Day 10 - sunshine in St John's

(The Battery)

following a wonderful Pakistani lunch at International Flavours (which i found amusing to travel all the way to St. John's from Toronto for some of the best Indian food i've ever had) we made a trip to Signal Hill and then back through the The Battery, via the scenic North Head Trail...all while bob's bike was getting fixed up at Cychotic (see previous post re: broken chain and chain tool).
nestled in a cove in St. John's, on the steep side of Signal Hill, the neighbourhood known as The Battery, once a prosperous fishing village, is a now eclectic mix of artists and tourists who have taken over some of the dilapidated homes and fishing stages.
not much fishing goes on here anymore, but the woman in the pottery shop tells us that the odd iceberg floats in on occasion...as well as the family of otters who live in the bay (which we got to witness squealing and playing hide and seek with eachother).
yup, i could live here.


(St. John's as seen from Signal Hill)


(The North Head Trail)


(something you do not want to do on the North Head Trail, but we actually did see)


(more wild blueberries on the steep side of the hill)


(the trail leading into The Battery)


(The Battery)


(flying ducks for sale in The Battery)

Day 9 - La Manche PP - St. John's....hopefully

"long may your big jib draw"


(the tourists becoming honourary newfoundlanders)

daily stats
weather: rain.wet. fog. rain.
total riding time: 3 hrs 56 mins
avg speed: 15.2 (m) / 14.9 (b)
max *speed wobbles* speed: 58.5 (m) / 56.5 (b)
total distance: 59.22 kms

so...as I write this I'm sitting in the mist under an Ultramar sign in Bay Bulls waiting for Bob.
his chain broke (again) and then his semi-broken tool didn't respond too well to the attempt to straighten it with a hammer from the guy in the station. and so he is currently getting a ride back to Witless Bay from one of the girls who works the ? hut (read: visitor's centre) to see about a guy who fixes chainsaws.
seeing as the girl drove a compact 2 door, i figured it best to just stay with all the gear instead of dismantling it all to try and fit it in.
so if the guy with the chains doesn't pan out i guess we find someone with a pick up and hitch a ride home...

boredom lists...

top 5 things to remember for next bike trip (in no particular order):
1. extra chain and/or links
2. extra chain tool
3. can opener that actually opens cans
4. extra socks & underwear, less outer clothes
5. a cellular telephone with service > 25 kms out of a big city
*tied for 5th: a fire starter (to start fires with wet firewood)

places to see, things to do in St. John's:
1. Quidi Vidi (pron: kitty-viddy)
2. Signal Hill
3. Cape Spear
4. whale watching
5. get screeched in
6. hear live (local?) music

to eat in St. John's:
1. Moo Moo's ice cream
2. The Sprout (NL's only vegan resto)
3. International Flavours (Pakistani resto)
4. 24 hr Celtic pub & restaurant (which I'm assuming will be where we eat tonight when and if we ever make it back)
5. cod cakes at The Duke

so there i was making lists and reading Tsunami when i hear a woman's voice.
"what are you doing sitting out in the rain?"
i look up to see a tiny woman with big sun goggles (the kind you wear after laser eye surgery) and lost inside a hooded rain coat staring at me with a huge smile.
"oh hello. i'm waiting for my husband to return. he's gone off to Witless Bay to see a man about a chain."
"well don't wait outside. come in! i live right here."

Annie invited me in for coffee. a nice and wonderful respite from sitting on a curb in front of the Ultramar.
over instant coffee with evaporated milk and Belgian biscuits we spoke of many things.
she's a poet and a published writer. (as i left her place that day i started to think--hope?--that maybe i had just been in the home of Annie Proulx. later i checked out a photo of the famed novelist, and no, not the same Annie.)
this Annie used to be a cyclist in her younger days in England.
also, she's a truly beautiful person.
thank you Annie!

eventually we did make it back to St. John's.
and we did make it (not necessarily by choice) to that 24 hr celtic pub and restaurant, when nothing else was open and we were famished. but nothing was better than a pint and pub food at that moment.
it was then we decided that we deserved to be honourary newfoundlanders as we'd just cycled the Irish Loop.
and so, following true tourist tradition, we set out for the infamous George St (our one and only foray onto the street during the night hours, as we found it reminiscent of John & Adelaide area of downtown T.O.) to cross off #5 on my "things to do in St. John's" list.
just a note, when you get screeched in at Trapper John's, the cod has been replaced with a puffin's ass.

