Day 121: Terra Nova, NFLD -> Arnold's Cove, NFLD

Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Start: Terra Nova, NFLD (Newman Sound Campground)
End: Arnold's Cove, NFLD (Jack's Pond Park)
Distance: 119km

I woke to another cold and wet morning.  Thankfully it wasn't raining, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't get wet if you went outside!  I've been told this is known in Newfoundland as "RDF" or "rain, drizzle, fog."  It seems that moisture can exist in the air in states that are between rain and fog.  As you move through it, it sticks to you and you get wet.  This is what the morning was like.  I was not confident I would be able to dry my tent out before leaving.  I immediately set to packing up and moved all my gear to a nearby cook house that was covered.  I set my tent out under cover and hoped it might dry a bit.  It turns out the bathrooms were heated and so I brought one piece of the tent at a time in there to try to dry it...but even in there it refused to to completely dry.  There was just too much water in the air!

I ate breakfast and prepared for another long, wet day.  The goal would be Arnold's Cove, Newfoundland.  There is a campground there just off the highway and it was just about the right distance.  I would continue through Terra Nova National Park, then along the highway to Clarenville, and then to the isthmus that connects the Avalon Peninsula to the rest of Newfoundland.  Arnold's Cove was just at the start of the isthmus, which I'd been warned would be a lot of RDF!

I hung on to the idea of drying my tent out for too long and time slipped away.  By about 9:30 the tent was dry but the rain fly was a lost cause.  I bagged it separately from the rest of the gear, tossed it all on my bike, and left.

Entering the campground had been 2km of downhill.  This meant I would need to climb for 2km to get out.  I'd noticed that the entrance had been near the peak of a hill in the highway, and so I knew that once I got out that way I would immediately go down hill.  I noticed on the map that there was an emergency exit from the park that seemed to be in the direction of the downhill on the highway...and I hoped that going to the emergency exit might mean avoiding the hill entirely.

And it did.  I was on gravel for about 1km and encountered a gate where the emergency exit met the highway, but I was able to get around it and didn't have to climb 2km of awful hill!  Small victories.

The sky was pure grey again today, and I passed through foggy patches that soaked me several times.  But it was already as warm at the previous day and it was only 10am.  Sure enough, it warmed up considerably until it was almost 17C.  I rode through the remainder of Terra Nova and was treated to a few sights of rocky mountains and outcroppings on the the fjord like inlets of the park.  At one point I passed a turn that would have brought me into Charlottetown, Newfoundland but my late departure and two previous nights of eating by headlamp made me keep going.

The park continued to be hilly.  But there was a lot of payoff to the constant climbing and falling.  Lots of views of rocky mountains.  After about 30km I exited Terra Nova National Park, but not before taking a break at the rest centre to have a snack.  After about 20 minutes I got back on my bike and kept on.  I passed the town of Port Blandford - whose name isn't doing it any favours - and again decided not to stop in, instead favouring more distance.

At some point on the highway I came upon another person on bicycle.  It was clear he was also on an adventure.  He had all the bags and kit, though his bike looked like it was geared more for gravel cycling than roads.  I stopped and chatted with him for a while.  His name was Greg, he was from Vancouver, and he was just on the last few days of cycling all around Newfoundland.  He had spent two months on Newfoundland alone exploring the island.  It's that big.  We talked for about 20 minutes and wished one another all the best.  Because I've been doing this for 4 months now...I forgot to take a picture with him.

Another 10km and I reached the town of Clarenville, Newfoundland.  Just outside of the town I stopped at the visitor's centre there and ate lunch at a picnic table.  The day was warm and the sun was doing its damnedest to break through the clouds.  I took the opportunity to take my rain fly out and dry it on another table.  Sure enough, after about 40 minutes it was almost completely dry!  I didn't know it at the time, but it wouldn't rain for the rest of the day.

There was a cafe in Clarenville that had been recommended by friends but it was unfortunately located 6km off the highway and with so much riding left in the day I didn't want to do an extra 12km there and back.  I only got to see the town from the highway.  I can report the highway is hilly as it passes by Clarenville.

Just South of Clarenville is a turn off for a town whose name I've always loved.  Newfoundland is well known for some of it's oddly named towns, and while many are funny or worthy of parody, many are memorable and cute.  This road led to one such town whose name I adore: Little Heart's Ease.  I don't know why, it just sounds like a nice place to visit and be content (I hope you're taking notes Port Blandford).  But again, I was on a schedule to get to St. John's and didn't have the time or energy to be getting sidetracked.  I snapped a picture and kept going.

It was another windy day.  Headwinds.  All the way.  And almost nowhere provided shelter from these forces as they conspired to keep me from St. John's.  All I could do was try to keep my head down and push through it.  At some point I looked over and saw all the trees bending in one direction.

Another 10km South and I reached the town of Goobies, Newfoundland (fun fact: your phone might try to auto-correct that town name to something else.  The result is hilarious if you - like me - are a 12 year old boy).  It happened to also be the turn off for the ferry to Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, the two islands still owned by France that are just off the Newfoundland coast.  If I turned here, I could be in France tomorrow!  The mind boggles...

I stopped in at the Irving Big Stop here and grabbed my usual Gatorade and a chocolate milk.  There were so few gas stations on the highway and I didn't want to miss an opportunity to get something to drink and stretch my legs.  While drinking the chocolate milk I wondered if my fatigue from the previous long days might not also be from the lack of chocolate milk each and every day.  If I drink two of them it can equal easily 500-700 calories.  I haven't been tracking my caloric intake, but I'm guessing I've been operating pretty close to "just enough" most days, and the lack of easy milk here hasn't helped!

I continued South along the highway and into the wind.  I passed a town in Newfoundland well known for its name, and a favourite of a few people I know.  They are also 12 year old boys.

South again and I reached Jack's Pond Park where I would camp for the night.  It was just past Arnold's Cove and a pleasant little RV park on a lake.  Greg - the bike tourer I'd met earlier in the day - had stayed here almost two months ago and told me they had a little store and made food at the campground.

I'd also checked their website and seen that they had tiny cabins for rent on the lake.  When I arrived I asked and they had one available.  They took only cash, and thankfully I had enough with me.  I spent $70 (only $30 more than for a tenting site) for the single room shack.  I reasoned that this would allow me to wake up early, not fuss with my tent, and hit the road in good time in the morning to make it to St. John's.

I got my cabin, unpacked, showered, and went to the store for some food.  I got a fish burger and some fries.  After this, I topped it all off with an ice cream sundae.  I went back to my cabin and had a phone call with my family.  I had vague notions of catching up on blogging...but as soon as I sat down my eyes were heavy.  I stood outside and watched the last few vestiges of light fade, imagined that this was the last night on the road and that tomorrow would be the final day of cycling.  I wanted to reflect on it more and try to make sense of it, but it was all I could do to keep my eyes open and get to bed.  I tucked in, and fell asleep.