Newfoundland - Pictures

Day 1 in Newfoundland - Glad we made it!

Something we learned - always, always scout the menu before hand

A place called "Wreck House" - one of the windiest places in Canada

Welcome to western Newfoundland - a whole lot of nothing

At some point every day if the sun shines, we dry our home

Stealth camping places.  Churches and graveyards

The massive tablelands, where the earths mantle pokes through

Popeye or Dopey?

Bonne Bay

Typical riding on the great northern peninsula

New friends!

Riding down the last of the light looking for a camp spot

Western Brooke Pond

Why does this guy keep following me?

'Bound for Labrador

We will be back Newfoundland!

Nova Scotia - Pictures

The ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia

Lisa watching the sunset and waiting for the water to boil

Another seaside free spot to put up the tent...  a favorite

Many people are amazed that we ride with such fat tires... this is one reason why

Mussell farming

Watch out -

- For these.

 

Ice cold spring water refill

One of the many beautiful climbs on the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton

Typical riding on Cape Breton

Goodbye Nova Scotia!

Leaving Newfoundland - Writing

The great northern peninsula does not have many towns, making for slim pickings for eating out and even buying food. The 23rd was my birthday and of course, I wanted all things I am used to having when it's my birthday; And living in a 1st world country pretty much means I can have anything I want. That is such a crazy thought. Simply because it is my birthday, I can justify spending the day how I choose and living where I live more or less enables this. I guess I never realized how odd that truly is until I was in a situation where everything life has to offer is not at my fingertips.

I now have celebrated three birthday's on the road. I know I make mention of this often, but I cannot get over how fast time is going. I spent one birthday riding from Austria into Italy, the second birthday in Ohio and now the third riding along the Newfoundland coast. I feel so fortunate and often stop to pinch myself as it does not seem real. I love life and hope to maintain this feeling of appreciation. Another day of riding with the wind at our backs but spending more time under random shelters or simply just riding through the spitting rain. Dodging rain and pleading with the weather gods to put off any bad weather until we got closer to our destination to put our tent up, we eventually made it 10k outside of St. Barbe, the town to catch the Labrador ferry. We rode a bit late this particular evening because we stopped at a restaurant for a birthday dinner of sauteed scallops, bay shrimp and haddock with a chocolate volcano cake for dessert. Yum. A storm was rolling in, only emphasizing the darkness and for some reason there were not any gravel pits to be found. Riding until close to 9 with the sun already set, we found an abandoned home with a fallen-in roof. A perfect place to call home for the night.

Just missing the early morning storm, we quickly packed up relatively dry gear and rode into the wind that changed on us overnight. The clouds overhead were ominous and we were lucky to duck into the ferry terminal, just missing the first ferry over to Quebec/Labrador. Might as well have breakfast. We made a true loop through St. Barbe which consisted of maybe 30 homes before realizing the ferry terminal/hotel/restaurant was the only one in town. Well that sure makes it easy to choose a breakfast spot. Ryan and I are both type B people and seem to have a very difficult time making any decision. This is fairly typical and probably a reason why we still get along so well after such close quarters for 2 years: "What do you want to do for breakfast?" "I don't care. What do you want to do?" or "Where do you want to head? South or west?" "I don't care. What about you?" This often ends with asking a local if the stop is worth the food or what direction they would go if they were on bikes. Definitely helpful.

We caught the afternoon ferry and rode up the hill to at least step foot in Labrador. Tempted to ride the Labrador highway that was only constructed in 2010, we thankfully decided against that idea and stuck with the ferry. We met motorcyclists who just crossed the highway and said the black flies were plentiful and the dust was intense. Another plus to the ferry was that we found out that we could get off earlier, costing less money. Dropping from $640 to $320, we will instead be dropped at Natashquan where the road begins in Quebec, 700k from Remouski (another option to take the ferry). We will ride through an extremely wildernessy area, 150k and 220k between towns. Right up our alley.

Corner Brook to Deer Lake, Newfoundland

The road from Corner Brook to Deer Lake followed a river valley and then a lake. It was a fairly short ride, but the hills and the wind in our face made it a touch more tiring than expected. The views of Newfoundland are always beautiful, making every pedal worth the work though.

