Backwoods Blog .142

NEWFOUNDLAND FERRY

Backwoods Blog;

in the woods and on the road…

Starting our Newfoundland adventure at the Nova Scotia Visitor Center in Amherst

When I suggested to Linda back in April that we should go on our long-awaited Newfoundland trip this summer, Linda gave me one of those looks that indicated she was incredibly excited, but curious why I hadn’t mentioned it sooner for planning purposes. I thought I WAS planning way ahead, but Linda said booking a year in advance is usually recommended for a Newfoundland trip. Sure enough, the ferry to the eastern side of Newfoundland in Argentia was already booked and the ferry on the west side of the island to Port Aux Basques still had space, but all of the sleeping berths were taken. We (quickly) went ahead and booked the 11PM ferry out of North Sydney, Nova Scotia which was a seven hour trip to Port Aux Basques. In lieu of a berth we reserved a deluxe recliner in a secure sleeping lounge which included a USB charging port for portable devices. We were placed on a waiting list for a berth in case one became available.

My idea of a good cruise ship is a bit different than most. I have little interest in floating casinos, cabaret shows and water slides. As long as there is a good coffee shop, food galley and an outside viewing deck I’m fine. And in this case (both coming and going), we were sleeping most of the time anyway. For me, a ferry makes a perfectly adequate cruise ship. On the cruise over, a view of the full moon was visible from our recliners on the 9th floor sleeping lounge. Otherwise, the sleeping arrangements were less than hoped for. It was hard to get comfortable, the lights were only partially dimmed and if it weren’t for the noise cancelling headphones that we brought along we would have slept even less. I looked over at Linda once during the night and her head was completely covered under a black blanket slightly moving. On our return trip we arrived at the ferry terminal extra early and were one of the first vehicles in line (hoping to get to the top of the waiting list for a sleeping berth). When the attendant told us there was a berth available and asked if we would like to upgrade our sleeping arrangements, we did not hesitate! It was money well spent.

As the ferry pulled into Port Aux Basques we looked out the window and caught our first glimpse of a rocky and bare landscape with undersized trees and small brightly colored wooden structures along the shore. We were finally in Newfoundland! Our adventure was about to begin. (To be continued…)

On the road,

Dave

August 23, 2023