| Newfoundland 2005 Last Day |
| Monday, July 11th
I awoke about 10 AM on my last day in Newfoundland with the realization that I'd need some clean clothes. So Flat Stanley and I trudged off to the laundromat up at the top of the hill and fixed that. Tim's at the bottom of the hill filled the spot for breakfast - a coffee and a cinnamon roll did the trick. Flat Stanley messed around in the dryer. I sat in the laundromat and finished the book Heather had loaned me - The Pilgrimage. It was an excellent book and I recommend it to anyone who has read and enjoyed Angels and Demons or The DaVinci Code. I was able to finish it right there! It was a GBS day on the radio as I heard Penelope again, Consequence Free and Fast As I Can. When I got back home, I packed up my suitcases and reallized why I feel like I belong here. Here I was with two full suitcases coming into Newfoundland. And going home, with more tee shirts and souvenirs, I had more room than when I came! I figured that was because I had left a large chunk of myself here on the Avalon this time and was going home without it. Countless pieces of myself are here on this island? Jim said Lillian called to tell us to meet her at Bridie's for lunch. It was a great lunch on the deck with Don, Lillian and Jim. Don was a friend of Jim and Lillian's and it was his birthday. We had great fun at lunch and Don had a nice big slice of Guinness cake. It was delicious, he said, as he gobbled it up. Then we went home to do battle with my laptop and his iRiver. I tried to squirt my photos over to his iRiver but it didn't seem to work. We also tried to squirt my audio files over. But that DID work right away. It turns out, the photos did transfer but without the names I had saved them under and in a different format. Weird. We drove to McDonald's on Topsail Road for our "last supper" and enjoyed the time we had to spend together. When we got back to the house I reluctantly packed up the stuff in the car and said my goodbyes. Hugs were exchanged and I had procrastinated enough so I only had an hour and a half left to get there. Which should be all that I'd need anyway. So I bid adieu to Lillian, Jim and St. John's and drove down the TCH to the turn-off for the ferry in Placentia. It was now dark and I was hoping I didn't miss any turns or hit any moose, but the Lord looked out for me as he had on the way from the ferry to St. John's two weeks ago. A truck turned in front of me and I was 99% sure he was going to the ferry. I just slid in behind him and coasted down to Argentia, past the road where Vic and I had our moose encounter last year. We pulled into the ferry terminal with no time to spare. You are supposed to be there an hour before the ferry leaves and I was there an hour earlier to the minute! Everything went smoothly and I was directed to pull into a spot at the very end of Lane 3. I was the last one checked in it seems. I spent some time packing a ferry bag for the next 14 hours and then went to the ferry terminal to see what was going on. Turns out, the ferry was late and not only hadn't we started to load the cars and trucks but it hadn't arrived to UNLOAD yet! Word in the terminal was they had accidentally loaded Port aux Basques-bound trucks on the Argentia-bound ferry and after it had already left port in Sydney, they called it back to offload the trucks. Inside the terminal were two large groups of people, each gathered around a musician. I came in on the tail end of the performances and sat down at a table with a Coke and my puzzle book. I was wearing my Republic of Newfoundland t-shirt and my pink, white and green socks. My manner of dress identified me as a sympathizer at least with the Republican cause, I guess and the man with the guitar came over to talk with me. His name was Tony Whittle and he was definitely a Republican. He had lived in Newfoundland all his life and had even had several forays into politics. We chatted for a bit (I was happy to have read as much as I have about Newfoundland before Confederation since it gave me a leg up on the conversation). He was a bit eccentric but I listened attentively and got presented with one of his CDs and a copy of his two books! Cool, huh? My conversation with Tony made the time waiting for the ferry go by fast. It was after midnight when the Joseph and Clara Smallwood pulled into the dock. It didn't take much time to offload and by 1 AM we were pulling onto the ferry. When I first pulled into the terminal, I tried to reach the Ham Radio repeater I knew was there in nearby Placentia. I could reach it with my handy talkie but couldn't bring up the IRLP network to call Vic or Jim. Vic and I haven't been married for over 30 years for nothing, so he felt those mental vibrations I was sending out and brought up the IRLP node himself from back home in Pennsylvania! It was so good to talk to him and he figured out a way that all three of us - Vic, me and Jim - could speak together all at once. They helped me feel better and pass the time before I drove onto the Smallwood. I was one of the last 10 cars on the ferry and we ended up parked facing the "wrong way." They got us all on in record time, though. At least that's how it seemed to me. I continued our radio conversation when I settled my stuff into my dormitory sleeper and hung out on the deck for a while. 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. Tuesday, August 12th 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 Caribbean 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. |