(Aboard the ferry) to Bishop's Falls, Newfoundland & Labrador
Wednesday 21 September 2005 (day 122)
Stormy seas
I woke to
the roll of the ferry. The wind had picked up overnight and it was
blowing a bit of a gale outside. Despite this we had both slept
well, probably in part because it was the first night in a while
where we could both stretch out and not bash our feet against the
side of Morty. Stef went for a look outside, reporting back that it
was dark and he could not see anything, while I hit the shower. Both
refreshed, clean and dressed we left the cabin ready to disembark to
only hear a message from the Captain. Due to the weather we were not
yet able to dock and he was not able to say when we would be.
From talking to some of the staff on board this was quite usual. In
winter they have been known to be stuck outside the bay for three to
four days at a time until the winds calm down enough for them to
dock. The problem today was that a container ship that was in the
harbour could not get out because of the wind. Until they were out,
we could not go in. We while away the extra time (just under three
hours) having breakfast and planning out what we want to do in
Newfoundland and Labrador. We had not really minded the delay but
some people were on the final leg of a long journey and were not
happy. They had been driving fro days already to get this far and
with the delay in docking they will miss their connection to their
final ferry which means they will not get home tonight as they had
hoped to. When we were finally on the move it was a tight squeeze
coming in to harbour with rocks not far off the port side of the
ferry.
Back down on the vehicle deck you could smell that the cows had had
a busy night. I felt sorry for them being stuck down here in fairly
cramped conditions with no idea of what was going on. They had left
a little parting gift on the ferry and we were glad that we had not
been parked on that side of them! I did not envy the men on the
ferry who had to clear that little lot up, no doubt someone will
have taken it home for the garden.
The ferry arrived at Channel-Port-aux-Basques on the south western
corner of Newfoundland. We stopped off at the Tourist Information
centre with a long list of questions about what there was to see and
do but most importantly about connections up to Labrador and options
for getting back down again. We have information and some phone
numbers but more work to do before we can really finalise our plans.
If we can we want to hop along the eastern coast of Labrador from
Cartwright up to Nain. This route is only covered by a supply ship
that does take passengers but.... its a ten day trip and is likely
to cost in the region of $6,000. Probably too long and too expensive
for this trip.
Our other dilemma is how to get back from Blanc Sablon on the north
coast of Quebec to the rest of Quebec. We can either back track the
way we have come or go by a freight cargo ship. The latter will mean
having Morty locked up in a container before being put on board. Its
a two day trip and I suspect this will also be prohibitively
expensive for this trip. At least now we have the information we
need to start to plan our time here. As we need to do more research
we decided to make our way across to St John's without stopping to
see bits and pieces and then gradually work our way back.
The 14 hour ferry that would have taken us to Argentia, closer to St
John's, only runs once a week and left on Monday so we had no option
but to land here and then drive across. The downside is that there
is only one road across Newfoundland, the main Trans Canada Highway,
so we will have to backtrack some or all of it, depending on what
our onward plans are.
Windswept arrival at
Newfoundland
It was still really windy when we left Tourist Information and
continued to be so throughout the day. Depending on who we asked it
is either the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia or it is just the way
the weather always is on Newfoundland. It made for tiring driving
though as you had to keep both hands firmly on the wheel to
counteract the gusts of wind that tried to blow you off track. As
there are deep ditches along the sides of the road, getting blown
off would not be much fun. When the winds here really peak most
people just hole up and wait for it to die down. Sometimes though
the driver of a big HGV will risk it and give it a go and a couple
of times a year there are cases where HGV's get lifted off the road
by the wind. Although it was windy it was nowhere near that bad
today.
With the cloud cover so low it was difficult to really see and
appreciate the landscape. You could make out mountains with their
peaks shrouded in dense dark clouds which you could see racing by in
the wind. We went through patches where it was long, straight and
flat with little discernable vegetation but gradually as we worked
further north it became greener and greener, with more hills and,
dare I say it, more and more like Scotland. The one constant that is
even more visibly here than in the rest of Canada we have seen so
far is that everywhere you are you are near to water. Its either a
stream, river, lake, pond or the sea. On one of the lowland
stretches we stopped to fill up with petrol. They say that
Newfoundlanders are the friendliest people in Canada and the chap at
the petrol station certainly lived up to that reputation, even
though he mistook Stef for an Australian!
We stopped at Corner Brook for a bite of lunch and I took over the
driving from Stef, glad that I had had a couple of power naps along
the way. We swapped again at Badger, not far from our planned stop
for the night but I could feel my eyes were tired and it was not a
day for driving without full concentration. I had been clutching the
steering wheel so tightly that when I stopped driving my arms went
all wobbly and shaky for a few minutes.
Being the end of the season quite a few of the campsites are now
closed. We had planned to stay at the Beothuk campsite in Grand
Falls-Windsor, but it was closed despite our up to date information
saying it should be open. We drove though Grand Falls-Windsor, the
largest town for quite some distance to find that it was pretty
small. I could not really get a sense of the place. There were few
signs of life and it almost felt deserted.
With no campsite here we carried on to Bishop's Falls, another very
small village. Here there was a small Inn with an RV park so we
stopped for the night. Even though it was near the main road it was
a quiet spot in a little bit of woodland. Next to us is a trailer
with two men who are working locally. Apart from them there is one
other site occupied, by people who were also on the ferry this
morning. We hooked up, heated up the chilli Stef made a few days ago
(very tasty), watched a film and then hit bed reasonably early.
The drive from Port-aux-Basques to Bishop's Falls was just under
560km (about 350 miles) and we still have around 400km (250 miles)
more to do tomorrow to get to St John's. From what we have heard of
the weather forecast its going to be similar conditions again
tomorrow.
