Blogs from Holyrood , Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, North America

Payback for two beautiful days. It's absolutely pouring rain this morning. I'm talking sheets here. Cats and dogs. When it rains in Newfoundland, it rains! You get the picture. We have breakfast at the hotel restaurant, then pack, check out, and head south from St. John's down highway 10. Our goal is the southeastern hump of the Avalon Pennisula, the so-called Irish Loop. We drive through Bay Bulls and stop at a diner in Witless Bay for a pit stop. There is an ecological reserve here consisting of five offshore islands that has one of the largest concentrations of sea birds in the world, including puffins. The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve is accessible only through boat tours. We're not sure if a tour is worth attempting today, given the weather (did I mention that it's raining?), ... read more

Today was a roller coaster, emotionally and physically. As we didn't have sleeper cabins on the ferry, we curled up on the floor under some seats in the movie room. It wasn't bright light, but it wasn't terribly dark either. The light from the halls still shone in our eyes. Therese especially had trouble sleeping, so when they made the one hour until arrival announcement, we stayed where we were for a few extra minutes trying to grab some extra shut eye. As a result, we missed the breakfast buffet by a couple of minutes. There was still some toast in the snack bar, but no peanut butter, and no protein to fuel us up for a long day of riding. We said our goodbyes to our new friends, and got moving. The first thing we ... read more