Day 114: Port aux Basques, NFLD -> Codroy Pond, NFLD

Date: Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Start: Port aux Basques, NFLD (Slept on the ferry)
End: Codroy Pond, NFLD (Salmon Run RV Resort)
Distance: 96km

I woke up on the ferry at around 6:30am...or...maybe it was 7:00am.  I realized that I was also crossing to a new time zone!  Newfoundland sits a half hour ahead of the Maritime provinces.  This meant we weren't too long from docking, and sure enough I could see the town of Port aux Basques outside!

Not too long after this the announcement was made to return to our vehicles, and I grabbed my bags and went down to the vehicle deck.  I loaded up my bike and chatted with two of the ferry workers who were curious about what I was doing on the ship with a bike!  Not long after that I lined up behind some cars and - just like that - I was in Newfoundland!  My mind boggled at the idea that I had biked all the way over here...

I went to the ferry terminal building to change into my bike clothes.  This took me a few minutes because all of those clothes were still wet from the previous day and I had to take a minute to gather my courage.  Not only were they wet...they were also quite dirty.  I desperately needed to do some laundry!  But I changed, and went back out to load up my bike.  I took my time because I wanted to vehicles to exit the ferry and get out of town before I started on the highway.  I didn't want to deal with all the cars racing off the ferry!  I took a few pictures of the town on the water before leaving...

I was tired.  I could feel the fatigue both physically in my sore legs and in my fatigue from the poor night of sleep I'd had sitting in a chair on the ferry.  I needed breakfast and found a local spot in Port aux Basques.  It looked like a lot of the ferry traffic had gone to the Tim Hortons, and thankfully the one breakfast spot in town was not too busy!  I had a hearty breakfast before setting out.

I then went to the grocery store because I was out of oatmeal and had forgot to buy more in North Sydney.  Stocked up on provisions, I set off.

It was INCREDIBLY windy in Port aux Basques, but thankfully this was a tailwind.  There were a few hills to get out of town and I stopped at the welcome centre to take a picture with the Newfoundland and Labrador sign.

It didn't take long to get out of Port aux Basques and the landscape started to reveal itself.  The winds around the town kept the landscape wide open, as it kept all vegetation small and scrubby.  It reminded me of the area my grandparents lived on the Lower North Shore of Quebec.  A hard place.  A place where everything seemed to struggle to hang on and grow, but still there was life everywhere.

A little further out of town as I biked down the highway there were some small mountains that disappeared into the fog.  Maybe they were bigger than they looked, because there was nothing around them.  I snapped a few pictures and marveled at the beauty of the area.

Not far past this a vehicle stopped on the highway to talk to me.  He told me I was going into an beautiful area and to enjoy it.  I promised him I would.  Despite the overcast day the sun managed to find a crack in the clouds and light up the landscape.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.  The overwhelming feeling of the beauty of the landscape and the knowledge that I was on the last leg of the trip hit me...and I started crying.

I kept biking.  I eventually reached an area north of Port aux Basques know as The Wreckhouse.  It is famous for its incredibly strong winds, so much so that they would push over rail cars passing through the area.  Thankfully the wind was still at my back and I rolled along at speed as I kept enjoying the landscape.

North of The Wreckhouse I reached the entrance to The Codroy Valley.  This area sits between two mountain ranges and follows the coast.  I've heard that the views here in the fall are unparalleled and looked forward to being able to bike through it.  Unfortunately I quickly found a problem.  There was resurfacing work being done on the highway and they had taken the surface layer off without repaving yet.  When the road is like this your bike just rattles the entire time and your hands and feet feel like they're going numb.  It also means you have to go slower or you risk shaking apart!

It was like this for about 10 kilometers and I lost all the distance I'd made with the tailwinds of The Wreckhouse.  Not far into the area I also started getting a headwind.  Signs I passed told me they were up to 50km/h at times.  I put my head down and did my best to enjoy the sights.  At one point I stopped for a chocolate milk, but I think it was more that I was stopping for a break.

I continued on.  The road became more and more hilly.  I was feeling the burn in my legs and the exhaustion from the lack of sleep.  The clouds off to the West were so dark that the mountains under them looked black.  While off to the East there was clear skies and bright sun.  It managed to stay like this the rest of the way.  It also never rained, and was strangely warm and humid!

I spent the rest of the day going up and down hill.  I was pretty sure I was climbing though because I was going soooo slowly.  There was nowhere to stop.  No gas stations, no towns, no rest areas, nothing.  I kept on.  At some point I passed a bush on the side of the road with a little mouse hanging off of it.  I had no idea how it got there, but it didn't move when I got near.  I bent the plant down and it jumped off and scurried off.

I reached my goal at around 3:30pm.  It was the first campground I'd seen all day.  I called and found out they only accepted cash - which I did not have - but I was lucky to find there was a gas station just 1km up the road.  I biked up, used the ATM, and came back.  I showered, setup my tent, ate dinner, did some bike maintenance, and tucked in for bed at around 8pm.  I was exhausted.

It had been a loooooong day.  I haven't felt this exhausted since when I got out of Northern Ontario, and at that time I was in very rough shape.  I hoped that a long sleep would be enough to catch me up.  But it was the first day of Newfoundland and the first day of the end of the ride.  The views had been spectacular, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep going without a break.  I settled in for a loooong sleep.