Grand Falls-Windsor

This morning we awoke to beautiful blue skies and the sun shining in the window. We got up and went for a marvelous 45 minute run along a dirt road, a paved road, across some fields, and generally around the very deserted area at the lighthouse. Then we set off for Grand Falls-Windsor. Parts of the drive were very beautiful. The 400/500 m hills were covered in pine trees, and there were many lakes and coastal inlets along the way. The road system is fantastic. It took us about 5 hours and we arrived late afternoon. Grand Falls-Windsor, is nothing special. It’s about 19,000 population and I think we have seen it all! We also went to a salmon fishery. What an amazing fish. They are the Atlantic Salmon and they travel thousands of miles from the rivers where they are born to the ocean – maybe Greenland – and back again the following year to spawn in the rivers where they were born. The Atlantic Salmon spawn many times but the Pacific Salmon only spawn once. Despite the fact that commercial fishing is restricted, the Atlantic Salmon stocks in Newfoundland, and Atlantic Canada, are depleting and there are grave concerns as to why. A lot of research is currently under way to figure out why.

We are staying in a very presentable B & B – the Carriage House Inn. Spotlessly clean!

Tomorrow, we are off to Fortune and catch the ferry to St. Pierre on Friday. We will be back in St. John’s on Sunday night but will not have computer access until then.

(Got the photos a little mixed up - the last photo on the previous blog is the river where the salmon fishery was - the horse is from Cape Anguille)

North Sydney to Port Aux Basque, Newfoundland

We caught the 11:30 Atlantic Marine ferry over to Port aux Basque in Newfoundland. The journey took about 7 hours. The ferry was enormous; took about 300 cars; had private cabins, lounges, dining areas, computer areas, shop, etc. There was a “live” singer the whole way, except for breaks, singing Newfie music. The food was what I have come to call “ferry fare”. Tons of fat. Hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, poutine, gravy, etc. etc. The only difference from the Scottish ferries is that there were no baked beans and macaroni to add to the plateful of French fries! Ugh!!

The day started out very bright, sunny, and warm. Shortly out of port, it turned to fog, but as we arrived in Newfoundland, the sun came out again. We had a short 40 minute drive to our B & B for the night. The B & B was in a newly renovated lighthouse keeper’s cottage in Cape Anguille. It was fabulous! Right on the ocean, right by the lighthouse! Totally deserted! On the way, we met two of the ugliest horses I have seen, but they were so ugly, they were fabulous! One of them was loose, just wandering around wherever he chose. So, since, he was on the dirt road leading to the B & B we stopped to say “hello”. He stuck his head in the window and was breathing all over us so that the car windows actually fogged up! Anyway, he was very friendly, and we had quite a job getting him “out” of the car so we could continue.

After we had unloaded our stuff, gone for dinner, and come back for the night, we went for a walk along the ocean. It doesn’t get dark until about 10:00 p.m. On the way back, the fog started to roll in, and we had no sooner passed the lighthouse than it started blasting its fog horn. So that was what “lulled” us to sleep that night. Fortunately, the fog did clear before too long and the rest of the night was quite peaceful.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Once we had packed up all our stuff and loaded up the car, we drove over to Joe and Marilyn’s apartment, literally the next building, and joined them for breakfast. Afterwards, they very kindly took us on a trip to Peggy’s Cove. It was quite an emotional scene, being the site of the Swiss Air crash some years ago. We saw the memorial to the passengers on the plane and all of the people who had tried to find the survivors, and help the families. It is a bleak, fairly remote part of Nova Scotia. Lots of smooth rock and stubby plants on the shoreline, now made into a park area. Then we drove into the tiny hamlet of Peggy’s Cove (see the pictures); a very picturesque fishing village with lots of brightly coloured wooden houses and lobster pots. It must have been very dramatic for the villagers. All of the fishermen got their boats out into the sea looking for survivors. There are some very sad stories of the emotional trauma that many of them are still having to live with. The other side of Peggy’s Cove is not so humane – it’s the commercialism that has come with fame. Nonetheless, we had lunch in the small restaurant and sat looking out over the bleak ocean. Then it was back to Halifax, help sort out Joe’s computer and loading some music onto CDs for Marilyn, then we set off for North Sydney.