Day 8 - rest day at La Manche P.P.

rest day...for real this time


(bumble bee)

daily stats
weather: mist, fog, rain, mist, fog (big surprise there)
total riding time: 0 hrs
total daily kms (hiking): about 6 kms

so a definite respite day...well needed, and well deserved i think, but much more about the need. we finally got some quarters and got most of our clothes into the dryer...as well as our water logged shoes.
pretty relaxing morning.


(make shift lean-to)

in the laundry room i met an RV gypsy from the U.S.
the woman was nice enough to lend us a quarter...while the park ranger drove into town to get us some (!! seriously, Newfoundlanders really are that nice)
i had noticed the Texas plates and so i commented on the far drive while the woman was putting her bath mats in the wash.
turns out the Texas plates are really a front...so to speak. after her and her husband decided to sell their home and retire in a home on wheels, they did some research into living on the road...
to have insurance and a mailing address you have to be a resident of one state, and they picked the one with the least amount of sales tax.
and so they have Texas plates and Texan PO box.
and they always have the itch to move claiming they hardly ever spend more than a week in one spot.
except for the annual RV gypsy meeting in the Nevada desert for which they stay two weeks.

that afternoon, tea in hand, we hiked to the old, abandoned settlement of La Manche.
La Manche sits just off the East Coast trail.
the village was about 1.5 kms in from the park.
the trail in was a relatively easy walk and bob and i took our times, drinking our tea, and enjoying the misty air, the spiderwebs stretched across the path covered in raindrops and the diverse flora and fauna.

me (pointing at a wild mushroom and trying to be funny): "that one will make you taller"
bob: "no. that one will make you deader"


(East Coast Trail)

the remains of the building foundations sit (unbelievably) on the side of a mountain, in a large cove. it was no doubt that eventually the village got washed out, but absolutely amazing that it lasted as long as it did.
the settlement was only abandoned in the late '60s.


(East Coast Trailhead)


(suspension bridge)

beside the village was a fantastic new suspension bridge, leading over the cove and onto the East Coast Trail. we decided to hike that for a while, crossing a few gulches and into the Doctor's Cove.
stunning.
probably one of my favourite parts of the province.


(Doctor's Cove)

note to self: come back and hike all of the East Coast Trail...but not before kayaking the southern shore outport towns first.

Day 7 - Chance Cove PP - La Manche PP

Is my back tire flat?


(weather; our recurring view)

daily stats
weather: mist, fog, rain, fog, mist, rain, etc.
total riding time: 6 hrs 08 mins
avg speed: 12.9 (m) / 12.6 (b)
max speed: 50.0 (m) / 52.0 (b) *dammit. he beat me.
total *uphill* distance: 78.58 kms

# of flat tires: 1

just a miserable day all around. it was wet, soggy and all uphill.
a constant uphill.
and we were determined to have chowder for lunch in Ferryland.
even after bob had another flat tire.
so by the time we stopped for lunch at the Colony Cafe we were famished and cranky (okay, maybe the cranky part was just me).
but it was worth the wait. we had the most delicious chowder. it was so filling and warm.
perfect weather for a bowl of chowdah ("shau-dere? shau-dere? it's chowdah. say it right!")
and cod tongues, of course
(even though our server tried to convince us otherwise with her description of the texture of the uncooked gelatinous part of the tongues)


