Saturday, 15 July 2006

Cape Bonavista to Charleston (Newfoundland)

It must have rained during the night, although I hadn't heard it, as the tent and ground were sopping wet in the morning. It was a grey dismal looking morning. I packed up and headed back into Bonavista, to the little coffee shop with internet, for some breakfast. The cafe was busy with about a dozen [older] locals drinking coffee and arguing noisily.

As most tourist sites don't open until 10 am I had some time to do some blog before going to have a look at the Mockbeggar Plantation. Originally a fishing premises, the plantation has had several owners over its history. Of the remaining buildings only the residence is open to the public and is furnished according to how it might have looked in approx. 1939, the time when it was first occupied by F Gordon Bradley. He was instrumental in the campaign for Newfoundland to become part of Canada in 1949 rather be ruled from London.

From the Mockbeggar Plantation I went to 'Ye Matthew Lagacy' where they have an interpretation centre and a full scale replica of Giovanni Caboto's 1497 vessel - a caravel named the Matthew. (http://www.matthewlegacy.com/) the ship is surprisingly small, with a crew of just 20 men, when they sailed under commission of the English Crown to discover the New Founde Lande at Bonavista on June 24 1497.

By now it was lunchtime so I found a restaurant for a light lunch before heading out of Bonavista on the 'scenic route' 235 along the coast. It was quite a pleasant cycle - or would have been were it not for the cold rain and drizzle most of the afternoon. The hills weren't too big or steep and there were some good views of the coast, but there was nowhere to stop all afternoon and the only way to keep warm was to keep cycling. It was certainly too cold and wet to stop for a picnic along the way.

By 5 pm I was back on the route 230 that I had cycled along 3 days ago, and I only had a few more kilometres to go to reach the Cabot HiWay Campground. ($8, showers free) The owners were really kind and friendly; once I'd pitched the tent in a nice quiet spot by the lake, they gave me some soup and coffee and we chatted for a while before I went off for a shower and do some laundry. They even gave me some washing powder and a tumble-drier 'sheet' for free. My clothes have never smelt so good.

The insects haven't been much of a problem recently, but as it got dark the mossies kept me prisoner in the tent once I was in.

Distance: 79.9 km
Cycling time: 4:36
Total distance: 3802.4 km