I must add this tidbit in. As I write this, we are sitting in a small town cafe as 8 local men occupy the tables next to us. Without a word, Ryan and I look at one another with a smile, knowing we are both thinking the same thing, "What in the world are these people saying?" The Newfie accents are one of a kind, dropping all h's with little pronunciation of words. We really need to concentrate to understand some of the locals. This corner of the world is definitely worth a visit. Before we arrived here, we often heard Newfie's are the friendliest people on earth.

We met a fellow cycle tourist named Malcolm, a resident of St. John's, Newfoundland, taking a two month leave from work to make a loop through the Maritimes, Newfoundland and Quebec. We met him just as he was taking a few days to rest a bad saddle sore that required a trip to the hospital and antibiotics. Malcolm and two friends had been planning this trip for two years, so you can imagine how bummed he was learning of the severity of his sore. Although trying to rest in order for the sore to heal, he ended up canceling his trip and plans to pick up where he left off next year. Saddle sores are definitely a concern and a bother when on the bikes day in and day out. After talking to Malcolm, we researched saddle sores and learned the best methods of prevention are supportive saddles that are properly adjusted, changing out of your biking shorts when you are not riding and standing up off the seat often while riding. Most people that we talk to always point to our saddles, shake their heads and say something like "If I were riding I would have the most padded seat I could." In reality, this is the surest recipe for a saddle sore. More padding means more movement, more movement equals more friction and more friction causes sores. We will stick with our hard leather Brooks saddles thanks!

Newfoundland, Port Aux Basque - Corner Brook

Getting off the ferry in Port Aux Basque, Newfoundland at 2:30am, we had limited options for a nights sleep. The ferry terminal employees offered the upstairs lounge where we gladly put our sleeping pads and managed to sleep until 8:30am. We probably could have ridden a bit on the TCH (Trans Canada Highway - which is the only road that runs north and south across Newfoundland), since few cars or trucks drive at night for fear of hitting one of the 120,000 or so moose that inhabit on the island. Nevertheless, we opted for the lounge which worked out perfectly.

A recommended breakfast at Elma's, we happily ate a decent sized meal for a fair price. Where did this come from? We haven't hit this in Canada very often and were surprised it happened in Newfoundland where the prices tend to be elevated another 10% from even from the expensive Nova Scotia.

Riding north we had the water on our left and the Table Mountains on our right. Talk about beautiful. These mountains are steep sided with flat tops, making us both more or less drool thinking of the fantastic hikes and beautiful views these mountains must provide. The green meadows, trees and brush encased either side of the road and random lakes and rivers occupy the terrain. One section we passed through is called Wreck House. This was rightfully given its name, supposedly the windiest spot of Canada, sometimes reaching 200km/hour winds. At one point maybe 60 years ago there was a family that lived in a house that was mostly built in ground to avoid the wind. The man who lived there would communicate with Port Aux Basque via telegraph to let the trains know what the winds were doing, whether the trains should come through or stay put as the gusts were strong enough to topple the trains! He and his wife had 11 children....I guess there is not much to do in such a windy area.

Prince Edward Island - Pictures

Some of the best riding ever.  Prince Edward Island (PEI)

The longest bridge in the western hemisphere to get here

Unfortunately riding on the bridge is prohibited.  They do offer a shuttle though

Maybe the best free campsite of the trip at Point Prim

Tire deep in potato flowers

The confederation trail on PEI has hundreds of miles of converted railways

Farms and Fishing - local mainstays

The locals are proud of their "heritage roads." I say red dirt roads 

Lisa picking raspberries 



Cape Bear - the marconi station here was the first to receive the Titanic's distress call

New Brunswick - Pictures

Back into Canada

Hopping the ferry to Deer Isle at low tide

The view back to Eastport

The bikes sporting new panniers and converted Office Depot inbox basket up front

Inland New Brunswick made for great pastoral riding

The world's largest tides on the Bay of Fundy

Local delicacy?  Either very expensive or the best deal in Canada

Typical "stealth" campsite...  50ft from the Trans Canada Highway

Down to the North Atlantic