I’ve been busy and without adequate internet service to write. My last full day in Saint John’s I went for a tour of the Memorial University Campus. I was quite impressed with the facilities and the services provided for students, the majority of which would be coming from small outport communities. Prince Philip Dr, a four-lane highway with 8-foot chain-link fence in the median splits the campus in half hence overhead walkways complete with locker and meal facilities connect the two sides at regular intervals and tunnels connect all the buildings. Students have free use of world-class exercise facilities, pools, and tracks. The CBC Broadcasting Centre is at the West End of Campus, several hospitals to the North West, and the Saint John’s Arts and Culture Centre and Central Library at the other end. There appear to be extensive residences. Walking trails connect to the community and Pippy Park to the north. That evening I experienced my first attack by mosquitoes.
The drive down to Cape Saint Mary’s began with a trip north on the TCH. A well-paved road leads down to Placentia/Argentia and the ferry to NS. The roads in town have been recently excavated and those south are narrow, winding, and broken at the shoulder. At every cove the road dips dramatically and the speed limit drops to 50, once past habitiation the grade out of the coves is steep and resumes 80 KM. Always, one must be on alert for moose. Between outport communities the road is encroached by softwood forest and rocks, the vegetation becoming sparser and more stunted as one goes until near Saint Brides it is reduced to scrubby Tuckamore.
The two-storey Gannet’s Nest Restaurant towers amid the surrounding bogs and ponds two kilometers south of Saint Brides. The RV Park is an extension of the parking lot out back however there is 30 AMP power and tannin-laced water from an artesian well. Bathroom facilities are off the basement bar area. The tenting area is fenced in else tents would blow away. Wi-Fi reception is intermittent at the mercy of the fog and rain. The Ecological Reserve is 14 KM further down a narrow well-paved road that wanders amid swamps and a copse of pine. I biked down and as I got close the world was eaten by an encroaching fogbank. When I reached the parking lot the lighthouse a few yards distant was not visible and I needed directions to find the visitor’s centre a few yards away. The 1.4KM trail to Gannet Rock is marked by posts in the meadow grass and later amid the rock that leads one downhill. Wild Iris sparkled amid the fog beside the trail and the sound of birds which were not visible tantalized. Little could be seen until the offshore nesting rock hove into sight at the end of the trail. Half a mile inland from the coast the magically fog dissipated once more. I suppose I should have heeded the advice given the night before by the Saint Brides librarian who counseled that I should go that day as the fog might not lift for weeks at a time.
On Friday, July 23, I accepted an invitation to go fishing off Cape Saint Mary’s on my host’s gill-netter. From the government wharf in Saint Brides it’s a 9-mile sail by Ford Motor Marine Diesel to the fishing grounds. As we surged along bobbing in the swell I clung to the fish hatch and concentrated on keeping my sea legs while the deck hand Patrick gave me an education regarding outport life. Captain Foley uses a GPS to locate the buoys that mark his nets. Arrived on station the first bobbin was hauled aboard and the net was threaded around a capstan to draw it in kelp, sculpin, an occasional flat fish and cod were pulled up with the net until the appearance of a mako sharp called a halt to proceedings. The shark came with prominent toothy smile and got hauled aboard by his tail while I kept a respectable distance. The first nets ended in an improvised anchor and were then neatly folded at the stern of the boat while the last of what clung to them was thrown overboard, then the process was repeated 4 more times. It was when we stopped forward momentum and began bobbing to and fro in the chop that I began wondering if my breakfast was safe. To my credit I didn’t lose it but was ready on several occasions to head for the rail. After motoring back toward shore the nets were reset before we headed back to port. First, the fish were cleaned and placed on ice. Waiting for us at the dock was the fisheries inspector who filed the paperwork and saw to the weighing of our catch. That accomplished the knives were gotten out again and the fish filleted. The work day began at 7:00 AM a decent hour from my perspective and ended at 1:00 PM. Home I broke out the ginger tea and eschewed lunch. I passed on the opportunity to go back out next day, when the catch was a disappointing single codfish.
