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.

joining east and west and over to Labrador

Yesterday we went to L'Anse Meadows where vikings landed in North America and encountered Indigenous Americans.  This completed mans settlement around the world.  Vikings clearly did not wear glasses otherwise they would have looked like complete dweebs.
Then took the ferry from St Barbe to Blanc Sablon and rode the 1km across the border from Quebec into Labrador.  Whilst waiting for the ferry we met Kevin and Gale.  Kevin is an ex crab and has now settled with his family in Labrador.  They watered us with lots of beer and offered a place for the night but we were quite looking forward to sleeping on the beach.
Today consisted of gravel roads and being eaten by black fly every time we stopped and we now staying in a B&B at Port Hope Simpson and I for one am hoping that the rain forecast for tomorrow fails to put in an appearance.

Icebergs and sunset

Very cold and wet for the last two days and now camping with a big fire after watching the sunset and icebergs near L'Anse Meadow which is a viking settlement close to Quirpon Island where I had my unforgettable whale encounter in 2002.

and the trip begins!

So here we are in Newfoundland scaring myself to death on narrow ATV trails.  We have been riding for 2 days and now in Gander and heading hopefully for Gros Mourn National Park tomorrow.  I must say that it is a very steep learning curve with probably the most technical bit of the journey right at the beginning.  Still enjoying the ride even after 2 days :-)  Was going to do some thinking on the trail but the poor old noggin is filled with trying to stay upright.

Adios until next time.

THE TRANS CANADA ADVENTURE TRAIL Off yet again

I now remember why I bought that alarm clock it has such an annoying ring that it cannot be ignored.  A few too many beers last night and such an insanely annoying clock was definitely needed to get Alex and me out of our beds.  Seems like only yesterday that I posted on Horizons Unlimited for someone to join me on the Trans Canada Adventure Trail and preferably someone who had plenty off-road riding experience.  All in the hope that it might offset my lack skills when it came to riding a motorbike on anything other than asphalt.  My post however neglected to mention these off-road inadequacies.   Alex answered the call to arms and we managed to meet only once before we assembled in Halifax to start the ride.

A bit about the trail then.  15000 km of gravel roads, logging tracks and ATV trails with the odd section of pavement thrown in to ensure that we did not get bored.  Two hopes!!  We would start in St Johns, Newfoundland and ride across the width of Canada to Grant Bay on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

So as I climbed aboard Crazy on that bright June morning there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation in my stomach.  It had been far too long since my last trip and it was great to be back on the road though of course on those rare occasions when you are totally exhausted, cold and hungry the question ‘why am I doing this?’ is never far from your lips.

Tonight we are staying in Englishtown, Cape Breton heading for Sydney where tomorrow we catch the ferry to Argentia, Newfoundland.  For those of you that try to log onto the spot tracker it will not be up and running until we reach Newfoundland.