Stop, drop, roll

Apologies for the slow update I will come to the reason later.  Unlike the hoards of black flies the rain failed to put in an appearance until late in the day once we left Port Hope Simpson on 29 June.  It was a long day on gravel in fact 400 km but my confidence improved throughout the day and hopefully my skill level.  I managed to average 65-70 kph for most of the trip but there were some patches that were loose and sketchy and these were where the grader had recently passed over.  Even these bits were not too bad but perhaps my lack of experience did not allow me to appreciate that it was dodgy.  We spent the night in an overly priced hotel with the most unfriendly wider than tall m****t receptionist that I am ever likely to meet.

Yesterday we pitched up at the house of a biker that had stopped to chat with Alex the previous day.  It turns out that he lived on the air base and was an aircraft mechanic.  Jimmie offered his floor for the night and we then headed out with him to explore the local area.  He was on one of his 3 bikes and his garage was full of high end mountain bike frames.  He also has a skidoo and numerous other toys.  Bizarrely on our ride we saw someone slack lining over the lake.  I suppose falling into freezing water is an incentive not to fall in.  The Goose Bay airbase used to home a wide range of foreign air forces so they could conduct low level training.  Jimmie works on the helicopters that provide search and rescue cover these training missions.  The British no longer train at Goose Bay since Eastern Europe now provides the same service a lot cheaper.  In fact Ronnie my friend in Halifax and Kevin who we met on the Labrador Ferry both used to work on the base providing permanent RAF support.  In fact. Robyn, the barmaid who we met in Bentleys Sports Bar the previous night, said that her father was from the RAF working at the base where he met a Canadian stayed, married her and had a daughter.  There is a Vulcan Bomber on display at the base.

Steak and baked potatoes with Ronnie finished off a great day.

Today we continued westward on the Trans Labrador Highway that was paved for about 40% of the section.  We passed the barrier telling us that the road was closed up ahead due to a forest fire.  Do not worry the closure was about 400 km further on and we still have not reached it here in Churchill Falls.  A town that has been established solely to house the workers at the nearby hydro plant.  Hopefully we will get to see the dam tomorrow when we leave this rip off lodge where we are staying for $85 for what is basically a hostel with twin rooms.  Where the road is blocked due the fire we will have to stop and try to get included on one of the police escorted convoys that the Royal Labrador Constabulary will take through and so open our way to Labrador City.  The fire has also fried the fibre optic cable used to carry internet traffic to eastern Labrador and hence no internet over the last couple of days.  Since the Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation Limited own this town it seems that they have a satellite connection for the internet

Oh yes.  Stop, drop, roll is what you do if you come across someone who is on fire.  Hopefully not an every day occurrence.