Goodbye Newfoundland. Hello Nova Scotia.

It’s hard to believe that eight weeks ago I left Toronto with my sights set on St. John’s – and a whole lot of other places along the way. There was a time when Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Tadoussac, Sept-Îles, Natashquan, Blanc-Sablon, St. Anthony, Gros Morne, and yes, St. John’s, all seemed so far away. And now, they STILL seem far away but this time in the rear view mirror.

It’s also hard to believe that it was five days ago that I met Jan and Chris (and Elizabeth, Aaron, and Ty) and was invited into their home. To say that they were very generous hosts would be a gross understatement. As mentioned when I first arrived, it started with Jan offering me what I’m convinced was the only chocolate popsicle in Newfoundland and the generosity continued for five more days. I’m not sure how long they expected me to stay but hopefully five days of me wasn’t too much!

Having visited Signal Hill and Cape Spear, and having tried cod tongues, toutons, and birch beer, I think it’s safe to say the St. John’s goal can be deemed accomplished (and very much successful). And now, with a newly tuned up bicycle, it’s time to move on to explore more of the east coast. Next stop, Halifax. Well, actually … since I’m currently on the ferry from Argentia, the next stop is North Sydney. So, it would be more accurate to say, “Next stop, Nova Scotia”. Next goal, Halifax.

The route to the ferry in Argentia would have me riding back along the Trans-Canada Highway towards Whitbourne where I would take Route 100 to Argentia. My general dislike for backtracking has been well documented on this site, so when Janis offered to put my bike in her truck and drive me to Whitbourne I took her up on the offer – actually, she offered to drive me to the ferry but clearly I had to cycle from Whitbourne to Argentia. So, instead of an early departure and a long rainy ride I ended up with a very reasonable 45 km ride. And the heavy rains that we went through on the way to Whitbourne did not reappear while on my bike to Argentia. Even the wind was calmer than anticipated. The only concern that remained was whether I would make it to the ferry on time. Spoiler Alert: I did.

The overnight trip from Argentia to North Sydney is about 13-17 hours. Normally I might use that time to update this site or plot my course for the next phase of my journey. However, the only internet access is VERY slow and isn’t available via WiFi, so that eliminates that option. The onboard theatre has three relatively recent, family-friendly movies scheduled to play until 11:00 – after that I think a lot of people that don’t have a berth will go there to sleep. I’ll look into that when the time comes. As it stands, I’m not sure where I’ll be sleeping tonight. I’m anticipating not being particularly well rested for tomorrow’s ride.

For now, I’m sitting in the lounge listening to some live music (ie. a girl and a guitar). It’s simple but good. The entertainment will end by 11:00 – as does the hot food in the cafeteria. I might also get a slice of pizza if there’s anything left. Oh, and I’m also finally having an Iceberg beer (made with 25,000 year old iceberg water). Very refreshing. Other than that, I’m somewhat expecting this to be a long night. A very long night. On the upside, so far the seas have been calm.

Tick Tick Tick (just to be clear, that was intended as a passage of time transition, not an indication of a bomb on board)

It’s now morning and I had about as good of a sleep as one would expect under the circumstances. And I currently have a pretty good location for my home office – I’m front and centre looking over the bow waiting for land to appear. I think we still have about three hours to go before we reach North Sydney – which is apparently on schedule for its 9:45 (Atlantic Time) arrival. If that holds true, I figure I’ll be off the boat and ready for the road by 10:30. I expect to take the Trans-Canada Highway to Halifax but I’m not exactly sure if it goes through North Sydney or not so I’ll have to find that. I’ll also have to find some food for the road. For those keeping track, I just finished jar number four of peanut butter. It served me well.