Halifax

July 17
Today, we made it to Halifax. Did I mention just how very much I love our GPS - our trusty Zumo??? (I know I did but I'm emphasizing it again...) The joys of a GPS, especially in a big city! It takes all the stress out of coming into a city you don't know and with complete ease, we've been able to effortlessly find exactly where we want to go... love it!
OK - enough about that...
The drive from Pictou  to Halifax was great, especially on the secondary roads... Route 2 runs parallel to the Trans Canada. It's a bit slower but it  meanders through rolling farmland. In this part of Nova Scotia, there are so many beautiful little farms everywhere!! Everything is green and lush and I can see how the Scottish who arrived here felt at home (based on photos I've seen of parts of Scotland). There are also a lot of dairy farms as well. This is such a huge change from Newfoundland where so much of the undeveloped areas are marshy and muskegy... here, you're into postcard perfect farmland, worthy of any rural calendar. The other thing we noticed - my God, do they love to mow grass here!!! Honestly, in Newfoundland, everyone has a 4-wheeler but in Nova Scotia, everyone must have a  heavy duty ride'em lawn mower! Every other yard is at least 3 acres of mowed and manicured lawn and I'm  not even exaggerating. This is a true story. I would have taken pics but it's hard to do from a moving motorcycle... but trust me when I say, we've never seen such HUGEMONGOUS lawns  anywhere!!
Halifax is a really great city, from what we managed to see today. We drove around Dartmouth (the other side of the shore from the Halifax waterfront) and then parked our bike. WHAT LUCK! The parking ticket dispenser was Out Of Order! Free parking!
We hopped the little shuttle ferry (like the Seabus in Vancouver) and it lands right in the middle of the Halifax piers. Yes, I know, it's a little touristy but what the heck - we're tourists! It was great fun to walk up and down the boardwalk and see all the goings on. We also went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - a must see, honestly, if you're interested in history. In the museum, they have a comprehensive collection including Halifax's maritime involvement in the World Wars, the Arctic Expedition, they also have a great display on the devastating Halifax Harbour explosion in 1917. I was so moved by the little movie we watched, both a lady behind me and I were teary-eyed and sniffling. So incredibly, unspeakably tragic... and so unimaginable. It was the largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima. They also have a really great Titanic museum with quite a few artifacts. Even though the Titanic was on it's way to New York and the survivors were taken there, almost 200 bodies of people who died in the sinking were brought to Halifax and are buried in 3 of the cemeteries here. They also have a huge collection of artifacts from a whole bunch of other shipwrecks from this area, a boat building shop where they restore old boats  and lots of old, vintage wooden boats on display. They also have two boats at the pier you can walk on - the Acadien which is from 1913 and was used for charting coastal waters and a naval ship (can't remember the name!) A great museum.
After all of that, we were hungry so we sat on the pier and had some take-away dinner (I had a killer lobster salad!) and watched all the boats go by. We crossed back on the ferry and started to head out to our campsite (The Shubie Campsite - can you believe the name, Erica??) and we saw a bunch of rowers practicing on the little lake in the middle of Dartmouth. We stopped and watched for quite awhile - some were Dragon Boat racers, some were single and double racing boats.  Another great day...
Tomorrow we're off to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg!
I'm not posting as many photos right now because the camera on this mini tablet isn't that great and its awkward but we have some great pictures on our big camera which I will add later, when we get home...

Catch Up Post - July 15

July 15 (Posted after the fact...)
So irritating! Not sure what happened to my July 15 post but I hit save and it got stuck in save mode and now I can't open it! ARG!!! Anyway, here goes...
So we left Louisbourg and headed up to the small town of Baddeck where Alexander Graham Bell and his family eventually settled after immigrating from Scotland. Of course, he's most famous for his invention of the telephone but he was a prolific inventor and worked in so many different areas, it's hard to imagine when the mad slept. Honestly - any one of his achievements would have been a life's worth and he had multiple disciplines. He initially worked closely with the deaf, continuing the work of his father. He invented the first machine to test hearing loss and worked with a "visual language" method.  He was instrumental in Helen Keller's life and helped set her on a path of communication with her outside world. He was also intensely interested in aviation and his work (with some partners) led to the very first flight in Canadian aviation history, in Baddeck. He also developed many different models of hydrofoils and one of his hydrofoils set the then world record for the fastest speed. What an amazing man. He would be on my list of people I'd like to have lunch with when I die...
What's really great is that his two daughters donated thousands of artifacts to the museum, including the transmitter and receiver from the very first telephone call he made to his assistant Watson in which he said, "Watson, come here  - I would like to see you." (or something relatively close to this...)
This is a fantastic museum that honours an incredible man who contributed so much to society, both in terms of technology and compassion. We would highly recommend this stop in your travels if you get a chance.
From Baddeck, we continued on up the East side of the Cabot Trail. There are so many artisans who have roadside galleries and shops, it's so much fun to hop from one to the next. Along this stretch is our friend Sarah Beck's Wildfire Pottery studio. We stopped in and had a great visit with her and her partner, Paul. Sarah is an incredibly talented potter and she sells a lot of her work online as well. I can't put my hands on her card at the moment (sorry Sarah!!) but google her and you'll find her website. When I can, I'll update this information.
After leaving Sarah and Paul, we continued up through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Apparently, this area looks a lot like the Scottish Highlands - gorgeous. We made it to South Cape and found a fantastic little campsite off the road, overlooking a harbour. So lovely. What a fantastic (and HOT!!!! 100 degrees!) day!!

