1 ferry, 24 hours, 5 provinces...priceless???

Too tired to tell you what happened. I'll get back to you tomorrow :)

I am back finally.

OK, so, where did I leave you off. I think it was that we had to get up in the morning and drive like stink.

We were up pretty early. I think Joel was a little stressed and didn't sleep well. We could get some brekkie at the hotel so we were in there pretty early and got some cereal and stuff. Remember the couple from Calgary--the guy who was the photography instructor? We bumped into them again at breakfast. Turns out he took 18,000 images in a month in Newfoundland. And I thought I took a lot of pictures. I can't even imagine how long it would take to go through them all.

We were on the road by 5 to 7, coffee in hand. We stopped for gas, coffee and pee stops but kept driving pretty steadily. It was foggy and hard to see. We followed someone who seemed to know where he was going and pulled off when he did. I saw him inside the gas station and said that he couldn't leave without us because we needed him to get through the fog. He said that he was pulling off and going somewhere else but that we were just about out of the fog. He was right. We were out of the fog soon.

We saw all the same trees and rocks and lakes that we had seen on the way across the first time. We stopped in Corner Brook to get a sandwich for the ferry since we didn't think there was too much choice on the boat.

We made it to Port Aux Basques by about 5:00 and we were to check into the ferry by 8:00 for a 10:00 p.m. departure. We went to the check in booth and the lady there gave us our tickets but wouldn't let us go into the waiting area. We couldn't go in until 6:00. We drove around Port aux Basques (that took about 5 minutes), I called Dad to say we had made it there and then went and hung out in this sort of parking lot place. Some people had been there for 2 days waiting for their ferries. I was feeling lucky that at least we were getting on to the ferry we were supposed to be on. We met some interesting people there. One guy had driven a lot and had boats and motorcycles and Joel enjoyed talking to him. We soon got in the line to get into the actual line for the boat. We were supposed to get in at 6 but then they didn't let us in until 7:00. But that meant that we were pretty close to the head of the line.

We had some time to kill in line. We had our sandwiches--at them at the hood of the car so we wouldn't get any mess inside. I did some crossword puzzles and went into the terminal. There was a seating area in there with a big TV. They had a video on but it was the part before the movie actually starts. You know where they have "play", "extras" and whatever and the sound plays over and over with the same tune?? That's what people were watching. I mentioned that in order for the movie to start someone would need to press play. Someone there said that they supposed someone would push the button. I had nothing further to say.

There was still a ferry ahead of us that was loading and preparing to leave. Our ferry hadn't even come into the dock yet. When the earlier ferry was ready to leave, I went over to watch it leave. It was really cool when the ship left how much water was stirred up and how long it took to settle down. No wonder I didn't see much stuff living on the bottom. It would need to have one heck of a suction cup to stay on the rocks near there.

We got to get on the ferry--finally. We were among the first to get on. People we had talked to earlier had said there is a good spot on the 7th deck. The ferry people only want one person per seat so they put up bars in between seats that could be a bench and used to lie on. And, they don't want you sleeping on the floor. Joel made me run up all these flights of stairs to get to the good spot first. It almost killed me. But we got the good spot. Joel undid the light bulb so it was dark. I could hardly keep my eyes open by this point. There was a family with teenage kids who came in and had to sit right next to us. They weren't bad but they were just a little loud. Joel asked them to keep it down and they did. I wanted to roll our mattresses right out but Joel said we should wait until we leave. So we waited. The ship finally got going, only 2 hours late. But I was OK with that--it meant that we weren't getting off the ferry at 4:00 in the morning but that it would be 6:00. I was a little nervous about driving across Cape Breton at 4:00 in the morning. There are a lot of moose there too.

The boat rocked quite a bit at the beginning and I thought we might have a rough trip--something Joel wasn't looking forward to but it settled into a nice smooth ride (or I assume it did). We rolled out our mattresses and I had my pillow and my travel blankie and I was good for the night. The PA came on to say we were docking in and hour or a half hour or something so we had to get up and brush our teeth and roll up our mattresses and get ready to go back down to the car.

We got back down there, threw everything in the car and waited. They were letting all the campers and trucks off first. That made a lot of sense. Let's let all the slow stuff off first so that the faster people will have to pass them all on the 2 lane highway that goes all the way through Cape Breton. Joel just shook his head. There was one poor guy--actually the farmer from Saskatchewan who had a trailer and a cat and a dog and his wife who had waited for 2 days in the parking lot to get on a boat--who was trapped behind someone who had not come to get their car. That would really suck because he was a little stuck.

So, we took off into the wilds of Cape Breton. It was really pretty driving through it as the sun came up. We did have to get past some slower vehicles but it wasn't too bad. we just kept driving, and driving, and driving. Through Cape Breton. Through Nova Scotia. Through New Brunswick. Even though it wasn't exciting it was a relief to finally see farms. We couldn't figure out all the difference between Newfoundland. Maybe it was because the brush was cut back further from the road, maybe it was because we could see houses--I don't know. It just felt really different.

We got to Edmonston and decided to keep going. We had decided we would stop when we got too tired. Into Quebec. Don't even get me started on the single language signage in Quebec. At least I can read enough to know what's going on. Got to Riviere du Loup. It was about 4:00 p.m. and too early to stop--Joel couldn't imagine waiting around for 6 hours before bed. Thought we would head to Quebec City. Got to Quebec City. Kept going. Got to Montreal. I was driving. There was a car crash we were stuck behind for a while. Is Montreal always under construction? Joel navigated. I went on all the roads I was supposed to. Yay. We were going to look for a place to stay on the far side of Montreal so we wouldn't get caught in the traffic the next day. Hadn't seen anywhere to stay. Then we saw the sign for Ontario that said something like 70 km. Then I began to think that if we could make it to Ontario, we would have been in 5 provinces in one 24 hour period. I asked Joel if he had another 70 km in him. He said he was OK. So, we switched drivers at an A & W. I was so hungry. Off we went again. We hit the Ontario border. Woo hoo!!!!

