Port Aux-Basque, Newfoundland/Labrador, July 10th
Port Aux-Basque, New Foundland and I can now claim another Canadian province and from what I here, this one should be a lot of fun. It was an early start thanks to the hostel rules for a 10:00 checkout, but Kat did say it didn’t make any difference when I left. The loop I’m taking today is suppose to take 5 to 6 hours just driving and if I have a boat to catch, a good thing for an early start. Still trying to get use to all of this time I keep losing the further east I go, now another half hour, but I suppose it might help changing my clocks instead of trying to do the math. Sometimes it gets a little screwy like today that I had to be at the ferry by 4:00 so kept checking my clock to see how close to 2:00 I was.
What a beautiful day for a beautiful ride. Today was all about the Cabot trail which according to every visitor center I talked to or Nova Scotian, it’s a must see, and Leanne, you would have loved the ride if you had only taken one sick day. I was hoping to do the trail counterclockwise with the way my camera is mounted on the bike, but I took a left when right was right once again. But hold on, this time it wasn’t a choice between right or left, but when to exit and I guess I exited sooner rather than later. Oh well, there was a reason I went clockwise and that might’ve had a lot to do with the time and making the ferry.
I did stop and ask for directions wondering where I went wrong, but like the guy said I can either go back 60 kilometers or do it clockwise cuz it’s just as pretty this ways and I suppose he’s right. You do know however that you should try these types of things both ways because for some reason it always looks different when going the other direction. And once again, of course the pictures don’t do it justice, it’s really something you need to experience yourself and so far, Nova Scotia is a very beautiful province with some great riding. This trail however, was pretty bumpy in spots, but thanks to Aaron, remember Janesville? my bags shouldn’t fall off on this trip.
It was definitely warm and humid this morning and when I saw bikes coming the other way on the trail with rain gear on, I thought I might be in for a little trouble, but I must’ve timed it just right cuz it was warm and sunny for me the entire day. Definitely warmer on the West coast or whatever side they call it and that’s only because the lower half of Nova Scotia along the coast isn’t called the East it’s called the South. Like I was saying the west side was definitely warmer that when I got to the Atlantic it was starting to get a bit chilly with the way the wind blows off the ocean. Ok, how many of you did I get with that? Think about it, Nova Scotia is an island so what ocean do you think I saw on the West side, yaw, the Atlantic. Anyway, they are both quite different.
Well, I did have time for lunch that I stopped for a quick one at the Rusty Anchor and had a great Lobster roll which reminds me what I was thinking at the time. How I feel sorry for those who are allergic to shell fish and can’t enjoy a good lobster or shrimp for that matter, but sad for those who refuse to try seafood, any seafood and there’s definitely a difference between shellfish and fish. Ok, a good lunch, but today the dollar was doing that much worse that the lady making change was charging more using American currency than Canadian and wouldn’t you know it, today I didn’t have enough Canadian that cost me. I should’ve cashed it all in when it was par, you know, dollar for dollar?
Too the ferry I go and another one like the one I took on the West coast where the front opens so it can swallow the vehicles and this time they don’t have very good straps, but like the guys told us below the waters are pretty calm that we shouldn’t have to worry about it. Ok, but then why are the trucks also strapped down? I found that odd that they semis taking the trip also get a chain down, but like Dan told me, who you’ll meet later, that’s to keep them from tipping since they are top heavy…makes sense to me.
Well once I the ferry I did meet some other bikers. Ok, that might’ve been because they were strapping their bikes down with me, but I met George, Hugh, Jim and Bob who call themselves the ‘knights of the open road’. Not a term they came up with, but figured as long as someone gave them such a name, they could use it without sounding too arrogant, even though Bob does want to be called Sir. I did talk to them about the trip their taking and they were coming from Vancouver and trying to do 10 provinces in 10 days, which I guess they now have once we made the landing on New Foundland. Their riding pretty much the same path I’ll be taking tomorrow, but since no one knows for sure whether the island of New Foundland would count for Labrador, I better make the trip further north just to cover it.
A 5 and ½ hour ferry ride later and we’re finally docking here at New Foundland at 11:40pm and I didn’t get any sleep on the ferry since they had movies on most of the time. Sure it was only in the lounge area I was visiting, but I figured it’d be off the ship to a bar to see what I can find for drink and accommodations, because if I forgot to tell you, Richard at Halifax told me I shouldn’t have to worry about getting a room or setting up camp because someone will probably offer me a place to stay. Well, once we got off the ship it was wet and rainy that since I’m not going to stop or ride very far this late at night in the rain, not gonna suit up. I made a stop at the first gas station I saw on the way to downtown Port Aux-Basque and asked about a cheap place for the night which brings me here to Dan and Emma’s B&B. Only $50 for the night and Dan even came to the gas station to lead me back here, now that’s service. And Emma had some breads and shortcakes ready for me and remember, a B&B that I might even get fed in the morning. A great price for great accommodations and I really need to catch up on my sleep.
