St Johns, NL:

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Sunday afternoon around 4:30 pm, we arrived in Natashquan. Several vehicles were promptly unloaded, of which mine was the first to hit the ground. The dockmen had me drive my own car off of the container - while I paid very close attention to my guide. The signals he used were not unlike those I had become familiar with at the Offroad Academy. I signed a clear bill of lading for the car after inspecting it, and then headed out to the end of the road 5 miles away…

Sunday morning, we departed from Harrington Harbour around 4 am. The rumble and reverberation of the engines starting up awakened me, but I soon drifted back to dreaming. Breakfast was enjoyed at the usual time of 7:30, and afterwards, I returned for a bit more shut eye. A bit too much - as I awoke late for our stop in la Romaine - and missed a chance to do a geocache a km from the terminal. C’est la vie.

The next stop was in Kegaska. I took full advantage of our brief time there to get a few pictures. Quebec likes Suzuki - and I had no trouble finding a couple oldies right by the terminal.

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Harrington Harbour
8:10 pm local time

Today was definitely the best day of the trip thus far – which was hard to top after Friday in Southern Labrador. Up at 7 am to get breakfast, which was French toast, hashbrowns, fruit and brown bread with spreads, grapefruit juice and coffee.

First stop in the morning for me was La Tabatière, since I was enjoying a well deserved sleep when we passed through Saint-Augustin. We had roughly one hour to do as we wished – so I headed out and snapped a few pics. Seems the road has recently been put through to Saint-Augustin.

The day was bright and sunny, with a mild temperature – but pleasant. I actually had a faint hope of finding an open witreless signal – but soon abandoned that idea.

We departed on schedule, and then lunch was served at 1130. (linguini with ham, and noodles with chicken soup) I had a shower afterwards and readied myself for a highly anticipated tour of an old Church on an island near Tête-à-la-Baleine, where we would be stopping at 1 pm. A tour to la Providence was available for $25 – and we would be shuttled over by motorboat.

The ride over was awesome – going 52 kmh per my GPS. The topography was most enjoyable – rock formations covered with moss jutted out of the water in jagged yet lyrical fashion.

We arrived at Providence in 10 minutes – it was 8 km away from where the Nordik Express rested. I was stunned by the immense simplicity of the homes on the rocky island. The Church was the destination – and the 1895 structure looked well cared for. An active congregation assembles here. Inside we were treated to ‘bakeapple’ tarts. Now here’s an interesting story. ‘Bakeapple’ is really just the english pronunciation of what some french-speaking people called these berries. They were called ‘baie qu’appelle’, which means ‘what is the name (of this berry)?’. And actually, these berries are commonly known in Scandinavia as ‘cloudberries’. You can get cloudberry preserves at Ikea the last time I checked.

I signed the visitor book, and made reference to Romans 1:20: ‘For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made…’

Then I departed for a little more exploration and picture taking. I found a few quiet and reflective moments to enjoy.

It was now 2:15, and time to head back to the ship in Tête-à-la-Baleine, so I made a point of taking back the other motor boat – which was slightly larger. A brisk pace of 61 kmh was most enjoyed. Surely the best $25 I’d spent in a long time.

Back aboard the ship, I took more pictures, and talked with some new friends about how great this glorious day was. I ran out of space on the camera disc – and had to rush back to my cabin to retrive the spare. Had been using GPS to let others kow we’d be passing right by the Church again on the south side. (We got within 2 kms.)

We were served dinner just as we arrived at Harrington Harbour, which is where the film La Grande Seduction was made. Dinner was most enjoyable – smoked salmon, then tender pork roast with fried potatoes and carrots, and for dessert – ‘bakeapple’ pie.

We finished in good time and made our way into Harrington Harbour – the boardwalks are nothing short of incredible - truly a ‘twilight zone’ experience.

ATV’s are used to travel - as there are no vehicles here at all.

The highest point just north of where the boardwalks end was immensely captivating. (You can view a 20 second panoramic video clip here.)

I headed back ‘downtown’, and met up with Mike and Marnie. We visited a local shop and Marnie left Mike and I to tour the shop and scavenge for souvenirs. I was talking to the storekeeper about my car – and he said ‘oh, like this one’ – and pointed to a lottery ticket.

At this point, Marnie returned with news. We were going to spend the night here. A storm was brewing, and we would now wait 10-14 hours hours before carrying on.

I headed back to the ship to grab my laptop and a few more dollars. I am now at the local pub, working on the laptop, as other laugh and play pool. At one point there was a mostly French speaking crowd, but now it seems a decent mix. Some of the crew from the ship are now here as well, dressed casually, and making the most of the moment.

On Friday September 16th, I stopped at the visitor centre in L’Anse-au-Clair, Labrador to find some information that I needed. The lady there urged me to stop at a school just own the road in Forteau Bay.

I arrived at Mountain Feild Academy, and no sooner had I parked and I was surrounded - completely.

