Icebergs & Vikings

It carried on raining or drizzling all day, which was a shame. The day before had been nice and reminded me of riding through Glencoe, open moorlands, ponds, lochs, mountains all stretching away. Today was more like the Ayrshire coast, but the rain made it harder work. I've mostly fixed the visor on the helmet, but it's not a flush fit as in most helmets, as it should have the peak over it. This means the water can run down the inside which is a problem in heavy rain.

The plan for the day was to ride to St Anthony to look for icebergs and to overnight there, then head back to the ferry at St Barbe early the next morning. The ferry runs three times a time so I haven't booked it, but I did call in to check where the terminal was and if it had a petrol station nearby. From there it was a soggy ride to St Anthony. You don't even need to go out on a boat to look at the icebergs, the first one behind the bike in the photograph above was just off the coast in the town itself.

I'd got talking to a couple here who recommended that I ride out to Goose Cove as there were more icebergs there, larger than the set near town. I also tried to book into a hotel, but as ever they were fully booked.

To get over that annoyance I went out to Goose Cove and these are the icebergs from there. There was a small boat motoring around them, but again you could see them perfectly from the coast.

There were lots of sightseers around, tourists and locals, most with cameras, some with picnics and umbrellas.

The colours change as the sun comes in and out of the clouds, and you can see the bulk underneath the sea.

As the sign suggest, these icebergs have been travelling for over a year to get here. The ice was formed some 15,000 yeras ago and is some of the purest water on the planet. It's a shame it was raining or the colours would have been much brighter.

I'd wanted to see the Viking village at L'Anse aux Meadows, so I made a new plan of going there and then riding back to St Barbe which would avoid me having to get up early to get back to the ferry.

 The village was discovered by a Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad in 1960 when he came over and asked the locals if there were any unusual mounds nearby. Then began the excavations, which determined that the settlers came from Iceland 1,000 years ago. They reckon there were 4 visits covering a period of 12 years, within a 20 year timeframe. Some of the visits were peaceful, others broke down in violence over the women, someled to treachery and murder. 

Parks Canada has recreated the village, or part of it and has actors in period garb telling stories of life at the time. Despite the rain the village and guided tour were good fun.

On leaving there I'd been looking for a public phone as my mobile didn't have any reception. The plan for once was to book ahead so that I had a room at the motel next to the ferry terminal.

I also knew I needed fuel, but I remembered the town I'd ridden through had two Esso stations, so I thought I'd pass the first and get fuel at the second. Except there wasn't a second, and there wasn't any phones.

Then began another ride, feathering the throttle, wondering if i'd run out of fuel. Finally I spotted a fuel station on a rise in the next town, but since it was Sunday evening, it had closed. I made it onto the next town, which was the one with two Esso stations, and it had a public phone, so I called ahead and got a room. I don't know if I got the last room or not, but I did see people being turned away later.

Despite the patchy wifi you are now fully up to date. I'm about to pack up as I'm on the wait list for the ferry to Labrador which leaves in two and a half hours. I've just had a chat with two bikers, a retired couple on two BMW GS bikes. They have been telling me about the bad sections on the road, with one of the worst being the section I'll attempt today. If it really bad I'll just turn around, but if I get through this there is only one other bad section on the road. They also said that they rode with two guys on Ninja streetbikes who were fine on the road which gives me some confort.