DAY 8 WED. SEPT. 11 NORTH SYDNEY - PORT AUX BASQUES

Early morning and …. hurry up and wait. We got to the ferry terminal with no bother, waited 3 hours until the marvelously efficient loading of the MV Blue Puttees, then settled in for a rainy but mostly smooth crossing of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ship is large and comfortable, but there's not much to do except sit, read or sleep. It was too windy and wet to go out on deck to see the view. In fact, there's not much view of anything: because of the wind and rain, only the twenty feet or so around the ship was visible. The rest was a grey infinity.

Port aux Basques was gloomy, dark and rainy when we put in around 7 pm. We disembarked and found our hotel, the St. Christopher Inn, a good name for a hostelry that is both a destination in itself and a jumping off point for a long journey ahead. We found our room, then down to the lounge for some wonderful Newfoundland beer, Iceberg, and good conversation with people from British Columbia, Manitoba, other Ontarians and, of course, Newfoundlanders. Our time in the lounge, drinking and trading travel stories, reminded me of literary taverns, such as the Tabard in the "Cantebury Tales", or the Prancing Pony in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. These places are where eager travelers, who have important and possibly long trips ahead of them, relax and get information about the land ahead and where the drink and atmosphere create a heightened sense of anticipation. That was certainly the case for us. While the whole East Coast journey was special, Newfoundland held special attraction simply because it was a bit farther away and a bit more of an effort to get there. And there would be special places to see. It is all in front of us and we enjoyed our short time with our fellow travelers. Afterwards, a lovely fresh fish cake dinner to improve our moods even more. The road beckons tomorrow !

The MV Blue Puttees, named after the famed Royal Newfoundland Regiment of the First World War