Journey Notes

The day started as many do, me trying to get out of the campground early and failing to do so. There is always an email to respond to, a chain to lube, or something else on the bicycle that needs some attention. The last few days have been quite wet so we've been trying very hard to dry things. VanGo has a bit of a swamp smell to it right now. Hopefully some dry days will rectify that. VanGo is going to need some pretty serious detailing when we get home!

My choice of routes was the Trans-Canada highway that followed the north shore of Bras d'Or Lake or a much smaller highway that went essentially through the middle of the lake. The south side route involved taking the Little Narrows Ferry and was just slightly shorter. The Little Narrows was only about 3 times wider than the length of the ferry so it was a quick trip. For me, bicycles were free, but VanGo had to pay $5.25.

This route had very little traffic on it until I almost reached Sydney. Misty rain showers hit me 3 times but they were short and fairly warm and by the afternoon, the sun was out most of the time.

There were lots of hills and one last one near Sydney that seemed to never end. Every time I went around a corner I saw more hill that seemed even steeper. It might not sound like it but it was really a pleasant day. Actually, any day on this trip where the weather is not being too difficult and things are not breaking is a really great day!

I reached our meeting spot near the ferry in North Sydney at about 4:30 pm feeling great. I realized that many people that ride across Canada stop here. The distance that I have covered, 7500 km is nominally considered the driving distance across Canada. I amaze myself thinking that I've actually covered all of that distance, one peddle stroke at a time.

This evening we spent some time in FutureShop getting some new cell phone equipment that will work in Newfoundland. Our Fido phones will be useless there and it's a pretty empty place so we need to improve our communications. One of these days, I will write about our communications technology that we've been using and how well it worked (and sometimes didn't work). Also picked up a USB WiFi dongle so my computer can once again connect to the Internet.

Tomorrow morning we get on the MV Blue Puttees for the 6-8 hour voyage to Port aux Basques, NL. It's seems like a much more elaborate process than I am used to for ferries with boarding passes, security and "check-in at least 2 hours before departure". After that, it looks like about 10 days to cross Newfoundland. It may be possible to cross it faster than that but we are limited in the opportunities to camp.