19 August 2010
DAY 9: Port aux Basques to Wishing Well Campground, 86 km
DAY 10: Wishing Well Campground to Corner Brook, 134 km
DAY 11: Car trip to Gros Morne!
DAY 12: Corner Brook to Sandy Lake, 95 km
DAY 13: Sandy Lake to Grand Falls-Windsor, 159 km
DAY 14: Grand Falls-Windsor to Gander, 102 km
It's been a while since my last post—internet access and time have been scarce! We've taken the ferry from North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, NL and have been cycling through Newfoundland ever since. I must say, it's been excellent! Newfoundland is both stunningly beautiful and spectacular for cycling. It's mountainous, but fortunately the roads have been built mainly between the mountains, so both uphills and downhills are long and gradual. This makes for great riding, especially when paired with perfect weather and friendly people. Newfoundlanders are awesome! I think this is the province where we've gotten the most honks of encouragement, and where people have been the most willing to bend over backwards to help us out when we've needed it. Just this morning, for instance, one man spent 15 minutes drawing us a detailed map locating the bike shops in Grand Falls-Windsor and then paid for our breakfast!
The Ross twins have seriously adapted to the Dan-Agnes way of doing things. I must say, I'm quite impressed! Breaks have become longer and more chilled, cycling days have been (on average) shorter and we've had some super-fun nights drinking wine and trying to create the perfect s'more (you know how hard it is to actually get the chocolate to melt? Well, we've figured out a way!). A definite highlight of Newfoundland has been Gros Morne National Park. Because we were having bike problems and didn't want to take a hilly, 80-km detour off the Trans Canada, we decided to leave the bikes with a mechanic in Corner Brook, rent a car and spend the night in Gros Morne. We didn't have a whole lot of time, but made the most of it. We did a short hike up to the fjord-like Western Brook Pond and then set up camp at Lomond campground. We had the best swim of our trip there: the water was cold, but somehow extremely pleasant. And we saw a moose! We'd seen two others before, but they were on the road and would quickly retreat to the forest as soon as we could get close to them. Also, they didn't have antlers. This one, on the other hand, was hanging out between camp sites, nonchalantly chomping on the grass while us curious humans looked on curiously. I couldn't believe how close it came! At one point, it was literally on our site! Michael got some good pictures and a video, soon to come.
Today we arrived in Gander, and have only about 350 km of cycling to do over the next three days! I can't believe how quickly this trip has gone by. We're already talking about where we should cycle next. Suggestions?
(More photos to come!)
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3 comments:
I don't know, but it better be with me! Haha... *sigh*
The most jealousy-inducing entry yet. Sounds absolutely profound! Profound! Your life will forever contain these moments. I really have to find someone who'll do such a trip with me.
Here's to more profound experiences in the kilometers ahead.
It all sounds amazing Aggers, I so wish I was there. Glad to here you are getting the all important lazy breaks in and exploring Newfoundland it sounds like we missed out big time not doing it the first time round. Keep it up and have a great final stretch to St Johns.
Danners!
Devlin: I'm surprised that this is the most jealousy-inducing entry! I was extremely pressed for time in writing this one up (the computer was running out of battery) and I thought it was so lame. But yes, you must definitely do such a trip!
Danners: NL really is great. Those people who told us that we weren't missing out on much were wrong! You should come back and do it sometime, perhaps we could do a trip together again!
200 more kilometres to go!
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