NOTE: We have had no internet connection & no cell phone signal whatsoever at our campground in Newfoundland. Therefore, we’ve been unable to download our pictures and post the blog. We’ve been able to keep up with them, but not send them out. Now, as we move to a different area – the past several days follow:
NOVA SCOTIA TO NEWFOUNDLAND.
Day 24 – Happy Victoria Day to all Canadians! We are leaving today for the very large island, Newfoundland. It is the seventh largest island in the world. This will be the farthest north that we’ve ever been, and certainly the largest island we’ve ever been to. This Canadian Province is remote in the far north Atlantic. Across the Ocean & north is Greenland. North of Newfoundland is the Arctic Circle and west of it is the Canadian Province of Labrador. (Alot of Labrador is not accessible by roads, but we’ll be taking a ferry from Newfoundland to Labrador at some point during this trip to visit the coastal areas on any paved roads we can get to with the RV.) Today we’re taking a ferry from North Sydney Nova Scotia to Channel-Port Aux Basques Newfoundland, which is on the southwestern coast of the Island.
24 miles + 6 hr. ferry ride, (9:20), 39065-39089
We were up early because we had to be at the ferry terminal no later than 9:45 a.m. We’d set an alarm (horrors) for 6:30, but I woke up at 5:10 a.m. and saw an incredible sunrise from the RV bedroom window. I woke Rob up so he could see it, too. Incredible! Then I went back to sleep. But Rob, being Rob, LOL, got up & got dressed, grabbed his camera, and trotted down to the shore where it was windy & 39 degrees. About ½ hour later he came back, freezing but with great pictures. I was warm & toasty, but he couldn’t get back to sleep. All of this detail was given to say that it worked out well because the battery had died on his phone which we use on the rare occasion we must use an alarm. It was a good thing he was already up!
Sunrise, North Sydney/Cabot Trail KOA, New Harris, NS
Sunrise, Great Bras d’Or Lake, New Harris, NS
Sunrise, Seal Island Bridge, Great Bras d’Or Lake, New Harris, NS
We departed the North Sydney/Cabot Trail KOA at 9:25 a.m., and it was 47 degrees & cloudy. We were a little nervous, not in our normal hitting-the-road relaxation state of mind. First, we left a little later than we’d planned – it was supposedly 20 minutes from the campground to the ferry terminal, but we’d wanted to allow a little extra time just in case. Second, the weather. As mentioned before, we had originally made reservations for tomorrow’s ferry, but as we watched the weather forecast change, we saw that a storm would be bringing high winds tomorrow & the next couple of days thereafter. So we changed our reservations moving our trip up a day hoping to beat the storm. We were still uncertain as to how much rain we’d get & how high the winds would be, and were also apprehensive about how rough the seas would be. It would be a long ferry ride & the kitties would be holed up in the RV bedroom in travel mode with food, water, and litter box for about 8 hours. Once on the ferry, we would not be allowed to visit them. All passengers have to remain on deck. And third, we were super-excited; granted, excited is not nerve-wracking but the human response is similar. We have felt for a long time that an RV trip to Newfoundland & Labrador would be one of our dreams come true. We were just beginning to realize that it was really going to happen. We were keyed up.
We arrived at the ferry terminal in exactly 20 minutes and saw the ferry for the first time. It was very large! We passed muster & got our boarding passes without a hitch. We were directed to the camper/trailer/RV/van lane, the lane where we were to wait for departure. We were about 5th in that lane. Already the car lane was filling up, and several lanes of large commercial truck/trailer combos were there, too. I thought, surely all those huge rigs aren’t going on our ferry! But they were…..and it dawned on me, duh, this is a very large island we’re going to, not some holiday summer vacation spot, but almost continent-sized, and people live there full-time, and where would they get all their supplies if it weren’t for those large tractor/trailers? It was like a different world entirely that we were going to. Butterflies in the stomach…….
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We didn’t have to wait too long before they were boarding the vehicles in the RV lane. The wind was picking up a little and it had started sprinkling. Once we’d parked where we were directed to park, surrounded by large trucks/trailers, we gathered a few belongings to get us through the trip & very sadly said good-bye to the babies, promising to be back ASAP. They looked so forlorn.
The ferry was big with 8 decks. We were parked on level 3. We went to level 6 to try to nab a reclining chair. But we went the wrong way and instead of an elevator, we had to walk up the stairs – not a huge deal, but with me using a cane, it was slow going. We found the reclining chairs, thinking that we’d at least be comfortable, but they were located in a dark movie room where we were treated to the A&E channel and Bob, The Bounty Hunter (or whatever that show is called). We wanted windows, not insipid noise, so we gave up the comfy chairs & went to Deck 7 which had the windows; you couldn’t see well out of them with the rain, fog, and sea salt on the windows, but at least there was light. And choices for food. Grin.