I knew I should have pushed harder to go over the PEI bridge. Then we could have hit SIX provinces in one day. Oh well.

We really started to look for a place to stay once we hit Ontario and didn't find anything until we got to Cornwall. We found the first place--a Super 8. It had a pool. The only place we stayed the whole time with a pool and I was too tired to use it. :( :( :( We checked in at about 9:30. I would say that was pretty darn good time.

I slept really well that night.

The next day we were up and away again. We made a quick stop in Kingston to see if Bob and Patsy (and maybe Lou) were there. Nope. We left a note. I hope they got it.

We were in traffic steadily from Brockville and solidly from Kingston. Joel kept getting frustrated at all the smurfs in mohos. Translated, that means all the old people in motor homes who were doing barely the speed limit. Or, they were over taking someone who was in the slow lane at 100 km/h while they were in the passing lane at 102 km/h. Uphill. Have you seen that little clip of the cartoon guy and the computer and he is bashing his head on the keyboard until blood comes out and eventually his head pops off?? That was Joel.

We did notice a few things on our travels though.

Based on our extensive and extremely scientific study of beaver ponds in Eastern Canada, here are the conclusions of the study.

1. There are many beavers in Newfoundland--too many for an accurate count. I would say at least 12.


2. There are beavers in 50% of the ponds in Nova Scotia.


3. New Brunswick is rife with beavers.


4. There are 2 beavers in Quebec.


5. No beavers at all live in Ontario.

We also noticed something else. Down near Brockville, some of the leaves are changing. We had a good yell at those leaves so that should solve the problem.

We saw more police between Cornwall and Prescott than we did in all of Newfoundland for 8 days.

We saw 2 people getting their cars impounded by the OPP on the highway. Or at least that is the assumption we made when we saw police, a tow truck and a cab all in the same place at the same time.

We determined that Ontario drivers are self-important dumbasses and the more expensive the car, the more important the person driving it seems to think they are. Therefore, they have the inalienable right to butt in and cut off anyone they want. I'll take the Newfoundland drivers any time. They have a much better sense of driving fair play.

I have also concluded that people who travel only by GPS are missing out on the experience of the paper maps. How can you get a sense of the lay of the land when you are only looking at 4 inches square of a map at any one time?? Yes, I am a Luddite in many ways.

We got back to Joel's house in Whitby right where we began. We unloaded the car and then Joel had the Q Tips out cleaning out the car. I watered the plants and did a crossword puzzle. I was waiting to get the car to go to Aunt Joyce's to go for a swim. I went over there and Magnus and I played around the pool for a while. Back to Joel's. I was really ready to go home but we had to wait for the traffic in Toronto to clear.

Finally we were off to my house but had to stop at Mom's to change over the cars--moved all the stuff from hers into mine and Joel's and I was at my house by 9:30!! It was nice to be home.

I think Merlin and Pixi were actually happy to see me.

I slept well again last night. And now, things are all back to normal. Good or bad, that's the way it is.

So, I guess this is all I have to say about things for now. I hope you have enjoyed the trip. I had a great time doing it and it was fun telling you all about it. I hope you weren't bored to tears.

People...step away from the mint green siding.

There are a few professions that would probably guarantee you a steady income in Newfoundland. One is a mechanic. There are lots of vehicles here--cars, boats, ATVs, snowmobiles. There are a lot of new and well kept vehicles here. Maybe I was expecting to see more beaters but I guess you really need to have a reliable vehicle given the distance everything is away from everything else and the weather.



The other is a siding installer. Most of the houses are made of siding. Some are wood. Not much brick. Most of the houses are nicely kept. There are, however, some problems with the siding. They have lots of white, some really nice yellow and green. Even the blue and the red are good. But, people have got to STOP putting mint green siding on their houses.



Last night we stayed at a place called Fong's. Chinese restaurant and motel. Fong was the first person to gain citizenship in Newfoundland and opened some of the first businesses operated by Chinese people. I didn't see and Chinese people here though. We finally found a remote for the TV and it was all good except for having to bang the TV every once in a while.



We slept in a bit. Joel talked to the people at the front looking for a laundromat and they said that we could use their laundry facilities in the basement. Cool. Did some laundry. Took forever to dry but that's just the way things are I guess. We set off pretty late today but we really didn't have too many places to go.



We went first to Heart's Content. Wanted to see the stuff about the first transatlantic cable. We went to the museum and I guess we walked in the back door and kind of only got part of the exhibit. Needless to say, it was all about laying the first transatlantic cable from Ireland to Newfoundland. There had been several attempts that had failed and finally this worked. There were boats with cable loaded in them that sailed across the Atlantic leaving telegraph cable behind.



There was some interesting stuff about the people who worked there. Originally it was men but they hired a few women and they became so good at their jobs sending messages and decoding messages that they were among the highest paid people in Newfoundland. The company provided housing and recreational activities for their employees too. A real rarity at this time. I will have to do some more reading on this--it's pretty interesting.



They had a lighthouse in Heart's Content too--one that was painted like a barber pole. We finally found our way there. Some places in Newfoundland are signed really well. Others, not so much. No one was there, there were no fences or anything so we could climb all around it.



We went from there down to places called Heart's Desire and Heart's Delight. They were just small little towns. Nothing fancy. We kept going until we got to the bottom of Trinity Bay and stopped in Dildo. And no, it's not named after what you are thinking.

There was a harbour and some fishing boats. They were smelly. There was a nice restaurant so we had lunch out in the sun on a patio overlooking the water. We had halibut. I ate fish. And it had the skin on. And it had bones. But it was really good.

