After a week spent on Prince Edward Island, I am back in Nova Scotia, with hopes of getting to Newfoundland. I arrived in Cape Breton last night, and today the weather has closed in, with heavy rain forecast over the next few days…
To make matters worse, one of the three ferries that service Newfoundland from North Sydney, is out of action…
On leaving the dock in Port Aux Basques, the ferry captain mistook the harbour wall for the open sea, and gave the order, “Full steam ahead…”
The engine room duly obliged and after barely a minute, the ferry came to a shuddering halt, with its bow resting on what was left of the harbour wall. It easily broke the record for the shortest trip ever made by a ferry in Nova Scotia…
See the story on the link below…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/08/06/ns-ferry-delays.html
The ferry to Argentia, which I was due to take, has now been canceled until the 27th of August, and is working on the shorter run to Port Aux Basques, until the damaged ferry is re-commissioned…
I am unable to hang around for two weeks and have regrettably decided to give Newfoundland a miss… Although I am hugely disappointed, I have come to accept that not EVERTHING is under my direct control after all… I discovered this soon after I married Patricia, as a matter of fact… But I digress…
With time running out , this was my latest plan to ride Newfoundland… The blind ferry captain has conspired to thwart my plans…
I could take the ferry that covers the shortest route to the island, but then getting to St John’s and back would involve riding on the same road there and back, a total distance of just under 2 000 km… There is only the one road crossing the island, unless of course, you are a moose, which then opens up a much wider variety of paths you could follow… Being on two wheels instead of four legs, sometimes has it’s disadvantages…
I will wait out the weather here and then ride the famous Cabot Trail, a 380 km loop around Cape Breton’s northern peninsula, before riding back across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, to get to Madawaska, the fourth corner of the USA…
For the next few days I will update the website with photos from our stay on Prince Edward and my rides around Nova Scotia…
GB.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Get busy…take the Port au Basques ferry over and then connect with the Labrador ferry and come back that way…
Don’t turn into a couch potato…there is adventure out there….maybe someday you too can make the Road Rider cover ala Simon….!
Haja…
W.
Hi Ronnie,
Good luck with the weather and the wait. We just did the Cabot Trail in June (rode from Toronto with 5 others) and I can recommend staying over at the Keltic Lodge. http://www.kelticlodge.ca/
A great location and very friendly staff with very nice “kreef”. Safe riding
Yeah right Willi !! Said from the comfort of your armchair in tropical South East Asia !! It’s blowing a bloody gale over here right now, with rain lashing down too !! I’ve had quite enough adventure over the last three years, and riding across the gravel roads of Labrador alone, in the rain and the mud is not something I desperately need to do at this stage of the game !! Ha-ha !! And anyway, who will take the photo to get me on a magazine cover anyway ?? Just heard that it is too windy for the ferry to make the crossing to Port Aux Basques, so that puts paid to that !! Cabot Trail tomorrow, and then west towards Quebec… R.
Hi Willie !! The Keltic Lodge looks great, but way beyond my meagre budget, I’m afraid !! I am in the $50 a night bracket, and even then I cringe when I hand the money over !! North America is very expensive when the money you spend was earned in Zuma’s…!! Take care, R.
Have fun – rest up – choose your road carefully and fly!
You are spot on about our Zuma’s. Shame brother, my heart goes out to you having to cough up those dollars, Eina. Sorry to hear about the ferry.