On the Atlantic shore

I am lying on a sofa chez Alice and Mark. Newfoundland can surprise you as I discovered on Sunday. As I biked along the TCH, I saw a car that I took for a Bently, but was in fact a fancy Chrysler. I was telling myself that this wasn't Montreal and didn't have fancy cars, when a Rolls-Royce went by! I kid you not.

We got to the dock in Triton in good time on Tuesday. "Our" fisherman, Michael Roberts, showed us his speedboat and his longliner. After some discussion, Chris decided that the speedboat was just too small for the comfort of the bikes and his notoriously weak stomach. So we went in the 50 foot or so inshore fishing boat. It was a first for Michael to take paying passengers. His dad was along for the ride and did most of the steering.

There was a serious swell, but it was also very manageable. There were some fairly dramatic cliffs to look at but the highlight came near the end of the crossing when a number of Minke whales decided to entertain us with their antics to borrow a phrase from Stephen. Actually, all they did was surface briefly in places sufficiently distant from each other that we could tell that there were more than one of them. But they were Minke whales which was treat enough!

We rode out of Leading Tickles on a winding road that brought us through Port Leamington where we had lunch. Shortly after lunch, I spotted and retrieved a cellphone by the side of the road. Just as I came into Northern Arm, I saw what was probably an ermine run across the road.

We spent the night in Bishop's Falls at an inn. There was a flyer at the reception desk for a Chinese restaurant that I had seen along the way. However the flyer didn't give the street number and I couldn't remember how far it was. A quick Internet search showed it was at 14 Main street. We were at 10 Main street! We walked over to the place. The food was pretty good considering. Margo tried to talk to the waitress in Mandarin but unfortunately she was a Cantonese speaker.

I noticed that day that my front tire was beginning to split. I consulted with Chris and we agreed it should be replaced as soon as possible. I ordered a replacement from MEC to be sent Alice, but there has been a bit of a snafu. I should have phoned Cycle Solutions in Corner Brook and asked them to put a tire on the bus. I bought the old tire along with Leonardo and it has served for about 10000 km.

The next morning we crossed the Exploits River on the TCH then immediately turned onto a minor road that was almost overgrown but which I knew from satellite reconnaissance the night before went through. Chris asked me if it was the T'Railway. I said "No", because the asphalt was too old. My guess was that it was an old bit of the TCH. Later, a pickup truck pulled up beside me and it's owner asked to chat. He had seen us the day before near Northern Arm and was curious about us. Friendly Newfoundlander that he was he told us that my suspicion about the origin of the road was correct.

To avoid some hills we took an acceptable portion of the T'Railway to Notre-Dame Junction. We made Lewisporte in time for lunch at Tim Horton's. We rode along the shore, stopping in Campbellton to buy some wine for our hosts. These were Eileen and Gordon in Boyd's Cove. Eileen works at the same Library as I do and had offered to put me up when she heard I would be in the area. She greeted us warmly in something of a flurry of assorted children, cousins, hangers-on and a pair of pugs. She fed us fresh cod while fretting slightly as to thereabouts of her husband who was off cod fishing, in the recreational fishery. He is otherwise a university professor in electrical engineering at McGill.

The next morning, we went to a Beothuk interpretation centre that explained a nearby archaeological site. Very interesting with respect to what they did and did not find. No cod or auk bones but they did find polar bear bones.

The weather turned wet as the day progressed, and as there was nothing of note between where we were and Gander, I took off at my own speed get past the dull woods and rain as quickly as possible. (We have since decided against doing the remainder of the "Gander Loop'' and going straight on to cousin Richard in Eastport tomorrow.)

Alice was at home with Anna to greet me. Anna seems to be in a fussy mood, but que sera, sera. We have had a very relaxed day in Gander. After lunch, I went to the RCMP detachment to turn in the cellphone I found, then proceeded to the Museum Atlantic Aviation Museum. It needed a few signs on the outdoor aircraft. Also the tires needed pumping up and the Canso's (the Canadian name for the Consolidated Catalina) main wheels didn't match. Otherwise, it was a very nice little aviation museum. I was somewhat surprised at how much the Canso's main wheels intruded into the sides of the fuselage. The museum's Lockheed Hudson looked like it had been used for passenger transport post-war. The place is much more the Gander Aviation Museum than the North Atlantic Aviation Museum.

