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Lifes2short....Ride the World
- Thread starter l84toff
- Start date
l84toff
Well-known member
We've really enjoyed every trip out east. Newfoundland however takes top spot!
Thanks
LX3 has been ordered.Yeah keep your eye open for an Lx3 if it suits your need. Hard to beleive they are around so cheap. Down side you need to keep an eye on the battery.
Where are you off to next?
We'll be prepping Alaska for you
Where to next? Well since we've gone as far east as we can, on land at least, it would seem the only way of for us to go is west. So we're leaving St John's tomorrow and heading back home. We have a few loose ends to tie up and want to spend a few days with family before taking off for Alaska.
Thank you.
l84toff
Well-known member
Welcome to Newfoundland said the sign, or so I'm told. I couldn't take my eyes off the mountains so I had to take Lori's word for it. I actually made a comment that this was the first time I didn't see a sign that welcomed you to a province, instead here they welcomed you with a stunning view. "No, there was definitely a sign back there" Lori said. I did notice a sign a few kilometres down the road warning of high winds. I smirked thinking these aren't high winds, at least not after our high wind experiences so far anyway. Unbeknownst to us, we were passing through the "Wreckhouse" at the time.
We later learned that the Wreckhouse got its name because the wind, which at times is greater than hurricane force. It used to blow railway cars off the track back when the railway was still running trains through here. Needless to say it does what it wants with transport trucks and I can only imagine what it would do to a 2up riding Tiger Explorer. The highway is often shut down along this stretch because of the severity of the wind. As windy as our ride here was, I'm glad we didn't experience the full effect of the Wreckhouse.
But let's back up for a moment, I almost forgot all about the ferry ride.
We were directed to the front of the lineup, although we got on somewhere in the middle of all the vehicles. It really worked out well in the end as we had enough time to change into our moto gear before departing the ferry in NFLD.
We had an absolutely perfect day for the crossing.
The ferry itself was surprisingly nice inside with plenty of seating (seats themselves reclined and were quite comfortable). The menu at the onboard restaurant sounded much better than the food actually tasted however.
After dinner, Lori pondered life...
We were curious how fast we were going.
A few hours into our voyage we could see land. Wait a minute...
What the...what is that white stuff?
Yup. That's snow!
Coming in for a landing. No snow anywhere around here, made Lori a happy girl.
Although the ferry takes less than six hours to cross from North Sydney NS to Port Aux Basques NL, it's pretty much an entire day affair. You have to be at the port two hours before departure and you also lose another 30 min with the time change. Because of this, we planned on a short ride to our destination that day, the Grand Codroy campground.
Camp all set up - check. Fire going - check. Ahhh, my work here is done.
Enjoying a nice evening before the skeeters came out to welcome us to the island.
Our trip so far has been full of unexpected events and surprises. Newfoundland certainly falls into that category and definitely into a class of its own. The natural beauty of the island really took me by surprise, right from the get-go. I mean I knew it was beautiful but I had no idea it was this spectacular. The next day a cute name like Corner Brook didn’t prepare me for the mountains with exposed rock and sharp edges that surrounded the TCH as it snaked east. My eyes drawn up instead of on the road and as I caught the bike wandering over into the adjacent lane I heard "mmm-hmmm" over the comms. "You keep your eyes on the road mister."
I tried to snap a few pics with the iPhone while riding, but they do views very little justice.
As we rode into Gros Morne National Park, I was blown away even more. I found myself thinking of my dad who passed away about a year and a half ago. He would have absolutely loved to see this with us, this stuff was totally up his alley. My thirst for adventure and appreciation of nature is definitely something I got from him. It was a very emotional experience to ride along this stretch of road as I thought of him. No too many places to stop for pictures, we did find one.
Snow could still be there in Aug we were told.
These don't do the views justice, it was really spectacular. Gros Morne is definitely worth a stop if you make the trip to Newfoundland. I just couldn't stop saying "wow".
We landed in Rocky Harbour for the night and after checking around, we found a nice little cabin with a view.
