Beginning of the End

Today I visited Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America and therefore, Canada. This is it! Tomorrow I take a ferry away from Newfoundland and I begin my journey home. I am sure it will be filled with as much adventure as the way here.

I am skipping ahead from where I last left off, so I will rewind a bit.

Tuesday I caught the ferry from North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, NL. It departed at 3:00 pm, but I had to be there to check in by 1:00 pm. I was the first in the row I was in and the first to board. Being first to board meant I didn’t have any one to follow and I didn’t know where to go. The boarding crew were so lackadaisical, waving their hands in the air like they just didn’t care. So following their vague hand waves I parked, but no one else followed. I got out of my car and asked the nearest crew member where I was supposed to be and he just casually said, “Not there.” Gee, thanks! No one cared that I was in the wrong spot! After I got the parking situation figured out, I found a place to sit ... and sat. By the time the 2 hours until departure passed, I figured we should already be there. There was a guy behind me with sleep apnea, a man with a monotone voice reading very loudly to his son, a whiney kid, etc. Besides the wonderful selection of people, it was a very rough trip, apparently it can take up to 3 days after a storm for the water to calm and a few days previous there had been some strong winds.

We arrived in Newfoundland at 8:00 pm local time and by the time I pulled off the ferry it was 9:00 pm. I got about 20 minutes away from the ferry, heading towards a Walmart that was a 2 hour drive away, and I turned around. It was incredibly dark, I felt like I was missing fabulous scenery and all I hear about Newfoundland is not to ever drive in the dark as there are so many moose on the road. So I found myself a hotel for the night and started the trek across the island the next morning. It only took 10 hours, not the 13 Google Maps predicted. 

I pulled into St. John's, or what I assumed was St. John's through the thick fog, at 8:00 pm. It was only 9 degrees Celsius, and because it was the end of the line, I was going to treat myself to a hotel. Or not. The first place I went to was completely booked, so I borrowed their phone book and called every other hotel and B & B and there was no vacancy to be had. I even tried the only family in the Mennonite Your Way directory that lived in Newfoundland, no answer. I found the Walmart, and bundled up for a cold night.

The next morning by 8:30 am I was on my way to find coffee when I spotted the Holiday Inn and on a whim I decided to pull in and see if they had anything. They didn't have anything for that night, but there were 2 rooms left for Friday night. I told her I'd take one, I had called every hotel the night before and they were all full and it was a cold night to spend in the car. Next thing I knew, she had the room available for me immediately even though check in wasn't until 3:00 pm and for both nights! She told me to go right away and rest up a bit. I took her advice, had a hot bath and then was ready to start my day fresh!

Bathed and rested up, I decided to take an ocean tour with the company Iceberg Quest. It was cold and though I didn't see any icebergs or whales, I got a real ocean experience bobbing up and down in that dinky little boat, being blown and tossed by the waves. I even "dipped my toes" in to the Atlantic when the waves came crashing on board.

Cold and wet, I went back to the hotel, and had another hot bath. This time my phone joined me in the tub! It thankfully, was eventually as refreshed as I was and is as good as new! 

I tried to go for a nice lobster dinner last night, but apparently though lobster season just started in PEI, it has already ended here in Newfoundland. Hopefully I will be able to find someone serving in on my way back through Nova Scotia or New Brunswick!

Today, finally not foggy and MUCH warmer, it got up to 23 degrees, a huge improvement from the high of 11 yesterday. I wandered around the downtown waterfront area, saw the monument for Mile 0 of Terry Fox's journey from there I went to Cape Spear.
That brings me to where I started off, Cape Spear the farthest east I can get on this continent. I am so proud of myself for having come all this way on my own.
Tomorrow, west.