St Barbe, Newfoundland/Labrador, July 11th
St Barbe, Newfoundland/Labrador and I’m so sorry for not getting the spelling right for Newfoundland. I guess I thought it was 2 words and thought wrong. If you’re wondering where St Barbe is, it’s near the northern most tip of the Newfoundland island and where I have to catch the ferry to Labrador, the mainland…more on that later.
I forgot about the extra half hour so never did change my alarm on my phone to get me up earlier, but since Emma asked when I wanted to get up for breakfast the night before and I told her I just might sleep in, she told me that’s exactly what her and Danny had done the other morning, they didn’t get outta bed until 10:30, that I figure I should be able to sleep in at least until then. Well, it was pretty close since I didn’t get up until 9:30 Newfoundland time, but I needed to catch up on the sleep a little and will likely lose more to catch the early morning ferry. Danny and Emma have a great B&B and I would suggest anyone going through Port Aux-Basque should really spend a night with them. Emma sat with me for breakfast offering to make up whatever I would like for breakfast, but a little more of that maple nut bread and orange juice was going to be enough for me. We had a very nice talk and more once Danny joined us and one thing that was so funny and struck me about both of them was that Canadian talk coming out that I forgot about last time going through this country. Emma used the line ‘right on’ a lot which was so funny coming from her and they both used ‘no worries’, which reminded me that coming from Kat when I forgot to drop off the flyers she asked me to deliver to the Red Shoe tavern…so sorry, but no worries.
Well, according to Danny it was going to take close to 6 hours to get to the other side of the National Park I was going to go through on my way to Labrador, but he doesn’t know my driving, He figured 2 ½ hours to Deer Lake and then another 2 ½ at least to get thru the park. He did say that I would have the road to Deer Lake all to myself and he was right, and the 2 ½ hours was pretty close, I did make it in 2. From there, it’d definitely take me another 2 ½ just to go thru the park if I go by kph, but remember my math isn’t that good that I might have been speeding a little, at least I passed a number of vehicles going much slower. Anyway, the Gros Morne Canadian National park is quite picturesque just like most of Newfoundland that I saw today, but up here on the north end, I don’t know why anyone would live up here.
The ride thru the park was very comfortable, a little chilly that I had to jacket up and it may look like a lot of shots of just the road, but just look past the pavement for what it is that I’m trying to capture. It’s much easier taking pictures with the camera on the bike instead of having to stop for every picture, so deal with it. Remember I’m taking the risk of trying to snap a picture while moving along at 70 mph and see, my math isn’t too bad when the speed limit is 100 kph, I’m 30 under. It was some great views and didn’t take very long to get thru and by the way, I even changed the time on my bike so I had a better idea of the time I’m really dealing with, now if I could just get my phone to work that way, it wouldn’t be so hard trying to figure out what time Central I have to set the alarm for in the morning.
Once past the park it was along the ocean shore all the way to St Barbe and plenty cold that I had to completely leather up and with the wind, it’s wicked…and not in the Canadian sense of the word, it’s blowin hard. I found the ferry terminal which wasn’t open, but since it’s attached to the hotel, asked about the ferry which the lady at the desk said goes at 8:00, 1:00 and 6:00. Well according to my calculation or the time I changed on the bike, it’s only a bit after 5:00 that I should be able to make the next one. Apparently that was the schedule for tomorrow that last one left an hour ago. I did wask what I should do to kill some time and the people in front of me were heading toward St Francis, that that sounds like the thing to do. It’s an hour and ½ away and where the first Viking historical settlement is.
Not a Viking fan, but for those who are, now you have some pictures of the first settlement in Canada by the Vikings at L’Anse Aux Meadows and no I’m not going to even try to pronounce it, but one French lesson, Aux is ‘of’ in English. Even this settlement seems worse for the sorts with the wind and the nasty and cold temps that why would anyone in their right mind pick a place like this to live, but that’s a Viking for you. Once there I did see this restaurant, the Norseman, and as long as it’s suppose to be one of the top 10 restaurants in Canada, I might as well try it. I was a little skeptical, but a guy came in to make reservations and heard raving reviews about the place and a couple was back in after having been there the night before for the first time and liked it so much, they were back for more.