Cabot Trail - Cape Breton

July 16
Had a great night in Cape North and carried on our way around the Cabot Trail this morning. The weather couldn't have been more perfect! We made it down to Pleasant Bay and had breakfast there and then went to see the fishermen unloading crab at the dock. A beautiful little harbour and lots of whale-watching boats going out. From there, we carried on down to Cheticamp. This stretch of the Cabot Trail was our favourite - absolutely stunning views of the winding road as it twists in front of you along the rugged coastline. We climbed over a couple small mountains and apparently this area looks just like the Scottish Highlands (hence the name of the park - the Cape Breton Highlands National Park). They must get a lot of rain here because it's like temperate rain forest - densely packed, thick green trees like a carpet up steep mountains and into deep crevasses. Gorgeous.
We stopped in Cheticamp and the Acadian culture is very noticeable here - from their bright colourful folk art wood carvings to their classic hooked rugs and, of course, the Acadian dialect of French. We spent some time in a carving shop which was fun to see and then had lunch at the Co-op Artisanale Restaurant Acadien - a lovely little place that (we're told) is the only place left on Cape Breton you can get truly authentic, traditional Acadien food. I had their meat pie and thought of my mom, who still makes the best "Tortierre" in the world. This little place is a must see if you come through Cheticamp - they have a traditional craft co-operative which has beautiful rug hooked pieces and more and today, we were lucky to be able to watch one of the women working on one. They also have a little museum and, of course, the restaurant. Great food, very good prices and friendly staff in traditional long skirts and bonnets. www.cheticamphookedrugs.com
From here we hugged the coastline and took route 19 down to the Canso Causeway which connects Cape Breton to the rest of Nova Scotia. This was a LOVELY drive and the countryside opens up into lowlands and rolling farmland along the water. Lots of beautiful little farms and small villages, green hay fields and red barns. Fabulous route to take.
Once over the Causeway, we got onto the the Trans Canada and zoomed along, making some fast miles. We decided to try to find a place near New Glasgow. After turning off there, we stopped at a gas station and a fellow there told us the only place he knew to camp was in Pictou, a small town a few miles down the road. We headed that way and off we went to Pictou, a FANTASTIC little town we would have otherwise totally missed. Sometimes, the random chances lead to great experiences and this was certainly true of our experience in Pictou! We found the Harbour Lights campground (selected soley based on the name!) and when we found it, it was a sea of RVs! OH NO! Good grief - totally NOT what we were hoping for but by then, we were tired and didn't care - it was only for one night.
We went to the office and there found Cameron, the owner. What a character! He said he thought he might have something quiet for us and walked us past all the RVs and lo, down a little hill and right beside the water was a beautiful little green treed meadow all quiet and secluded. Unbelievable. You just never know!! After setting up camp, we headed back into Pictou to wander around the waterfront. Pictou has a great history - the first load of Scottish immigrants arrived there back in the early 1700s aboard the "Hector" - a replica of this sailing ship is in the harbour there. This first landing marked the beginning of the Scottish presence in what would go on to be Nova Scotia and the Scottish culture is alive and well to this day. After having some great food at Sharon's Place, we took photos up and down the streets - gorgeous heritage buildings everywhere. As we wandered, we could hear bagpipes and drums which led us to the deCoste Centre, down on the waterfront. There, a fantastic pipes and drums group played for an hour, free for all to watch. I don't know what it is about pipes and drums - I'm French and Italian but somewhere in my genetic makeup, maybe there's a little bit of Maritimer because I hear them and I get teary-eyed!
At a break, we went into the Center and what a place! They host a weekly series called "The Summer Sounds of Nova Scotia" and each week, they have different musicians, storytellers, dancers etc. from Nova Scotia come and do performances or traditional Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) - a Nova Scotian "Kitchen Party". For $15 (they give discounts to people staying in local accommodations) you get an incredible night of top rate entertainment. Last night we had singer/songwriter  Jimmy Sweeney doing old time stories and songs, some lovely highland dancers, a wonderful harp duo - Ardyth and Jennifer - and an incredible fiddler, Fleur Mainville, who played with a guitar accompanist. What a show!  For more information on the incredible job the deCoste Centre is doing to support and preserve Nova Scotian culture, check out their website - www.decostecentre.ca
We love Pictou! What a wonderful little town - like so many others, we wish we could stay for a few more days but alas, tomorrow we're off to Halifax. We'd like to stay and see all their concerts! They're all first rate - in the past they've had Rita McNeil, Stompin Tom, Mamas and Papas, Natalie MacMaster, Liona Boyd, the Rankins, Valdy, the Barra MacNeils - the list is impressive! Definitely a must see...
Yesterday's post is missing... Sorry about that. I wrote it and it got stuck in save mode... Not sure what the issue is but will try to post it later. It was a great day in Baddeck visiting the fabulous Alexander Graham Bell museum and then heading up the first half of the Cabot Trail, visiting our friend Sarah Beck at her awesome pottery studio, Wildfire Pottery.

