(Long Beach)
daily stats
weather: cloudy
riding time: 3 hrs 39 mins
avg speed: 9.8 (m) / 9.7 (b)
max speed: 32.0
total distance: 36.05 kms
# of broken bike chains: 1
# of moose seen: 1
# of caribou seen: herd of 5
# of whale seen: a few
# of puffins and gulls seen: a gazillion or so
this was not a planned rest day per se, but after spending all morning on a hike of Mistaken Point, then part of the afternoon dealing with bob's broken chain and busted chain tool and trying to endure the awful gravel road out of the ecological reserve, we only got in just over 36 kms of riding.
not much, but so worth the 6 km hike.
Julie was our lovely guide (an expat from Ontario who now lives in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove South and works for the provincial government's parks and reserves)
she informed us that Mistaken Point got its name because ships used to mistake this point for the infamous Cape Race and then crash into the massive outcropping of rocks or get stuck in the numerous gulches along the coast.
so the reason a guide was needed: Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve has the world's only area preserved with deep water marine fossils and the oldest fossils in North America of the first multi-cellular organisms
(fossil)
the area is only accessible by guide and most of it is marked off by archeologists who are currently unearthing more fossils. we were able to walk on this (sans shoes, only socks) which was part of the ocean's floor. stunning.
(old ocean floor)
Julie's specialty lies in flora and fauna, so she knew where all the bakeapples were.
(patch of bakeapples)
tasty mid-morning snack. i think we ate at least a pound of these. delicious.
i'm pretty sure, in canada, they only grow in newfoundland & labrador.
but they must also grow elsewhere in the world because the common name for them is cloudberries. only newfies call them bakeapples...but only newfies make them into a wonderful jam.
(bakeapple)
after bob's chain broke going up a hill on the gravel road, we did end up making a stop at the Rookery.
basically the walk to the cliff is only about 500 m, but as you approach you can hear the gulls.
it's a crazy bird sanctuary that is home to a gazillion mating birds.
(the Rookery)
look closely. all those specks of white are birds. while the gulls and other birds take up perches to lay eggs on the sides of the cliffs, the puffins burrow about 3-5 ft into the grassy patches at the top.
now i'm not afraid of heights, but holy crap, there was no barrier to keep you from falling off the edge. and the sound of all those birds. really felt like a hitchcock flick.
the birds were at quite a distance, but luckily for us, the only other person there was a man with a giant telescope who invited us to take a look.
as bob likes to think, nerds like to share because they want you to like nerdy stuff as much as them. the wonderful and eccentric man pointed out all the birds and their latin names, plus gave us a little lesson in history and geography.
i had never seen a puffin in real life. they are the oddest-looking little birds. amazing.
when we finally made it off the road from hell i think i got down and kissed the pavement (and believe me, newfoundland roads aren't that much better)
going through another patch of barrens on our way out to Chance Cove provincial park, we were on the lookout for moose and came across a herd of caribou instead.
(caribou)
neither of us had encountered caribou and didn't really know what to do. at first they were kinda at a distance but then they started to approach the road to cross and ended up in our path.
we stopped and just watched them for a while, unsure of their natural tendencies.
then they spotted us and just stared us down. only a couple had crossed the road and the other three were still on the hill.
truth be told, i got a little frightened as neither us nor they backed down in the staring contest.
we decided not to move and get between the herd.
eventually they decided to go back from where they came.
we started to ride and they followed along side of us for a while.
they're pretty fast.
when we finally made it to the turn off for Chance Cove, i nearly fainted.
another damn gravel road.
having no real choice, we relunctantly started down the road in silence, each of us secretly cursing every little stone and pebble.
out of nowhere (and i mean nowhere as in we hadn't seen a car or other person in what felt like hours), a pick up pulled up next to us.
the passenger rolled down his window and offered us a ride into the camping area. said they'd seen us the day before in Portugal Cove South.
i immediately said yes. no questions asked.
the two men put our bikes in the bed and let us into the cab, which was covered in one of those '80s furry wolf-howling-at-the-moon blankets.
the passenger introduced himself like this:
"my name's Hanlan Coombs and this here's Loyola" (pointing to the driver)
Loyola then said something that sounded to me like Boomhauer from King of the Hill.
seriously.
i looked at bob and he looked back at me with that questionable look.
while Hanlan wasn't too bad to understand (still took some time to process) when Loyola spoke we responded with neutral and minimal responses like "oh" and "uh-huh" and "not sure".
later bob says: "i wanted to ask those lad a few things but i was afraid Loyola would answer and i'd have no idea what the hell he was saying".
what was interesting was it was day 6 of our trip, we still hadn't seen any moose, and sure enough it took us getting into a car to see one.
Loyola pointed one out just as the wooded area began into the camping lot.
good thing we got that ride in too because it was another 8 kms of hilly gravel before the road ended and it was almost dark by the time we were getting the tent up.
the road ended at a parking lot with about a dozen motor homes and RVs. judging by the road in, it had honestly seemed as though there was going to be nobody at this place.
for all i knew, hanlan and loyola were giving us a ride in to rob us and leave us for dead.
but that's just not the vibe you get in newfoundland.
no matter how weird the dudes are.
like Mr. Rice, who was missing all of his front teeth, who offered us a pot full of water when we realized Chance Cove has no running water.
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