Lori was a bit under the weather so we booked in for a couple of nights. There was a full kitchen and it was nice to cook real food for a change, one thing we both miss very much.
We later learned that the Wreckhouse got its name because the wind, which at times is greater than hurricane force. It used to blow railway cars off the track back when the railway was still running trains through here. Needless to say it does what it wants with transport trucks and I can only imagine what it would do to a 2up riding Tiger Explorer. The highway is often shut down along this stretch because of the severity of the wind. As windy as our ride here was, I'm glad we didn't experience the full effect of the Wreckhouse.
But let's back up for a moment, I almost forgot all about the ferry ride.
We were directed to the front of the lineup, although we got on somewhere in the middle of all the vehicles. It really worked out well in the end as we had enough time to change into our moto gear before departing the ferry in NFLD.
We had an absolutely perfect day for the crossing.
The ferry itself was surprisingly nice inside with plenty of seating (seats themselves reclined and were quite comfortable). The menu at the onboard restaurant sounded much better than the food actually tasted however.
After dinner, Lori pondered life...
We were curious how fast we were going.
A few hours into our voyage we could see land. Wait a minute...
What the...what is that white stuff?
Yup. That's snow!
Coming in for a landing. No snow anywhere around here, made Lori a happy girl.
Although the ferry takes less than six hours to cross from North Sydney NS to Port Aux Basques NL, it's pretty much an entire day affair. You have to be at the port two hours before departure and you also lose another 30 min with the time change. Because of this, we planned on a short ride to our destination that day, the Grand Codroy campground.
Camp all set up - check. Fire going - check. Ahhh, my work here is done.
Enjoying a nice evening before the skeeters came out to welcome us to the island.
Our trip so far has been full of unexpected events and surprises. Newfoundland certainly falls into that category and definitely into a class of its own. The natural beauty of the island really took me by surprise, right from the get-go. I mean I knew it was beautiful but I had no idea it was this spectacular. The next day a cute name like Corner Brook didn’t prepare me for the mountains with exposed rock and sharp edges that surrounded the TCH as it snaked east. My eyes drawn up instead of on the road and as I caught the bike wandering over into the adjacent lane I heard "mmm-hmmm" over the comms. "You keep your eyes on the road mister."
I tried to snap a few pics with the iPhone while riding, but they do views very little justice.
As we rode into Gros Morne National Park, I was blown away even more. I found myself thinking of my dad who passed away about a year and a half ago. He would have absolutely loved to see this with us, this stuff was totally up his alley. My thirst for adventure and appreciation of nature is definitely something I got from him. It was a very emotional experience to ride along this stretch of road as I thought of him. No too many places to stop for pictures, we did find one.
Snow could still be there in Aug we were told.
These don't do the views justice, it was really spectacular. Gros Morne is definitely worth a stop if you make the trip to Newfoundland. I just couldn't stop saying "wow".
We landed in Rocky Harbour for the night and after checking around, we found a nice little cabin with a view.
Lori was a bit under the weather so we booked in for a couple of nights. There was a full kitchen and it was nice to cook real food for a change, one thing we both miss very much.
We'll be leaving on the train to Edmonton on July 3rd from Toronto then Lake Louise and Banff and Jasper then up the AlCan to Yukon and Alaska.
Hope management will let me sneak in a blog here...they dumped my last attempt cuz not on a bike but I figure people want to see the sights.
Hmm car has a CVT ( Altima ) and I'll put in lots of bike photos
We picked up Fodors Alaska used for cheap and from a tip from a guy who has ridden up there many times....Milepost which he says ia must have.
Heavy sucker tho.
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l84toff
Well-known member
That thing come in a digital version?
Never mind, it does. Paperback version (of Fodor's Alaska) is $12, digital is $20 on Amazon...Seriously? Maybe they charge more for the weight conscious crowd...less is more I guess.
GF likes a map and the Fodor's we got was the map version. Don't think Milepost is digital tho. With the car weight no so much an issue tho we have to pack reasonable for the train portion.