Newfoundland - Part 2

July 10
After a bit of a slow morning (due to the late night merriment) we headed out to New Bonaventure, about 25 kms from Trinity. There they have the site where they filmed the fantastic miniseries called Random Passage. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it! I watched it years ago (2001 I think?) when CBC first aired it and it's an historically accurate but fictional account of a family who landed from England on the coast of Newfoundland back in the 1700s and began cod fishing. It was so well done and the film producer who is from Newfoundland, donated the set for tourism because it is so well reproduced and accurate to what it would have been like back then. We did the tour and Bride, our tour guide, was an incredible story teller! She brought us through all the buildings and told us the story as well as giving us a lot of explanation of the fishery and the tools they used etc. I would highly recommend this, especially if you've seen the movie!
After spending the morning here, we took off and headed into Clarenville where we stopped and phoned to make ferry reservations for Saturday to cross from Argentia, Nfld to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We also called the Harley dealership in St. John's. Gerry - one of the owners, answered the phone and God bless him, he squeezed us in the next morning for an oil change and to replace my back tire.
On we went to St. John's. Right in the middle of town is Pippy Park, a huge green belt parkland that also has an RV and campsite area. The bonus, it's pretty much 5 minutes from the waterfront and all the shops. It was a bit pricey at $45/night for a serviced site but the location was too good to pass up.

July 11
Boy we got lucky this morning - we got up early to get to Harley and on our way it started to rain. By the time we got in at 8:00AM, it turned into a downpour. We missed the rain my mere minutes! While our bikes were being serviced, we hung around and drank coffee. What a great bunch of people! Gerry, the owner, made sure we were looked after. We had nice chairs to sit in and some of the staff came and chatted with us and shared some snacks. By the time we were done, the sun was out! Perfect! Gerry left us with his card and told us if we ran into trouble or needed help of any kind in both Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to give him a call. What a great guy...
From there, we we up to Signal Hill - a National Historic Site. It was a military post high up on a hill and from there, you can look into the St. John's harbour on one side and out over the open water on the other. A lot of the site is still intact and you can wander all over on trails. It was also the site where Marconi received his first trans-Atlantic wireless message and there is a radio room there with lots of artifacts. Very cool.
From there, we headed out to Cape Spear - the Eastern most tip of North America. There are 2 lighthouses there - the original from the early 1800s and then a newer one from around the mid-1900s.
We went back downtown and the two streets that parallel the harbour, Water and Duckworth, have awesome little shops and a vibrant nightlife. We had some of the best pizza we've ever had at Yellowbelly brew pub and, as we sat at by the window and watched the world go by, we realized, on this busy Friday night, that people were cruising!! Especially on motorcycles! Up and down the street they would go! Very funny so after dinner we decided to join the cruise for a lap and rode up Water St. and down Duckworth with the rest of them on parade. TOO FUNNY!!!

