Canada; Pasadena, Newfoundland to St. John's, Newfoundland
Week 5:
My favourite part... Hands down: whale watching.. Amazing!
Miles... 901
Day 26: Pasadena, NL to Badger, NL
122 miles
Got up around 8 this morning to have breakfast with a couple of very happy kids! After breakfast, we got ready to head to church. After church, we were invited out for lunch.. & what a spread! There were at least 5 different kinds of meat, and I didn't even count the vegetables.. It was delicious and I *obviously* ate way too much. After lunch, we made our way back to Pasadena where we figured out our plans for the night. It looked as if the rain would hold off, so I found a campground two hours down the road for the night. We got our things packed up, said a huge thank you & good bye, and hit the road east again! We didn't leave until about 5, and after a quick stop for gas, we headed towards Badger. We got to the camp ground shortly after 7, to an already lit fire! After getting things set up, we had some dinner and then roasted some marshmallows. I had a shower which was fantastic.. It's always sort of a gamble, but this one was hot and strong water pressure! We got the ferry back to Nova Scotia booked as well, so we can go as when we planned, and then called it a night!
Day 27: Badger, NL to Change Islands, NL
157 miles
Today will be a gamble with the rain all day long, but when I woke up it was clear. Once we got the bikes dried off and things packed away, we headed into Grand Falls where we found some breakfast at a cute little cafe. After breakfast, we found some wifi to figure out our plans for the day and then picked up some groceries for lunch (..which we never ended up actually having). On the outskirts of Grand Falls we went to see the actual waterfall where there is a power generating plant and a large salmon ladder. There was an interpretation centre and you could actually go underneath the ladder and see the salmon swimming through! That was very neat to see. After the salmon interpretation centre, we continued east past Bishops Falls and then found an information centre. The plan was to pick up a bit of info and then head north along a scenic route through Lewisport, however, (*ahem*.. this is where plan B kicks in..) when we stopped I noticed that you could actually now see the belting and, err.. notable lack of rubber on my rear tire. This had been a cause of concern for a while now, but I was hoping it would get me back to Nova Scotia where I would have a new tire waiting for me. After a couple somewhat desperate phone calls (and the knowledge that, on Newfoundland, it takes 1-3 weeks to get tires into stock) I was able to locate the exact tire I needed only half an hour up the road in Gander. So, we altered our course and went straight to Gander where the afternoon was spent jacking up my bike, taking the wheel off, replacing the tire, and putting the wheel back on. I am so relieved that it all worked out as well as it did! I'll have a spare tire at home now, but it all worked out! Once that ordeal was all sorted, we got some fish and chips for dinner and then headed north to the ferry over to Change Islands. We got to the ferry terminal about an hour earlier than we needed to, but thankfully there was a tiny terminal we could sit it to get out of the cold for a while (it's 8 degrees again). Our ferry left at 8 and took us on a twenty minute ride over to the island, where we rode the length of the island - a whole 12kms - to the "town". I was quite skeptical about the directions I'd been given, but it turns out there really is only one road on the island, so it was fairly simple. We got in shortly before 9 and our talkative hostel hosts greeted us with flair (and homemade baking!). We settled in, met the three other guests, and enjoyed an evening tea before bed.
Day 28: Change Islands, NL to Fogo Island, NL
60 miles
We got up around the usual 8ish, and had breakfast with the crew in the kitchen, visiting and discussing our plans for the day. Dad and I left around 9:30 to hike the Squid Jiggers trail, a 7km loop around the north island. It followed the coastline for most of it and was quite rugged, making for a very scenic and challenging hike. It took us a little longer than we had planned, and we didn't get back to the hostel until 10:50. We quickly gathered up our things and headed 13 kms south to the ferry terminal for the 11:30 ferry.. which ended up being late anyways, but it gave us a chance to see lots of jellyfish along the wharf. The ferry over to Fogo island was only about 20 minutes. When we got off the ferry, we stopped in briefly at a visitor information centre and then made our way to Tilting, at the far end of the island. At the end of the road, we turned around and started making our way back. Our first stop was Growlers ice cream, where we sampled Partridgeberry jam ice cream, caramel ice cream, and raisin molasses ice cream.. all of which were delicious. From there, we went up the street to Nicole's cafe where I had soup for lunch and dad had crispy squid. After lunch, we toured around Joe Batts Arm and then headed into the town of Fogo. We checked out the campground and climbed brimstone hill, which is supposed to be one of the four corners of the flat world. It's quite a few steps up there, but the view was well worth the effort. After our hike we went into the town of Fogo to check out a couple of shops (there only are a couple) and then to another viewpoint, before heading back to the campground for dinner and the night. We are right on a little cove that stares perfectly at the sunset, so we should enjoy a great view tonight..
