Day 78
A rainy, gloomy day and the coach is out of water! Last water fill up was Monday in Rocky Harbor so we made that 50 gallons last 6 days (Cheeseman Provincial Park had 50 amps but we opted for no water since a boil water notice was in effect). We drink bottled water so we have plenty of that. We also have several one gallon containers of water which we fill up at each campground as toilet flushing water (we began this process so as to save our softened water since the non-iodized salt our softener needs is not available in Canada and Aaron was only able to bring us 4 lbs. When he flew from San Diego to join us, TSA did open each container to taste - true story!). We decide to postpone the Louisbourg Fortress due to the weather and we checked into the KOA campground in nearby New Harris that we visited earlier on the trip with full hookup, wifi and 50 amps. And water too! Laundry day it is today.
Day 77
On our day of departure from Newfoundland, and for the first time in the province, when I opened the shades the sun was shining; the sky was blue and not much wind. Not that we didn’t see some sun before but it was never first thing in the morning. But it was a great time for good weather since we were about to board the ferry to Nova Scotia that some call the “vomit comet”. I wore my wrist bands and took one dramamine just in case. We departed on time and I took the last of our photos of Newfoundland. After a short period of some rocking that made me a bit nervous, the rest of the ride was very smooth. We had a small interior cabin and Rosemary took a shower to take advantage of running water. As we approached the dock, my cell phone went crazy with notices and texts since it detected a cell signal for the first time since we left St. John’s on July 25. We arrived in North Sidney, NS, on time after about 6.5 hours at about 5:30 p.m., back on Atlantic Time. We immediately turned the refrigerator back on, which we had loaded with lots of ice before departing, and when we checked inside the ice had hardly melted at all after the 7 hours it was off. After grocery shopping at Walmart and Sobeys we had dinner and spent the night in the parking lot. Coach water is running low so a campground is a must tomorrow.
Day 76
We drove the car and headed east of Channel-Port aux Basques for a day of hiking. We hiked the Harvey Trail in the Isle aux Morts (translated: Island of the Dead), a fun 3 km coastal trail along the rocks and marsh with some beautiful views of the coast. The trail took us about an hour. Next stop a little further east was the Barachois Falls Trail, a 1 km trail with a view of a tall waterfall. We then headed further east into Rose Blanche (anglicized from the French “roche blanche” meaning white rock since the area is heavy with white quartz). We visited Madolyn’s Studio Tea Room for lunch. The Tea Room is part of the Rose Sea Guest House. We were the only luncheon guests at that time and sat at one of the two tables in the room which included the kitchen. Madolyn took good care of us and the food was homemade on the stove right in the room. I had the “Hearty Newfoundland Soup” (moose soup) and Rosemary had the seafood chowder. We finished the meal with partridgeberry cheesecake and a pot of tea. A delightful meal with some interesting conversation about taxes and healthcare. Madolyn was content with the Canadian health care system claiming it was fair to all, that is, the poor and the rich are treated the same. She acknowledged that the system is not free. In addition to Canada’s income tax, the sales tax is 15%. I informed her of my experience with the gasoline tax. In Newfoundland, I filled up at $1.23/liter (3.8 liters is a gallon) at a pump which indicated the total governmental taxes at $0.61/liter, that’s a 50% tax. She was definitely unhappy with the cost of gas while indicating how far apart everything is in the province. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I thought everything was pretty close together, at least on a U.S. scale. (On a side note, diesel is a little less than gas but when you take almost 300 liters at a time it still hurts quite a bit). She also boasted that her husband had heart valve surgery and a double bypass and did not have to pay anything out of pocket. I asked how long did he have to wait for his surgery and she responded 6 months. We agreed that the delay increased the risk to the patient. Sorry, but when my doctor tells me I need heart surgery, I don’t want to wait around for 6 months to have it so I don’t think the Canadian system is for me. After lunch, we visited the Rose Blanche Lighthouse, billed as a must see. I agree, it is a must see. Built in 1871 from locally quarried granite, it operated until the 1940's. It fell into disrepair but was renovated in 1999. The lighthouse is surrounded by trails among the rocks with wind that could blow you over if you weren’t careful. Lots of fun and excitement climbing rocks in gale force winds. Next we started back west and stopped to do the Boat Cove Trail in Isle aux Morts, about 1.1 km. We returned to the coach for dinner but we were not yet done. After dinner, we did the Smokey Cape Trail which is within the Cheeseman Provincial Park. A 2km moderately difficult trail toward the beach, we got close to the end but the trail became overgrown and impassible. We hiked back and then drove the car to the beach. We found the trail end and it too was pretty impassible. A great fun day. Sadly, our last day in Newfoundland. We enjoyed our time here and the 23 days was not at all too long.
Thursday, August 11, 2016, Channel-Port aux Basques, NL
Day 75
Slept like a log except for awakening about 1:30 a.m. with a windstorm really buffeting the coach. We found out later today that we were parked in an area known as “The Wreckhouse” due to usual gusty conditions, winds sometimes up to 200 km per hour. We were told many a tractor trailer has blown over in this area. Fortunately, we remained upright. Also fortunately, Rosemary did not know in advance of this or we never would have been allowed to stay in this beautiful spot overnight. We checked into the J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park Campground which is 10 minutes from the ferry terminal. The weather is cold, windy and gloomy but we did get in a hike on the Grand Bay West Trail, a coastal trail of about 10 km. We ended up at Tim Horton’s for hot chocolate and wifi.
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