May 21, 2006

May 21, 2006

Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island by ferry to Port Aux Basques / Doyles, Newfoundland

YEAR 2 DAY 338

 

Today was cool with intermittent rain.

This morning after regular morning chores and routines, I took the rental movies back to the campground store, then took the laptop to the laundry room to get online with Wi-Fi one last time before we left. I refilled the fresh water tank, emptied the waste holding tanks, then took Bo for an obedience session. He did fine, although he shivered every time I left him in a "sit stay", walked away, then returned to him. He's such a sissy about cold weather. Maybe generations of evolution have made southern bred and born dogs less tolerant of cold ? My theory is based on my observation that he has no undercoat, and does not shed. A Yorkshire Terrier cross should have an undercoat, and should shed. We finished preparing for departure and left Riverdale RV Park.

On the way to the ferry at North Sydney we made 2 stops. First we stopped at a Shell service station in Albert Bridge to fill up with diesel ... in pouring rain, at the diesel pump out at the edge of the station, not under the canopy where the rest of the pumps were ! Then we stopped at a roadside shed selling fresh lobsters. I'm not a big fan of lobster, but I thought I shouldn't pass up the opportunity to buy one, fresh and cheap, while we're here, and it's lobster fishing season. The lobster was fresh, and cheap, for lobster. I asked the lady selling them to give me a lesson in how to eat lobster. She came to the trailer and broke the lobster into pieces as she explained the process to me.

We arrived at the North Sydney ferry terminal, I paid our outrageous ferry fee ( $265.50 ), we got into line for the ferry, and went inside the trailer to have lunch. While Joanne fed the animals and prepared lunch for herself, I worked on my lobster, following the instructions the lady gave me. I did quite well. I've had lobster a few times in my life, but I've never been given proper instructions on how it's done. It's a lot of work, and even at the cheap price of $5.50 for a large lobster, it's not really a lot of meat for $5.50. And ... it's not all that great, in my opinion. However, when in Rome ... !

By the time we were finished lunch, the ferry was loading. We drove onto the ferry, and got settled on the passenger deck for the 6 hour journey to Newfoundland. Joanne read a magazine while I composed some e-mail, worked on today's journal entry, and accounting. I watched the ferry's first movie. Joanne watched the ferry's second movie while I snoozed. Joanne had packed some snacks into a backpack, and that became supper, sort of. The cafeteria food didn't look very appealing.

We arrived at Port aux Basques in Newfoundland at 9:00 P.M.. It was dark and raining. We had planned to boondock overnight in the parking lot of the Newfoundland Tourist Information Centre, but when we pulled into their parking lot, it was posted "no overnight parking". We continued driving. We missed the signage to the first campground, a provincial park 10 km. from the ferry. We missed the signage to the next campground, 28 km. from the ferry. I know from previous bitter experience that it's near impossible to find a place in the dark, in the rain, on unfamiliar roads, at 100 km. / hr.! We finally found the third campground, about 36 km. from the ferry near the town of Doyles. We backed into a site, connected the power, extended the slides, prepared some chicken noodle soup, and called it a day.

DSK