I do not
really feel as if I have slept much. The wind picked up through the
night and what started as the odd gust gently rocking Mortimer grew
in strength and frequency throughout the night. Stef woke up too but
soon was back to sleep, snoring quite contentedly having, he
thought, reassured me that all was OK. It took me ages to get my
brain to accept that we are in a 3,900kg van and that as the picnic
tables on the campsite were not flying around left, right and centre
it was highly unlikely that we would be!! I would not say that I was
scared but I was definitely uneasy.
We had
set our alarms for an early start as we had about an 140km drive to
get to St Barbe by 9:30, in time for the ferry across to Blanc
Sablon on the Quebec/Labrador border. It was still really blowy but
as the skies lightened it did not seem so bad. The only omen we had
of what was to come as the sun came up was the tinges of red
throughout the clouds. No-one had been to
collect our site fees so we wrote a note enclosing them and stuffed
it through the door. Hopefully it will not blow away when the door
is opened!!
"Red sky in the morning,
shepherd's warning"
Wary
of the wind, we set off on our way. We have driven through blowy
weather before on Newfoundland but this was the windiest day yet.
When they came the gusts were pretty powerful and I was very
grateful that Stef was driving. When I heard him taking a very sharp
intake of breath I looked up to see a moose on the side of the road
also struggling with the wind. It was definitely a very close
encounter of the moose kind. If we had been a few seconds later the
moose would have been on the road and we would have crashed into it.
They are big, sturdy animals and people die in moose collisions. I
am glad we did not have to find out which one of us was the tougher.
Our animal count has increased from moose 1, caribou 0 to moose 4,
caribou 0 in the space of 24 hours.
Our
route back tracked the way we had come yesterday for about 60km
before we headed across to the coast. Every time I had convinced
myself that the wind was dying down it picked up again. As we headed
coast bound the rain also started and it seemed that the closer to
the coast we got the heavier the rain became. It really was a horrid
drive.
Along the coast we passed Eddie's Cove (I want to know where Clarrie
and Joe are - a part time Archers fan even to this day!), Savage
Cove, Nameless Cove and then went on to Deadman's Cove. The names
seem to imply a rough history. Having thought we would reach the
ferry port at St Barbe in ninety minutes it actually took us two
hours so I was glad that I had built in contingency time. We were
there to check in by 9:30 for the 10:30 ferry but were not surprised
to find that the ferry was not running. They do not know if the 3:30
ferry will run either. It is just a mater of waiting to see what the
weather is doing. If it clears up and the wind drops it will go, if
not we will be stuck in St Barbe.
The ferry terminal has a motel next door and we went in for
breakfast. It became a ferry refugee site as people gradually came
in to check on the ferry and then also came for breakfast. Sitting
inside still hearing the wind I almost felt as if I was still on
Morty being rocked and buffeted all night, a feeling similar to ship
roll. The ferry has not been wind bound all summer and this is the
first of several times that this will happen during the next few
months. We chatted off and on to other people in the dining room. A
trucker does this route two or three times a week and is used to
getting holed up. Another couple about our age, are Canadians on
holiday for a month hoping to head up to Cartwright in Labrador.
They are using Lonely Planet and raved about it as it gives much
better information than the Frommers guides (the latter are American
and pretty bad in our view).
After a couple of hours Stef got bored and went to check on progress
for both this ferry and the one we are meant to get tonight from
Blanc Sablon to Havre St Pierre. We are a bit concerned that if this
one does not run we will miss the second ferry. Despite the sun
breaking through the clouds in places, there are still loads of dark
clouds around and the wind is still high. The ferry across to Blanc
Sablon may run later today but it looks more like we will be here
overnight. The good news though is that our connecting ferry is
still stuck in Havre St Pierre so we will not miss it. If we are
lucky it will be delayed a bit more and we will have time to make it
up to Cartwright also.
As the day wore on the wind slowly dropped and we kept getting
promises of updates of whether or not the ferry would run. The
3:00pm update was still a "holding for the weather" and the same was
true at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00. Finally at 7:00pm they said the ferry
would be running at 8:30pm. We joined the queue to get on
board and I wished I had not sat looking out of the window. Even in
the sheltered harbour you could see how strong the wind still was
with the water being whipped round.
We had decided to get across to Blanc Sabon tonight if we could
rather than running the risk that the ferry would still not be
running in the morning. It was not long after we had set sail that I
think we both wished we had stayed overnight in St Barbe. By ferry
standards, this one was small and it was well and truly rocked and
buffeted by the wind and the waves. I was sat with my eyes closed so
that I could not see the swell out of the window. I was anxious and
tense and was trying to do controlled breathing exercises to relax
myself. These worked until I could feel Stef's grasp on my hand
getting tighter and tighter. The mad fool was looking out of the
window!! (to make sure he didn't miss anything and felt the terror
all the more immediately!)
I have to say that this crossing rates as the
worst ferry trips I have had in my life. As we set sail there was a
fair amount of banter on board but not long after we left harbour,
with the exception of the sound of the engines, you could have heard
a pin drop it went so quiet. Everyone was in the same state of
quietly sitting it out putting their trust in the captain and crew
that they had not made a bad judgement call about the weather. My
only consolation was that it was a relatively short journey at
ninety minutes so we knew it would be over before long.
Outside it was totally black.
All we could see were the boiling seas that came up to meet the boat
as it heeled perilously. Every time the boat righted and you relaxed
a bit, the next crash sent it heeling over even further than the
last time. The whole boat shuddered violently as it smashed into the
waves. Didn't think the ship could withstand much more. We thought
the wind and waves outside the harbour were violent but it was
nothing compared to the conditions further out were much worse.
Afterwards we wondered what must have been going through the
captain's mind and how close we got, but we'll never know that.
Waiting at St. Barbe
Needless to say we made it safely across to the other side, and with
Morty parked right at the front of the ferry I was pleased to be one
of the first ones off and onto terra firma. No doubt what was a
hairy crossing for us was just business as normal for the crew but
we were grateful we had made it safe and sound. We dropped in to the
ticket office/information booth at Blanc Sablon to get an update on
our next ferry, which is still a long way away, and also to check
options for parking up for the night. There is no RV park here but
they said the Northern Lights Inn up the road at L'Anse aux Clair
may let us park.
Stef drove which again I was
grateful for. It was pitch black and still windy and as this is a
bit of a deserted part of the world there were no street lights so
it was difficult to see which way the road was going. It was not
long until we found the motel and we both agreed to splash out and
have a room for the night. We were not alone and as we checked in
everyone else we saw had come from the ferry and we all had a common
"we made it" sort of feeling. We dumped an overnight bag in the room
and then hit the bar both feeling like a drink to calm slightly
frayed nerves.
The bar was an interesting
introduction into remote community life. Loud music was blaring, the
TV was on, pool was being played but all the people in there looked
like closely related locals rather than hotel residents. It was not quite the
atmosphere that I was after and I do not think it was Stef's cup of
tea either. We had a quick beer and then went and crashed out in the
luxury of a room with two double beds.