My camera and computer gear is getting a tad over the top tho. Couple pounds of new lenses, spare camera, two lappies....I almost was not allowed on the plane coming from Aus - back pack weighed more than the check in luggage.
My camera and computer gear is getting a tad over the top tho. Couple pounds of new lenses, spare camera, two lappies....I almost was not allowed on the plane coming from Aus - back pack weighed more than the check in luggage.
Are you leaving from Argentia or riding back to Port Aux Basques? That long ferry ride didn't appeal, so I rode back to Port Aux Basques and checked out Rose Blanche, missed it on the way in. All the while on NFLND I didn't see one moose, which I didn't mind too much, ha! or one whale-I kept missing them
l84toff
Well-known member
After some discussion we decided to ride back to Port Aux Basques. The first ferry out of Argentia doesn't run till this Sat so we'd have to kill another couple of days in St John's. Cost for 2 nights stay plus an additional $200 for the ferry, it just seemed better to make the run back. A 15 hrs crossing also didn't appeal to us and neither did spending another $200 on top of everything for sleeping quarters on the ferry.
Just want to let the record show that Lori talked me into going back all in one day, so we're riding 900km today...
200 down, 700 to go.
Moose count = 2
l84toff
Well-known member
Yup us too.
No pics. The first one required my attention stopping and crossed right in front of us, the second was at the side of the rod but ran into the bush as we rode past. Apparently they're not the photogenic type.
As cool as they are to see, Lori and I both agree that we'd be happy without another encounter today. The many crosses at the side of the TCH remind us of the unfortunate encounters one could have with them. Not all are from moose encounters I'm sure, but the warning remains.
Besides it's not a challenge I care to add to the downpour we've been riding through for the last hour or so.
l84toff
Well-known member
Thanks, we missed it when we arrived and looks like we're going to miss it today as well. It's definitely a type 2 fun kind of a day today (not fun to do but fun to talk about later). We're already planning a return trip sometime in the future so it will have to wait till then.
And in financial news today, couple travelling across Newfoundland single handedly causes spike in Tim Hortons shares with their multiple Tim Hortons stops across the province to warm up and dry off.
l84toff
Well-known member
Fog and rain was the theme of the day so we hung around indoors on our day off. It cleared up at the end of the day and we got treated to a nice sunset.
We initially planned on riding along the Viking Trail, north to St Anthony's as there were supposed to be lots of icebergs in that area. But it was single digits where we were and the temperature around St Anthony's was supposed to drop into the minus range overnight. Between that and the fact we would have to double back along the same road, essentially taking us two days to come back to where we were, we opted to head east instead. There are lots of other icebergs to see along the north shore towards Bonavista from what we had read. The next day did not disappoint.
Woke up to a beautiful day and we hit the road again.
A look at Rocky Harbour as we head out.
Although it's nice and sunny out, it's surprisingly cold near the water where the temperature drops to about half of what it is a few miles inland. Fishing seems so relaxing and fun until you realize what these guys have to put up with weather wise every day.
On our way into Deer Lake, we stopped in at the Newfoundland Insectarium, what a really cool place. Initially an old barn that was almost destroyed, it was saved and refurbished into a building housing some really beautiful butterflies, arachnids and really cool looking bugs.
Lori is quick to make friends.
Some relationships are better experienced from a distance.
Speaking of which, we had our first moose encounter on the TCH. I saw it coming out of the bush in plenty of time to come to a stop along with all the other vehicles coming the opposite direction. It casually sauntered over the highway in front of us and disappeared out of sight before we had time to snap a pic. Cool!
A short day of only 302km had us stopping at the Catamaran Park campground. Nice and clean and again we were the only campers on the property. Not sure we'd stop here again as it was right off the TCH and we could hear the transports engine braking around the curve where the park was located. We also discovered just how hardy the skeeters really are out here, when the overnight temp dropped to about zero. In the morning, the suckers were still there waiting for us to leave the comfort of our tent. Seriously guys?
l84toff
Well-known member
Iceberg Alley
In the morning we headed towards Gander Bay along the 340. We heard all about the icebergs everywhere but had yet to see a single one, we knew we were getting closer and hoped it would be a matter of time.
