The next six hours weren’t fun. Getting a drug drunk dog in and out of the truck and getting her convinced that a poop was in her favor…this being done in a small city… where Lucy was a bit freaked out as she is a country dead end dirt road dog… took a lot of finding a grassy park with no other dogs. We prepped the last few pills needed for her and she looked like Woody Allen being thawed out in the movie Sleeper. Cheese ball pill in the mouth…a smile and a droll drop.
Once done we had to wait for another 2 hours in a line with every kind of vehicle imaginable (how does that ship float?… with all that weight… I know the math/science of it… the physics of displacement but still….the primitive mind says ‘sink’).
Hard to leave Lucy but we had set up her rear seat platform, and blocked the deck lights with a windshield sun shade. Hopefully the drugs would allow her to sleep through the crossing. We made it to the cabin with a shower and two beds…oh they were nice. After a Guinness I slept for the next 5 hours…
Up at the sound of ship call for 6 AM ‘grab a bag’ coffee and egg sandwich before arrival. Lucy did fine but was still punch drunk. It takes a day for it to really wear off. We watched the throngs disembark the ship ad choice of direction by where they didn’t go. We found a place to walk her in an old abandoned gravel pit as she REALLY needed a pit stop! Then onto the Information center…now completely empty. The overnight ferry crossing is the best even though it is only 5 hours sleep it beats wasting a whole day plus. We decided on a village that required a 4-5 hour drive… on roads that are potholed and “rolly” or rollercoaster with a 10 foot drop on either side into bog and rock. Really requires a rested mind and a sense of humor. For those that have done these kind of roads… you know, once you get up traveling speed you have to stay eye-glued to the spot 100 yards ahead and decide how to straddle holes or at least pick the least damaging one to hit. We arrived at Burgeo fishing village on the southern coast which has the most beautiful Provincial Park I have ever seen.
Can’t describe it properly but… The tundra-like hills and boggy rock… into the ocean with beaches of white sand. (NO PLASTIC WASTE) … seaweed and driftwood. The campsite is for only tenting and small truck campers…no services….meaning no big rig amenities like electricity for air conditioners and wide screen tv’s and sewer hook ups and ….. What it had was an impeccably clean bathroom and showers. No drinking water….but quite to hear waves all night long. Best of all… boardwalks … hikes for a few miles through the bogs to the beaches and up to high terrain to see incredible coastal views of islands and distance. For those that consider a first stop in Newfoundland… it is a wonderful place to wake up to and hike the ‘bog’ boardwalks and beach.
Even with three weeks there is not enough time to explore the island. We are estimating times to drive… to get to a good place to relax…it is a dice game of info and luck. Just started to mull the cross Labrador run. The authorities require you to check in and get a “bag phone”. It is a satellite phone loaned to you for the trip of 600 kilometers of rough gravel. The biggest trouble beside the bad road conditions like the Dalton road in AK are the trucks. They are huge and traveling at high speed. So with at in mind I am starting to work backwards for time to do that feat with squeak room for flat tires or other. Fuel will be worked out later (with room for an extra 150 Km of diesel in jerry can if needed).
I have a Dr appt. on the day after getting home that is important so trying not to be stupid.
We are at the one week on the road mark and two weeks to go. We arrived today at Cape Saint George peninsula on south western Newfoundland, at the very tip. Free camping. We found this by odd happenstance …. while driving the other day we saw a FWC (Four Wheel Camper) …very rare in eastern North America. The on arrival at Burgeo there it is was again! Get Out! We know them… from Conway…next town over from Ashfield, Massachusetts. We had met 8 years ago. Now here we are… odd fellows in Newfoundland.
We shared info and wonder at the the odds of the encounter. They will stay a couple more days there and today we moved on. We will hopefully get to get together and share more of the adventures.
Today Thursday, July 25… we have as of yet not determined the destination for the day but one thing is for certain… it will be a surprise.
More photos to follow soon
That Guinness is brewed in Ireland! Oh my.
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