After getting the makings of supper and making guacamole, I sat down with Margo and Chris to work out our route for the next few days. I hadn't really plotted the trip past Gander beyond a rough framework. We are now set to get to St. John's about a day ahead of the rough schedule.

The weather has been fairly poor and the locals keep saying they can't remember a summer this cold. This reminds of a Gilles cartoon.

I made black bean fajitas for supper. Margo baked some bread, made salad and some apple crumble for supper.

Did I mention I saw Minke whales?

On errors in recent posts

The last couple of posts were done via the iPhone which is relatively hard to edit with. I will fix the problems later. More typing issues will be present in future posts.

On getting to Triton

Yesterday we camped near the junction of the TCH with 410 under the power line next to the TCH a.k.a Sheppardville. Margo cooked the rice that I had brought to go with the curry that I had left in my freezer. She made Thai shrimp and veg stir fry to go with the rice. The place had favourable signs: fresh moose tracks and no vehicle tracks. However, it was a shade too close to the junction so we had too much noise of trucks slowing down or speeding up.
The day had gone much as I had expected except that the rumble strips gave way to nothing! And there was much rejoicing! We had lunch in the greasy spoon in White Bay. The road leading to the junction with the 410 was dead straight for what seemed like 10 km, so we could see the service station getting nearer. The road was being resurfaced, but as it was a Sunday, no work was being done. However, at the Iceberg Alley gas station, a group of road workers were putting so asphalt right near the pumps. My suspicion is that they government workers on their day off working for beer.
Margo and Chris' tent was generous for two but tight for three! In addition, the bikes were a bit too close to the entrance so I kept kicking the tent pegs when I tried to get in. I have much to learn about how to pack my bags for camping. The night went by fitfully and my sleep was poor leaving me with sore arms and a pain in the small of my back.

Today was hard mentally and physically. I found it hard to act as wind break for Margo and Chris as I couldn't keep station very well. Partly mental fatigue. The physical bit was the bad night's sleep in tight quarters and the presence of more hills.
We got to Triton where we amazed a barmaids by saying we ridden from Sheppardville today. I don't think we told her about Margo and Chris' Bangkok to Paris trip! Triton has a new museum housing the skeleton of a sperm whale that had washed ashore near the Codroy Valley a while back. The guide was obviously very proud of the museum but spent a bit too much time on the generalities of sperm whales (which I knew well enough) and not enough on the specifics of the specimen. Apparently it had been spent to Drumheller, Alberta to be mounted for display!
Tomorrow, we cross to Leading Tickles in a boat that may be too small for comfort.

On getting things together

Well, I got to the Birds' Nest B&B where Margo and Chris had taken over my rather small room. Small, but at least it provided shelter together and was a symbol of the owner's great flexibility as Margo and Chris hadn't been supposed to be there at first. He is an expatriate Brit who is involved in a new restaurant in town. The B&B also acts as a bit of an internet café.
Thankfully, Margo had eased up on her idea of leaving Deer Lake today. This made for a much more leisurely day in which I could reassemble Leonardo without urgency while Margo and Chris cleaned and oiled the drive chains on their Surlys. Afterwards, we took our bikes on a very short test run into downtown to mail off my duffle to St John's, have lunch in the new restaurant and get food for the next few days. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my curry in my freezer in Montreal. I have just had a nice snooze. We hit the road tomorrow.

On getting to the airport

Well this is embarrassing. I am having trouble writing a blog entry on my iPhone. Anyway, I think I have found a solution.

I got a ride with a very good taxi driver, as recommended by the Mole. He asked me if I had my ticket and passport as I got in. Apparently, he has had problems in the past. I didn't have or need a passport and this puppy I'm using is my ticket. However, I did forget my sunglasses but I remembered only a few blocks away. We went back to get them, as well as a second pair of bike gloves. In the process, I noticed that I hadn't latched the front door!