The scenery flattened out quite a bit as we hugged the coast. Big blue to our left and coastal tuckamore to our right, both seemingly vying for our attention. But as we came around the corner something else stole our gaze. Something big and white, in fact not just one but a bunch of somethings floating in the sea. ICEBERGS!
Our first ever iceberg...Woohoo!
We pulled off the road to get a closer look.
I have to admit that it's pretty mesmerizing at first, but then I realized I was simply looking at some ice floating in the water, not unlike the ice floating in any lake back home in the winter.
Of course I reminded myself that this stuff is possibly 10,000 years old and has floated down here from Greenland.
So this ain't your average ice cube, now is it...
I wasn't sure if it would be crazy or not, but I broke off a piece to have a taste. I just had to know what 10,000 year old ice would taste like. It tasted, well, like ice. Surprisingly not salty considering it had just been floating in the ocean for a few weeks or more.
Drunk on ice, it was time to hit the road again. But first I had to pass Lori's test to make sure I wasn't too (ice) drunk to ride the bike.
You want me to dance like that? I definitely don't have the moves like Jagger...or a whacky-wavy-inflatible-arm-flailing-tube-man. Now that's one test I'm not likely to pass, unlike our daughter who has those WWIAFTM moves down pat.
We stopped to fill up the Tiger and asked about filling up our own bellies somewhere in the area. Lady at the gas station pointed us to a diner a few miles down the road. While enjoying some local grub, a friendly local had started to chat us up, in fact we spent most of our dinner talking with him but he left before us. A few minutes later, while we were putting on our gear out front getting ready to leave, he re-appears out of a nearby house and invites us in, says we can stay the night if we would like. Say whaaaat? We were just stunned!
Meet Sheldon. An wonderfully generous Newfoundlander who not only invited us into his home for the night, but entertained us, giving us the grand tour of his little town and the surrounding area. Even drove us out to a great spot to see more icebergs, and then made us a fantastic breakfast in the morning. Just amazing.
Iceberg on the left looked pretty cool in the shadow.
It's been a huge year for iceberg sightings. Sheldon indicated that locals have never seen this many in this area. Not sure if that's a good thing on a global scale but it was incredible to witness.
It's really hard to put the size of these things into perspective but the houses on the right look tiny in comparison. Other icebergs even further out to sea were much larger, it's hard to comprehend that what's above the water is just 10% of the actual size.
This little town was just spectacular.
These guys were towing a giant size berg-cube back to shore. Apparently my idea wasn't that crazy after all. It's common practice for them to bring back the ice and use it for chillin drinks.
What an amazing day!
In the morning we headed towards Gander Bay along the 340. We heard all about the icebergs everywhere but had yet to see a single one, we knew we were getting closer and hoped it would be a matter of time.
The scenery flattened out quite a bit as we hugged the coast. Big blue to our left and coastal tuckamore to our right, both seemingly vying for our attention. But as we came around the corner something else stole our gaze. Something big and white, in fact not just one but a bunch of somethings floating in the sea. ICEBERGS!
Our first ever iceberg...Woohoo!
We pulled off the road to get a closer look.
I have to admit that it's pretty mesmerizing at first, but then I realized I was simply looking at some ice floating in the water, not unlike the ice floating in any lake back home in the winter.
Of course I reminded myself that this stuff is possibly 10,000 years old and has floated down here from Greenland.
So this ain't your average ice cube, now is it...
I wasn't sure if it would be crazy or not, but I broke off a piece to have a taste. I just had to know what 10,000 year old ice would taste like. It tasted, well, like ice. Surprisingly not salty considering it had just been floating in the ocean for a few weeks or more.
