Up the West Coast

From: Eric MacLeish <ericmacleish@gmail.com>
Date: September 22, 2017 at 6:15:23 PM GMT-2:30
To: George Gardner <capegeorge@gmail.com>

After spending seemingly endless days driving around various provinces in Atlantic Canada with motorcycles in a trailer, we were finally back on two wheels today. 

George and I woke up to a brilliant day in Port aux Basques and set off on the west coast headed north some 450 km to the Labrador Ferry. When I say that we woke up, I have to be honest and commend George for his 5:15 AM rise and an hour at the health club. Once again, I am humbled.

It felt a little scary starting off. I guess it always does. You start thinking about things like flat tires, logging trucks, pieces of scrap metal on the roadway and all kinds of other things that could happen but never do. After stopping for a second breakfast, we set off and something unusual did happen – one of my highway pegs, something I rely on to rest my weary legs on, suddenly fell off. Fortunately, George  picked up some of the pieces, but there was a bolt that was missing. After circling back, however, I located it and we were off.

We also met our first grumpy Newfoundlander. Everybody here is incredibly friendly, but this woman was having a bad day. When I said I just wanted a Diet Coke for breakfast, she gave me a very disappointing and somewhat aggravated look. I then ordered the full English breakfast, vowing not to eat any of it. Of course, that did not happen.

Once again, the intercoms are invaluable. If only they had a greater range. George and I go at different speeds and there is this incredibly annoying crackling sound which bombards your brain after a certain distance of separation. That is followed by an incessant beeping until a connection is established.

After several hours, we really started to enjoy the scenery. There are not many towns or villages, just forests, hills and warnings about collisions with moose. The farther north we went the more spectacular the scenery. By the time we went by Corner Brook, the second largest town in Newfoundland, we begin to see mountains coming down to the water. We then entered Gross Morne National Park where a friendly park ranger told us that our admission was free. No one comes up to Newfoundland at this time of year, she said. We then rode up to Rocky Harbour and then on to Cows Bay, a small fishing village right on the coast. 

We are off to Labrador tomorrow. Most Newfoundland people we speak to discourage travel to Labrador. This is strange since none of them appear to have ever been to Labrador. 

So it was a great day, although we did get very cold and we had to stop at a Tim Hortons. In our journeys, we have arrived at these tranquil oases on various occasions, many times when we are soaking wet and freezing cold.  The hot chocolate was great. 

Rain is in the forecast, but then again rain is always in the forecast. Beautiful sunny day today with hopefully more to come. 

Sent from my iPhone