The tallest guy around was a fellow named Andy Normore. He really wanted to sit in the car…

One of the teachers, Miss Della Mitchelmore, wanted to have her class ask some questions about climate change and the car. So, when lunch ended and everyone else went inside (which took some prodding by the principal BTW), Miss Mitchelmore’s grade 11 & 12 Environmental Science class came out.

We spent 10 minutes going over how the burning of enormous amounts of fossil fuels is leading to abrupt climate change. I explained how every litre of gasoline we burn creates 2.4 kgs of CO2. (Diesel creates 2.7 kgs.) I left some One-Tonne Challenge shirts and brochures, and carried on…

I’m leaving the B&B now, and will head to the St Barbe ferry. I should be in Blanc-Sablon by noon, and will spend the rest of daylight on seeing everything I can. My ferry tonight out of Blanc-Sablon is reserved. I will sail with Relais Nordik to Natashquan, and should arrive mid Sunday morning. Sunday night I’ll be in Baie-Comeau, then Quebec City on Monday.

This should be another highlight of the trip.

I’ll write again soon.

My hosts Wednesday night were Leonard Vassallo and his wife Monique. He is from Nova Scotia originally, and she is from New Brunswick. They are avid organic gardeners, and both work for local colleges in Corner Brook. Leonard is an instructor for the Environmental Technology Program at the College of the North Atlantic. The dinner they made was exceptional. Blue potatoes freshly dug up, vibrant green beans, homemade bread, and baked cod.

After dinner, I went to the college to use the internet briefly. Then we returned to watch Canadian Idol. Rex didn’t win the record deal, but the people sure loved him. I’m not sure how many folks were gathered in Corner Brook to watch the telecast live, but it was a big event to say the least.

Thursday morning was a busy one. First stop was Corner Brook City Hall to meet Mayor Priscilla Boutcher. We exchanged gifts, and I had a quick tour of the offices and council chamber.

Next stop was the lecture hall at CNA. Leonard had me speaking to nearly 100 students about my trip, the smart car, climate change, fuel efficiency and the One-Tonne Challenge. There was a question period afterwards, and then a showing of the car outside. A local reporter snapped a few pix and recorded a conversation.

At 10:30, we departed for Sir Wilfred Grenfell College . This was a visit to one of the classes already in progress. What was most, uhm, bizarre, was that when I arrived at the class, the instructor, Dr Michael Newton had a laptop running with geocaching.com on the screen! I was immediately perplexed - and after asking - learned that NO, he didn’t get the link from my site. He’s actually a geocacher, and had merely brought it up as a topic for the class. Hmm. Okay. So, do you want a lecture on geocaching, smart cars, or climate change? (Or all three.) We laughed, and then I simply opened up my website and rambled on for over half an hour about whatever was on the pages… very strange… everything happens for a reason. As lunch break was now at hand, we showed off the car again, and then I had to be on the road.

After loading up my car back at Leonard’s house, I departed for downtown Corner Brook, to do one geocache. Last chance in for a find in Newfoundland since I had not found one in St Johns a couple days prior. Here’s Leonard and I at his house as I was getting ready to depart:

An uncle of mine used to have this saying: ‘That’s life in the Finland woods…” I think he meant something along the lines of ‘roll with the punches’, or maybe something more esoterical like ‘that’s just the way it is’. Whatever the case.

I burned rubber from Corner Brook to St Barbe - the ferry was to depart, with me on it, at 6 pm. I made it there by 4:30, averaging at least 100 kmh in most stretches. But, there was one problem. Dangerous goods in a truck going on the ferry. And they were only taking 12 people as a result. The ferry would travel practically empty, and without me. I had reservations at a B&B in Forteau Bay that were now useless. And it was too long of a drive to go anywhere ’substantial’.

I mulled over my options, made a few distressed calls, including one to my internet host to get the site back online. The bandwidth limit had been exceeded! Hmm.

It was decided that I would NOT stay in a motel, and eventually, after eating two bags of ’smart food’ white popcorn and drinking a chocolate milk, I started stumbling around, looking for a wireless internet signal. I actually came across a couple, but couldn’t quite find their origin, and was unable to lock in. My last stop would be Flowers Cove - and there it was - a B&B sign, and a phone #. $40? Internet? Wow. Amazing. And it’s only 9 pm! I have hours of work I can still do.

Which I will now do.

:-)

For those visiting and wondering what’s happening with climate change initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador, I would strongly suggest you visit the Climate Change Education Centre website that the Conservation Corps have put together.

Just a quick note to say I am in Corner Brook. Internet access is again proving to be a challenge - so here is the rundown on the next 4-5 days, just in case I can’t access internet again until I reach Quebec City Monday night.

Thursday:
meet Corner Brook City Officials
speak at a local college
depart for the St Barbe/Blanc-Sablon ferry
travel through Gros Morne National Park
stay in Forteau Bay, Labrador (revision: now staying in Flowers Cove as I was unable to board the ferry in St Barbe)

Friday:
explore southern Labrador
depart for Natashquan QC in the evening (a 36 hour sailing)

Saturday:
sailing and visiting villages on the north shore of the St Lawrence

Sunday:
arrive in Natashquan and travel to Baie-Comeau

Monday:
travel to Quebec City