We kept going and decided to head back to a more major town to find somewhere to stay. Nothing there. We thought we might as well head back to St. John's--there will have to be somewhere to stay here. Nothing at the Super 8 and nothing at the Comfort Inn and then the girl at the counter checked something and there was a room. Good think we came back to St. John's. Our phones don't work outside of St. John's and when we got into our room and checked the phone, there were 2 messages from Marine Atlantic saying that our ferry tomorrow from Argentia was cancelled and that it was now leaving at 10:00 p.m. out of Port aux Basques. That is a 1000 km drive from here. We have to be at the ferry terminal by 8:00 tomorrow night. So, we are up very early, driving a very long way, sitting on a ferry for 6 hours which means we get into North Sydney at 4:00 a.m. and then we have to drive again since there is nothing there. I don' t know if this is better than the 14 hours we were supposed to be on the ferry originally. Apparently people are only supposed to sit in one seat and are not allowed to sleep on the floor. With no where for people to sleep and no where to get any sleep once you get off the ferry do they expect people to sit up all night and then be let loose all over Cape Breton Island? These people are nuts.

Anyway, not entirely impressed with the whole deal but I don't have any say in the matter. At least we have a spot on the boat as long as we get there.

I went back down to downtown St. John's tonight to pick up some souvenirs for people. Still not a good driving experience. They don't put street signs on the road so you have absolutely no idea what street you are driving on. Eventually I got what I needed, found a Subway to get Joel some supper and made it back to the hotel. I have to get my ferry bag ready tonight too so I had better get at it. Morning is going to come pretty early tomorrow.

I hope we have a good and safe drive.

Don't think I will get a chance to post anything tomorrow but we'll see how far we get tomorrow. Right now, I am ready to come home. I wish home was closer is all.

Ah well, all part of the adventure.

As you were.

J

Joel HATES St. John's

Hey Everyone!

I am back. I was out of commission for a couple of days there. Sorry about that.

We survived the night at the university. I am glad I don't have to live in a residence room any more. These ones were a little dingy and awfully small for two people to live in for a whole year. Maybe my standards are different now than they were 25 years ago. The men's shower was across the hall from our room but the bathroom was around the other side of the floor. The women's washroom was near our room but the shower was way around the other side of the floor. Joel didn't enjoy that. We were on what they called the 4th floor but the elevator only went up to the number 3 but when we got off, that's where we wanted to be. Floor number 1 was the basement. It was a little wacky. There was no TV--I thought there would at least be a TV in the common room. Nope. We had no access to the kitchen on the floor. It was all locked. There was supposed to be internet access but they couldn't load the program on mine so there was nothing...

I loaded my pictures on and took a look at them. That was pretty exciting.

We got up today and Joel had a shower in the lovely men's washroom. We had our cereal and decided that we didn't want to stay in St. John's for the next few days. We thought we could get everything we needed to do done today and then move on. We checked out of the University and headed out.

We were on our way to Signal Hill and went to Quidi Vidi. We accidentally found the battery at Quidi Vidi. We found lots of things by accident today. The battery was to protect the tiny harbour at Quidi Vidi but also to protect St. John's from threats from the north. There was a replica of the battery--it was really small and some guns. Quidi Vidi (the town) is now a small fishing village and the brewery for Quidi Vidi beer.

Our first real stop was Signal Hill. This is where the Morse Code S was heard for the first time from England. There is also a tower there dedicated to John Cabot. It was waaaay up the hill and you could see great views of St. John's. It's an interesting harbour. Very small entry and not too big in the actual harbour part but very protected and quite safe for ships.

I think everyone in the known universe was at Signal Hill this morning. It was pretty crowded there.

St. John's is one screwed up town for getting around. There are no signs telling you where to go for major things. The street signs are hit and miss. Some streets will change names 4 times. Sometimes you can't just go any more in a particular direction and then you have to go around the block and it will start going again. Joel LOVED every minute of driving down there, I tell you. And, everything is on a hill. Remember, never drive a standard in St. John's. I can't imagine how horrible it would be there in freezing rain.

We wanted pictures of the jellybean houses in St. John's. Lots of the houses in the downtown part are painted these really bright colours. Really kind of cool. So we went back to St. John's to get pictures of that.

Next was to go to Cape Spear. Joel thought he could get out of St. John's and to Cape Spear one way (there were no signs) but nope. Wrong way. We got off at the next exit and went back the way we came sort of and eventually there was one little sign and we finally made it there. We got to the parking lot and got out and it was really really windy. We found the sign for Cape Spear--most easterly point on the continent!!! I would have liked to have stuck my hand in the water but there were signs around saying that there have been 8 people killed by going too close to the rocks. We walked around on some of the paths and found the WWII battery that had been built there to help defend St. John's during the war. We went up to see the lighthouses. We saw a couple of whales from the paths. They were way far away but they were out there!!

It was so windy up at the top. It feels like all the water got blown out of me today. We took pictures of the lighthouses and headed back down the 140 000 steps to get to the bottom. Definitely not handicapped accessible. In fact, neither is most of Newfoundland. At Cape Spear, there was the most protection for the public that we have seen anywhere. Rarely have their been fences or things to keep the public away from the edge of anything. I guess, if you are gonna be stupid, you are going to face the consequences. Ontario could take note. I bet if half of what we have done we tried to do in Ontario, we couldn't have gotten away with at home. We would have been allowed to view things from the parking lot or from a building behind glass. We have climbed all over things here and have had a chance to really explore things.

Now, I do understand the need for caution at Cape Spear. The wind was blowing fiercely (and it was good weather too--I can't imagine what it would be like in a storm--or winter for that matter) and the waves were pretty big--at least by my standards. We stopped at a little viewpoint on the way out and took pictures of the waves coming in. They came in and crashed on the rocks and the spray went all over. I could have stood and watched them all day.