Day 29: Fogo Island, NL to Trinity, NL
268 miles
Had an early start this morning in order to get to the 9 o'clock ferry; we actually got to the ferry terminal around 8:15 and there were already lots of cars in front of us. We left at 9, and needed to stop off in Change Islands to pick up a transport that can't fit on the smaller ferry. It was about an hour across to Farewell, where we headed east around a coastal loop towards Gambo. There wasn't a whole lot along the way, but we stopped off in Musgrave harbor for some lunch, then pulled off a bit later to have a look at some icebergs. When we got as far as Dover, we stopped in at a hardware shop so that dad could get some hydraulic fluid for his training wheels; they keep falling down which makes it tough to turn. From there it wasn't far into Gambo where we joined up with the Trans Canada Highway again and headed towards Terra Nova National Park. In the park we were able to see a large display with starfish, crabs, mussels and all sorts of other creatures that you were allowed to pick up and touch.. So strange. After the park, we followed the TCH for a little longer before turning off and heading out to Trinity for the night. We stopped for dinner along the way and got into the hostel around 8 for the night. It's really nicely decorated and another great crew to get to know, including another biker from Germany and a pedal-biker from Switzerland!
Day 30: Trinity, NL
98 miles
Started off the day with homemade bread for breakfast at the hostel. After breakfast, we packed up and headed to Bonavista, the furthest point for today, and started to work our way back. The first stop off was at the Ryan Premises, a Parks Canada historical site where we could see how salt cod was made and learn about the industry in the 18 and 19 hundreds. There was an overwhelming amount of information, but it was really interesting! From there, we headed out towards the lighthouse, stopping off along the cliffs edge at dungeon hole, a crater in the earth with rock archways out to the ocean. Nature is so incredible! From there, we went out to the lighthouse to walk around and then headed back into town for lunch. After lunch, we continued on, stopping off in Elliston to tour the "root cellar capital of the world" (who knew..) and walk out to a rock where lots and lots of puffins love to live! Such cute, chubby little guys and hilarious when they fly!! From there, we came back to Trinity and walked around the historic town. It's been kept up very well and was really interesting to see some of the different buildings. We still hadn't made a decision about any plans whatsoever, but finally decided to go whale watching in the morning!! Going to be so great! Since we're doing that, we decided to head back to the hostel for dinner and to figure out a few other plans. On our way back, we stopped in at the gas station/grocery store to get some spaghetti making supplies and then went back to the hostel to make up our dinner. We spent a great deal of the evening trying to find reasonably priced accommodation in St. John's, and finally found the residences at the university! Glad to have that settled. After a cup of tea and getting a few other things sorted, it was time to end another great day.
Day 31: Trinity, NL to St. John's, NL
196 miles
Had an earlier start this morning to head into Trinity for our 9am whale watching tour! There were only 6 of us on the tour with a captain and another guy. We went out on a zodiac and toured around the bay's and coastline, seeing a ton of whales and birds along the way! It was amazing... we saw at least a dozen humpback whales, two were sleeping, one was a mother with a calf, and two full grown adults swam right under our boat! That was a little freaky. It was really cool to see them up close, just not too close! We headed further up the coast to a cave that Skipper Bob took the boat right into, then back down the coast to a cove with at least 15 bald eagles and a huge eagles nest! We saw a Minke whale, an iceberg and a Fin whale as well, and got back into the port around noon. It was an amazing trip and I'm soo glad that we took the time to go out in a small boat rather than on a large 'cruise'. We stopped in at the restaurant adjacent to the tour company for lunch and tried out the moose burger! After lunch we headed out towards St. John's, taking the scenic route and making a few stops along the way. We followed highway 60 for a while, which goes along the coast and is a fun winding road to ride and got us to the university campus, where we will be staying, around 7. We have a two bedroom dorm room, so we've got quite a bit of space to enjoy for the 3 nights that we are here! We quickly ran out to subway (Eugh... caved on the anti-chain movement in a moment of starvation) for dinner and then got back in time to meet Sylvie who is going to stay with us here! Works out really well that we are able to split on a bigger room.. We've actually already ran into 4 other people from last nights hostel as well, so we must all be on the same route! By that time, it was time to get settled in and call it a night..
Day 32: St. John's, NL
0 miles
Got up around 8 this morning to get ready to head downtown and check out the sights there. It was a half hour walk, mostly downhill, to get downtown so we were there shortly after 9. We walked the length of Water Street, the oldest street in North America, to the far end of town and then caught a tour trolley up to Signal Hill to check that out. Although it was quite foggy and Cabot Tower was closed, it was still really neat to see a part of history and take in an amazing view. It's incredible how naturally protected the harbor is! There was a really well done video at the interpretation centre, then we walked down to the geo centre where we caught the trolley downtown in search of lunch. We ended up getting poutine for lunch which was quite delicious but a bit of a heart attack in a bowl. After lunch we wandered downtown, checked out George Street, saw the Terry Fox memorial and browsed a few shops. We headed back to the university around 6, stopping off for some groceries along the way. Once back to our home, we pretty much collapsed from all our walking.. and then had some dinner and did some laundry while watching some of the PanAm Games!
J.
Design Life; Inspire Wonder..
Comments
Post a Comment