A Couple of New Places in the Collection

Yes I have two new additions to my country collection. They are numbers 220 and 221. In the last two days I have received a number of postcards , eleven in fact, from quite an assortment of places around the globe. First up is a card from my home province of Newfoundland & Labrador , an island off the east coast of Canada. The card was sent from Cape Spear, the most easterly point in Newfoundland, Canada and North America. When you stand at Cape Spear there is nothing between you and Europe but a lot of water. The Cape Spear Lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and is located at 47 31 N and 52 37 W.The first lighthouse here was built in 1836 and the site has been designated a Canadian National Historic Site. The card shows various Newfoundland scenes. The top left corner shows Hawthorne Cottage in Brigus. It was the home of Captain Bob Bartlett, a world famous navigator and Arctic explorer. Bartlett accompanied Robert Perry on his voyages to the North Pole. In the top middle is Cabot Tower , on Signal Hill where Marconi received the first wireless message. The top right corner shows Point Rich lighthouse , located on the Great Northern Peninsula of the island. The lower left shows L'anse Aux Meadows, the site of Viking settlement on the island , dating from around the year 1000. Hawthorne Cottage, Cabot Tower and L'anse Aux Meadows are all Canadian National Historic Sites. L'anse Aux Meadows is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The card was sent by Jerry and Bev, friends of my wife and I for more than 35 years. The card was sent with a 2008 permanent polar bear stamp and you can see from the postmark that it was cancelled at Cape Spear. For all the lighthouse lovers out there, I have included a picture of Cape Spear Lighthouse. Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

Now for a new country to my collection. Country #220 is The Gambia. Located in West Africa, it is the smallest country on mainland Africa . It is bordered to the north, east, and south by Senegal. It has a small coastline on the Atlantic ocean in the west. This card was sent by PCV Katie C . She has a blog called Katie's Totally, Super, Awesome, Gambian Adventure!!! Katie used a number of butterfly definitives on the card. Thanks Katie, it was great to get a card from The Gambia.

The next card is from Norfolk Island. This is a small island in the South Pacific located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. Population is around 2,140. Jillian a Postcrosser sent the card. The card shows the island , looking south from Mt Pitt.Jillian saw on this blog that I collect airline/aircraft related stamps and used 2 wonderful stamps. They will certainly add to my collection. The stamp on the left is from 2003 and shows a Qantas aircraft and celebrates 100 years of powered flight. It is single from a set of 3, a just beautiful set of stamps. The other impressive stamp shows a F/A-18 Hornet of the Royal Australian Air Force. It is from a set of 4 and was issued in 1996 on the 75th Anniversary of the Air Force. Thank you Jillian for this card and the 2 great stamps that you so thoughtfully used.

Two more cards and we'll call it a day. Next up is a card from Republika Srpska and is country or entity #221. Republika Srpska is one of two political - territorial divisions of the Sate of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's capital is Banja Luka , from where this card was posted. The card shows Greetings from Banja Luka, home of the 2009 World Rafting Champs. The card is from Bob Lamb, who has sent me a number of cards the past few years. He is a former Executive Director of The American Philatelic Society. Bob is the reason I started to collect a postcard from every country and stamp issuing entity in the world. I read an article about him in Linn's Stamp News a few years ago in which he said he was attempting to collect a stamped postcard from every country. The big difference is that he wants to travel to every one of those countries and mail himself the postcard. I certainly hope he succeeds. Bob used a very striking stamp from a 2008 set of 2 issued for Nature Conservation featuring birds of prey.

Before I go on to the final card , let me say this about Bosnia and Herzegovina. As I understand it, there are three equally right postal operators in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are 1, JP PTT BiH- operated by the Sarajevo government. 2, HP Hrvatska Posta- operated by Mostar (Croatian) government and 3, Srpske Poste- operated by Banja Luka (Serbian) government. I now have a postcard from Bosnia and Herzegovina , with a Sarajevo stamp and a postcard from Republika Sspska with a Banja Luka stamp .Now if only I can get one from Hrvatska Posta , I would have the complete set of 3. Anyone reading, who lives in the Mostar region, under the Mostar Croatian postal service, please feel free to drop a postcard in the mail for me.

Now the final card for today is from Montenegro. It also was sent by Bob Lamb. It shows a 2000 year old olive tree located in the city of Bar. It was posted from Podgorica. It has a 2008 stamp, but which I could not find any info. Thanks Bob for both of these great cards.

With 221 now in the collection, I now have 45 more to go. I never really thought 3 years ago when I started this collection, that I would ever have such luck. Some of the places I have received a card from , I never thought it possible. Now I just keep going, knowing that there are still a lot of difficult collecting days ahead.

Take care.