The drive was easy and quick – about 4 hours – along very excellent highway. Nova Scotia in this part is very typically Canadian with lots of evergreens and long, slowly winding roads through the hills. It was quite pretty driving along the north shore of Lake Bras D’Or, but otherwise, nothing spectacular. We pulled into North Sydney around 8:00 p.m. I had booked a B & B – Heritage Home (the second picture on the blog) which is literally 2 minutes away from the ferry. We were a little skeptical at what we might meet, but it is truly charming. Spotlessly clean, and very comfortable. The main street of North Sydney is a little dischevelled; most stores are empty; obviously there is some attempt to liven up the area, but I think it must be very hard to live here and make a living. We walked about 20 minutes along the ocean to a recommended restaurant for dinner, only to be told when we walked in that it was “closed”! So we ended up in a small Chinese/Canadian restaurant, and truly the food was not bad! Can't get used to everyone talking to you - yes I mean everyone! As you walk along anyone who passes you says"hello" - or some Nova Scotian phrase which means the same. Also, if you come to the corner of the road, the cars stop, and anticipate you going to cross. Caught us off guard every time! So polite compared to Ontarians who will run you over before stopping!

Now, back to our charming room, to bed.

Newport Maine to Halifax Nova Scotia

Ray lay awake half the night, and we were up and on our way to Halifax early the next morning. Not sure that I would recommend “The Lovley Motel” with its “cozy rooms”! I didn’t dare walk on the carpet in my bare feet, so kept my shoes on all the time, even in the bathroom, unless I was standing on a towel. However, as the Receptionist promised, it was clean, the rooms were large, and we had two queen size beds! No bed bugs – I checked!!
The roads in Maine were really good, but absolutely deserted. We drove back into Canada at Calais/St. Stevens in New Brunwick around 11:00 a.m. and stopped at Ganongs Chocolate Factory in St. Stevens. Mmmmm, delicious! Then we headed off to Halifax. Quite an uneventful journey; nothing spectacular in the scenery, and no more unfriendly Americans! We arrived in Halifax about 5:45; quickly changed, and went out to meet Ray’s cousin who lived right next door to the Comfort Inn in which we were staying. This was right on the water in Bedford – a massive amount better than the previous night. Joe and Marilyn are retired and have obviously lived a very full and exciting life and we spent a really fun evening with them. Went out to a small restaurant – had some great food…. and wine….. and went back to their flat for desert. Then after exchanging our life’s stories, we left and walked back to the hotel to bed.

"Don't Shoot, We're Canadian!"

We were up early this morning anxious to set out on our trip to Newfoundland. Our very good friends Pat and Richard and our charming daughter Alanna slept at our house overnight, and we saw them off around 7:00 a.m. Then it was a quick dust, hoover, and clean, and we left around 9:46 a.m. The journey was quite uneventful – ‘till we got to the border. Not much traffic on the roads; met a few rain storms on the way, drove through Montreal and down to Sherbrooke. At that time, I was driving and Ray was navigator. He had the Garmin on, a map quest route laid out on his knee, and the route provided by the CAA. Of course, you know what happened. We got horribly confused! Spent about an hour circling around Sherbrooke. Ended up going right through the centre of town; had an exciting 10 km on a dirt road, in a pouring thunderstorm, trying to find Cookshire – we did, from a back road; then there was a freight train stuck on the tracks across the road; so we waited – probably about 20/25 minutes for it to clear. We didn’t dare try to find another route!!