We went south for a while--to Petty Harbour--a cute little fishing town, Bay Bulls and Witless Bay. Again, we stumbled on to the wildlife reserve--it's mostly islands but we found the beach part. Walked down the beach (not sand, all rocks) and the waves made a cool sound when they receded from the rocks. That's what should be on those sleep noise makers to help you fall asleep.

After that we decided to go across to another part of the Avalon Peninsula. We stopped at Brigus. It was where a guy who went to the Arctic was born and there was a tunnel there that took 4 months to blow through the rock so people could unload cargo from the ships. We climbed up to the top of this hill to see if we could see this tunnel--at this point we had no idea what this was. Just saw a sign on the highway. While we were on top of the hill, we figured out the the tunnel was right underneath us. Duh. The tunnel was cool and the town was kind of neat.

After that, we went to a place called Cupids--the first official English settlement in Canada--and the site of the first Canadian-born English person.

We ended up moving up towards Bay Roberts and started looking for a place to stay. There aren't many around here. Finally we found something in Carbonear. A motel attached to a Chinese restaurant. But, it has the essentials. Beds, shower, TV, wireless. So, that's it for today. Not all that exciting. But it is what it is. Maybe tomorrow will be more exciting. For you, I hope so.

Talk to you again soon.

Joanne

I have salt in my hair

Today, we got up—Joel let me sleep in while he took a shower, packed up our stuff and made our way to Trinity. We debated about coffee—do we get some, large or small, what if we have to pee??? We stopped at a gas station and got small coffees and got to the town. It’s a real historical town. Not sure as to exactly what all but the buildings all remain as they were, we saw people with period costume, etc. We were looking for Prince of Whales Adventures. Since we were early, we tootled around town a bit, saw the boat, went to the washroom at the public historical looking building washrooms and then went to the guy’s house. A neighbourhood dog was there to meet us. Friendly, like just about everyone else we have met so far.

We got to the house and Chris—the Prince of Whales—was there to meet us, and his wife (who is a teacher in Alberta so she goes back there at the end of August and I guess he’ll go out at the end of tourist season). There were already 3 people there—a couple from France and their son who was about 12 I would guess. Not big English speakers. The father could get across what he wanted. We were all to put on big huge floater suits. I guess if you fall over, it takes slightly longer to freeze to death. They gave us toques and gloves. It was like it was going to be -30 out there. I was a little nervous. I was also VERY relieved because they had a suit to fit me—and there was lots of room left over. Chris was waiting for 5 more people so since Joel and I knew where the boat was, we were to waddle down to the dock. I felt like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. And the suit was definitely warm. We were waiting on the dock and I was looking in the water and there were starfish (or etoile de mer according to Laurent) and sea urchins (and it turns out when I looked at the picture on the computer, there was a crab right beside him) and an Arctic Red jellyfish. That was a pretty cool start to the day right there.

Finally everyone got there—a family of 5 from Alberta. So, we loaded up into the boat—a Zodiac about 20 feet long with twin 90 hp outboards on it. We were about 2 feet off the water. We went out into Trinity Bay and started to look for whales. It took a few minutes and I spotted the first one—it was a Minky Whale. I didn’t even know Minky was a whale. But, it is. They are fast and change direction quickly so they are hard to get pictures of. They also have kind of a dolphin like pointy-er fin than other whales. I also learned that you can tell which type of whale it is from the spray they blow. Some blow straight up and it looks like a palm tree. Others spray in a V-shape and I think it’s the sperm whale that blow like mist and off to the side.

We saw a couple of Minky Whales there and then moved on to other places to look. We zoomed past some amazing cliffs. Saw some bald eagles there and tons more puffins. Remember I said puffins were hilarious? Well, they are even funnier on water. I was laughing out loud at the poor things. They have these wings that propel them over the water like egg-beaters or really fast moving kayak paddles. They bounce off the waves until the eventually get airborne. Sometimes they don’t get airborne and they bounce off one wave to land smack right into the next. Sometimes they just give up and dive. Apparently they can go 600 ft. below the surface. When they do get airborne, most birds tuck their feet up under themselves so that they look graceful and elegant. Not so much the puffins. Their orange feet stick out the back like a dual exhaust system as they wobble across the sky like drunk bats. If you have seen a bat fly, you will know what I mean.

When we got to the new place to look, Chris explained that we were over a trench in the ocean that basically ran across Trinity Bay and it could get over 1100 feet deep. At one point we were at 1130 ft deep. This is where the big whales like to come and feed. They eat capelin and herring and giant squid (which live at the bottom of this trench). We saw a sperm whale at the surface. He was blowing and blowing and you could see his fin and his back. Apparently they can dive for about 2 hours so when they come to the top, they really need to catch their breath. Then you could tell he was getting ready to dive again. We saw his back arch and his tail come up, flip, go straight and he was gone, back on the search for more food.

Along with the sperm whale, there were a whole pile of dolphins. They are nosy little creatures. I would say they are the Pixi of the underwater world. Those of you who have met Pixi will surely understand. The dolphins had to come over and see what we were doing. And they raced along beside us. They were white nosed dolphins and as they passed under and in front of the boat, you could see this teal thing moving and then they would jump out of the water alongside or in front of the boat. Very cool. They work together to get the fish all in one place and then go in for the feast. And, following along with the sperm whales mean that there are going to be leftovers around.

We saw another sperm whale off in the distance as he went under for another long dive. Apparently the whales up here are the male whales. The female whales and the calves stay somewhere down near the Azores as the females don’t like the colder water.

We also saw fin whales too. I think we may only have seen 1 or 2 and from a distance.

We had a snack while we were out there. Cookies and hot chocolate, coffee, tea, juice, water. I had nothing except cookies. A little worried about the having to pee thing.

We moved on to look at more, heading home this time. We saw another couple of Minky whales, a seal, puffins, a couple of eagles flying overhead. Nothing like 3 hours flying across the water on a really fast boat. Loved it all. The best 80 bucks I have spent in a looooong time. When we got back to the dock, we saw more Alaska Red Jellyfish just off the dock. Got some really good pictures of those.

