Day 10 (Aug. 11) - North Sydney to Channel - Port aux Basque, Newfoundland

Today, Michele's niece Amelia turns four years old! We love you, Amelia!

We woke up at 7am and sat down at the owner's beautiful breakfast table at 8am. There were two other couples that joined us for breakfast. Both couples were from Toronto but they didn't know each other. Cheryl's breakfast menu was an egg casserole, pancakes, fresh fruit and yogurt parfait, and scones with a homemade berry jam from Newfoundland. She used all her fancy china and glassware at the table, and even had tiny dishes to hold a sliver of butter. 

We finished breakfast and chatting by 8:45am and had the car packed and ready for check-out by 9am so we could be early in line for the ferry to Newfoundland. Michele went to check out and discovered that Cheryl only accepts cash! Fortunately we had just enough Canadian dollars to cover the night’s stay. That was a surprise to us. Looking back at the hotel booking information on Expedia, the site says “this property accepts cash.” Well, it seems an important word is missing from that statement, don’t you agree? 

Before we got on the ferry, we popped over to the same area where we got dinner last night in order to run a few errands. We stopped at a gas station to get ice for the cooler, then visited Scotiabank’s ATM to refresh our Canadian dollar supply (thank goodness it accepted our ATM card), and finally at a Subway to get lunch that we would eat later on the ship. 

A short two miles later we arrived at the ferry loading area. We lined up with all the other vehicles waiting to go to Newfoundland.  

We arrived at 9:45am and the departure time was scheduled for 12:15 so we rolled down the windows, turned off the car and waited. Michele checked Marine Atlantic's website and noticed that our ship was delayed to 1pm. There was weather the day before that delayed all other ships in and out.

Michele saw a Leisure Travel Van Unity RV in line two lanes across from us, a model that we are considering someday. Oversized vehicles line up in separate lanes from cars as they are loaded into the bottom of the ship to help with weight distribution on the ferry. Michele saw the driver was standing outside of the RV so she went over and asked him how he likes his LTV. He was very enthusiastic. The man and Rob talked about batteries, suspension and weight limits. Michele and his wife talked about what it's like to drive it. She was a school bus driver in the past so she said it was an easy transition for her. She said she and her husband have a little rule when they switch driving. The passenger must "zip it" and not tell the driver how to drive! The couple was from Duluth, MN and had just retired in August 2022, and all three kids are adults out of the house. They sold their house in MN, moved to Florida and bought this RV to travel around the US and Canada visiting the national parks. We spoke for about an hour. They were friendly and readily shared their travel experiences over the past four months that they have owned the RV. 

The lines began moving so we had to say a quick goodbye. We couldn't figure out the rationale for what lines got to go first. It seemed that getting there early didn't get you on the ship early! We drove onto the ferry and parked in the bottom of the ship with a mix of cars, RVs, and 18-wheelers on deck 3. 

We took out the cooler and Michele’s backpack and headed up to deck 8 to find our room. Our room was nice with two single beds, a private bathroom, small table, and a TV. This appeared much nicer than sitting on the lower decks in the lounge chairs with everyone else. It was very quiet although we could occasionally hear crying babies and little kids briefly having temper tantrums in the hallway. Many people brought their dogs of all sizes on board, but we never heard them bark.

The ship departed on time at 12:15pm. We ate our packed lunch and settled in for the six hour crossing on the Cabot Straight. 

The winds were not too strong and the sea was fairly smooth. There were a few rollers when the wind shifted, but for the most part it was a gentle ride. We watched movies on the room's TV and relaxed for the day on the room beds. 

These seagulls were flying the same speed as the ship outside our window.

We could see the first glimpses of Newfoundland about an hour and a half from shore. We got notices an hour before and 30 minutes before arrival. In port, the captain did a 360 so we were situated by the exit ramps in the right direction to drive our cars forward and out.

Upon arrival in Newfoundland, the time zone changed to 30 minutes ahead. Isn't that funny? We had been on Atlantic Time in Nova Scotia which is 1 hour ahead of Eastern. Once we were told we could walk down to our car, we left along with everybody else at the same time. In under 10 minutes we were back at our car, and waited in it about 15 minutes before we could drive off the ship. It was pretty efficient. 

Our hotel for the night was just a 5 minute drive from the port, and along the way we were welcomed into Newfoundland. It is known as the Rock.

 

This was our ship, the Marine Atlantic Blue Puttees. 

We checked in to our hotel and then drove over to grab a burger for takeout. While waiting, Rob struck up a conversation with a local named Beatrice. She is almost 73 and used to be a dietary supervisor at the hospital for her career. Michele talked to the girl at the register who is from Wales. She had a lot of opinions about Irish and British people! Sbe warned us about the Wreckhouse here in Newfoundland, just 15 or so minutes up the road on our route tomorrow. This is a stretch of highway that can get winds up to 100mph! Enough that it topples over anything driving through it. She warned us to check the wind our whole time here. Yikes! Beatrice didn't seem as concerned saying you just drive slower. 

Newfoundlanders have their own dialect of English called Newfinese born from early English, French and Irish settlers. Maybe we'll learn a few phrases during our stay.

Tomorrow we start our Newfoundland adventure and make our way up to Rocky Harbour.