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Newfoundland 2005

I met a couple who had a dog in tow. His name was Rudy and he was an odd sort - a Husky, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever mix. Believe me, it was a very strange mix - the body of a German Shepherd, the expressiveness and eyes of a Husky and the face of a Golden Retriever. Sweetest dog, though. They told me about how he didn't like to go into the water at all until one day the woman was in the water and pretended she needed help. He jumped right in and grabbed her and "rescued" her! They are so happy they adopted him! He didn't like getting into the kennel on the third level but didn't cry when his owners had to leave.

I enjoyed the company of Vic and Jim on the deck and got a chance to say hi to Fozzie and Karen, too. Even though she's nineteen, Karen missed her Mommy, so she says. Our 11:58 PM ferry left the port of Argentia at 2:15 AM. I stood on the deck till the lights from the ferry terminal disappeared in the fog.

Vic told me I could have spoken to them all the way down the Avalon, but I was too tired and I couldn't see a thing because of the fog. So I bid Jim and Vic goodnight and went inside. There were a lot of people getting settled, so I went outside again and went soundseeing a bit with the iRiver. I'd do that several times during the trip to give people an idea of what the ferry is like.

About 3:15 AM I finally bedded down for the night, going to sleep with the headphones on, listening to Midnight Rover. It was a great comfort, filling my head and dreams with Newfoundland. John O'Dreams is a good lullaby.

I awoke about 9:30 AM Newfoundland time to discover I was in a time warp. The thick fog and the constant fog whistle from the ship made it feel like a bad horror movie. I surprised myself by ordering a Newfoundland breakfast at the cafeteria - eggs, fried bologna, beans, toast. Things sure have changed from three weeks ago when I wouldn't have touched it!

Breakfast finished, I did a little soundseeing and then it was off to the stern deck, one of my favorite places on the ship. Unfortunately it was also one of three places people were allowed to smoke. But I managed to sit where I wouldn't be bothered. The seats were damp with the fog and you couldn't see the wake left by the ship in the water. I worked on my puzzle book for a bit, listened to the CDs I had brought and watched a group of kids chase each other around the deck.

About 2:00 PM I decided to eat lunch and figured I'd get something in Baddeck about 5 PM if we were lucky. I took my hotdog onto the stern deck and ate and people watched. After lunch, I sat under the canopy and listened to Ger Wolfe's Ragged Ground. It was raining by this time and not a very nice day at all. But I found out that listening to Ger on a ferry in the Atlantic Ocean is a religious experience.

I watched the puddles roll from starboard to port and back again as I listened to Curra Road - "We won't worry 'bout the traffic, we won't worry 'bout the radio, we won't worry 'bout the phone..." Nope, no worries when wrapped up in Ger's blanket of music!

The other song I especially enjoyed here had a nice Carribean beat -
"Over the mountains and under the sea, Music for you, honey, music for me...
Songs of the mermaids and songs of the sea...dreams of the fish below learning to sing..."

And it was about this time I noticed that not all the animals on board were in the kennel! These two horses must have been very frightened to make such a long crossing. They welcomed their owners royally when we came to drive our cars off the ferry in North Sydney. we even had a welcoming committee of two fast boats flying over our wake the whole way up the harbour.

We pulled into North Sydney, Cape Breton 5:00 PM - a 15 hour and 45 minute trip. I think that was the longest it has ever taken me to cross to or from Argentia. Must have been the fog. I got off and went into Sydney to see if I could find internet access, but no luck. So I hightailed it down the TCH on the Gaelic College side. Fog fog fog fog fog and more fog up to the top of Kelly's Mountain. Then it was nice and clear and smooth sailing.

The end!