(cod tongues, a newfoundland tradition)

warm chowder and deep fried cod tongues, plus new book purchases (always helps mood) put us in better spirits to continue our journey to La Manche.
but it didn't help to make the wrong turn off the main road and end up going 8 kms out of the way on a muddy road at the end of the day.
when finally to come back we realized that if we had been able to see through the fog and mist, the actual entrance to the park was only about 500 m from where we had turned off the wrong way....
and to only realize that, after getting into the park via a long downhill on a paved road (yay!) the booth was closed and the office was back at the top of the hill...
(we didn't go back up that night)
and then to realize that because we didn't go back up, we had no quarters for the dryer to dry out our clothes...
and then again in the morning to realize that at the end of that wrong turnoff, when we hit the dead end, that was the park boundary and fire road into the campsites (but that was the next day and we were laughing about it by then)...

and so we set up camp in the rainy darkness, then went to use up what little quarters we could scrounge up and trade with from some crazy german camping expedition who arrived at the washrooms and laundry building in a mini van, whereupon 8 or 9 people piled out, in garbage bag ponchos with all 20 of their giant pots and pans to do dishes at the washroom sinks.
wet and dejected, we shared a moment of silence, eating sour cream and onion mini rice cakes for dinner in the laundry room, listening to the hum of the washing machine, and the occasional german conversation.

Day 6 - Mistaken Point - Chance Cove

rest day


(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.

Day 5 - St. Mary's - Long Beach

a day of best things (and the worst road ever)


(the barrens)

daily stats
weather: sunshine, 22˚
total riding time: 6 hrs 35 mins 39 secs
avg speed: 12.7 (m) / 12.5 (b)
max speed: 56 (m) / 54 (b)
total distance: 83.72 kms

# of moose seen: 0
# of caribou seen: 2
# of whale seen: 3
# of flat tires: 1

and the winner for best downhill ever goes to (drum roll please): Rte 10 into Trepassey.
i'm pretty sure that max speed of 56 kms/hr lasted for a good 10-15 mins...it was wonderful (albeit a little wobbly).
and well worth it because we climbed about twenty times as long to hit the top.

it started with a hearty, home cooked breakfast at the Claddagh Inn (delicious and warm homemade bread with partridgeberry jam...mmm). little did we know at the time how much we needed the eggs and toast.
we set out and started the first climb.
but the payoffs are always worth it.
coming down brought us to the tip of the world!
(okay, maybe not the world, but the southern tip of the avalon).
it was so sunny and lovely that we hung out in St. Vincent's for a little while, taking in the ocean, the ocean air, and the rotting fish guts on the rock from the couple fishing for cod in Holyrood pond (note: not even close to the Holyrood we knew from our first day)


(coming into St. Vincent's; the southern tip of the Avalon)


(St. Vincent's; fishing for cod in Holyrood pond)


(fish guts)

we met some other cyclists for the first time on our trip.
they were headed in the opposite direction. and their gear was being transported for them. they warned us of the upcoming climb and the following 20 kms or so of barren wasteland.
i longed to ride free, sans gear, on a skinny little road bike....but what kind of adventure would that be?

the barrens were definitely...well...barren.
but wild blueberries thrive there. and wow, were they delicious. patches and patches of them!
i couldn't help but think "if we were in a car, would we have had the chance to pick these wild blueberries?"

(wild blueberries)

and we saw caribou. we thought this little guy was a statue for tourists at first.
he finally moved, only to turn and face the other way, in the same frozen image kinda way.


(caribou)

you could see miles and miles (kms and kms) of road and sky in the barrens...and yet, it still wasn't flat.
actually, it was a continual uphill the whole 20 kms or so into Trepassey.
hence the winner of the best downhill award (although I think the record may have been broken later on in the trip...)