July 12
After passing a sleepless night due to drunken, arguing neighbors at the campsite (good grief already!!!) we headed straight over to Argentia to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia. We got in quite early so the gal at the ferry terminal told us to go into Placentia for a couple hours and come back. We headed over there and were just getting off our bikes at Phillip's Cafe (AWESOME PLACE!), who drives up behind us?? Yvan and Carol!! HA HA HA... too funny! And the great news was that they were catching the Argentia ferry too! We had lunch and then headed back to the terminal and got on the boat.
This particular ferry is 17 hours and is really like a mini cruiseship. Yvan and Carol booked a cabin and got a 4 bunk room because that was all they had left. They generously offered to share their cabin with us which was fantastic. After we settled, we went and had their buffet dinner which was honestly one of the best meals we've had on this trip. They had everything and it was all so good. After stuffing ourselves with cod and roastbeef, hung out in the lovely bar area and listened to a singer/songwriter and had an after dinner aperitif. Perfect. We retired to the cabin and I have to admit, those bunk beds were heaven as the boat chugged and rolled along that night. I slept like a baby!

July 13
Woke up this morning at 7:00 and we were still 3 hours from port. We all had breakfast together - again, their buffet breakfast was absolutely top notch. This boat trip was one of the highlights for us. We would highly recommend it and if you can, spring for the cabin. Much nicer than sleeping on airline type reclining seats for 17 hours...
This time we had to say goodbye to Yvan and Carol for sure because they were heading home to Quebec - no chance meetings from here. We've made arrangements to see them on our way home and, of course, they've offered us a place to stay. I suspect they'll become long time friends. So wonderful...
We headed straight to Louisbourg once we got off the boat. It's only about 1 hour away. The Fortress in absolutely incredible!! It's rated as one of the top 10 things to do in Nova Scotia and now we can see why. It's a military fortress town that first began around 1720 and protected the harbour and, ultimately, the cod fishery. Over the next 25 years or so, the British and French fought over this ground and sacked one another repeatedly. Not much remained but in the 1950s I believe, when so many Nova Scotia coal miners were out of work, the government funded a program where many of them could help rebuild 1/4 of the site and learn new trades. Brilliant really. They've done an incredible job and the site is so impressive. It's huge and all the buildings are open and most have interpreters. We also did the little town tour to learn about it all. We would highly recommend this National Historic Site. Incredible.
From there, we went back into the small town of Louisbourg and stayed at the campsite right by the docks. When the wind is just right, the stinks to high heaven of the fish and crab processing plant next door but mostly, the wind carries it away. The site is lovely and right on the water. Next door is the Louisbourg Playhouse - a theater built in the design of the old Globe Theater in London England. It was part of a movie set shot by Disney in the Louisbourg Fortress a number of years ago and they donated it to the town. The townsfolk cut it up in 4 pieces and loaded them on barges, floated them across the harbour and reconstructed it near the docks. It's been a busy theater since and last night we saw Sheldon Chant and his band. All we can say is WOW!!!! Some of his band have played with the Rankins, Rita McNeil and the like so absolutely first rate musicians and they had that place hopping!!! The fiddler cranked our reels like you can't believe and the piano player was another Billy Joel. One of the best piano players I've heard and he can sing just as well. Sheldon is the local undertaker as well as a minister in one of the little churches and he's also an incredible singer, songwriter and guitar player. And very funny! Lots of great jokes and banter. One of the best concerts we been too ever! What a GREAT DAY!!!

Technology Disaster!!! ARG!!!

MAJOR BOO goes out of Apple!!!!
Not sure what happened - our ever trusty iPad was in my bag and about 4 days ago, I went to use it and got a screen saying that it was "disabled"... what? Why? It was just sitting in my bag! When we hit St. John's, we found a Best Buy and went and talked to a tech there. The verdict?? It has to be connected to iTunes on the computer it was originally initiated on or else I lose all my data - my apps, my music, my photos, my app content (I have a journal on there...) etc.!!! SERIOUSLY??? That computer is 6000kms away!!  You can reload your purchased apps and music but the rest - so longville.

What a dilemma!!! In the end, we decided to buy a Nexus 7, a smaller (mini) tablet that was very reasonable and is way less "restricted" than Apple products are (as far as downloading music and that kind of thing) but it's been a bit of a learning curve, trying to do what I need to do with it ASAP while we're on the road. It has a camera but it doesn't have the option of the camera pointing away from you which is LAME!!!! So the pics I've taken thus far aren't as good... We're also missing the pictures on the iPad from last week so no post pictures from Newfoundland until we get home and can post some from the big camera. Oh well...

Will have more travel updates up shortly!!