It was time to move on again. We made pb & j sandwiches in the parking lot beside the water, walked up and down the beach looking for interesting things. I got some mussel shells and urchin shells and saw some poor crabs who had had holes pecked in them and got eaten somewhere along the way.

Time to head to St. John’s. Back on Hwy #1—the Trans Canada Highway. I can now say I have taken the Trans Canada Highway from Ontario east as far as it can go.

We got a little lost on our way to Memorial University where we are staying. The map was really wonky. FINALLY we made it here. We have a room on the 4th floor. Nothing fancy. Two beds. Community bathroom. I think I am too old for this. There were kids in a room down the hall played a really really really bad rendition of Journey. Fortunately they stopped. I don’t have internet access here so I will get this posted when I can.

We went to the main part of St. John’s tonight. George St. seems to be the hub of all the action. It was a little dodgy. Peeler bars and pool halls at one end, lots of pubs and bars along the entire street—it’s closed to all vehicles. We walked from one end to the other. Saw lots of what would in Toronto be called squeegee kids. Begging for money. Playing really bad punk music on their electric guitar. These people should not be allowed to have dogs. They don’t treat them very well.

Decided to have dinner at an Irish pub. It was good. We hadn’t eaten a real meal all day so I was really hungry. We walked around a little more down there, down by the harbour. If you were a ship looking for protection from the sea, this would be the harbour for you. Small, but well protected. Narrow entrance, easy to defend, I would imagine.

We saw some jelly-bean houses that we will have to go back and take pictures of tomorrow. All in all, not overly impressed with St. John’s itself. We were supposed to be here for a couple of days but I don’t think that’s going to happen. So far, tomorrow we are going to go to Signal Hill, Cape Spear (yay) and head down the coast to Witless Bay. I guess we’ll see where we end up.

As you were!!!

TTYS

P...P...P...PUFFINS!!!

So, today it was up and on the road again. We had breakfast at the hotel as it was a complimentary brekkie. Grabbed a Tim's and some gas and headed towards Bonavista. It was drizzly and rainy. Not looking good for the day if that was the case. We cancelled the reservation for tonight in St. John's and called the ferry company to see if we can get a cabin for Saturday. It's a 14 hour ride. All the cabins are full and so is the waiting list. How can a waiting list be full? But, I digress...

Most of the roads in Newfoundland are pretty good but the one that goes to Bonavista ain't the greatest. But, such is the way of things. We got to Bonavista and there were a few things we wanted to see. We went first to The Matthew--the ship replica that John Cabot sailed to, well, here.

There were a number of displays and a guided tour of the ship. Made out of all wood, sailcloth and hemp rope. And they caulked it with this hemp like stuff called oakum that when combined with water made the ship waterproof. Not a lot of room on their for sailors and supplies. And some poor person had to be up in the crow's nest 24 hours a day. If you gypped someone on the time, the Captain would put your hand on the mast and drive a knife through it. If that's not incentive to be on time, I don't know what is. You think we can implement this at school?? Probably not--some health and safety thing I bet. I thought driving for 6 days in an Escape wasn't great, try 34 on some smelly wet boat with a bunch of guys never knowing if you were going to sink., I'll take the Escape thank you very much!

The ship was cool. Right across from the fish packing plant and it was a little aromatic. I guess if one is slinging fish guts around, it can get a little stinky.

We went quickly after that to a display on the fishing industry. I skipped the part that you had to pay for. Joel was glazing over. Thought it best not to dwell too long on the museum stuff. I asked the guide we had at the Matthew a bit about fishing. Apparently there is a quota for the year for each boat and once they get that amount, their fishing days are done for the year. It could take them 2 weeks, or 6 months.

By now, the sun was out and it was good for picture-taking. We then went out to the Bonavista Lighthouse. We went to one side to take a look. And there, on the big rocks just offshore were, get ready for it--PUFFINS!!!! Tons and tons of them. They are hilarious. They fly like their wings are eggbeaters, I have no idea how they can get off the water. We took tons of pictures. I think they will just be specks on the rocks but I'll have to see what we got. We were out on some cliff thing. Joel took my camera and went down a bit and got some really good pictures I hope. We walked along the cliff more and looked at the lighthouse and went to the other side and watched more puffins. We met a couple from Calgary. He had the biggest honking lens on his camera--600 + the digital = 900 zoom. He was a photography teacher. We were chatting and heard a poiang sound--like a guy wire had snapped or something. We looked around and then down at the water and I saw the fin of a whale submerging from the surface. It was right off shore too. The noise must have been the whale. Very cool. I wish I had known what the noise what sooner so maybe I could have seen more of the whale. The couple told us about the whale tour they took today and they saw tons of whales and dolphins. They were close enough to determine that whale breath is not an attractive quality.

After the lighthouse, we stopped to take a picture of the John Cabot statue. No one knows exactly where he landed but they figure it's around the Bonavista lighthouse somewhere. The tour guide at the Matthew said he came, planted flags for the king of England and St Mark and turned around and went home. Joel figures it's because there was no place to park his ship--too many bloody cliffs.

Then we went to some place called the Dungeon. There was a huge rock carved out like an M. There we met some people who had lived in Vineland and had moved to Bonavista. They were there with their family from Ontario. They had lots to tell us about the area and what we should see and stuff. If they didn't have family, they would have had us stay at their place. So we followed some of their directions and ended up basically off-roading in the Escape (please don't tell Mom) and found some more remote cool stuff to take pictures of. We went for supper at a place those people recommended--fish bites and fries.