We found a table with a couple of medium-comfortable chairs and a place to put our jackets & stuff we’d brought with us. I went to the restroom & checked out the rest of the deck. There was a fast food/coffee area with packaged sandwiches, chips, soft drinks, and coffee. There was a restaurant and the sign outside said “Buffet”. Oh goody. I thought, a restaurant AND a buffet to choose from. There were tables for sitting to eat on the left as I walked through. I proceeded to check out what looked like the buffet on the right and saw a man in a chef’s hat, ladle in hand, standing behind some mixed vegetables, some mashed potatoes, and roast beef in serving pans. He looked at me kinda funny and frowned, saying, “May I help you?” I said, “Oh, no thanks, I’m not eating, just looking.” He’s still looking at me funny. A lady then came up to me and gently shuffled me aside and politely, but hurriedly told me that this was the prep area and not for customers. Ooops! I guess “Buffet” on the door, meant restaurant, not all-you-can-eat buffet? There was also a bar, closed at the time (by then, I coulda used a stiff one), a gift shop, a computer room with pay-as-you-go internet, and a game room.
For all the foodies reading this, on the menu for lunch which was posted outside, there were four choices (roast beef, burger, fish sandwich, or vegetarian stir-fry) that each came with beverage, the meal (with choice of side dish), and dessert. The burger offering also had choices, at least six of them, everything from plain hamburger to bacon burger to mushroom/onion burger to vegetarian blackbean burger, etc. Side orders were soup or green salad or fries or poutine (almost every place in Atlantic Canada offers poutine!) or cole slaw or caesar salad or sweet potato fries or mashed potatoes or mixed vegies, etc. Not bad for a ferry, eh? But we’d made sandwiches at home and brought them with us. Darnit.
They opened for lunch at noon, just after the ferry departed the terminal at 11:50 a.m. It was rainy & windy. We ate our sandwiches and settled in for the long haul. The lunch room closed at 1:30. The ferry wasn’t very crowded. I guess when you fill it with large commercial trucks/trailers with one driver/passenger each, that cuts down on the travellers. But we heard people talking about how during the summer the ferry is packed with tourists and sometimes if you don’t have reservations way in advance, you have to wait days at port to get on the ferry. Note to self: make reservations early when coming home – or never leave Newfoundland, LOL. The trip was long, we read a lot & took walks around to keep occupied. At one point Rob went outside to try to get pictures. It was cold, raining, and windy.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
At 4:30 the restaurant opened again, this time for dinner. It was only open an hour. I was starving; I’d been smelling the food all day. And a truck driver sitting nearby had been loudly telling people about his recipe for seafood chowder. At a little after 5:00 I ordered a vegie black bean burger with sweet potato fries to go and brought it back to where we were sitting. We split it, and it was very good. A little after 5:30 they announced we’d be arriving at Channel-Port aux Basques in an hour, remain on deck & don’t go to your vehicles until you’re told to do so, etc. People started lining up already. We really wanted to see the cats & hoped they were okay.
The trip over had been uneventful and the seas were not rough, thank goodness. No rogue waves to take us away. No capsized ferry. No collision with a whale. We hoped that the entire line of RV’s and campers weren’t going to the same place that we were going. But we weren’t going to stand in line for an hour. What for? So we continued reading for awhile. Then we could see the faint outline of land in the distance, Then we got closer. Wow. Look at those mountains. Look at the rock. There’s snow on the mountains. Look at the colorful houses in the fishing town. Oh gosh, it’s so beautiful. We were so excited. It looked amazing. Our first glimpses of Newfoundland did not disappoint; the drive to the campground was brief & that did not disappoint; even with rain, wind, and clouds, this place is awesome! So starkly beautiful & we’ve only just begun. (And the kitties were fine but eager to leave the bedroom!)
There is a new time zone for us to get adjusted to, Newfoundland Standard Time, which added ½ hour to our clocks. We arrived at our campground at a little after 7 p.m. It was 42 degrees and windy, but not nearly as windy as it was forecast to be during the next few days. Our campground, J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park, was located fairly close to the ferry terminal and it had only opened for the season on May 17. There were six campsites occupied and at least half of them had just come from the ferry. It’s not a large campground but it was very nicely arranged, with most campsites having space and privacy between them and others having very nice water views. We were allowed to drive through & pick a site; we chose site #73, surrounded on three sides by bushes & trees which we hoped would help to protect us from the wind, electric hook-ups, no one around us, $36.54 per night including 15% tax, Canadian currency. Less than half of the campsites offered electrical hook-ups. There was a dump station and water was available there for filling tanks. (Most of the Provincial Parks in Atlantic Canada have just electric hook-ups or no hook-ups at all.) We paid for three nights having decided to ride out the upcoming winds here before moving on to find some icebergs. We set up camp and relaxed with the girls who were very happy to get off that noisy ship.