we had decided that we would ride out to Chance Cove provincial park to camp for the night (since there seemed to be no where else to camp that we could see on our maps).
we really wanted to take a day to explore Mistaken Point ecological reserve on one of the tips of the Avalon, but it was already getting late.
this would mean backtracking in order to come back tomorrow.
so we popped into the newly built visitor's centre in Portugal Cove South, which is the last town on the southern point before the off-shoot road down to Mistaken Point and Cape Race.
the wonderful women in the centre told us that it was silly for us to go all the way to Chance Cove only to return in the morning. they gave us bottled water and told us to head down into the reserve and pitch a tent on any grassy patch that we saw fit (!!).
deciding that we would take a tour of the fossils and archeological site on Mistaken Point in the morning, one woman suggested Long Beach as a wonderful place to pitch a tent, and be right next to the trailhead to meet our guide in the morning.
although they did warn us about the freshly graded gravel road...and they did warn us about the "bit of a hill" at Drook's Point, we did not expect the worst road ever.
if it wasn't for the sunshine, the ocean on our right, and the whales we could see off the point, i probably would have cried.
we never did make it all the way to lighthouse at Cape Race. we just couldn't imagine another 7 kms of the awful gravel road.
but we did make it the 14 kms to the re-settled community at Long Beach (good thing too: first flat tire).
we fell asleep listening to ocean water crashing onto the rocks and the whales spouting in the distance.


(crazy hill in and out of Drook's Cove)


(best campsite ever).

Day 4 - Fitzgerald's (Rte 100) - Whitbourne - St. Mary's (Rte 91-90)

a day of firsts: sunshine and a century


(war memorial in Rivershead)

daily stats
weather: sun! cloudy, sunny
total riding time: 6 hrs 41 mins 50 secs
avg speed: 16.2 (m) / 16.0 (b)
max speed: 50.5 (m) / 51.5 (b)
total distance: 108.55 kms

# of moose seen: 0
amount of $ won in the Atlantic lotto 649: 0

our first ray of sunshine came this morning (hence all the photos), after yet another wet night (which, by the way, means getting mauled by skeeters).
so we started off to a cloudy sky, but by the time we stopped for some groceries in Whitbourne, those clouds broke open. it was one of those heavenly or angelic "ahhhhhh" moments.
i don't know if it was the sun or the tailwind but we broke our first (ever!) century today...and with lbs of gear no less!
and so, instead of gravel pit camping (no campgrounds on the west side of the irish loop) we treated ourselves to a night indoors at the Claddagh Inn in St. Mary's, one of the prettiest towns on the loop.
not expecting all that sun, we both got a bit burnt...but the bed sure is comfy...and a hot, homestyle breakfast is included. i've never been so happy about eggs.

less words, more photos:


(an old bridge somewhere on Rte 90)


(the town of Rivershead; 15 kms from St. Mary's)


(sunset in the town of St. Mary's, from the porch of the inn)


(by the fish plant in St. Mary's)

Day 3 - Clarke's Beach - Fitzgerald's Park on the Cape Shore (Rte 100)

(along the Conception Bay highway)

daily stats
weather: rain, mist, fog
riding time: 4 hrs 42 mins 42 secs
avg speed: 16.3 (m) / 15.9 (b)
max speed: 47.5 (m) / 47.0 (j)
total distance: 74.81 kms

lost: 1 rubber ducky

after the obligatory photo with the highway sign, we ate pie in dildo. that couldn't be helped.

plus pie is extra delicious when you're climbing mountains all day, loaded down with 50 lbs of gear. but hey, i'm not complaining. the views are worth it. Route 60 winds up and down and around Conception Bay, mostly on the water.
in South Dildo bob says: "it's like the coast highway, without the California".

today we had to make a painful decision. we realized we probably weren't going to make it out to the Bonavista Peninsula and out past Clarenville to the abandoned community of Ireland's Eye...which is where bob really, really wanted to go.
even if we did make it out there, we wouldn't have the time to hang out for a few days to try and hire somebody to take us out to the island. and so we decided to head south. and after 3 days of going north, we could only do one of the southern loops.

we decided against the Cape Shore loop and the Cape St Mary's ecological reserve bird sanctuary and instead opted for the Irish Loop, but still had to take a detour down Route 100 on the Cape Shore loop to find a place to stay.
we ended up at the lovely and remote (like, horror movie remote) Fitzgerald's Pond Park.
aside from Sue and Dave (not Fitzgerald), the rugged ATV-ers who own the park, we were the only ones there.
camp deserato! it was nice.

