tons of iron ore was stored for shipping was torpedoed by German U-boats in 1942. At low tide you can see the relics of the 4 ships that were sunk during the attack and on shore stands a memorial to the 69 men who lost their lives. You can also take a tour of #2 mine, an underground mineshaft.


Ecology, Geology, and Geography for all ages:

  • Fluvarium - A unique facility on the shores of Long Pond in the heart of Pippy Park. A series of nine panoramic viewing windows gives visitors a chance to see the secret underwater life of a river. This is the only year round public fluvarium in North America. Also displays exhibits related to freshwater ecology; live exhibits displaying frogs, toads, eels freshwater fish and invertebrates. Guided tours year round.

  • Ocean Science Centre - The Ocean Sciences Centre is a cold ocean research facility operated in conjunction with Memorial University of Newfoundland. Located in Logy Bay, the Centre houses laboratories where research is conducted on the North Atlantic fishery, aquaculture, oceanography, ecology, behaviour and physiology. Research is conducted on organisms ranging from bacteria to seals.

    Each summer visitors of all ages are invited to the outside touch tank and Seal Facility where student interpreters discuss research conducted at the OSC, marine mammal and sealing issues, and introduce the curious to a variety of native sea creatures. Interpreters are available throughout the summer. There is no charge.

  • GEO Centre - Located on Signal Hill Road and within walking distance of the conference facility. The Johnson GEO Centre tells the story of “Our Earth and Our People” by making great use of the geology of our province. The large, glass-encased entry is the only part of the building above ground. Most of the 33,600 sq. ft. of floor space is underground – inside solid rock walls, which for more than 550 million years have witnessed the story of our Earth. Those walls are there to see and touch, and reveal the secrets of the creation of lands and seas, mountains and rivers, and the causes of earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves, and the ice ages.

    The GEO Centre also houses a permanent RMS Titanic exhibit (the wreck of the Titanic lies 350kms west of Newfoundland).

  • Mistaken Point - huge, exposed fossil beds, and only a 30 minute drive from St. John's.

  • Dover Fault Line - Millions of years ago the Dover Fault Line was formed by the forces of continental drift. It is the dividing line for Gondwana and Laurentia that was formed by the Iapetus Ocean. Dover is located 330 kms west of St. Johns. It's a long (and scenic!) drive, but a great experience for the serious geology buff or supercontinent theorist.

  • Newfoundland has over 300 different species of birds. The world's largest guillemot (murres), razorbill, and storm-petrel colonies are located on the Avalon pennisula. Other commonly seen species include; gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, falcons, hawks, osprey, and American bald eagles. If you're a 'birder' you won't want to miss:
    • Cape St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary
    • Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Historical Sites:

  • The Heart's Content Cable Station - On July 7, 1866 the first successful transatlantic cable installation, originating in Valentia, Ireland, was completed at Heart's Content. Heart's Content served as a major cable relay station for over a century. The old Cable Station has been preserved a as a Provincial Historic Site and is now open to the public during the summer.

  • Being the most easterly point of land in North America, Newfoundland was, and continues to be used, as an embarkment point by many of history's greatest explorers. Walking around the city of St. John's you will see monuments honoring:

    • Alcock and Brown - made the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic. They took off from Lester's Field, St. Johns on June 14,1919, and landed June 15,1919, at Clifden,Ireland.

  • Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for the cape, "Raso" meaning "bare". The Cape appeared on early sixteenth century maps as Cape Raso. It is a barren, rocky, inhospitable piece of land that records (on average) 158 days of dense fog each year; yet it has a rich history!

    • The first lighthouse erected at Cape Race in 1856 was a cast iron tower with a coal oil lamp turned by clockwork. It was replaced in 1907 by a concrete tower and light with a hyperradiant fresnal lense.

    • The original Cape Race lighthouse now stands in front of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. The second and existing lighthouse is a National Historic Site (its massive lense is one of six; and they are the largest in the world).

    • Newfoundland’s first wireless communication station was established at Cape Race in 1904. The Marconi Company Station at Cape Race was the only land-based location to receive the distress call from RMS Titanic. Wireless operator Robert Hunston recorded all communication between Titanic and responding vessels.

    • By 1910 the New York Associated Press had an office at Cape Race to relay their news stories from Britain to New York.

    • During the World Wars the allies used Cape Race to receive and intercept messages from up to 400 miles away. The war was reported by vessels that would contact Cape Race then drop mail offshore, which contained news from around the world.

    • The Cape Race LORAN-C transmitter was a 411.48 m (1350 ft) tall guyed mast, built in 1965. This mast was the tallest structure in Canada until the construction of the CN Tower, and remained the second-tallest structure until its collapse on February 2, 1993. The tower was replaced by a 260.3 meter (854 ft) tall guyed mast, insulated against the ground.

Special thanks to Dwayne Lewis for designing the official AVLIC 2008 logo.
Click here to visit his website.
Website created by Amy King and maintained by Colleen Griffin.
If you experience any errors, please contact Colleen at navli2@yahoo.ca