The New Found Land!! - Part One

July 7
Last night we stayed at the Viking RV and Campsite near L'Anse Aux Meadows. As soon as we pulled in, an elderly fellow who was 95 if he was a day, bounced right on up to me before I even had my bike turned off. He flashed me a huge, toothless grin.
"Boys oh Boy... dems right nice dey are!!" pointing to my bike...
"Whereye came from?"
"We're from BC" I say
"BC!!" he hoots, "Ize always wanna go - take me wit you!"
"If you can fit in my saddle bag, you can come!" I say
"Dat I ken, my dearie, dat I ken - Ize ken make meself right small!"
"Well OK then! Let's go!" I say
"Right, bye!" he hoots "I'll jus go and get me teeth!"
And then we looked at each other and just howled laughing! A hilarious exchange and I wasn't even off my bike yet! Never did find out who he was... he just wandered off and that was the last of him. :)

During dinner, we met some other motorcyclist travelers - Yvan and Carol - from Quebec. Withing a matter of minutes, we were sitting at their table and sharing stories and they were giving us tips on the Gros Morne area they'd just come from. Lovely folks...

We had a good (but COLD!!) night and the next morning, they had breakfast for us - eggs and bacon but the bread was thick cut homemade white bread with butter and homemade bakeapple and partridgeberry jam. If you've never had bakeapple, it's a small berry that grows in Newfoundland and Labrador. The plants are only a few inches high and are tough going to pick because they're spaced apart and so low to the ground. Back breaking work so they're worth their weight in gold. They look like orangey-red raspberries and have a lovely taste. Anyway, one of the best breakfasts we've had... so wonderful!

From L'Anse Aux Meadows, we headed south towards Gros Morne National Park with the intention of staying there but the weather got quite cold and rainy and then the wind started to blow. By the time we got into the park, it was pretty crummy and fog was socking it in a bit. We went through Rocky Harbour but decided to keep going. We would have liked to spend some time in Gros Morne the we thought we'd rather get through the weather. Too bad because there is so much you can do there - GREAT hiking trails and boat tours up the fjord etc. You could spend a week there alone... Instead, we headed south and got out of the wet and into some very nice sun! We drove through Pasadena and we stopped at an Irving station and called the parents of a dear old friend of mine. Great fun to surprise them (we hadn't planned on going that far south) and this led to a lovely dinner party and visit. We headed into Cornerbrook and spent the night in a Walmart parking lot because we were too tired to look elsewhere. Yes it's free. And busy. You can't believe the goings on all night in a Walmart parking lot! Great big tractor trailers there and one was a refrigeration trailer so engines and generators running all night. Thank God for ear plugs! But it got us through and off we headed the next morning.

July 8
From Cornerbrook, we headed up to Gander. Gander is a very interesting town with a big aviation history. I won't go into detail other than to say we went to the Aviation Museum there which was really great. Lots of great artifacts and they've done a wonderful job of the storytelling of the history. Of particular note - during 911, many large planes were forced to land in Gander and this small town put up over 6000 stranded travelers in every nook and cranny in their town for 4 days.  Locals rallied to provide clothes, food and other necessities and saved the day for thousands. The museum has an incredible collection of the hundreds of thank you letters so many people from Canada and the US sent, expressing love, gratitude and thanks for the incredible generosity and kindness of the Gander people. Very touching...
After there, we still had some good afternoon left so we headed up the 330 to do the penninsula route. We had to pass the change to do Twillingate and Fogo Island - two places recommended to us - because we're so aware that we are really having to pare down our expectations of what we will be able to fit in on this trip. Sigh... it's HARD! So much to SEE!!! We made it to Musgrave Harbour and just outside of town is a municiple park and campsite and also the memorial sight of Banting (the Canadian who discovered insulin)  - he died in a plane crash at this site. The campsite is lovely - in front is a lovely freshwater lake which is great to swim in. In behind is a small bank and then a trail down to a GORGEOUS sandy beach cove on the Atlantic! Miles of sandy beach to walk! Incredible!
One thing to note - the roads in Newfoundland are absolutely, without any hesitation in my saying this, atrocious! The locals think so too! The side roads are in a terrible state of disrepair - pot holes and huge dips and bumps everywhere. It makes for very slow and uncomfortable travel. I can't imagine it in a huge RV! The main highways (like the Trans Canada) are great but they cut inland for fast travel and you see nothing but a swath of trees. That's it. If you want to see the shoreline at all, you take the side roads and take your chances with your vehicle! I've decided I'm going to write a letter to the Newfoundland government when I get home about the roads... sheesh!!

