"Guten Tag!!" The woman in the shop is beaming at us. We instinctively look over our shoulders. No-one else is there. We're English, Gayle protests. Are we from the cruise ship? No, not at all! Walking into the town centre this morning it looked as if they'd just built a brand new hotel on the harbour front. A big ugly one. That blocked out the view of the wonderful harbour. But no, just another cruise ship.
We meet up with Laura and Mike, just come into town, and have lunch with them and meet their "awesome" and charming daughter at the Italian restaurant where she works. We then head out to the point beyond the cliffs - the most easterly point of Canada. It's where Mr. Marconi, using a kite to keep his aerial aloft, received the first transatlantic radio transmission from Britain. Pfff! A kite? And where's Mr. Marconi now?? You might well ask.
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| with Mike - good kite-flying weather |
If you're cycling the Trans-Canada from the west coast then this is really where you should be ending your ride - never mind taking the short route to Halifax. What seems odd to us is that St. John's is further south longitudinally to Britain than we imagined. Outside a supermarket we do meet two women who are on bikes. One is heading westwards having just flown in and another has just arrived after crossing the continent in a ridiculously short time - two months???!! Holy Hannah.
To get over to Nova Scotia we retrace our steps to Whitbourne and then out on a little road towards the port of Argentia. Along the way we want to stop to camp by the road and are waiting for the road to be clear when a car pulls up about 200 metres away. Weird. We just stand there. Eventually a woman gets out and walks towards us. "Is this the right direction to get to St.John's?" Er....no....you need to go in the opposite direction. "Thanks" And off she goes.
When we reach the port, an old naval base, the ferry is already there. There's also two more cyclists, Garry and Corinna from New Zealand. They've completed their Trans-Canada ride but have some time before their flight home from Halifax. They are tired - it's a long journey. We were looking forward to the ferry ride but the wind is really strong and it's a long crossing. In fact almost as soon as we leave the port the ship is rocking and rolling. Heave ho!!
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| still in dock with Corinna, Garry and Mark, a benevolent Irishman |
