Monday, 10 July 2006

Trepassey to Irish Loop RV Resort

I awoke feeling refreshed and happier. The was no sound of the wind, and when I looked outside, all was calm (hurrah!) but wet and foggy (boo!) I went along for breakfast and then had a lie-down to let it digest - just because I could. By the time I set off at 9 am the wind was starting to pick up again but there was some sun illuminating Trepassy Harbour through the low cloud. The road went all the way around the harbour and then climbed up onto the barrens - and into the wind and fog.

This area of wilderness is home to the worlds most southerly herd of caribou, some 3000 strong. I figured I didn't have much chance of seeing them in the fog unless they were on the road. They weren't. The 35 km across the barrens was hard going once again in the wind and fog, and pretty boring with nothing to see. I finally dropped down under the cloud as the road came back down to sea level at Peters River. I'm sure that this area and on through St Vincents and Holyrood Pond is quite scenic, but not today. I cycled on for another hour and then stopped at the first restaurant I'd seen since leaving Trepassey; the Harbour View Pub and Restaurant, just past St Marys.

A few kilometres further along the road I saw a C@P site in Riverhead and stopped for a hour to do some blog. By the time I came out at 3:30 the cloud had cleared and the sun was shining. I set off once again and hadn't got far when I was stopped by David Tilley - a freelance photographer who works for outdoor type publications - asking if he could take my picture as they don't get many cyclists in Newfoundland off the TCH. He drove ahead a little way to find a good backdrop of the barrens and photographed me as I cycled past. Luckily they drive on the right-hand side of the road here so he got my good side! This should be the springboard for my male modelling career - although I'm a bit concerned that he only took one photo! (http://www.wildnewfoundland.com)

With the wind now behind me, and the road fairly flat, I was now making good progress. I cycled alongside the Salmonier Arm of St. Marys Bay, the day was getting hotter all the time. When I got to Salmonier I had to make a decision of which way to go. I would have liked to cycle around St Mary's Cape, but given the fog and wind at the end of the 2 southern peninsulas I have cycled, I decided to head back up to the TCH and start heading west.

The road from Salmonier doesn't show any settlements on my map but it's by no means wilderness; it seems to be a holiday home area and there were a few services along the way. There is also the Salmonier Nature Park, which I am told has a range of Newfoundland wildlife, including moose, but it was closed by the time I got there. (10-5 only) Am I ever going to see a moose, captive or wild? (Only cooked!) A few km further on from the Nature Park was the Irish Loop RV Resort where I ended my day. ($20, showers free)

I decided that a contributory factor in my previous depression must be a lack of beer. One problem though is that beer isn't normally sold by the bottle, but by the pack with the minimum pack size being 6 bottles. Too many for me to drink in one night. I decided I could drink 3, and put the other 3 into a 1 litre water-bottle and carry that tomorrow. If anything is worth carrying for its weight, it'd be beer.

Just as I was finishing diary and savouring my beer, the people at the next campsite spotted a moose on the top level of the campsite. We walked up a level, and there silhouetted against the pale evening sky was a big bull moose. He seemed to make no noise at all as he wandered around against the backdrop of trees and sky. So finally a moose. Of course , it was quite dark, and I'd had a couple of beers, so it could have been two men in a pantomime horse outfit. With antlers on. Or as the lady from the next campsite said; 'a nice rack!' - I thought that meant something else in North America.

Distance: 107.2 km
Cycling time: 6:02
Total distance: 3404.2 km