We followed Route 212 then on to 161. The country was thickly forested with first Mount Orford, then Sugar Loaf as mountainous backdrops. We arrived at the border just past a lovely town called Woburn. Ray got out of the car to get our passports and was immediately yelled at by a portly US custom’s official to “get back in the car immediately”. Of course Ray didn’t hear him the first time, and he yelled again: “get back in the car immediately”. Which Ray did very promptly. Then we noticed the sign saying not to get out of your car until told. Well, as we were recovering from that, a pushy American woman drove right past us, snug up to the car in front, literally queue barging. I haven’t seen such a flagrantly pushy action in a long time. She had quite a nerve. Anyway, then it was our turn. We were literally interrogated by a second custom’s official. This guy shaven headed, very white, about mid 30s, and ….. mean! You could tell by the way he looked at us, that he didn’t believe anything we were telling him. He was threatening, intimidating, and seriously unfriendly. The sad part is, you knew it was all an act! They can turn it on , and turn it off. And he had it all turned on! I couldn’t help but think that he was going to “arrest” us on the spot for some trumped up charge. He asked us every question imaginable about ourselves: where we lived, where we were going, what we did, where we were staying the night – no? you don’t have somewhere to stay???..... Eventually eyeing us over, he said we could go once he saw the passports. So Ray got out of the car once again and got them out of our bag in the trunk and handed them over. Then of course he saw all of our South America stamps! So that was good for another 5 minutes of threatening questioning before he finally said to go. By this point, I hated the US, I hated all Americans, and the last place in the world I wanted to be was there. I felt very unwelcomed. I think the custom’s official was way off base. We came through at a small border town from Canada. Obviously “grey” power. We certainly don’t fit the terrorist “norm”…and anyone could see just by the stuff in our car that we were regular Joe Bloe’s. He repeated what we said that “ you are going to Halifax through the States and staying in Bangor overnight?” as his eyes pierced through us telling us “I don’t believe you”. I felt like saying: “Forget it”. I don’t want to go anywhere near your country. We’ll just turn around and go another route”. You would have thought when I said I was born in Scotland that it was an alien planet, not a best-friend of the US. Now, along with mean intimidating custom’s officials, there were also mean intimidating black flies. Hundreds and hundreds of them. As we were talking with the customs guys, the car filled up with these mean little bugs. When Ray came in from getting the passports the back of his white golf shirt was black – it was covered with them – so then there were more in the car. You know when a hive of bees swarm? That is what the black fly were like. Except of course, they are smaller, and so there were many, many more of them. The air was thick with them. Thanks goodness they were not biting. By the time we drove off, they were all over the back window, the front window, us and everywhere else in the car. We drove with the windows wide open until we finally got rid of them. Although the country side was beautiful, and the windy road fun to drive, that custom’s guy set the tone. I imagined all the people in the little cabins to be wild American hunters with guns killing deer and moose and fishing the fish to empty all the lakes. I was totally creeped out! Felt everyone was an enemy! Anyway, more seriously, the sides of the road were lined with beautiful, deep purple, lupins . Quite spectacular. We saw two very pretty deer by the side of the road, obviously hit and killed and left to die by reckless, uncaring, drivers. Then we saw a beautiful young female moose by the side of the road. She was quite spectacular! We slowed right down, and she stood and looked right at us, before slowly moving off into the forest. We also passed hundreds of American flags. In the small deserted towns, every lamppost had an American flag nailed to it. Some of the houses had flags all the way around the fences. I couldn’t make out whether the flags were to show all the tourists that they didn’t want to allow into the country that they were American; or to remind the citizens that are scared to leave there that they were American! Sorry, to all my American friends, but you can blame it on the unfriendly customs guys!! I truly love the US and Americans.....but I hope when we go down to North Carolina in August that the customs are more friendly!!

We drove for about another 5 hours after this, through the mountains, and the half-dead Maine towns. We saw very little on the roads, and it seems that everyone must go to bed really early, for most of the houses had no lights. Even in the small towns, it seemed that everyone was asleep. So about 9:30 we are starting to get really hungry. Nothing was open. It was really starting to get to us. Then, we drove around the corner, and voila, I have never been so glad to see a WalMart, a MacDonalds, a Burger King, gas stations, lights, ….and a motel! We pulled in, got a room for $67, $74 with tax, went to Mr. Submarine for supper and were back in the room by 11:00 p.m.

I am really looking forward to getting back into Canada tomorrow!

Newfoundland/Labrador/St. Pierre and Miquelon

Stay tuned for posts on our upcoming trip to Newfoundland and our 25 km run on the French island of Miquelon on June 21.

Back Home and Summary

We are back home now and struggling to remember not to put the loo paper in the bin beside the toilet but in the toilet bowl, to use tap water to brush our teeth and not grab a bottle of water, and not to roll up toilet paper and stuff it in our pocket first thing in the morning. E-mails have been flying amongst the members of the Truck group listing first meals or food eaten when we arrived home: these include: Sunday roast, filet mignon, Heinz baked beans, proper fry up, curry, bacon, cheese on toast, lea and perrins, PG tips and I add proper milk, good bread and rolls. Of course we cannot replace the amazing variety and wholesome taste of the fruit and vegetables and the best meat in the world in Argentina.