July 9
From Musgrave Harbour, we came down the east side of the peninsula into Gambo, came through Terra Nova National Park and headed up the 230 to Bonavista. Bonavista was where Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) first landed in Canada! As the story goes, when he saw the harbour, he said it was a "Bona Vista" - a beautiful sight... And truly it is. Bonavista is a town that sort of typifies what most of us think about Newfoundland - it's one of the oldest towns in Canada and has over 1000 heritage buildings. We did a walkabout with a self-guided map and some of the buildings are incredible. We went and saw the Matthew - an historically accurate replica of Cabot's ship. You can go aboard and tour around it. It's surprisingly small considering they came across the Atlantic in it. When we went on it, it was in dry dock for repairs but they do float it at the dock during the summers. A great thing to see. Parks Canada also have a fantastic historical site (I'll dig through my stuff and find the name later) but it's a collection of buildings from one of the big fisheries from the 1700s that are still there and they've converted into a museum. Really neat to see and very well done. We've come to realize just how important the cod fishery was to the colonization of Canada back then. It was all about the fish and feeding millions of French and British across the pond...
We met a fisherman on the dock, David Abbott, who we chatted with for about an hour and then he told us he'd take us out to the Cape to see the lighthouse and the puffins. We followed him out there and we hung out with him for about an hour and who should creep up behind us and surprise us but our friends we met in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Yvan and Carol from Quebec who are also on a motorcycle! It was like old home week!! They left to find their B&B and David took us out to Elliston to find our campsite and show us where the HUGE puffin site it there. What a great guy! He wouldn't let us buy him breakfast or anything to say thinks - just one of so many kind, generous people we've met on this trip...
Our campsite at Elliston was right by the water. Lovely. Another COLD night! Thank God for power and the small car heater we brought!

July 10
After packing up camp, we headed over to the puffin area - a huge rocky point you can walk out on. There were thousands of little puffins!!! SO AWESOME!! They're about the size of small duck and have duck-like bodies: short little wings and bright orange webbed feet. They have white breasts and pretty little puffin heads - black and white with their orange striped beaks. They are so fearless, if you are quiet and walk slowly, you can walk within 2 feet of them. I sat on the grass and one of them walked right up to me and checked me out before waddling away! It was so amazing. We stayed for about an hour...
From there, we went back into Bonavista and saw the last of the things we didn't see yesterday and then met Yvan and Carol for lunch. What great people...
After lunch, we headed down the peninsula to Trinity. What a GORGEOUS little town! It's another of the oldest towns in North America and the heritage side of the town is run sort of like Barkerville - they have interpreters and do tours although people still live in the houses and the heritage buildings are still used as shops, the post office etc. They also have a little summer theater there - The Rising Tide theater company. Lynn quickly found the Blacksmith and he and Wade hit it off immediately so I left him there and wandered around the town. Just lovely. We decided to stay the night so we bought tickets for the theater show that night which was an awesome Newfoundland review with skits, singing, some stand up comedy and a small play. Fabulous.
We got a campsite and the historical Trinity Cabins... they've been around for a long time (don't have a date with me) but Corine, the owner, said people in the 1950s used to catch the train there and carry their luggage with them down the road for 2 miles to get there to camp. It was a destination place to come! Corine and her husband Glen were so welcoming and open, it was instant friendship. In the office area, they have a sitting room like a living room and all her family were there visiting like they do most nights. We were invited to stay so after we set up camp we went back up and hung out.. Pam, one of the other campers, went and got her guitar and she sang for us and invited me to come and play spoons and sing and we all sat around until the wee hours playing music. SO FUN!

Sailing Down The St. Lawrence!

July 2, 2013

At long last, we finally arrived in Havre St. Pierre - this has been our pressing destination to catch the boat tomorrow. We've been riding hard since Grand Forks, North Dakota to make this rendezvous which, at times, seemed too far away to make in the time we had. In fact, several days ago when we were way up north in LongLac, we were in a little diner and we were looking at our map. The server came and asked us where we were from and where we were going and when we told her we were trying to make Havre St. Pierre in 5 days, she said "WOW!" which drew the attention of the other locals in the restaurant. Before we knew it, they were all talking about and considering the task before us. After much hemming and hawing, the group verdict was, "Well... you *might* make it..." with much shaking of their heads. :) Today, we DID IT! It felt like we'd completed a bit of a marathon. From Sept-Isle to Havre is only 200 kms but the road after Sept-Isle is much more secondary and there are stretches of it that are very old and rough. We also ran into quite a bit of road work which held us up a bit. We were very excited to finally arrive and at the north end of town, there is another municipal camp site right on the beach. Gorgeous! We snagged a site and went into town to look around. We found the information center and found the pier where we will catch our boat tomorrow morning. We had a beer at the local biker bar and met three fellow riders from Montreal. We missed the grocery store (it was closed) so we had a quick sandwich/salad at the Subway and were in bed by 8:30. The long days of steady riding, combined with some rough roads is hard on the body. Today, by the time we got in, I was sore. I had to take some Tylenol for the aches and pains for the the first time. Just a lot of stiffness...