We were going to stay in Bonavista but thought it best to head towards Trinity where we are going to be tomorrow. We pulled into a motel and got the last unit at the top of the hill. I think there are moose outside. The guy who runs the hotel let us use the phone and we booked a trip with the Prince of Whales tour company. So, up early and off to see whales tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Joel is a little concerned about the lack of a bathroom on a Zodiac boat after his morning coffee. I am a little worried about the survival suit we are supposed to wear. Oh well, more to report tomorrow. Have a great night. Almost time for bed here!!!

ICEBERG, right ahead!!

So, did I mention before the smell of the forest in Gros Morne. We stopped at one of those places you stop at to take pictures, got out of the car and then just smelled. It was something I don't remember smelling before. Joel describes it as smelling like cotton candy. I can see how he would say that. I would add a hint of pine to it though. But, if someone could accurately bottle it, wow, I think it would sell!!

We got up this morning--a little late again--and had breakfast and got moving. We thought we could spend some time in Twillingate puttering around and seeing what there was to see. We thought about taking one of those boat tours that promise icebergs and/or whales. We asked at the front desk about the number of icebergs and heard that there weren't too many around. We also saw that there was a cod cutting up demonstration and we thought we would go see if we could see any of that. We couldn't quite find the right place. Oh well, no cod guts for us today.

We headed out to the mouth of Twillingate Harbour to see the lighthouse out there. As we came down one of the hills, I saw out the window, in the distance--an iceberg!!! Yay!! We could see them really well from the area around the lighthouse. They were way out there. We could see three, and then later we could see a couple more. We took tons of pictures. Hopefully they turn out. There were a bunch of little fishing boats off shore and around the islands. In town there is a fish factory(??)--I imagine it's where they bring the catch and prepare it to send to market. There is lots of fresh fish available to eat around there.

After the lighthouse we pealed out because the tour bus full of old people (or smurfs as Joel likes to call them) was beginning to move. We talked to one lady on the tour who had been to Costa Rica and had been stung by a sting ray. Apparently it hurts for 12 hours and stops. I have never met anyone stung by a sting ray before. Reason number 2 for no Costa Rica. Reason number 1 = the fer de lance. Bad snake. But, I digress.

We headed to the other side of the harbour and ended up in the next one over and there were iceberg-lets right in the harbour. We climbed up this little mountain. I am a good climber-upper. Down is another issue altogether. At that point you realize exactly how high you are and take stock of the fact that you have no knees and a bum ankle and your balance is shot. However, with the grace of a drunk mountain goat, I made it down. Lots more pics.

On the return trip we stopped at Auk Island Winery. You could sample as many wines as you wanted for $2.00. That was lunch!! (just kidding) But, we did sample a number of wines made of blueberries, partridgeberries, bakeapples and rhubarb. We bought a few interesting ones to take home--and to Dad at the cottage. We also got our trip mascot--Twilly the Puffin. She will go everywhere with us from now on.

We also stopped in the centre of town. Walked around a bit. We went into a small art gallery. This guy is a really good artist and does paintings of things around Twillingate and the way things used to be. I bought a small print of a wharf that used to be in the Twillingate Harbour. And, he told us the story of moving houses. Earlier in the 20th century there were a number of people who lived on islands around Twillingate and they were all fairly isolated. The government was having trouble providing services like health and education and figured it was cheaper to give the people a cash payout if they were willing to move to the mainland. Some people decided to stay on the islands but a number of people took the payout. So they moved. And took their houses with them. It turns out, people would take their houses off their foundations drag them down to the water, put a bunch of barrels or whatever would keep them afloat underneath and pull them across to the mainland, drag them up onto the shore and begin life again. The artist told the story of his father's house. It was moved in the winter across the ice--and part of it went through the ice. It took 500 men to pull the house out of the ice, across the harbour and onto the land. Later, they moved it again. The house was just up the street. We went and took a picture of it. He has a painting that has a whole row of men just towing this house across the ice. Very cool.

It was time to leave Twillingate so off we went. On our way to Gander. Not much to see along the way. I think the distances given on the tourist maps are wrong. The trips are way longer.

We got to Gander and got to our hotel. Nothing is really too hard to find around here. It's pretty nice. A Comfort Inn I think. I have decided I like motels where you can just back the car up to the door. I went across the street to the tourist information place to see what there was to do. No movie theatre. But there was bowling. Joel and I went to the memorial to the plane of US soldiers coming back from Egypt that crashed just off the airport. Some 265 or so were killed so there is a memorial there to them. After that, we went to some pond that had a boardwalk and walked around a little bit there.

Back to the hotel. Time to order pizza. I wanted to call my dad. Just to check in, you know. We have no cell service until we get to St. John's. I thought I'd call collect. You know how they have the little voice that tells you to leave your name. I did that. It called dad and told him if he wanted to accept the charges, press 1. Dad has a rotary phone and he kept telling the voice that he can't press 1 because he has the wrong phone. The voice didn't understand. I got cut off :(
So, I tried again with a phone card. Dad answered. All is good.

Now, having had pizza and Rice Krispie Squares I am all good. Tomorrow we will eventually end up in St. John's. Maybe go to Bonavista. Unsure at this point. Will keep you posted!!

Mooses are not myths

Well, what day is it? I have no idea--I mentioned I couldn't figure out what time it was, right? I think it's Sunday.

Did I tell you about the baby strawberries? They were at the lighthouse. Wild little wee strawberries the size of your fingernail. They were so cute and so tasty. You could eat a whole handful in one bite. I remember somewhere that bears like berries. I should think they wouldn't given the return on the labour investment. I mean, how many wee strawberries would a bear need to fill up his tummy? No wonder they get cranky.

So, last night I went to the grocery store and got some pasta and spaghetti sauce and we had a nice, cheap, home-cooked supper. We had cable TV and watched a little and I was really tired and went to bed early. We had a bit of a lie in this morning. Even Joel wasn't up before me and I got up at about 9:00. The weather was gray and it wasn't raining. We had breakfast and loaded up the car and were on the road by 10:30 or 11:00 after a search for coffee. There seems to be a lot of searches for coffee. We are always successful, eventually.

