Friday, July 20, 2012

Food, Ferry, Castle and a Pirate, but not in that order.


Day 13 July 19th. Thursday

Not sure why I was up at 6:30 this morning.  Oh I know why.  I needed to pee.

That done, I went back to bed and attempted to sleep in.  The ferry from Argentia departs at 4pm, and I had to be checked in before 2pm.  Sleep in it is.

I naturally woke up, fully slept and checked the time.  7:30.  This was going to be a long day as I could not secure a berth to sleep at night.  oh boy.

With my right wrist in pain and right hand swollen, I packed up and went in search for food.  Not more than a 1/4 mile up the highway there's an Irving gas bar/restaurant.
In I went, hoping for a better breakfast than I had at the other Irving.

The special at the Irving was the 'traditional breakfast' of two eggs, choice of meat, hash browns and toast.  As it's a special AND a tradition, I went with that.

Instead of peanut butter or jam I went with a Newfoundland classic.  Cheez Whiz.

Something tells me that food will be expensive on the ferry, so I might as well load up on the caloric intake now, just to be sure.

It's also good because it'll fatten me up and as we all know, fat floats.

I worry about someone stealing my belongings while on the boat, but what can you do when you travel along and can't pack light.  I'll be bringing along my tank bag and jacket and just have my suit.

I was close to a familiar butt of a joke, so I had to ride there and check it out.

It's quite a nice litte village actually.


I'm not sure why they still call it Dildo.  They should call it Sleepy Bay or perhaps something more lighthearted like FloppyCock.

Onward to the ferry!

On the way to the ferry I stopped at a lookout called the 7 Island lookout.  I couldn't see 7, so maybe a few sunk.

Imagine living here?


Took some pictures of Placentia in the distance

I got to the ferry and was told that once I checked in that there was no leaving.  I'm ok with that.  I was also told that there was no restaurants or anything inside, just bathrooms.  That I was not ok with.  I knew I'd need at least coffee before I got on the boat.

As it was only about 11:30 am, I turned around and headed towards Placentia.  On the way I saw a Canadian National Historic site, so I went to it.  Castle Hill it's called and I had never heard of it. It's a site where an old french/british fort was.  I didn't feel like going in to the exhibit and watching a movie, but the view was free so I went up and took pictures instead.  It's not that I'm cheap, I just had no interest in learning about an old castle up on a hill.

Castle Hill porn pictures

uphill? wtf! oh ya... Castle Hill


Panoramic of Castle Hill












Panographic of Placentia

I left there and headed into Placentia.  I saw a Cafe with a Jolly Roger on it and decided to stop for a coffee and relax until the Ferry.

I walked into Philips's Cafe at noon, so I had a lot of time on my hands to just sip my coffee and do nothing but watch the scenery.  It was nice to sit out on the deck, looking across the road to a small marina with a backdrop of misty mountains.



Philips Cafe has a slogan which is "Surrender to your cravings".  From what others were eating the food looked great.  This was a high end Cafe, not a crap diner.
If you're in the area, I'd suggest you go.  I would have eaten, but as I was still full from breakfast, I skipped it.
Here's a shot from the 7 Islands lookout.
Still don't see it?  ENHANCE!
Still nothing?  ENHANCE!

I sat at the 3rd window by the door.  You can't see me in this picture, because I was miles away taking it.

I left there and wanted to check in for the ferry.  I was already checked in by 1:20 PM.  This was going to be a long wait.

I perused over to the terminal to check it out and scored a Nova Scotia map, cuz... well, you never know. (mostly for the camp sites, etc)

Where there would be a restaurant, there was complimentary Tim's coffee/tea and donuts/muffins. Score!  Took a chocolate bavarian cream with a coffee and sat inside for a bit.  Feet are starting to itch because of the garbage bags, but i'm afraid of what ight happen if I took them off in public.  People would most certainly throw up. heh  bootfeet don't smell pretty.

