A Provincial Trifecta

After about 40 hours, the journey from Natashquan to Blanc-Sablon is officially complete. The Bella Desgagnés arrived (somewhat) as scheduled this morning around 7:00. The fog and rain continued to follow us all the way to Blanc-Sablon – although, the rain seemed more willing to let us go than the fog.

Welcome to Blanc-Sablon.

With my gear packed up and loaded back on my bike again I left Bella behind to, uh … well, I didn’t really have a plan. I wasn’t sure where I was going to stay, what I was going to do, or how long it would take to figure out the answers to such questions. So, for starters I decided to bike into Blanc-Sablon. Actually, there’s Lourdes de Blanc-Sablon and then there’s Blanc-Sablon. I decided to head to the former one first as I was pretty sure it had a few more amenities to offer. A quick stop at the grocery store led to a bit of discussion about my trip and I learned I could camp for free near the ferry terminal. That would be convenient later on as I would eventually be taking the ferry from Blanc-Sablon over to Newfoundland.

Welcome to Labrador.

With my accommodations arranged I decided to head down the road the other way to Blanc-Sablon (not to be confused with Lourdes de Blanc-Sablon). I continued along Highway 138 for a few more kilometres and before I knew it I was crossing into Labrador. How cool is that? Well, I thought it was cool. And they had a big welcome sign to mark the location. It was at that point I knew what I had to do before the day was over.

It was about noon when I turned around and left Labrador and returned to Quebec. I made a quick stop at the Blanc-Sablon grocery store (not to be confused with the Lourdes de Blanc-Sablon grocery store from earlier in the day). I didn’t really need anything but I was curious to see what they had. Well, I’m glad I stopped as they had the trail mix that has treated me so well thus far on the trip – and that I’ve been out of for quite some time. On a side-note, with all these added groceries I’m going to have to do some serious repacking of the panniers before I get back on the road for significant distances. However, significant distances were not on the agenda for the day.

My next ride.

My last quest for the day was to return to the wharf to buy my ticket for the ferry to St. Barbe, Nfld. As mentioned earlier, my original plan was to spend the day/night in the Blanc-Sablon area and then catch the ferry to Newfoundland tomorrow morning. However, the way the day had played out so far I had the chance to bike in Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland all in one day. That just seemed like a fun idea.

The Last Poutine.

The Apollo is the name of the ferry that would take me to Newfoundland. It would also be the ferry that would leave Quebec behind. It’s hard to believe but I’ve been in Quebec since July 4th. Four weeks! It’s been a great experience. Sure, the language presented a bit of challenge at times but it also never became a significant issue. The people in all the small towns were very friendly. The drivers (with the exception of ONE truck) were all very considerate as they passed. The scenery was beautiful – even with the big hills. And of course, there was the poutine. So much poutine. It seemed only fitting to order it one final time on the Apollo.

Welcome to Newfoundland.

Compared to the voyage on the Bella Desgagnés, the trip to St. Barbe seemed incredibly short. However, what made the trip particularly nice was that the sun finally returned. After spending much of the past two days in the fog it was so nice to see the sun. And it wasn’t just a brief appearance. The skies were clear and bright for the rest of the day. It was (and still is) very windy though. Last time I checked the winds were up to 30 km/h – hopefully my tent will be up to the challenge again.

The winds are likely going to be one of the biggest challenges of this portion of the trip. My understanding is that the winds are frequently from the south-west which means I’ll be heading into it much of the way to St. John’s. Despite all the hills in Quebec, I still think the toughest cycling days are still to come.

Tomorrow the road to St. John’s begins.

Oh, and yes I realize that today wasn’t REALLY a provincial trifecta since Newfoundland and Labrador is one province. But I say close enough.