Day 2 - Holyrood - Clarke's Beach

along the Conception Bay highway (aka Route 60)

(lunchspot)

daily stats
weather: cloudy, windy, misty, foggy, 13˚
Rummy 5000 scores: bob = 170, manny = 385 (boo-ya!)
total riding time: 3 hrs 16 mins 27 secs
avg speed: 14 (m) / 13.8 (b)
max speed: 47.5 (m) / 46.5 (b)
total distance: 45.33 kms

after coffee and homemade bread with bobby & helen in the morning, we set off the way we had come...5 kms uphill to end the night meant 5 kms of downhill!
a great way to start off the day... especially after realizing the craziness to come....that 45.33 kms didn't seem like such a short day at the time.

after pedaling a long (long) uphill, then down into beautiful Clarke's Beach, bob says:
"just think...if you had ditched me and decided to go with some other guy, you'd be on a cruise ship right now, drinking a mai tai"
we most definitely earned the homemade scone with partridgeberry ham and fresh scald cream that we devoured with our afternoon tea in Brigus (pron: brick-us)


(the family of ducks we shared our grassy campsite patch with)

Day 1...officially: St. John's - Holyrood

finding the start of the T'Railway and giant black slugs


(the mother of all slugs)

daily stats
weather: rain
found items: 1 rubber ducky (how appropriate...)
total riding time: 5 hrs 27 mins
avg speed: 11.6
max speed: 39.5
total kms: 63.26

after spending the first hour of our trip looking for the start of the T'Railway downtown St. John's, it didn't turn out to be what it was supposed to be.
it started off nice, and for a while we thought if we could take the trail all the way to Clarenville, we would never have to climb a hill (insert post-thought ridiculous laughter here).
from Mount Pearl onwards, it was like biking through a gravel pit.
bad news for our hybrid road tires.
so we hit up Route 60 into Conception Bay South.
and so the hills begin.
and so does the rain.
after stopping in Manuels to buy some Newfoundland wine to have with dinner, we stopped for a cup of coffee to think out our options and plan for the rest of the day.
we had made a great investment in rain gear before leaving home and so even though our clothes were dry, our things....soaked.
we went into Holyrood looking for somewhere to stay...nothing promising, so we decided to take a chance on a recommendation from the woman who sold us the wine in Manuels.
she told us about a new trailer park/campground that had just opened a few months prior, and so it wasn't on any map yet.
in the rain, we climbed a 5 km hill--straight up a mountain!--praying that the Blue Fin Trailer Park would be there.
Bobby and Helen welcomed us with open arms and true Newfoundland hospitality.
Bobby had seen us coming in, came out to greet us and immediately offered to let us stay in the new rec building that had just been plastered, to get us out of the rain.
he even apologized that the building wasn't finished!
two of the most wonderful people.
we even got to dry our wet things in a dryer and have a hot shower.
after eating spicy and warm indian food while sitting on buckets and drinking wine, we passed out on the cement floor...and we thought we'd need those thermarests for the rock. ha.

*note to self: send Bobby and Helen a thank you card.
*note to others: stay at Blue Fin.

Day 2 - the "get-yer-s**t-together" day

we woke up at the crack of noon and found ourselves in unfamiliar territory.
after a hectic airport day and early morning arrival, the cabbie had dropped us off, with our 2 bike boxes and all of our luggage, outside the house where we had rented a room for a couple of weeks. by the time we had woken up somebody in the house, we found our room and passed out on the mattress on the floor.
my eyes opened to pink walls, a pink dresser, and a filthy carpet.
and a twin mattress (i sleep with a guy who's 6 feet, just sayin...) on the floor.
it took me a few mins to realize where the hell i was.
oh yes, st john's. we made it to the land of beer and fish....and university student houses. nice.

at the outfitter's downtown, we stocked up on campingaz for the stove...and a couple of thermarests because, well, we would be sleeping on "the rock".
after getting our bikes together and all things packed for our early morning departure, we ventured out to find our first meal of fish n' chips and some local newfie beer.
apparently Ches' is the best in town.
and the local brewery is just outside of town in Quidi Vidi...although we were saving our brewery and tasting tour for when we got back from the trip, we did manage to guzzle an Eric's Red (which isn't a red beer at all...more to come on that) and a pint of 1892 at The Duke.

