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