Friday, 04 August 2006

Pinware River Provincial Park (Labrador) to Blanc Sablon (Quebec)

It was dark but warm inside the cabin, but I still managed to rouse myself, have a quick breakfast, and get packed by 8 am. I left most of my luggage at the warden's hut and set off to cycle the 35 km to the Red Bay Historic Site. It was cloudy and cold (12oC) and the road was quite tough going - it was a bit up and down all the way so I alternately hot and sweaty then cold and shivery. I must be mad, a 70 km round trip to visit a little museum!

The Red Bay Historic Site tells the story of commercial whaling by the Basques of the 16th and 17th century. Whale oil was a valuable commodity in Europe at the time - as a clean a bright lighting fuel, as well as for paints, varnishes, lubrication, soaps and cosmetics. Baleen was also in demand for clothing and other things.

The return trip to Pinware River was pretty much the same as the outward trip, but a couple of degrees warmer. (You know that the bugs must be bad in Labrador when you see a local tending his allotment clad in full body protection - akin to a bee-keepers outfit) As I got back to Pinware, the wind started to pick up - coming from the west! I loaded up the bike again and set off into the wind. It was hard going at times; often the steepest part of a climb wasn't the hardest part, it was as you got to the top of a hill and had both the climb and the wind to contend with. At least I had plenty of time so I didn't have to struggle against the wind.

On the way back I took the 8 km round trip on a hard packed gravel road to the L'Anse-Amour lighthouse, the second tallest in Canada. The sun started showing itself shamefacedly at about 4:30 pm but at least it did something to belatedly warm the day.

I stopped once again at the Seaview Restaurant in Forteau for dinner - not necessarily a good idea as I still had a couple of hills to climb, now on a full stomach. You certainly get the sense that Labrador is a vast wilderness with life clinging on round the edges. It also really makes you think about how life must have been for the people who have all struggled to make a living from the sea here over the ages.

It was getting late by the time I arrived back in Blanc Sablon - about 8:30 pm Labrador time, but only 7 pm Quebec time. It was going to be a long day for me as the ferry is scheduled to depart at midnight. I bought a few items of food and a couple of 1 litre cans of beer to smuggle on board (purely to help me sleep of course) as I find prices tend to be a bit inflated when you're a captive audience.

I cycled around to the harbour where they processed my payment (1 adult plus 2 nights economy cabin = $167.77 plus bicycle, $19.60) and said I could board straight away. I had to carry everything up a steep gangway, including the bike. The MV Nordik Express is more a working freighter than a ferry or cruise ship. Vehicles have to be loaded into a container and then lifted aboard. The dock and the boat were a hive of activity.

My dorm cabin was down in the bowels of the boat; A-deck at the very bottom. Steerage class. Let's hope that we don't hit any icebergs! The bottom bunks had already been taken, so I had to take on of the upper bunks (4 beds to a room) I had a shower, one of my sleeping draughts and tried to get some sleep before we set sail...

Distance: 133.2 km
Cycling time: 7:59
Total distance: 5289.0 km