Well, my meal was pretty good, I had a loin steak and had great fun talking with the couple next to me from Ottawa. Once I mentioned curling since she had gone to school in Winnepeg, I was in and I even got the help them with how to eat a lobster since it was the first time for both. And I did, even though Niki would suggest otherwise, tell them the inners are good eatin…kinda like being the one to get the monkey brain. Ok, before leaving the restaurant not only did I get to know that couple next to me, but a couple of ladies from Madison, (gay I’m sure) and another couple from the Wisconsin Dells area who heard me talking about the lake that is no more. I would’ve liked to stick around, but have to find a place to stay so I can catch the early ferry in the morning.
Since the lady at the hotel earlier told me I could pitch a tent in their local day park, I figured I better take that hour and ½ drive back to St Barbe, that I was going to do one of those things I really don’t want to do too much of, ride at night, especially with the moose. Well, the sun wasn’t setting until after 9:30 that it wouldn’t be too bad, except now there were two things I hoped I wouldn’t see, rain or moose and guess what, I saw both. Just a little spit, which now this area reminds me of Alaska in many ways, but plenty of moose…5 as I counted, but fortunately none in the road. Ok, I made it back unscathed and instead of pitching a tent in the park asked about camping at the RV park across the road. Yep, that wouldn’t be a problem, but I had an even better idea. Since they have such a big building and it’s open all night, how’bout I just roll out my sleeping bag on a floor somewhere instead of pitching a tent and guess what, I even have my own room. Now what more could you ask for – maybe someone to do my laundry since they have laundry facilities.
Oh, and even though I had thought about skipping the ferry to Labrador and working my way back to St John’s to catch a ferry back to Nova Scotia in a few days, the young waitress at the Norseman said Labrador is definitely worth seeing and since there is only one road to ride and it’ll be much like Juno Alaska where the road ends, I might as well do it so there won’t be any regrets about missing a province, that is until the couple from Ottawa told me about the new northern territory, Nunuvut, but they did say, there aren’t any roads to it. Ok, I might be able to skip that one.
Tomorrow if my alarm is set right, Labrador here I come.
Barbe pixs
I forgot about the extra half hour so never did change my alarm on my phone to get me up earlier, but since Emma asked when I wanted to get up for breakfast the night before and I told her I just might sleep in, she told me that’s exactly what her and Danny had done the other morning, they didn’t get outta bed until 10:30, that I figure I should be able to sleep in at least until then. Well, it was pretty close since I didn’t get up until 9:30 Newfoundland time, but I needed to catch up on the sleep a little and will likely lose more to catch the early morning ferry. Danny and Emma have a great B&B and I would suggest anyone going through Port Aux-Basque should really spend a night with them. Emma sat with me for breakfast offering to make up whatever I would like for breakfast, but a little more of that maple nut bread and orange juice was going to be enough for me. We had a very nice talk and more once Danny joined us and one thing that was so funny and struck me about both of them was that Canadian talk coming out that I forgot about last time going through this country. Emma used the line ‘right on’ a lot which was so funny coming from her and they both used ‘no worries’, which reminded me that coming from Kat when I forgot to drop off the flyers she asked me to deliver to the Red Shoe tavern…so sorry, but no worries.
Well, according to Danny it was going to take close to 6 hours to get to the other side of the National Park I was going to go through on my way to Labrador, but he doesn’t know my driving, He figured 2 ½ hours to Deer Lake and then another 2 ½ at least to get thru the park. He did say that I would have the road to Deer Lake all to myself and he was right, and the 2 ½ hours was pretty close, I did make it in 2. From there, it’d definitely take me another 2 ½ just to go thru the park if I go by kph, but remember my math isn’t that good that I might have been speeding a little, at least I passed a number of vehicles going much slower. Anyway, the Gros Morne Canadian National park is quite picturesque just like most of Newfoundland that I saw today, but up here on the north end, I don’t know why anyone would live up here.
