Woke up to the soft sway of the ship and the soft deep thrum of the diesels. Still dark outside as it was just a bit before 6 am. Mike got up and showered and I stayed in bed until he was done. Then I hopped in. It was a small wet head. Decent though. Done with that, I went up on the top deck to see the sun rise and mostly to see Newfoundland… and to see how they maneuvered the ship. They came in and then the ferry spun on its own axis! I was watching the wake and then saw that it was pushing out 90° from the ship. I quickly looked up and saw that the same thing was happening up by the bow but on the opposite side. Ahhhhhh, bow and stern thrusters! No need for a tug boat then. I was wondering if it was on auto pilot and the crew were hands off unless the system glitches. Either way it was amazing to watch the ship maneuver and be spot on with the docking. I went down and Mike was gathering his stuff and I joined in. When permission came over the intercom from the bridge we went to the bikes. Scott needed a little help figuring out how those big ratchet straps worked. It didn’t help that they were a bit stiff and had a patina of rust on them. Soon our bikes were free. Keith and Grant told us to follow them to breakfast and we did. Very enjoyable time talking with them over breakfast. We parted ways and we headed up Hwy 1 along the west coast of Newfoundland. Right away we were surprised after the fairly flat Nova Scotia geography that here there were what looked to be big ridges in the distance with clouds playing on top of them. I left my GoPro on a lot today. Ridges and stunted pine forests due to cold and wind then away from the coast we dropped down into a forested valley and the trees got bigger. Pines mostly but then from time to time there was a heavy mixture of pine and birch. After almost 200 KM we ran into real granite mountains! I mean I thought I was somewhere out in the western United States. All of us were very surprised by that. We stopped in Rocky Harbor and then went to eat. Mike and I had pizza… I know, why when we were in seafood paradise? Well, because the pizza on the table next to us looked very good. The toppings were “OK” but the crust was scrumptious. I forgave them for the sausage as they were on the far end of nowhere and no Italians to make good sausage!😄
Now Darryl had said earlier in the trip that he was a sucker for Lighthouses. Before walking in I spotted a sign that said there was a Lighthouse only 3 km away. I walked in and told Darryl and he got animated. Then I noticed he was just finishing up a piece of pie… with soft serve ice cream on it. Shocked I called him out on the soft serve as earlier he had said that soft serve wasn’t real ice cream and was an abomination! Scott came to his rescue and said neither of them thought to ask if it was hard ice cream or soft serve. Ok, I could buy that. 100 yds down the road I stopped by a sign in front of a shop and pointed with much exuberance to it because it said… Homemade ice cream sold here! Mike got some but Darryl Jones was to full for ice cream! Gasp…
Back at the motel. Early start tomorrow as it is over 400 miles. We need to get out before the rain comes and supposedly we will be sleeping as it blows through St John’s where we will be tomorrow night.
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