July 3, 2013

We had to get up at 3:00AM to pack up our camp and get down to the pier by 4:00AM. We got there and there was no one there!! For a few minutes, we worried that information was lost in translation and we had missed the boat but then we realized there were shipping containers on the dock that hadn't been there the day before so we assumed they were cargo ready to go. Finally, around 4:30, a fellow came by and opened up a container to take out his forklift. He didn't speak any English but with some patience on his part, he managed to tell us that we needed to go to the shipping office to check in which was across town!! Oh boy! He was just writing down the address when another fellow came by. He worked for the port and spoke only French but told us he would take us so he drove his car and we followed he got us to the office. We were VERY lucky!! At the office, they were wondering where we were and if we had made it from Thunder Bay!! (which was where we had called to confirm our reservations from). Turns out we were the only passengers they were pickup up at Havre St. Pierre, along with a bunch of cargo.

After registering, we went back down to the pier and the boat showed up at 5:30AM. What an incredible boat!! It is the "Bella Desgagnes" a brand new ship that was only 3 weeks in service. In fact, we are on her 7th sailing! It was built in Croatia (started there) and then the company went bankrupt so it was finished in Italy. It's a mini cruise ship, really, and our Purser, Todd, gave us a nice tour because we were the only new passengers coming aboard at this port. He gave us our own private berth which is a nice as the one we had on the Holland America ship we took to Alaska a few years ago! What a SURPRISE!!! We thought we'd be on a rough cargo ship, sleeping in crew bunks and here we are in the lap of luxury! The dining room is beautiful with full table service! Go figure! And the food has been incredible - the freshest of seafood, brought on board from the ports of call. The Bella is also a cargo ship as well and the stern of the ship has a large hold for all the shipping containers and a HUGE crane for loading and unloading. We had to load our motorbikes into a container and the crew were so careful and meticulous about tying everything down without scratching the bikes but also to make sure they were very secure. We were both really impressed by the care taken with this. The crew didn't know we had our trailer (although I mentioned it when I booked the reservation) so they didn't have enough container space for it. After some head scratching, they decided to just hoist it up on it's own with the crane and they tied it directly to the deck. It looks pretty puny out there, next to all the huge shipping containers! But it made it on the boat, which was the main thing!

So here we are in the lap of a luxury cruise ship for 2.5 days, chugging along the north coast and stopping in the ports of all these little fishing villages along the way. In each port, we have between 2-5 hours (depending on how much cargo needs to get on and off) to get off the boat and wander around and take photos. There are some little tours in some of the ports you can do as well but we're finding we're seeing enough just on our own. We made Natashquan by mid-afternoon and then Kegaska around 7:00PM last night. We stopped in La Romaine around 11:45PM but we were so tired, we slept right through that port which then departed around 4:00AM....

July 4, 2013

This morning, we woke up at 7:00AM to the sound of the engines roaring as the ship was docking in Harrington Harbour. What a pretty little fishing village. All the houses are brightly coloured and instead of roads, they have have narrow paved paths and board walks and there are four-wheelers everywhere. They are by far the main mode of land transportation in these villages. There is the odd car or truck around but without anywhere to drive them, not a huge need. And, of course, boats, boats and more boats! Apparently, there was a major movie shot in Harrington Harbour recently called the Grand Seduction. We haven't seen the movie but are curious about it now because we've been here. We'll have to watch it. It also reminds me a bit of the village where they shot the movie "Popeye" back in the 80s... cute little brightly painted houses all connected by board walks and pathways... 

As the day continued, we pulled into the ports of Tete-a-la-Baleine and La Tabatiere and we were able to get off the boat and explore these fishing villages. Each one has around a couple hundred people that live there. We hit St. Augustine in the night and then on July 5, at 7:00AM, we arrived in Blanc Sablon.

July 5, 2013

We set out alarm and were up and at 'em at 5:30AM. We showered and packed up - taking advantage of the lovely bathroom amenities and the electricity we knew we wouldn't have for the next several days.  The boat docked at Blanc Sablon and we disembarked and waited for our shipping container to be unloaded off the boat. It was buried fairly deep in the hold so we waited for a couple of hours. Finally, the big crane lifted it out and we unloaded our motorcycles! After reassembling our belongings, we headed off to Red Bay.

There have been big fires burning in both Quebec and Labrador and the skies have been very hazy since last night. They have that eerie dusk light during the middle of the day - reminds us both of the bad fire seasons we had at home a few years ago. You can smell the smoke in the air. The black flies here are pretty bad - if you stop riding your bike, they cloud around you within seconds. I got a black fly bite in La Tabatiere a couple days ago and my right eye got swollen like a someone punched me. It's still swollen today. 