Drunk on ice, it was time to hit the road again. But first I had to pass Lori's test to make sure I wasn't too (ice) drunk to ride the bike.
You want me to dance like that? I definitely don't have the moves like Jagger...or a whacky-wavy-inflatible-arm-flailing-tube-man. Now that's one test I'm not likely to pass, unlike our daughter who has those WWIAFTM moves down pat.
We stopped to fill up the Tiger and asked about filling up our own bellies somewhere in the area. Lady at the gas station pointed us to a diner a few miles down the road. While enjoying some local grub, a friendly local had started to chat us up, in fact we spent most of our dinner talking with him but he left before us. A few minutes later, while we were putting on our gear out front getting ready to leave, he re-appears out of a nearby house and invites us in, says we can stay the night if we would like. Say whaaaat? We were just stunned!
Meet Sheldon. An wonderfully generous Newfoundlander who not only invited us into his home for the night, but entertained us, giving us the grand tour of his little town and the surrounding area. Even drove us out to a great spot to see more icebergs, and then made us a fantastic breakfast in the morning. Just amazing.
Iceberg on the left looked pretty cool in the shadow.
It's been a huge year for iceberg sightings. Sheldon indicated that locals have never seen this many in this area. Not sure if that's a good thing on a global scale but it was incredible to witness.
It's really hard to put the size of these things into perspective but the houses on the right look tiny in comparison. Other icebergs even further out to sea were much larger, it's hard to comprehend that what's above the water is just 10% of the actual size.
This little town was just spectacular.
These guys were towing a giant size berg-cube back to shore. Apparently my idea wasn't that crazy after all. It's common practice for them to bring back the ice and use it for chillin drinks.
What an amazing day!
Re: Iceberg Alley
Nice trip and blog. Very interesting stuff out east and since I've never been that way, it is now a place for me to check out. Thanks for the pics of Gros Morne - seems like a must visit kind of place.
Safe travels!
Nice trip and blog. Very interesting stuff out east and since I've never been that way, it is now a place for me to check out. Thanks for the pics of Gros Morne - seems like a must visit kind of place.
Safe travels!
l84toff
Well-known member
Re: Iceberg Alley
Thanks, Gros Morne is definitely a must see if you go to NFLD, in fact the entire west side is spectacular. I wish we had a few more weeks to spend out there.
Thanks, Gros Morne is definitely a must see if you go to NFLD, in fact the entire west side is spectacular. I wish we had a few more weeks to spend out there.
I'm thinking of revisiting Newfoundland myself now.
Great pictures.
Great pictures.
l84toff
Well-known member
Reluctantly we packed up and left Sheldon’s place in the morning. With spectacular scenery 360 degrees around his home and the ocean just steps outside his door, we could totally see the appeal of living in a place like this though. “If only it were 10 degrees warmer” Lori said.
It was however another beautiful day and warmed up significantly as we rode inland. On the way to Bonavista we stopped at Lockston Path Provincial park to set up our tent, thinking we could enjoy the rest of the afternoon and not have to rush back or be setting up in the dark. Within a few seconds of getting off the bike however, we were assaulted by these little flies.
At first they were just annoying until we discovered they also bite and I immediately had a colourful name for them that I won’t repeat since this is a family show. Good news was that we hadn’t seen any skeeters, “maybe the flies ate them”, Lori wondered. We set up with haste and left.
Bonavista did not disappoint.
As we came up over the hill we saw another large iceberg.
This one was even further out to sea, we guessed it was at least 100 feet tall.
It seemed every time we looked around, we'd see another iceberg.
Cape Bonavista was quite spectacular.
One final look back.
After stopping at Little Dairy King for dinner (yes they have regular food - and a view to boot), we briefly considered staying at a B&B in town as it was getting late and just picking up our camping gear in the morning. Instead I got to watch Lori dive into the tent wearing all her moto gear including the helmet when we got back. Much more entertaining I think.
Another moose sighting today, a young male. He was just standing about 30 feet away from the road but took off into the bush as we rode past.
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