It is very nice indeed to have friends along the way. When I arrived in Chris and Sue's home in Eastham MA, on Cape Cod, I really felt I could let go and relax. So much so that I forgot to take photographs of the glorious evening light on the marshlands as we sat there eating high quality cheese and reminiscing. It was a lovely stay. We traded stories of Vikings. They had just returned from a visit to Iceland and I had visited the site of the first Viking settlement in the New World. We had fun comparing notes. Iceland sounds like a must visit place. I had spent the previous night in Bangor ME, and had arrived at the Cape a little shaken by having to spend an hour underground trapped in traffic on ... read more

It used to be that our transitions from one culture to another were buffered by leisurely days at sea. It happened to me today, a step back in time thanks to the obligatory 6 hour ferry crossing to the mainland. One has time to think. Both are Canada, but Nova Scotia is very different to Newfoundland. Yes, the climate is warmer and the infrastructure is more developed in Nova Scotia, but it is more than that. Newfoundland is somehow still coming to grips with itself, the shift out of cod fishing, the withdrawal from the lonely outports along the coast, joining Canada, wrestling with Quebec, developing a tourist industry, the special English, the half hour time difference. Nova Scotia has been settled and Canadian since the early days. Yes, the Acadian French are mixed in with ... read more

I had been meaning to go to St Johns. Just to see it. It is the capital of Newfoundland. But a realization of just how big this island is, and how much riding on the Trans Canada highway I would have to do, just to get to St Johns, made me think of alternatives. Talking with other tourists, I changed the plan. I would now head North up to Twillingate, an old and well known fishing village, and see the sights, and then spend the night at Gander before turning home. The thing about Mother Canada is that they will take care of you from cradle to grave, as long as you don’t go near a cliff. Twillingate light house is set on some of the sharpest, steepest granite cliffs I have ever see, that drop ... read more

Those caribou keep faking me out. They seem so off beat, so nonchalant, so non-uptight, unlike bear or moose say. This time I was going into the visitor center at Port au Choix, half way down the western coast of Newfoundland, when the receptionist said – “forget the exhibits, they’ll be here for ever – go out and see the caribou” . Sure, no problem, where do I go ? So I wandered off on the bike towards the lighthouse at the end of the point, not seeing anything. I go to the end and dismount. Seeing some other tourists down by the beach, I wandered towards them. “Hey”, they said, “go see the caribou.” Ok, where ? Oh yeah, I can see one of them waking up now. Those famous animals had gone to sleep ... read more

I was up early, packed and out of the hotel by 6:30 am, determined to be at the front of the line for the ferry. I had a reservation, but I was nervous. It was freezing cold down there by the pack ice which had infiltrated the harbour all the way to the loading dock. Of course, I wasn't the first -- there were others more concerned than I -- so I parked and went over to the office and stood in line for an hour and a half. Eventually the disgruntled employees of Maritime Labrador and Newfoundland appeared and sold us our tickets. They told us that the boat had just left from Saint Barbe on the other side of the water, in the company of an icebreaker. How exciting. The ice was so bad ... read more