The road to Red Bay is a nice twisty road with some good, long stretches of great pavement and some stretches of awful, potholed, bumpy road too. Very hard, especially for Lynn, on his trike pulling the trailer. Red Bay is just over 100 kms from Blanc Sablon. En route, the road takes you through a lot of the tundra looking terrain - very much like the Mackenzie River estuary we drove through a few years ago, just before Inuvik. At one point, a new piece of road takes you almost straight up a high mountain and the view from the top is incredible! 

Red Bay is a great little fishing village. Just 2 weeks ago, the received their UNESCO World Heritage Site designation - you can imagine how proud their people are of this prestigious event! Parks Canada has 2 museum buildings - the one up by the church holds the authentic whaling boat they found and restored and the one down town has a fantastically displayed collection of artifacts. Red Bay is the earliest known European contact point in North America. It was verified by the discovery of a Basque galleon which went down in the bay around the mid-1550s. The Basque Country is between France and Spain. The Basque people themselves are currently reconstructing a replica galleon and they plan on sailing it to Red Bay in 2017 in celebration. It will be a HUGE party - we hope to come back for it!

There were also some big icebergs in the harbour. Pretty exciting for us to see! They're so blue in colour! We've been told they come down from around Greenland. Gorgeous. 

We really enjoyed our stay in Red Bay, despite the WORST hatch of black flies the locals have seen in over 30 years. Our luck it was the summer we decided to come for a visit!! They're so bad in places (where there is no wind) that you literally have to run for cover and even the hardened locals have to wear fly netting shirts and head covers over their clothes when they go out for any length of time. CRAZY.

As a result, we returned to L'Anse Au Clair (near Blanc Sablon) and took a hotel room. Too freaking many bugs to camp, that's for sure!

At the hotel, we ran into Elmer and Sharon, who we met on the Bella. They had been in Red Bay too. Elmer said he had gone out in a boat with one of the fishermen to see the icebergs and had a chunk of it in his bathtub! We went up to their room to see it and sure enough, there it was - a chunk the size of a basketball. Elmer hacked off a chunk of it for us which we gnawed on... a chunk of pure, 5000+ year old ice from Greenland! You don't get to do THAT every day! It was particularly nice with a little bit of Sharon's Newfoundland Screech poured over it! 

July 6, 2013

This morning, we jumped out of bed and headed down to the ferry terminal ASAP to stand in line for a ticket. They reserve 75% of the boat trip and the rest is up for grabs on a first come, first serve basis. There was already a big line when we got there so we kept our fingers crossed. We got a number and a passage ticket and had to hope and see. We met Dougie, a big rig driver who was trying to get home a couple days early because he couldn't get through the Labrador highway. It's closed due to the fires. He dropped his load in Labrador City and was heading home to Gander. The great news was we all got on the boat and later, Dougie saw us and invited us to share his table for breakfast on the boat. He was a wealth of information about Newfoundland and gave us lots of great tips on what to see and where to go. Everywhere we've gone, we've met such incredibly friendly, helpful people. It's given us such an incredible impression of Canada and the people in our great country. Instant friends all across this great land. We're gathering quite a collection of cards and scribbled names/addresses/phone numbers of our new friends and quite the rate!

Once arriving in St. Barbe, Newfoundland, we headed north to L'Anse Aux Meadows, the 1000 year old Viking camp. They don't believe it was ever a settlement but it was a temporary camp that was used on and off for about 10 years. They believe the vikings came for resources, particularly wood, to bring back to Greenland for building. L'Anse Aux Meadows was the very first UNESCO World Heritage site ever declared in their program back in the 1970s. Pretty cool that it's in Canada! One of the significant parts of it's history is that this was the first point of contact coming from the East of humans in over 100,000 years since we all left our common motherland Africa back then. The first people of North America arrived on the west side but this viking camp was the first contact from the East, bringing the migration of humans to North America full circle. VERY interesting history. 

Parks Canada has done a magnificent job of the site - they have reconstructed several buildings which you can walk through. All the artifacts there are reproductions but done true to tradition but the nice thing about that is you can touch and hold them, try the clothes on etc. They have interpreters in costumes who are very knowlegeable and bring the buildings to life (like Barkerville for all you Barkerville-ites!!) Then there is the actual archeological site which are impressions in the ground - you can see where the berms for the walls are and they have signs that tell you what building was, based on the evidence found during the digs. An incredible place!!