Friday the 13th, A Ferry and Fish; just a whale of a good time.

Day 7, Friday the 13th.

A 7am wakeup feels hard to do when going to bed late and the body is tired, but wake up I did. I'd like to blame the pizza for my lack of sleep, but it wasn't... It was just me going to bed late.


I got dressed and did what anyone who ate a massive pizza the night before would do.  I went for breakfast.
I was buffet breakfast too but I only took one plate of food, not because it wasn't good but because i wasn't really that hungry.  I decided to eat now instead of when I would be hungry because as chance would have it, I would get hungry on the ferry. Ferry food is usually more expensive.


After breakfast I went down towards the beach. I thought about riding right down onto the beach and then thought that with my luck, I would get stuck in the sand as it was quite wet after a night of rain.  Normally I would take that risk but when you have a ferry to catch, these are the delays you want to avoid.

Gratuitous bike shots 

The wind on the road to Blanc Sablon was horrendous.  Had this been a gravel road I'm certain I would have crashed.

Paid for the ferry and the clerk told me she wasn't certain I would be able to make it as it was an extremely busy day.  That it was.  The tourbuses I was following were there, as well as many other vehicles.  I was there at least 45 minutes before departure.

I sat and took in the sights. It's a boat.  In a bay.

The boat

The bay

One guy working there asked what number I was (I was number 12) and I asked if there would be space for the bike.  He said he wasn't sure but probably not.  Crap.  Next ferry was at 3pm.  Well, we'll see and if I don't get on this one, at least I can go have a nap somewhere or eat in the kitchen they have in the ticket counter area.

Boarding begins and then there were 4 vehicles in my line that had not moved and a few others in a few other lanes.
The truck beside me asked the guy if he was getting on this one.  His number was 14 and the worker said "not a chance".  This does not bode well.

the two trucks in front were getting on and i was left behind with a rental car (#13) behind me.  I had chatted with #13 minutes before and had agreed that the Big Land and the Yukon were very similar.  Barren vast lands, although peaceful.  More RV's in the Yukon though.

Then I overhear the worker on his two way "ya, he's on a bike".  I didn't hear the other side of the conversation but he waved me through!  Success! I was the last vehicle on the boat.

I was starting to die of heat because I had put in both my top and bottom liners in thinking it would rain.  I dumped off my stuff (tank bag, helmet and jacket) on a seat and took off the pant liners.  relief was gained.

once smoking was allowed midship (wherever that is) i would out to the deck and had a smoke.  I bumped into the older gentleman I had talked to before and started talked some more.

The older chap I chatted with is in the blue coat

He loves cruises and has been to many places around the world.  The cruise that started it all was an Alaskan cruise. We chatted for a bit and suddenly, THAR SHE BLOWS!

A whale blew and saw it's tail flip up.  A smaller whale but a whale nonetheless.  Score!
This was my attempt at taking a picture.  We saw it surface a few more times.  neato.

other random from the boat pics

I went back inside for a Coffee (was getting hungry already?) and sat down to write a bit.

after about 10 minutes all i kept hearing was a stupid old school Nokia txt ringtone. Why do people still have those old flip phones... Waitaminute!  Cellphones work on the ferry?

I took my phone out and sure enough I could again surf the internet.  After wasting some time like that it was time to disembark the boat.

I rode north towards the destination I had loosely planned of the Pistolet Provincial Park.  I stopped for gas in Flower Cove at about 1pm.  I saw a little restaurant nearby with a lot of vehicles out front.
I went in and decided to do something different for me but more akin to the east coast.
I ordered the Fisherman's platter.  The platter has cod, cod tongues, scallops, cod fish cakes and salmon.  For someone who doesn't eat fish I was either going to be pleasantly surprised or absolutely disgusted.

The mug says "it's a great place to eat".  We shall see Mug... we shall see.

Like many places in Labrador and Newfoundland the restaurant has a slush puppie machine.  You can't find one to save your life in Ottawa but here they are everywhere.

ENHANCE!

ENHANCE FURTHER!

Lunch arrived.

Here's the plate after I was done eating.
The fish was tender, moist and yet dry.  Not slimy like i've had before. Everything was delicious!

You win this time Mug, you win this time...

On the ride to Pistolet Prov. Park I saw a sign for Tim Hortons. Woot.  I'll go dump my stuff off and set up and come back into town for supplies.

I got a spot for $20 and $5 for a bundle of wood.  I was lucky as there were many spots to choose from and that they just lifted the fireban the day before! Score!

Went into St Anthony for a coffee and supplies.  I figured I'd cook over an open flame today, so I walked into the Buck or Two to see if there would be anything to help me along like plates, cooking supplies, etc.

I have been looking for a cooking rack everywhere i go and could never find one.  I scored a rack and some tongs for $1.50 each. Major score.

I then bought some food at the grocery store.  I figured a nice steak, potato and corn would do the trick.  I got some cheap paper towel because it packs away well enough and was cheap.
total cost of supplies, $17.

I started the fire easily enough because of Survivorman.  Thanks Les for showing that the moss found on trees burns very well.

I'd like to also thank the scouts for showing me how to build a fire with one match.  I used a lighter but building a square wood base works like a charm.

I didn't have a plate or anything and wanted to eat in class and style, so I made some out of foil.  reminder to all, always bring foil.

WARNING, FOOD PORN.

The Steak seasoned with Mrs Dash garlic spice.

The potato, with a little hot sauce

The corn. plain.

After dinner I rinsed out the can to heat up some water for a nice hot chocolate.  I know i should wait because it's only about 6pm.  If you plan on using a Hobo cup, make sure to put foil over top so that you don't get ashes in your water.

The steak was cooked properly, It was Medium yet was tender as could be. corn was fine, but the potato... something was wrong there.  It was dry and parts still raw.  I should have gone with my instincts and just bought a single potato and wrapped it myself.

I didn't think the plate would hold up to a few cuts of my sharp XPG commando knife.
Held up it did.

This dinner brought to you by Mrs. Dash, MacGuyver, The Boy Scouts of Canada, Survivorman and The word Hobo.

I went looking for little sticks to burn due to pyromania and came across deer poop not 5 steps away from my site. No pic this time, but same size, shape and quantity as the pile i found in Muskrat Falls.

I went down by the lake to check things out.  Nice little lake for swimming.  I highly recommend this spot for campers (tenting). It's a bit tight for RVs... and RV's can go in some parking lot for all I care.  It's not nature if you have a microwave oven, a TV and flushing toilets in your vehicle.

Anyhow, the lake.

That wasn't a lake, but the gravel road going back to the ranger station, where the lake is.

I made myself a hobo coffee and looked at the maps of places of interest for a little while at the same time sitting by the fire staring into the flames for a few hours to satiate my inner pyromaniac.

Today was a good day.