I went out to wait by the bike for a bit.  There was a group of HD riders in front of me, one of which was blasting shitty early 80s rock out of the onboard stereo.  This is a reason I hate some HD riders.  Do they think that everyone wants to hear that crap music??  I almost expected them to start passing out shitty beer and dancing about like the idiots they were.

At 2pm they announced everyone to their vehicle for boarding but was hard to hear what they were saying over the loudspeakers because of the Idiot and his stereo.  He finally turned it down and had he not I was about to get my ear plugs out.  (Quebec harley riders respect no one)

By 2:30 I really had to pee... damn coffee.


We boarded at around 2:45-3pm and had some time to kill before our 4pm departure.
Terminal from the boat



I walked about for a bit and found myself an Air Chair. This is essentially a room that looks like an airplane cabin 6 chairs wide and 6 chairs deep with a TV in the front.  The chairs recline and i hope they give me some form of comfort for this night passage. I probably won't sleep, but I might doze off.

There's no Wifi here, but there is up in the lounge.  I can at least type this up and then upload it later there.

The boat launched at 4:02pm.  It may have launched at 4pm on the nose, but only noticed movement two minutes later.
My feet! they burn!  I may have to go sit outisde and take these things off and let them breath.

4:30 and already had two coffees... going for the 3rd one now.

Had my 3rd coffee while walking about deck 7 (lounge and bar) and waited until the 5:15 call for food.  I was getting hungry since the donut and coffee in the terminal. There was live entertainment in the lounge and not surprisingly the harley riders were hard at the bar drinking.  big surprise.  I was also able to go outside and take off my boots and the garbage bags off my feet.  Ahhhhh.
No real pictures of the sea as there is extreme fog. boo.  I was hoping to see something until we lost all light.

5:15 came and the call for that the restaurants were open came. Now it was a choice of buffet or a la carte.  I decided to go with buffet just because, hell, it's a buffet.  I was in line for about 10 minutes to pay and then get a table.
This is the only time eating alone I felt a little out of place.  Not because I was alone, dirty in my motorcycle pants and boots and ripped RTFM tshirt.  Not that a garbage pile probably smelled better than me.  It was for the fact that I was placed at a table for four.  I told them they could keep the table and just use a smaller one, but it was the smallest table free.

I went up and got myself a nice soup and diet coke to start things off.  The soup was hearty and good.

Next up, Salad.  I decided I required some form of green fibre to help digest all the meat I've been eating.  I made myself a nice mixed green salad with onions, brocoli and grape tomatoes topped with catalina dressing.

The main course.  I was already starting to get full so I went easy on it.

Pork, Beef, Chicken stirfry, spring rolls, meatballs and mashed potatoes with a couple of slices of bread.

Everything was very good and worth the $25 price tag.  There were more choices, but I only had the one main plate. Alas I was full.

I was sitting right by the lineup for the buffet entry and could feel the glare of the people waiting for a table.  Here I was alone at a table for four and people waiting for a table.  Two tables for 3 freed up and I could hear people mutter under their breath.  Guess what slack asses.  When they called for food at 5:15, don't wait an hour to get to the restaurant.

7:15 now and not sure what to do.  Should I watch Entertainment Tonight in the Air Chairs? go peruse the lounge and see what lizards are out?

I tried to use the Wifi and the signal is nice and strong, but it seems that there are too many devices and I can't get an IP address.  crap.  what's the point of Wifi if you can't get to the internet? Hack other people's machines?

Tossed in turned in my vibro-matic air chair.  The whole boat shakes instead of listing and the way the chairs are desgined, I couldn't sleep more than 2 one hour shots.  Got up and went to the lounge at 3am and success!  Wifi worked.  5am now and we should be docking within the hour or two.

Now off to chase the cabot trail and maybe see some monks.  Maybe not the best and brightest ideas i've had... Ride the Cabot trail with 1 hour of sleep. lol.

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