Crossing over from Maine to New Brunswick took longer then anticipated. The Canadian Immigration Officer just wanted to chat; we covered everything but the cost of a Big Mac hamburger.
After stopping at the information center, we headed south and within 10 kilometers we have our first flat tyre in 20,000 miles (32,000 kilo’s). Now this is Sunday afternoon around 1600hrs. Can we even guess how many tyre shops are open; do I really need to go any further on this discussion, no. So we sit at a truck stop with rain adding to the gloom, but there is a positive glow to this, Newfoundland is on the horizon.
Next day its off to get the tyre fixed, I end up at a NAPA auto shop and for a bit of cheer and a plug for the tyre I am on my way. Heading south to St Andrews for a quick stop for email and another mega-bit of tourist data, which is automatically forgotten once I am out the door. Fog and rain it is all day long so those prized pictures that I anticipated taking was a bit of a lost cause. A lay-by it was for the night with fog and drizzle for the comforting addition.
Morn brings fog even thicker but by mid-day the bulk of it has burned off. As Costco was in route to where I was going it was another stop to get the tyre rotated and balanced. Come to find out that the plug that NAPA did was not right but as I bought the tyres at Costco in Hawaii I was credited with the damaged tyre and a minimum cost for a new one.
Leaving Costco, it is Southeast to the coast and following the coast line until I am within shouting distance of the bridge going over to Prince Edward Island. And it is here that I will spend the night. The sunset is incredible here along with the retreating tide (Facebook).
Moving along the coastline finds us a bit further up the coast where the weather all day long is 32 C. Find a RV site for the night and it has to be the tent for the first time in over a month. Winds start buffing the tent as we rock and roll and next it is rain, heavy rain that continues all night long. The morn finds myself sleeping in a puddle, rain and winds continuing. Up and everything is shoved into the back of the goatmobile. The weather remains like this all morning and into the afternoon. Weather forecast is for another day of heavy rain along the Brunswick east coast. I finally mange to make it up the northern coast enough that there is a resemblance of sun. Find a school parking lot and lay out all of the gear on the tarmac. The heat from the tarmac and being blessed with sun has the bulk of the gear dry within an hour’s time frame. One thing you do notice as you move closer to Quebec English is the second language and just about all signs
are in French.
All across Canada all of the signs are in English with French subtitles. Welcome to Quebec, forget English period. Everything is French regardless and if you thought English would be a second language, wrong again. There are some words that are universal such as beer, scotch and others that a proper sailor like myself has no problem expressing.
Crossing New Brunswick into Quebec province, Gaspésie, we follow route 132 that follows the coastline. The southern coastline is a Wal-mart, McDonalds nightmare. Every tourist trap you can think of is there along with traffic, buses and aimless twits for 250 kilometers. Once you make it pass the National Park at Gaspe east end everything begins to settle down. Matter of fact following the coast line back west becomes enjoyable with small fishing villages and a road that runs right along the waters edge. And every village you enter, the biggest structure by far is a church and I mean every village. As explained to me the churches are product of the Quebec French, right now both land and patronage poor. The rest stops are frequent and some even sell food and most are available to spend the night at. Petrol can be a problem first thing in the morning as the majority of the stations don’t open until after 8 or 9 AM. The major cities will have a station open but plan accordingly. If you have the time, the north coast of Gaspésie is a place that deserves more time and each village just invites you to explore.
Starting from Quebec City following Route 138 to Baie-Comeau, by the way has a Wal-mart, going through every tourist trap possible and a ferry ride before stopping for the last petrol stop for 600 kilometers. The first leg is 214 km of sealed road and unknown to the tourist minister a fuel stop at $1.94 per liter. Who cares if its $4 per liter as long as you don’t run out of fuel. The next leg is 280 km of gravel, dust, truckers, bloody dust and not in that order either. The truckers were the worst that I’ve ever encountered. The only time you could get around them was on an up hill swing and believe me they made you pay for passing.
Finally getting into Fremont, Quebec, mining town, around 2130hrs after driving 12hrs (900km). Found a case of beer and became an unknown.