We were talking about what our plans for today were. Joel really wanted to do some stuff in Gros Morne. If we were to go to L'Anse Aux Meadows, it would be about a 4 hour drive up and we wouldn't be able to do a whole lot in the park. So, we decided we would putter about in the park for a while and then head east. We wouldn't go to L'Anse Aux Meadows. We were a little disappointed but couldn't bear that much driving looking at NOTHING. Did I mention there was a whole lot of NOTHING out here? No wonder they invented screech!

We decided we would do a couple of little hiking paths. Joel would have wanted to go to the top of Gros Morne but that was a 6-8 hour hike. If I went it would have been a 16-20 hour hike. Who's kidding who. There is no way I would have gone. I don't get the "I have to climb it 'cause it's there" crap. I am only climbing something if it's on fire and the only way out is through the top.

So we pulled off the main highway onto a road that would take us to the place where we could find pitcher plants (the flower that is on all the Newfoundland propaganda) The girl in the restaurant told us where to find them and I am sure she said Berry Hill Pond. So we were going to find that.

This is where the great Moose myth gets smashed. We are driving down the road and Joel says, "Hey, there's a moose". Since I was looking at the map at the time, I said, "where". He says "DUH"--right in front of us. Lo and behold, there he is coming out of the brush (did I mention there were trees in Nwfld?) and onto the road. HOLY CRAP. I am scrambling for my camera. A little worried that he might take it upon himself to charge the car. How am I going to explain hoofprints in the sunroof to my mom?? But no, he just wanted to snack on the trees on the other side of the road. They are like giraffes with short necks. Just snackin' on the trees. So we are taking pictures and watching him and he begins to move up the road so we follow. Around the bend there is his buddy. Also having a late breakfast. I named them Bo and Luke Moose. It has a bit of a ring to it, don't ya think? A guy came up behind us and said they were the biggest ones he had seen in a long time. I don't think they were fully grown. Both of them were males, I would say late teen, college age males. We followed them along and off they went into the brush again. Maybe looking for baby strawberries?? But, it was really cool.

Then we got to the parking lot and decided to take the Berry Hill path. The girl had said something about a boardwalk but she did speak really quickly and with an accent so I only got about half. Off we went. I am hiking with my coffee and my camera. Little did I know it was going to go straight up. Now, there is really something to be said for the flat land. I am a fan.

There was a trail with about 150000 steps in it to get to the top. I am not in shape for vertical. Joel was very patient and didn't mock me even once, though I could tell he was a little miffed.

We got to the top, took some pictures and then could see the boardwalk we were supposed to go on down on the other side of the parking lot.

Back down we went. Down is harder than up. At least on my knees. But, I had finished my coffee so at least I had free hands!!

We crossed the parking lot and went along the boardwalk path. We found pitcher plants--they are insectivorous, you know. And they had flowers. They don't really look like they do on the NFLD logo but, oh well. We saw moose prints, moose poo (I think it was moose poo--coulda been deer poo but...), went partway down the trail, cursed the really stupid people who threw their cigarette butts into the bog. Who does that? I mean really, people...

Then we got back into the car and drove up the coast a bit. Not really what I was expecting. Far more desolate than I thought it would be. Not a lot of poeple, only a little bit of fishing. We got to this place where you could hike in and take a boat cruise on an inland fjord. I thought fjords connected to the sea, but apparently I was wrong. Lots of people were in the parking lot. We didn't take the cruise but got some good pictures of some glacier stuff.

We now turned around and headed back towards where we had come. Had to stop for coffee first.

I heard someone say "Bye" for the first time today!! And I mean "bye" as in "Have ya got enough coffee der, bye". I guess there is some truth in the stereotype.

We thought we would head towards Grand Falls-Windsor and stay there overnight and then go to Twillingate up at the top (apparently there are icebergs) tomorrow. Once we got to Grand Falls-Windsor, Joel realized that if he had to spend 6 hours there before he went to bed, he would poke himself in the eye with a stick. So we kept going.

As a matter of fact, we made it all the way to Twillingate. Still a whole lot of nothing until we got close to here. It's a fishing town and fairly big. We found a motel and we have another thingy with a kitchenette and 2 bedrooms this time. We had dinner in the restaurant in the hotel--Joel had halibut (it was yummy) and I had garlic shrimp. I mean when in Rome (or Twillingate)... There isn't much point in eating beef if they don't have any for 1000 miles.

I am using the internet in the hotel lobby. They seem to have a fair bit of internet but I haven't had cell reception since Nova Scotia. We'll have it again in St. John's.

So, tomorrow, I think Joel has found some more hiking trails. And guess what, yep, they go up. Why isn't anything on the flat land???

Maybe we'll go on a whale watching thing. I think we can find lots to take picture of around here. Then, off to gander at gander. Ha ha. I slay me.

As you were. I am going to bed now since it's now 8:30 at home, 10:00 in Newfoundland.

OMG there is NOTHING out here

OK, I have to tell you that I didn't realize this place was this big. It looks so much smaller on the map. And it's all trees. And big honkin' hills.

We got off the ferry and went to the Tourist info centre--currently my best friend.

We were the first ones there. They gave us info and we asked where the nearest coffee was. There was a Tim's in Port aux Basques but every person off the ferry would probably be there. We thought there would be food available on the ferry last night. Wrong. We ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches in our cabin. Thank God Joel remembered to bring the stuff from the car. There was a teeny weeny not even cafe thing on the boat and all it had was hotdogs.

So, we were a tad peckish and in dire need of caffeine. Let me tell you, Joel needs his caffeine. Almost more than me.