On Saturday, July 24th the sky clearing and a stiff breeze blowing out the fog, I drove down to Cape Saint Mary’s and having the Cape to myself shot a bunch of photos and marvelled at how I could have missed the lighthouse 2 days earlier. After I drove over to admire two miles of crystal sand on the beach at Point Lance. That evening the fog billowed in again around 4:30 making the world disappear as it came. I drove down to the visitor’s centre once more for an evening of music and story-telling cautiously negotiating the fog-shrouded road and wishing there were fewer cars coming the other way. The ghost stories were enhanced by the fog outside and the sound of the wailing foghorn. The drive home with the world ending 20 ft in front of my RV was riveting.
After a quiet weekend drove up to Placentia on Tuesday, July 27th and toured the old fort of Plaisance abandoned when the French moved on to Louisbourg. The interpretive exhibits and MP3 guided walk were enjoyable. A local group performed a period drama for our entertainment. In town I visited the museum where a knowledgeable young man gave me a personal tour then went for early supper at the Three Sisters.
With the closure of the American Base at Argentia very little of the town remains save for the ferry terminal. Things were much more formal here with my RV first measured, then the sign-in process. I was totally unprepared for the agricultural inspection that saw my potatoes and carrots confiscated and the RV sprayed with high pressure water. Nothing had prepared or warned me of this annoyance. Having arrived at the line-up at 6:30 it was now a matter of hurry up and wait. It would be 5 more hours before I loaded and sailing was nearly 4 hours late with no explanation ever given.
What can I say about a 15-hour ferry crossing. The sky remained clear and the sea remarkably calm but the free Wi-Fi was rather inconsistent and slow. Time dragged on and I lulled in front of my computer screen. Managed to listen to podcasts for a while but eventually lost interest and drowsed. At 5 AM went for toast and coffee. Around noon went for a sub and cream of mushroom soup. The soup was remarkably good. When we finally saw land it seemed to take forever to reach the dock and at that we were barred from the car decks until just before disembarkation.
Having arrived at 2:30 I drove down to Louisbourg passing through several construction zones where traffic was stopped. Found camping for the weekdays but the weekend was booked for Crabfest. Saw to a few matters such as grey water and fresh water, got my bike down and went to bed after a light snack.
Thursday, July 29th I spent my Birthday upgrading the Operating System on my laptop over itself to repair it while I rode up to the fortress. After the bus ride out to the fort walked up to the gates, answered the challenge and toured the guard’s cottage. Made it inside in time to take in a musket drill. Then the 75 minute orientation tour. After explored briefly before sitting for a 3-course meal of vegetable soup, hot rum punch, pork with vegetables and potatoes, a dark ale, cake and coffee. The governor loves credit. Wandered around the site poking here and there admired the backyard gardens. The accountants was a formal flower garden, the doctors vegetables and herbs. Met the governor in his quarters where he pulled off his day wig. Stood in a guard shelter with one of the animators and had a good chat. After wandering through the royal blacksmith shop and poking about a bit more caught the bus back and rode home.
That evening the concert was next door in a replica of the globe theater built for a Walt Disney Movie. A five piece band of guitars, percussion, keyboards and fiddle made up of musicians new to me performed their own compositions playing nothing traditional or known to me. Comic relief was interspersed with the musical numbers and tea and oat cakes were served for intermission. With rain falling I was glad my RV was close by.
Since my cream had soured along with my milk on the long ferry crossing I struck out for Halifax next morning without breakfast at 7:30. Encountered the same construction delays on the way out of Louisbourg and blessed the rough surface on Highway 4 along the Bras D’or Lakes. Passed Rita MacNeil’s Tea House finding it closed. Stopped at Jungle Jims in Stellarton for lunch and made Halifax by 1:15.
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