The ride thru the park was very comfortable, a little chilly that I had to jacket up and it may look like a lot of shots of just the road, but just look past the pavement for what it is that I’m trying to capture. It’s much easier taking pictures with the camera on the bike instead of having to stop for every picture, so deal with it. Remember I’m taking the risk of trying to snap a picture while moving along at 70 mph and see, my math isn’t too bad when the speed limit is 100 kph, I’m 30 under. It was some great views and didn’t take very long to get thru and by the way, I even changed the time on my bike so I had a better idea of the time I’m really dealing with, now if I could just get my phone to work that way, it wouldn’t be so hard trying to figure out what time Central I have to set the alarm for in the morning.
Once past the park it was along the ocean shore all the way to St Barbe and plenty cold that I had to completely leather up and with the wind, it’s wicked…and not in the Canadian sense of the word, it’s blowin hard. I found the ferry terminal which wasn’t open, but since it’s attached to the hotel, asked about the ferry which the lady at the desk said goes at 8:00, 1:00 and 6:00. Well according to my calculation or the time I changed on the bike, it’s only a bit after 5:00 that I should be able to make the next one. Apparently that was the schedule for tomorrow that last one left an hour ago. I did wask what I should do to kill some time and the people in front of me were heading toward St Francis, that that sounds like the thing to do. It’s an hour and ½ away and where the first Viking historical settlement is.
Not a Viking fan, but for those who are, now you have some pictures of the first settlement in Canada by the Vikings at L’Anse Aux Meadows and no I’m not going to even try to pronounce it, but one French lesson, Aux is ‘of’ in English. Even this settlement seems worse for the sorts with the wind and the nasty and cold temps that why would anyone in their right mind pick a place like this to live, but that’s a Viking for you. Once there I did see this restaurant, the Norseman, and as long as it’s suppose to be one of the top 10 restaurants in Canada, I might as well try it. I was a little skeptical, but a guy came in to make reservations and heard raving reviews about the place and a couple was back in after having been there the night before for the first time and liked it so much, they were back for more.
Well, my meal was pretty good, I had a loin steak and had great fun talking with the couple next to me from Ottawa. Once I mentioned curling since she had gone to school in Winnepeg, I was in and I even got the help them with how to eat a lobster since it was the first time for both. And I did, even though Niki would suggest otherwise, tell them the inners are good eatin…kinda like being the one to get the monkey brain. Ok, before leaving the restaurant not only did I get to know that couple next to me, but a couple of ladies from Madison, (gay I’m sure) and another couple from the Wisconsin Dells area who heard me talking about the lake that is no more. I would’ve liked to stick around, but have to find a place to stay so I can catch the early ferry in the morning.
Since the lady at the hotel earlier told me I could pitch a tent in their local day park, I figured I better take that hour and ½ drive back to St Barbe, that I was going to do one of those things I really don’t want to do too much of, ride at night, especially with the moose. Well, the sun wasn’t setting until after 9:30 that it wouldn’t be too bad, except now there were two things I hoped I wouldn’t see, rain or moose and guess what, I saw both. Just a little spit, which now this area reminds me of Alaska in many ways, but plenty of moose…5 as I counted, but fortunately none in the road. Ok, I made it back unscathed and instead of pitching a tent in the park asked about camping at the RV park across the road. Yep, that wouldn’t be a problem, but I had an even better idea. Since they have such a big building and it’s open all night, how’bout I just roll out my sleeping bag on a floor somewhere instead of pitching a tent and guess what, I even have my own room. Now what more could you ask for – maybe someone to do my laundry since they have laundry facilities.
Oh, and even though I had thought about skipping the ferry to Labrador and working my way back to St John’s to catch a ferry back to Nova Scotia in a few days, the young waitress at the Norseman said Labrador is definitely worth seeing and since there is only one road to ride and it’ll be much like Juno Alaska where the road ends, I might as well do it so there won’t be any regrets about missing a province, that is until the couple from Ottawa told me about the new northern territory, Nunuvut, but they did say, there aren’t any roads to it. Ok, I might be able to skip that one.
Tomorrow if my alarm is set right, Labrador here I come.
Barbe pixs
posted by Dalej Webb at 10:31 PM
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