So the nearest coffee was just up the road apparently, "about a half hour". OK, that ain't just up the road. But we went to the gas station and they had coffee and it was good! There was supposed to be a restaurant just up the road an hour so we got there and there was a line. So, we ended up in Stephensville at a diner place there. It was good. Joel Rainexed the windows again after breakfast and I found a bank. Stephensville is a place right out of about 1955. Picture Stoney Creek--the end closest to Millen Rd. before they did anything to it. Not a pretty sight. Apparently it had been a US military base from 1941-1966. There were these huge unused airfields and you could tell which buildings were the old barracks. They had names for streets based on US states--would that really make you feel at home??

We were going to do this trail thing around some part of a cape or point or something. It didn't look too exciting except for the alpaca farm so we turned around and got back on the Trans-Canada Highway and headed for Cornerbrook. We stopped at Marble Mountain--a ski resort. That valley and area was really beautiful.

Continued on through Gros Morne Park. Man there is a LOT of nothing in Nwfld. What do people do? There is the occasional house out in the middle of bloody nowhere with nothing at all nearby. The scenery in Gros Morne is quite something to be honest. Huge hills. Joel has compared things we drove through today to Alaska, BC, Colorado. I think it looks a lot like Haliburton, just way higher.

We got to Rocky Harbour which is where I am now. I have had to drive around to find a signal to glom onto. We are staying at a cottage which has cooking facilities so I am going to get some stuff for supper. We were early checking in and so we went to a lighthouse just up the way and puttered around town.

So, we saw lots today. Heard lots of Newfoundland accents. I expected more things like fishing but I guess we are on the wrong side of the province for that. There is 1 radio station here--only the CBC. What would happen to people if they shut down the CBC? It's the only way to get any info here.

We are debating what to do next. This 2 lane hilly highway is a long haul.

I'll let you know tomorrow where we get to if I can--have a lovely Sunday!!!

TTYS!

Driving forever.

So, this is the blog for Day 2. I didn't get a chance to fill it in yesterday so here it is for today.
We got up in Riviere du Loup and it looked like a beautiful day. A half hour later, we discovered that the storm we had outrun had caught up to us again.

What is a fromagerie. Based on my impeccable observations, Quebec people eat in fromageries. I am assuming the staple of their diet is therefore cheese. But, I have been wrong before. They make a lot of windows and doors and their on-ramps need to be longer.

Today's mission is to get from R de L to the ferry in North Sydney Nova Scotia.

There are a LOT of trees in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The highways were great in New Brunswick. There is a place in Quebec called St. Louis du Ha! Ha!--with the exclamation marks. I don't know why I find this hilarious, but I do.

So we drove and drove and drove in the rain for freakin' EVER. Trees and rocks, rocks and trees. And moose signs. I think moose are mythical creatures. The signs warn us all about them but I have never seen one.

We finally made it to the ferry. And we made it on time. There is a reason why I can't watch the Great Race. I would have a heart attack if I thought the contesants weren't going to make their flights or whatever.

Anyway, we finally got onto the ferry. Joel HAD to get on before this POS pickup with everything but the kitchen sink in it. It had a canoe, windows--they must have been through Quebec, a motorcycle, a table saw and a cooler. Joel hated them. They went too slow.

So, we got on and we had a 4 person cabin--for just the 2 of us. Sweet. It was so cool. bunk beds, a bathroom with a shower even, a teeny desk and a window (that didn't open for some reason). We got about 6 hours sleep before the announcement came to get off.

Off we got. I think it was about 6:45 or so. I have no idea what bloody time it is here. The clock in the car says 4:53 right now and it's either 4:23, 5:23 or 6:23. I haven't a bloody clue. There is something about losing an hour and then there is another half an hour but I have no idea if we gained it or lost it. They should have a big sign when you get off the ferry telling you what time it is.

So, we are at the morning of the 3rd day. I know this hasn't been the most exciting entry in the history of blogness but all we saw was trees and signs for moose. I swear.

Day 1--Home to somewhere in Quebec

So, what did I learn today??

I learned that a large Tim Horton's coffee consumed at about 8:00 p.m. will take almost exactly 6 hours to process.

That being said, I finally got packed and got to bed by midnight. I didn't get to sleep until about 2 a.m.

The 4:15 alarm comes awfully early.

It started to rain when I got to my mom's where I was picking up her car. Traffic was great across the city and we got to Joel's before he even got home from work. By then it was pouring.

Mom had come with me to get Joel's car. She thought she might go see my uncle before she went back home. Mom was basically going to wander around Whitby until she found Uncle Don but I suggested she use my cell phone. So, I dialed the number and then all of a sudden I heard, "DON, WHERE ARE YOU?? DO YOU WANT TO GO FOR COFFEE?" It would have been more effective if Mom had just stuck her head out of Joel's garage and hollered. Technology and my Mom don't really go well together. Joel and I were on the floor of the garage laughing.

So we loaded up and off we went.

We stopped for coffee and headed out in the rain. Eventually, we outran the rain, somewhere in Quebec. Joel drove, I drove. Quebec is pretty boring for the most part. I have no idea about Montreal, I slept through it.

But, by the time you get to the part of Quebec where you can see the river and the mountains, it is really nice.

You can see the traditional patterns of the fields--long and slim--left over from the seigneurial system that stretch towards the river. It's pretty cool.

We are now in Riviere du Loup at a motel. Nothing fancy. Beds, bathroom, internet access. One channel in English.

Tomorrow is a loooooooong drive. We have to make the ferry by 10 p.m. And we lose an hour. Where does it go???

So, today hasn't been earth-shatteringly exciting as you can see from this post. Hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful for you.

It's now July---2009

OK, it's now July 2009.

I really don't often have too much to say. But, I will be embarking on a trip down east in a couple of days and thought I might want to share what I am doing with people who are interested enough to read about it.

Stay tuned. We'll see what there is to see....

It's 2009

Can you believe it's 2009 already and I haven't had anything to say since 2007!!!