Labrador black flies and Basques

From Port au Choix, I rode north to St. Barbe to catch the ferry to Labrador. I had a fantastically strong tail wind and averaged over 15 mph for the day, impressive for a loaded touring bike. On some sections, I hardly pedaled as the wind pushed me along at over 20 mph.

The coastline was gorgeous and there was hardly any traffic. Life on the road doesn't get any better than this!








There was quite a back up at the ferry port since the two morning ferries didn't run because of the high wind. Being on a bike, I got a spot on the first boat out for the hour and a half trip.


It was quite a rough crossing and I felt a bit queasy but didn't get sick.

Labrador was the last major part of Canada I had left to ride so now I've biked in every Canadian province and territory except Nunavut since it doesn't have roads leading to it.


As I was riding along, I met this fellow out picking bakeapples.


Bakeapples also known as cloud berries are wild berries that grow in Newfoundland and Labrador.


They make jam out of them or put them in muffins. They're quite tasty. They are called bakeapples from the bastardization of the French question: baië q'apelle?, meaning what is this berry called.

Other wild berries are partridgeberries, crowberries, and wild blueberries. In most B and Bs, breakfast includes a nice selection of homemade jams. My favorite is partridgeberry which tastes a lot like cranberries.

I stayed in a motel near the harbor because the black flies were fierce and camping in that is absolutely horrifying. Thank goodness, we don't have black flies in the Pacific Northwest. They are much smaller than mosquitoes but bigger than midges. They come in swarms and have a vicious bite that turns into a nasty, itchy welt. They bite along my hairline, in my hair part, on my wrists, behind my ears, and under the helmet straps. Mosquito bites are a joy-filled pleasure compared to these beasties.

The next day I rode the 50 miles to Red Bay which used to be a whaling outpost for Basques in the 16th century.

I stopped by L'anse Amour along the way where a Paleo-Indian burial site dating from 5000 BC was found.


There was a neat road leading to a lighthouse on the point.





This section of road has been one I've wanted to ride for about 15 years so it was nice to translate a line on a map to reality. It was tough riding but quite lovely.





They've found several sunken Basque galleons from the 16th century in the harbor at Red Bay along with lots of other artifacts including a cemetery and the remains of try works where whale blubber was rendered into oil.

This was a boat that was used to hunt and harpoon whales.


This is a board from a galleon. It has a ship etched into it near the top of the board.


A model of a galleon based on one of the excavated wrecks.


The anchor and capstan.


A model of the try works.


A pot.


Clothing based on those found on skeletons in the cemetery.


The town from above the bay.


After spending time in the museum it was time to head back to the ferry. To save time, I decided to try to hitch a ride. The first truck that came along stopped and gave me and the bike a ride. This is Rick, an electrician who works in Labrador City and was heading back to Newfoundland for a few weeks of vacation.


I caught the three thirty ferry across to Newfoundland and continued riding north.

Location:Labrador

Moose in a bottle and other adventures

I took a huge ferry to get Newfoundland.


I've been on lots of boats but never one with a helicopter pad.


We arrived in Port aux Basques in a heavy fog.


Parking the ferry was amazing. The engines pushed the ship sideways up to the dock! I've never seen anything like it.


It's official! I'm in Newfoundland.


I camped in a lovely campground near this beach.


I was invited to dinner by my neighbors and was introduced to some traditional foods including salt meat and bakeapples (more on that later). As I had been warned, Newfoundlanders have a strange accent so I had a tough time understanding my hosts. They were offering me all sorts of goodies but it took a few tries for me to understand the offer of 'moose in a bottle' since she pronounced 'bottle' as 'baa-a'. It was a rather large bottle so I politely declined being uncertain as what to do with it.

I really lucked out because the wind shifted to the southwest giving me a nice push past the windiest spot on the island, Wreckhouse.


When big storms come in, the wind is strong enough to tip over big semis and even the train that used to run up the island.

This museum display is all that's left of the train line on Newfoundland. Instead of a smooth rails to trails like in PEI, the old line is pretty torn up by ATVs.


On the top of a hill in Corner Brook is a marker describing Captain Cook's exploration of Newfoundland. He did a great job mapping the coastline.



I camped near Corner Brook. I have no idea what serviced laundry and unserviced showers mean.


I was in a bit of a grouchy mood. Navigating around Corner Brook had been annoying, the girl at the information center said the Captain Cook memorial was a must see so I crawled up the ridiculously steep hill for what was a rather disappointing spot, and I was just tired. So, at the campground I asked for a nice quiet site. They said they had a good one for me so off I went to set up camp.


Well, one neighbor had a huge snarling, barking pitbull from hell. He then started blasting obscenity laced rap. Then the neighbor on the other side came back and turned on country western really loud. So, my quiet campsite went something like this (extreme liberties taken with lyrics): mf ho, ya mf mf.... Bark, bark, snarl, bark.... My girlfriend just left me, woe is me... Snarl, bark... My dog died, life is so sad... Snarl, snarl... Waaaaaaaa (a kid on a bike screaming because the dog scared him).

Ahh, camping can be so restful!

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Newfoundland