Since we have come home, friends have asked us various questions including: “What is it like to be back home after 4 months away?”; “Are you happy to be home?”; ”Would you do another overland truck trip?”; “What did you learn through doing the trip?”. I’ll try and answer some of these questions briefly. (I just re-read this post and I don't think its quite "briefly"!)

By the end of 17 weeks away, we were excited to come home to Canada. Three months away did not seem long enough, but four months seemed just perfect. I think it would have been the same had it been longer, because it was not that we wanted the trip to be over, but knowing that the end was coming, we started to think about home, seeing Alanna, re-connecting with friends, and getting back into a routine – ugh, I hate routines – but getting back to doing something more constructive. We were really excited to see Alanna. Four months plus is a long time to be away from your daughter. I just wanted to be with her, chat with her, do things with her, and give her a huge, huge, hug and hold her oh so close!

I am amazed at how easy it has been to slip back into every day life in Canada. Dare I say that it feels as if we haven’t been away? Despite this, there is however, a heightened awareness of our surroundings. For example, everything seems so “ordered”. While driving home and into Uxbridge the other day, I looked out of the car window over the country side. It was richly green, fences and rows of trees lined the fields, the roads were paved with regular hard or soft shoulders on either side, houses were neat and tidy, towns were garbage free, and the buildings were either in the process of active construction or completely finished. There is also an element of “boring”. I met an American on our travels who had done a couple of years with the Peace Corps in South America, went back to the States for a year and a half, and decided to go back to live in South America because he found the States boring. I didn’t have time to ask him to expand on this, and I couldn’t understand what he meant. But, maybe he felt as we have felt. In South America there is always something happening around you, not necessarily big things like being in the middle of a shooting, but small things. For example: the street life in the towns and cities and even the countryside, its alive, people are animated and expressive, there is often a van going around with a loud speaker broadcasting some local event; in the citites people hang out of buses and vans shouting out the route; dogs are fighting, or you can just watch the dogs patrolling their territories; their might be cows, or sheep or llamas or other animals on the road. Finally, the people are never complacent or apathetic. They are actively involved in their country’s politics and they all have strong opinions about current issues – hence there is heated discussions, and lots of demonstrations about any issue. There is always some type of sports game going on, either football, volleyball, or some game where a ball about the size of a squash ball is hit back and forward over a net with the hand volley-ball style. We never did find out the name, but if you know it, let us know.

Then, the big question, “Would we do another overland truck trip?” Looking at the pros and cons of overland truck trips we came up with the following. First, the pros. Travelling by truck as opposed to local transport offers a certain degree of personal safety both from the point of view of safe travel on the roads, and from the point of view of lack of opportunities to be robbed, held up, abducted, etc. Although, having said this, I have heard that particularly in Africa, thieves have targeted some of the overland trucks from time to time. As well, the tour leader and driver take care of all of the organization, border crossings, documentation, hostel/hotel and camp site bookings, etc., therefore you are not dealing with local authorities over passport issues etc. When we arrived in a town, our tour leader would have all the activities pre-arranged, all we had to do was decide which we wanted to do and confirm with the tour company. At all times we could do our own research and chose another tour company, but why would we when Oasis has the experience of knowing the reputable companies from the non-reputable ones? Further, local transport in South America is often subject to delay and cancellation. I don’t think that we could have covered as much ground in 105 days if we were doing our own bookings using local transport. Our third pro is companionship. We heard people who were traveling on their own, talk about being lonely, and saying how happy they were to meet and spend time with the Truck group.

With respect to the cons of overland truck travel we identified the following. First, lack of flexibility. You are pretty well tied to a routine and a route, however, it was always possible to leave the truck if you really wanted to stay somewhere, and catch it up again further on – at your own expense obviously. Second, it is easier to remain isolated from the locals if you do not make an effort to be independent of the people on the truck; and thirdly, you are basically stuck with the same people throughout the trip and there are always people in the group whose habits clash with your own ideals. It takes maturity to maintain your own identity on the trip and not to compromise your own character, beliefs, etc.