Day 1 - Lester B Pearson airport to St John's....maybe

to do list
1. write letter to Air Canada in two parts:
a) commending our check-in guy Bruno for allowing us to take our bikes on board for the original amount of $50 that was repeated to me over and over again on the phone when i booked our tickets in may, not the $157 they were going to charge us when we got to the airport.
b) complaining first about the dumb ass twit who did not properly convey baggage allowance and extra fees on the phone, even though i had her repeat the rules about 4 times and second, for booking a flight in advance but still being put on the standby list, with the risk of being denied boarding, because we chose not to pay the extra $20 to pre-select our seats.

~~

in a crappy airport bar, drowning our disbelief and frustration in too expensive beer, after the flight for which we had bought tickets 2 months prior, just took off with our luggage and our bikes, but without us:
"should i start composing my letter to Air Canada already?"

random quotes from bob as we try to amuse ourselves while having to wait 4 hrs until the next flight to st john's:

"i'm utterly surprised that security was the easiest part of that process, despite the fact that we're carrying a tent and a tripod"

"as much as i'd love to have bacon because i think bacon should be offered on everything in life...can you put bacon on the mouth of my beer?"

me: are you tired or something?
bob: why?
me: your eyes are all red.
bob: i'm allergic.
me: to what?
bob: canned air.

i should challenge this brilliant chick to a "things my boyfriend says" war.

~~
at 5 am, after flying executive class, in which bob and i both tried to drink the airline out of wine and beer (hey, they owe us at least that satisfaction), we finally made it to the island of newfoundland (guess what? it's foggy)...it must be happy hour already. somewhere.

trip stats

another bike tour.
our first being Manitoulin Island...this time we set our sights on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland.

although our original rough idea (there were no plans here, only plane tickets) was part Avalon, part Bonavista Peninsula, it wasn't until we got there that we realized just how much work this hilly province really was going to be. we started out northwest, around Conception Bay, then headed south for a tour around The Irish Loop.
gruelling uphills that almost had me in tears, but with spectacular payoffs.

~
length of trip: 14 days
total biking days: 9 (+ 1 rest day)
total hours of biking time: 42 hrs 06 mins
max speed: 60 km/hr (somewhere between Bay Bulls & Witless Bay)
total days of sunshine: 1.5 (on bike trip) + 2 (post bike trip in St John's)
# of jars of p.b. consumed: 2
Rummy 5000 Nfld Ed. scores: Bob = 1230, Manny = 1140
# of salted cod that rode in the overhead compartment back home: 3
TOTAL DISTANCE: 618.77 kms

home for a rest

nfld trip daily log blog with photos and stories to come...

random shots from the poor pilgrim island show

dog days of summer

it all started with a trip to the farmer's market in withrow park.

then came eating juicy cherries by the remains of the 1967 sculpture symposium in high park.

a picnic at christie pits with fresh summer peas from the morning market (see photo), tetra pak wine and a toronto maple leafs vs the allstars baseball game.

followed by the search for real gelato at corso italia ending up with espresso and beer and garlic pesto shrimp skewers with random Italians and a Portuguese while listening to Dr Draw (for way cheaper--read: free--than his upcoming $70 massey hall show)

a roller derby match (D-Vas vs Death Track Dolls)

finished with a delicious sangria margarita at the willow.

days you don't want to end.

my favourite summer in the city days.

saturday was one of those days.

~

In reality (kinda): july 3 - aug 11

Food for thought: Alligator by Lisa Moore

the ultimate test of faith

sometimes i just want to trade in all my thoughts and dreams and live a shallow and meaningless existence.
just to take a break.
because sometimes my brain hurts from thinking too much.
is this the ultimate test?

~
Food for thought: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (haven't seen the movie and after reading the book, not sure i want to)