Let’s see what New Foundland is all about, shall we?
Newfoundland pixs
What a beautiful day for a beautiful ride. Today was all about the Cabot trail which according to every visitor center I talked to or Nova Scotian, it’s a must see, and Leanne, you would have loved the ride if you had only taken one sick day. I was hoping to do the trail counterclockwise with the way my camera is mounted on the bike, but I took a left when right was right once again. But hold on, this time it wasn’t a choice between right or left, but when to exit and I guess I exited sooner rather than later. Oh well, there was a reason I went clockwise and that might’ve had a lot to do with the time and making the ferry.
I did stop and ask for directions wondering where I went wrong, but like the guy said I can either go back 60 kilometers or do it clockwise cuz it’s just as pretty this ways and I suppose he’s right. You do know however that you should try these types of things both ways because for some reason it always looks different when going the other direction. And once again, of course the pictures don’t do it justice, it’s really something you need to experience yourself and so far, Nova Scotia is a very beautiful province with some great riding. This trail however, was pretty bumpy in spots, but thanks to Aaron, remember Janesville? my bags shouldn’t fall off on this trip.
It was definitely warm and humid this morning and when I saw bikes coming the other way on the trail with rain gear on, I thought I might be in for a little trouble, but I must’ve timed it just right cuz it was warm and sunny for me the entire day. Definitely warmer on the West coast or whatever side they call it and that’s only because the lower half of Nova Scotia along the coast isn’t called the East it’s called the South. Like I was saying the west side was definitely warmer that when I got to the Atlantic it was starting to get a bit chilly with the way the wind blows off the ocean. Ok, how many of you did I get with that? Think about it, Nova Scotia is an island so what ocean do you think I saw on the West side, yaw, the Atlantic. Anyway, they are both quite different.
Well, I did have time for lunch that I stopped for a quick one at the Rusty Anchor and had a great Lobster roll which reminds me what I was thinking at the time. How I feel sorry for those who are allergic to shell fish and can’t enjoy a good lobster or shrimp for that matter, but sad for those who refuse to try seafood, any seafood and there’s definitely a difference between shellfish and fish. Ok, a good lunch, but today the dollar was doing that much worse that the lady making change was charging more using American currency than Canadian and wouldn’t you know it, today I didn’t have enough Canadian that cost me. I should’ve cashed it all in when it was par, you know, dollar for dollar?
Too the ferry I go and another one like the one I took on the West coast where the front opens so it can swallow the vehicles and this time they don’t have very good straps, but like the guys told us below the waters are pretty calm that we shouldn’t have to worry about it. Ok, but then why are the trucks also strapped down? I found that odd that they semis taking the trip also get a chain down, but like Dan told me, who you’ll meet later, that’s to keep them from tipping since they are top heavy…makes sense to me.
Well once I the ferry I did meet some other bikers. Ok, that might’ve been because they were strapping their bikes down with me, but I met George, Hugh, Jim and Bob who call themselves the ‘knights of the open road’. Not a term they came up with, but figured as long as someone gave them such a name, they could use it without sounding too arrogant, even though Bob does want to be called Sir. I did talk to them about the trip their taking and they were coming from Vancouver and trying to do 10 provinces in 10 days, which I guess they now have once we made the landing on New Foundland. Their riding pretty much the same path I’ll be taking tomorrow, but since no one knows for sure whether the island of New Foundland would count for Labrador, I better make the trip further north just to cover it.
A 5 and ½ hour ferry ride later and we’re finally docking here at New Foundland at 11:40pm and I didn’t get any sleep on the ferry since they had movies on most of the time. Sure it was only in the lounge area I was visiting, but I figured it’d be off the ship to a bar to see what I can find for drink and accommodations, because if I forgot to tell you, Richard at Halifax told me I shouldn’t have to worry about getting a room or setting up camp because someone will probably offer me a place to stay. Well, once we got off the ship it was wet and rainy that since I’m not going to stop or ride very far this late at night in the rain, not gonna suit up. I made a stop at the first gas station I saw on the way to downtown Port Aux-Basque and asked about a cheap place for the night which brings me here to Dan and Emma’s B&B. Only $50 for the night and Dan even came to the gas station to lead me back here, now that’s service. And Emma had some breads and shortcakes ready for me and remember, a B&B that I might even get fed in the morning. A great price for great accommodations and I really need to catch up on my sleep.
Let’s see what New Foundland is all about, shall we?
Newfoundland pixs
posted by Dalej Webb at 10:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home