June 7, 2006

June 7, 2006

Port aux Basques, Newfoundland by ferry to North Sydney, then road to Indian Brook on the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

YEAR 2 DAY 355

 

Farewell to Newfoundland and Labrador. Fix your roads before I come back, would you please ?

Today was foggy and cool, with misty rain.

This morning we awoke at 6:00 A.M. to be ready to enter the ferry loading dock before 7:00 A.M. for the 8:00 A.M. ferry departure. The ferry ride across the 100 miles of Atlantic Ocean took 6½ hours, arriving at North Sydney, Nova Scotia at 2:00 P.M., 2:30 P.M. in Newfoundland. HA HA HA ... Canadian joke ! While on the ferry I chatted with a couple from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory who arrived on Newfoundland a day after we did, and travelled a similar route to us.

When we got off the ferry in North Sydney, we followed TCH 1 as it looped around St. Andrews Channel then headed southwest. At Southaven we turned onto an unnamed road to take a shortcut over to the Cabot Trail. It was about a 35 km. stretch of really poor road around St. Ann's Harbour and St. Ann's Bay. When we finally got to the Cabot Trail, heading north along the east coast of Cape Breton Highlands, we stopped for the night at Pipers Campground at Indian Brook. We wanted to stop fairly early today, and do a bit of chores.

We got set up in our campsite on the water's edge, on the cold, misty, foggy shoreline of St. Ann's Bay. Joanne went to do some laundry. First thing I did was reset all the clocks and watches, now that we've crossed back into the Atlantic time zone from the Newfoundland time zone. I did yesterday's and today's accounting. I downloaded and processed some photos. I took Bo for an obedience session. I did some minor repair jobs. I discovered damage on one of the trailer tires. It will need to be replaced immediately. I didn't feel like changing a trailer tire today. I'll stop at the next tire shop we see, hopefully tomorrow, and have the spare spare tire put on. No, that's not a typographical error. I carry a spare trailer tire mounted on a wheel, and another unmounted spare trailer tire.

We were tired tonight from getting up early. Joanne dealt with another incident of Newfoundland induced cupboard chaos. I read a book.

DSK