I saw Mark arrive from Halifax. As well, Judy Berlyn was there to pick him up! Small world.
I am now past security, waiting for my plane, listening to a group of Newfoundlanders talk in English and Joual. (They might be from the Lower North Shore.)

My first post from my iPhone.

Addendum: I can see Leonardo on a luggage wagon waiting to be loaded.

I have arrived Deer Lake with all luggage.

On ironing out transport issues relating to Newfoundland

Via a technique of rare cunning (e-mailing the town of Triton) I have managed to find someone to transport Margo, Chris and me from Triton to Leading Tickles so that portion of the trip is solved. It looks like a fisherman will give us a lift.

Furthermore, I have arranged for a taxi to get me and Leonardo to the airport on Friday. My cousin the Mole is on good terms with a friendly taxi driver with a van. Not as clever as the wheels, but the circumstances demand it.

Addendum:
Out of curiosity, I used Google Maps to figure out how far it is by road from Triton to Leading Tickles. I had been using the approximation of 80 km. In fact, it is 210 km! By water, it is about 11 km!

On issues with Australia

On playing chicken with Air Canada
During the last week, I thought I saw a very good deal on flights to Oz. However, I didn't jump on it as I wanted to wait until August to put the charge onto my credit card. When I tried this morning, the price was the previous standard one. Either I had checked using earlier dates to see what it would cost closer to the date of departure or the tickets sold out quickly. Either is possible, and to be honest I have been a more than a little distracted of late. However, it did highlight the fact that I am in a financial game of chicken with Air Canada.

On the wind patterns in Australia
My working plan has been to start in Broken Hill and go to Melbourne. This is, by and large, a North to South route. It has the psychological advantage of starting in a small town in the Outback and going to real goal: the Indian Ocean and Melbourne. As well, Melbourne has a lot to offer the tourist with a day or two to kill, before his train back to Sydney. Not mention bike shops that would provide a bike box. Conversely, biking in the opposite direction has the issues of trying get out of a large city on a bike (no easy task for the unfamiliar), riding towards what is comparatively little more than a fly speck on a map, and ending up in a smallish town with little to do in order to kill time before your flight back to Sydney as well as a relative shortage of bike shops and their bike boxes.

However, the winds tend to blow South to North in that part of Oz. As well, the longest days in my propose itinerary are the days between Broken Hill and Mildura which would probably be better at the end (when I am in better shape) than at the start.

Anyway, I can wait much longer before deciding which way to ride in Australia.

On my passport
My old passport ran out on the 13th of July. I had applied for a new one at the beginning of July. A notice saying they had tried to deliver it was in my mailbox last week. Unfortunately, I was only free to go to my local postal branch this afternoon. This was much more exciting than it otherwise as there had just been a heavy thunderstorm resulting in some flash flooding. In order to get to my destination, I had to traverse this major puddle.

Taken with my iPhone

You can see a motorcycle on the left of the picture. As I approached this obstruction, I saw it's rider, a young black woman, consulting her cellphone, evidently trying to figure out a way around it. It was deep enough, that my feet got wet pedaling through it.

At the postal outlet, the guy behind the counter knew instantly not only who I was, but also where to look for my postal needs. Rather than look under parcels, he went to the registered letter drawer. I am a little worried by this as I have no idea what his name is. He falls under my mental label of balding-red-headed-probably-gay-Québécois-man-who-works-at-the-postal-outlet. I don't get all that many parcels or registered letters, but he no longer asks me to provide ID except for pro forma reasons.

Riding home, I went by a different street, which turned out also to be also somewhat flooded. The same black female motorcyclist was coming the other way and smiled at me with the comment that there was a lot of water. Fortunately for me, I could walk my bike through the un-flooded pedestrian portion of the underpass.

Anyway, I am now in a better position to apply for an electronic Aussie visa.