So what sort of person could manage a truck trip happily? I would say someone with the following: First, a love of road travel. You have to enjoy driving trips, sitting in a vehicle and finding ways to amuse yourself, if you find this boring, don’t do it. Second, you need to be flexible. You have to contend with a lot of diversity. Not only are the people on your truck group likely to be of different ages, sexes, and nationalities, but you have to contend with the diversities in the countries you are visiting. Also, you need to accept the unexpected without concern. Third, you should like people and be tolerant of their differences; there is good in everyone, but if you have trouble finding it, you will be miserable.

Understanding the above pros and cons, we would definitely take another overland truck trip. Based on the experiences we had with our own and other truck groups (Budget, Kumuka, Bukima, Exodus, Dragoman, etc.) we would be vigilant in checking out the following: (a) information regarding the number and age groups of fellow travelers; (b) reputation and stability of the trucking company; (c) reputation and driving record of the driver and tour leader; (c) design of the truck and participation required by passengers. We were so lucky! Our truck group was diversified and terrific, Tony our driver was amazingly competent and safe, and Diana, our group leader, was confident, well organized, and responsive in emergency situations.

And what did the trip teach us? Firstly, an abundance of knowledge about the 7 countries we visited, about the experiences we had, and about living within a close community. Second, humility. When you compare the human life to the magnitude of our universe, our lives are but a split nano second. Third, not to “sweat the small stuff”. The South American attitude of “its not a problem” is healthy. You notice it in all aspects of life. Ask a North American server to serve you an un-refrigerated beer and they look at you as if you are crazy and make a big deal about finding one. Ask a South American server, and they will smile at you, and find one immediately, even if it means sending someone out of the restaurant to get it elsewhere, and serve it to you as if everyone else had the same request! Fourthly, we don’t need half the possessions we have to live happily and comfortably.

One of the interesting things to me is that life never stands still, and while we were away traveling, all kinds of mainly good, but sadly some bad, things happened in our friends lives. We tried to keep in touch with as many people as possible, probably in some cases communicating more than we would have done had we been in Canada. But that is the beauty of e-mail and I just love the ability to be in constant communication with our friends. Here are some of the things that happened in our friends lives that we are happy to hear about:

Sam’s pups (remember the beautiful Irish Setter in one of my first posts) have grown up and left her with the exception of “Alfie“, who is now a healthy, robust five month old puppy and driving Sam, John and Pauleen nuts with his exuberance. I am waiting for a picture of Alfie and will post it as soon as I can. (Pauleen????)

Tam, our neighbour, is expecting her first baby on September 11. She is threatening to call him/her “Osama”!!

Two of our friends’ daughters have become engaged: Joanna Cooke, and Jenetta Vena.

Lloyd and Sherry had a wonderful holiday in Mexico in March; Roger and Joanne had a dream holiday in May celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary with a trip through Italy, France and Spain.

Pat and Richard have made lifestyle changes and are selling their beautiful home in Etobicoke to purchase a condo in High Park and a condo in Collingwood. Great decision – and we look forward to spending relax time with you on the Bay.

Brian has got a new job, and he and Teresa have sold their awesome home in Wayne Pennsylvania and moved to Annapolis, Maryland. We hope to take them up on their offer to visit!

Sadly, while we were away, Donna lost her Mother, and a business associate of mine, Kevin Munro, passed away.

So life goes on.

Finally, a huge “thank you” to Peter and John for checking through our house, and keeping it safe, to Matt for his virgin snow tracks in the driveway, and to Pat and Richard for taking such loving care of our moggy Chloe. You made our holiday so much happier by being so generous with your time and caring.

And to everyone who emailed us, and sent comments on our blog, thank you for participating in our trip of a lifetime.

So, now all that is left is to get on with life, …. and plan the next trip! I am working on Ray to do a 20 week trip from Tunisia to Bejeing. Any takers to come with us?

Keep in touch!! …. And stayed tuned! There is more trekking in the offing! Also, we are frantically trying to sort out our photos to add some to the last posts on the blog. Maybe check back around the end of July and see whats new!