Next morning it was crossing into Labrador and a stop in Labrador City for a cuppa and muffin. Goose Bay was on the agenda, 8hrs of driving on 550km of gravel. The truckers were a blessing on this leg; they would pull over and signal to pass each time. The road to city of Churchill, midway, was in decent shape but the last 300km to Goose Bay was a nightmare with rain and potholes to the max.
Next day it’s catching the ferry from Goose Bay to Cartwright, a 13hrs over night trip. Sooth sailing all the way except for finding a sleeping place which ended up in the bar listening to two yahoo’s talk about their kids and 3rd wife until 0230hrs.
Ferry arrives Cartwright 0600hrs, a young lady passes out a small brochure on Cartwright, what she does not tell anyone is that nothing opens until 1000hrs. Well it’s down the road until Mary’s Harbor, 250km, and a stop for the day. Off tomorrow to visit Battle Harbor, back in the 1700’s, it was the Saltfish capital of Labrador and is still worked during the summer months.
Battle Harbor, Labrador for the day with a quick stop at St Lewis Harbor to pickup the 60+ Ladies Quilt Club for their annual trek to Battle Harbor. With monies from Canadian Historical Society the buildings are slowing being restored to their original condition. Upon arriving, lunch was served, codfish stew, and from there it was a guided tour of the settlement. Hard to believe it but there was an iceberg in the channel (Facebook).
Next morn its south to Blanc Sablon, and the last of the gravel roads, to catch the ferry to St. Barbe, Newfoundland, cost for a senior with vehicle $25.00, and only 1 1/2hrs travel time. Off the ferry and its left to St. Anthony’s for the next couple of days. First visit is to L’Anse-aux Meadows, UNESCO World Heritage site, for the only evidence of a Viking settlement in North America. I did mention that at one of the recent digs a bottle cap from a Guinness Bottle was found. Next it’s the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve for some great photography. Information on both sites can be Googled for those interested. Last site for the day was Goose Cove for a view of an iceberg. Tomorrow its south to Gros Morne National Park for 3 days of people, people and some really great photo’s, me thinks.
Gros Morne National Park it is and a RV camp site for the duration. First find a restaurant that serves cod fish cakes, beer, French fries, baked beans and a guarantee that the ozone layer is will be impacted. First off is a tour of the fresh water lake, which also included gusts of wind in the 40 knots plus category. The interpreters gave a go account of themselves with enough of the BS to cover all bases. It was the 3-kilometer walk in and return that provided enough discomfort to the aging knees and ankle that additional beer and French fries were called for……………..
Next day it was to the Tablelands, a crust of the inner earth that predates even me. The following day finds the Goatmobile (another 6 hour drive) headed for Bonavista, a fishing village in the northeast of Newfoundland that has a nesting site of Puffin birds, whales, lighthouse, codfish cakes and more French fries.
Bonavista is another fishing village that is facing hard times. Everyone works from June through September and then its unemployment or the dole for the rest of the time will be your cup of tea. Every small community that I traveled through said basically the same thing, unemployment or the dole is what carries the communities through the winter months and it is the way of life. Some of the men may leave for the mainland for work but the bulk stay home and wait for spring.
From Bonavista we head to St. Johns, capital of Newfoundland, with a quick stop at Costco for tyre repair, juice, chips and a 5-gallon bucket of Hummus. Climb Signal Hill, take pictures, keep walking and more pictures. Next day it is south to Trepassey Bay for a run out to Cape Race. Cape Race (Facebook) has quite a history, besides hearing the distress call from the Titanic, she has also claimed over 2000 lives from ship’s loss to storms and groundings.
From Cape Race we continue around the peninsular to Placentia (Google). Cape St Mary’s Reserve and lighthouse was next. Unfortunately Mother Nature decided to blanket the coast with fog for the next 4 days. With a ride on the ferry to Nova Scotia, 14hrs transit time from Argentia NFLD to North Sydney, Nova Scotia the next day. The boat ride was uneventful but it is a bear trying to get a place to lie down and sleep.
If you can navigate through the fog (Facebook), enjoy. I could spend another month in Newfoundland and still would not cover everything that I wanted to see.
Norm
The Grey Nomad
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment