Port Hope Simpson

 The weather had changed again the next morning, back to a gorgeous sunny day. The ferry booking office opened at 8am so I was out in the queue by about ten to. As I hadn't booked in advance I went onto the waiting list again. It's normally ok and they'll squeeze a bike on, but it can be a nervous wait.

In the end it was fine and they even manged to squeeze on another truck and two more cars after I'd gotten on. One of the crewmembers tied my bike down for me. He'd had a 1983 Magna but sold it recently and had regretted it ever since. He'd even tried to buy it back from the guy that he'd sold it to, but he wouldn't do it.

 The entryway is very narrow, but most of the truck drivers were really good at slipping inside. One guy leaving the ferry went a bit nuts though, shouting at the guy who was guiding him.

As I was one of the last on I missed the mad scramble for the comfy seats that always takes place on a ferry. It can be quite funny to watch ordinarily nice people get very territorial.

The cafe was quite expensive but the chicken soup was nice.

The weather then changed again and began to look quite ominous as we approached the shore. The terminal is actually in Quebec, but there are no roads leading to the rest of the province so you need to turn right and head into Labrador.

Fortunately it was just mist with no rain, so it was a quick run up the 81km of pavement to Red Bay, where I fueled up before the gravel began. It will now be around 140km to Port Hope Simpson, all on gravel road, and apparently this is one of the worst sections, so if I can manage this the rest should be ok.

 As ever I hadn't booked ahead, so I was heading for the hotel in town and hoping they had a room. Ideally I would phone in advance but I have no reception on my phone and payphones seem few and far between.

The gravel road was a challenge, lots of potholes, ruts, and tracks which will tramline you. What you need to do and what I found very hard was to relax into it and don't fight the bike. You're guiding more than actually steering.

 The roads in town were worse, I guess they don't get the same maintenance as the highway, but you still see cars on them. As I was looking for the hotel I found these three bikes parked outside a restaurant so i went in for something to eat. The three guys had come up from Cape Cod, though one was originally from Dublin. They had two GS's and a Tiger, but even they they'd had problems with for seals. We swapped information on the road ahead as we were going in opposite directions, indeed I haven't seen another bike going the same way as me, all are doing the route clockwise.

The statue above appears on the tourist brochures and maps in Newfoundland and Labrador. It's been photoshopped in to a mountain scene, but the locals have taken it to heart and you see these stone figures all over the province.

The restaurant also had a bakery attached, and across the road a B&B, so I asked if they had any rooms available. They had one left so it was an easy choice and an early night for me. I never did find the hotel, even when wandering around later.