More Great postcards , International and Newfoundland

Without further ado, here are today's Great cards. I have four Newfoundland and Labrador Towns cards for this time. They come from Torbay, Nain , Ferryland and St. Lawrence. My internationals come from Belgium, Sri Lanka, Canada, Mexico , Slovakia, Ukraine and Italy

Let's start with Torbay. Torbay is a town on the eastern side of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador. The town is located north of the capital city of St. John's and has a population of about 7400. The history of the town dates back to the 1500s, but this year marks the 250th anniversary of the landing of Lt. Col. William Amherst and 1000 British Troops on Torbay beach, an event that led to the last battle of the Seven Years War. My card gives you a look at a small church in Torbay and somewhat of a view of the natural harbour of Torbay. On a personal note- I lived in Torbay for 10 years, from 1985-1995. The stamp is not one of the regular issues of Canada Post in 2012. It is called a Picture Postage stamp and was issued to be used on a commemorative envelope highlighting Torbay's 250th. The special postmark also commemorates the town's 250th. I received two Torbay postcards, the church one and this second one, showing the scene as shown on the stamp.

The second card is from Nain , my first postcard from the mainland section of Newfoundland and Labrador. Nain is the northermost town of any size in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located 370 km by air from Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The town was established as a Moravian mission in 1771 by Jens Haven. The current population of Nain is just over 1025. My card, sent from the Nain Inuit Community Government shows a few members of the George River Caribou Herd. The herd numbers 27,600 , down from 74,000 in 2010, 385,000 in 2001 and over 700,000 in 1990. I'm glad I got my card now as with these drastic drops in numbers, the herd looks to be on its last legs. The card arrived without a stamp, opting for a postage meter that was later hand stamped at the Nain Post Office.

My next card is from Ferryland. The town of around 500 is located on Newfoundland's east coast on the Avalon Peninsula. Ferryland was originally established in the late 16th century. Ferryland, established in 1621 as the Colony of Avalon by George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore was the first successful permanent colony in Newfoundland. It is quite possibly one of the most historic communities in all of North America. My card is of a Bellarmine Jug, a German stoneware jug uncovered during excavations in the town. It was used for storing distilled spirits. This card arrived with a Louise Arbour stamp, 1 of 4 in a Difference Makers set issued in May of this year. Topping it off is the socked on the nose postmark or cancellation.

The last Towns of Newfoundland card for this time is from St. Lawrence. This small town of about 1350 people is located on the southern coast of the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland. My card is a beautiful view of Chamber Cove , near St. Lawrence. This is the site of the shipwreck of the U.S.S. Pollux. On the 18th of February , 1942 the Pollux ran aground here and almost simultaneously at Lawn Point , a short distance away, the U.S.S. Truxton ran aground. The major winter storm took the lives of over 200 American sailors , while 168 survived with the help of the residents of St. Lawrence. This is the 70th anniversary of that tragedy. The stamp used is from this year and is 1 of 4 definitives featuring baby Wildlife.

Moving on to the internationals. First up is a card showing a 1915 battery or observation post in Aachen, Germany. All I think about when I see these leftover war dinosaurs is John Lennon's Imagine. He said it all. Johan of Johan Postcards posted this from Ghent, Belgium. Johan used a wonderful 2012 Games of the XXX Olympiad, London stamp.

Here's another card sent by Ravindra of Sri Lanka. His card shows Sigiriya Rock, a hardened magma plug from an extinct and long eroded volcano. It rises 370 m above sea level. Sigiriya is a town in central Sri Lanka. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Ravindra used 2 stamps of the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London. The stamp on the right was also issued this year and shows a Terracotta Figure from Sigiriya.

Next is a multi view card of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. A new reader of my blog sent this one along. Of course, he has a blog here. Ben wrote on his card that he wrote a blog post on his blog , relating my achievement of reaching 2500 postcards. On Ben's card in the middle left is The Empress Hotel. My lovely Teena and I had the privilege of staying there for 2 nights a while ago and found it outstanding. One of the great hotels of the world, for sure. Ben used 1 of the Canadian Pride definitives issued in January of this year. It is a set of 5 stamps showing places one might find The Maple Leaf- our flag.

Now a card from Mexico. This one from David, shows a Carnival Cruise ship docked in Cozumel. David used a definitive from 2011 and got a great , clear cancellation.

Jean Pierre's card shows a couple of scenes of Bratislava, Slovakia. He used 3 stamps, but the most interesting one for me is the large one on the right. It honors The Slovakia National Hockey Team for winning the silver medal at the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.

I think that's a wrap for this time. I'll leave the cards from Italy and Ukraine for another time. Thanks to Jean Pierre, David, Ben, Ravindra, Johan, Eileen, The Nain Community Gov't and the Torbay Postmaster for their cards and help.

Thanks for reading , come back soon , and leave a comment if inclined.