Anniversary on the Rock

Anniversary on the Rock

Had a nice smooth sailing from North Sydney on Cape Breton Island to Port aux Basques in Newfoundland.  We were off the ferry before 18:00 and found a nice little family style restaurant called Alma’s for supper.  It’s funny as we’ve got to this certain age that we can easily share one meal and be quite happy!  The weather forecast was for wind and rain starting around 21:00, and it looks like that for the next day or so. 

We booked into a Provincial Park (J.T. Cheeseman) that’s only about 15 minutes north of Port aux Basques.  Nice park, friendly people, and private sites.  Had a short wander around before the rain then retired to the van.  A windy, wet night but we were snugged up in the van, very comfortable.  We will likely invest in a small electric heater today, it’s going to stay cold for the next week or so.

The fix on the CV joints worked somewhat.  They are still noisy but I think that I’ll force some more grease into them and see if I can quiet them down some.  That will be when we get some drier weather.  We have CAA if we break down, so we’re taking a  “ce la vie” outlook.

Woke up the next day (our Anniversary), next to the person who continues to share our adventures and has done so for 41 years now.  Looking back, it’s been a hell of a ride and more to come, especially in the next 4 weeks as we tour around this stunning part of Canada.  We were off to Stephenville after breakfast for a one night stop before Gros Morne National Park on Thursday.

Just as we were leaving the campground, one of the staff came by and warned us that there was a wind warning out for the Wreckhouse winds.  The Wreckhouse is an area north of Port aux Basques extending to the Codroy Valley.  The easterly winds accelerate acrosss Table Mountain and then drop down to the coast, gaining speed. The name Wreckhouse came from the narrow gauge trains that ran along the coast and got blown over by these winds.  Forecast was for 100 kph plus winds and people towing campers were advised to not go (we found out later, that a camper had been blown over the day before).  We went (of course) and our aerodynamic brick of a van made it through.  Add to it that the rain had been bucketing down since the previous evening and it was an interesting drive north.

Got to Stephenville, found another Canadian Tire to get a grease gun, grease, etc. to try and sort out the CV joints.  Did a top up for food, and headed for the campground.

Laundry day, so that got done, then Cathy suggested a visit to a Tea Room at the Our Lady of Mercy Church in Aguathuna, about 20 minutes from Stephenville.  They’re restoring one of the heritage buildings and the main floor is a tea room and gift shop.  Cathy found a really nice alpaca wool toque, and we had a great chat to the young lady who served us.  We found a Home Hardware on the way back to the campground and bought a very small electric heater for the van.  It worked just great!

On to Gros Morne National Park!