break fluid

toward the end of it, my "low break fluid" light went on.  uh oh!   i went a little while and then stopped at a little tire shop.  

when breaking fluid is down it means it's "going somewhere" i.e.: leaking.  the mechanic ask "what year?"  when i told him "2001" he just shook his head.   i inquired "typical problem?" and he huffed in agreement, then proceeded to top it off with fluid using a funnel and walk back inside without even saying anything.   i planned to watch it to see how fast it was actually leaking.  if it's leaking fast, i'm gonna have to pay someone to find it and fix it.  blah.

cabot trail, nova scotia

the claimed world famous cabot trail in nova scotia is certainly a very scenic route which i was glad to take!  it had a good amount of decently sized pullouts for enjoying the view while standing instead of driving.  parts of it went through land preserved by a national park.  i'll let the photo's do the describing:

"scene" enough?

long ferry

to get back to nova scotia, i took a 16-hour long overnight ferry ride.  the seats were not very sleep-friendly so i didn't get much rest that night.

part of the time i used a dunkin donuts coffee cup as a pillow...  haha!!  i looking like a true bum!

the internet was available, but very sketchy so i basically waisted a lot of time trying to use it.

i had just seen my first iceberg a few days earlier and my mind kept pondering the fate of the titanic.  we were passing through waters near where it sunk.

we ferried past st pierre island, a territory of france, but it was too foggy out to see it.

last of the atlantic coast

for my last full day in newfoundland, i hugged the coastline.  i was taking in my final atlantic views.  i wouldn't be seeing the atlantic ocean for a long time because the pacific and arctic oceans were in my scopes and hopes for only 9 weeks later.

it was mostly a flat drive for miles and miles with very few other people around.  and sections with no trees, which was different than the rest of the island.

the route passes through a few small towns.  i noticed this miniature town built around a pond in someone's back yard!  check it out!

the night was spent in a very remote section of road where i had a nice view of a bay and the ocean.

by this point in the trip i had driven my van 30,000 miles.   yikes!

turn around at cape spear, newfoundland

a few miles southeast of st john's downtown hub was cape spear.  from what i understood, that was as far east as i could get - the easternmost point in north america!  that meant it was time to turn around and begin my third east-coast-to-west-coast drive within a year!  (the first time was back in august before the real trip even started.  the second time was in late november at the beginning of this trip.)  it was time again. summer had just begun. i decided to pivot in style.

there was an historic lighthouse there.

there was also a cool place where i walked around on rocks and looked at tide pools and waves and stuff.  love that kind of place!  one of my favorite kind of environments.  i stayed a while. : )

time to head west again...

st john's, newfoundland

st john's is found on the eastern edge of newfoundland where the trans canadian highway ends.  i had a look around.  i thought it looked like a decent little city. : )  the roads were very steep sloping toward the water.

in st john's, i finally had available cell phone reception that was covered with my us/canadian at&t plan.  otherwise i went several days without cell use.  the only other time i had gone that long without reception was the time i spent in death valley.

end of trans canadian highway

it was worth having to backtrack through the northern peninsula of newfoundland to get back to the trans canadian highway (tch), where i then continued going east through slight drizzle and fogginess. 

i went through a long birch forest

i spent a night at walmart in gander and it got down to about 40 degrees!  not exactly my desired temperature - especially on the first day of summer!

the next morning it was still a little gray out.  i took a loop to cape bonavista.

the sun finally broke through the fog

i got back to the tch, 

taking it all the way to the end...  it tapered out onto a little road that terminates at this lake.

labrador

in the morning, i had a short hour drive to the ferry to get to labrador.  

it was about an hour and a half crossing through straight of belle isle in the fog.  technically, the ferry went to the eastern tip of quebec.  i explored wherever the paved roads let me go in quebec and labrador.

there were large areas of shrub covered rocks on steep hills.

i drove as far north as red bank in labrador where the paved road ended and the gravel road began.  

a pull off in red bank is where i slept.

i guess that year they decided to let the best 'butt' win the contest.

making my way back to the ferry the next morning, i stopped at this hardware store.  i chatted with the owner of the store as i picked up my own tire repair kit - incase i or someone else were to get another flat like i had just recently experienced.

another iceberg : ) 

flat in st anthony

i sat for a while at st anthony at an ocean viewing point.  there were still a few hours left of daylight, and i wanted to see a few more places.  i pulled out from my parking spot only to discover that my back left tire was completely flat!  that was the first flat i had on the entire trip of almost 29,000 miles.  a short screw had wiggled in far enough to puncture my tire.  so i pulled back into a parking spot.

well, a few st anthony locals notice my flat too, probably long before i did, and they eagerly swarmed over the situation as if it was there just for them to work out - one guy from a motorcycle and three guys from a truck: joe, ross and tony.  among the five of us we easily collected the necessary tools for a quick repair.  i had a pump, one guy had a plug, another had a lighter, another had a knife. and we all had some muscle to put into it... done.  wow.  

i was privileged to experience first hand the friendliness of the native newfoundlanders!

having had a quick repair, there was still time to explore the rest of the little towns.   there were these little gardens in random places along the road.

the moose sightings were out of control - i saw about 15 that day.

and i also got to see my first iceberg!

pretty places.

i spotted a nice backroad pullout where i settled down for sleep.