northern peninsula of newfoundland

on a lovely sunny day i covered almost 500 miles of newfoundland's beauty along the gulf of st lawrence to the top of the northern peninsula.  many times i simply got shivers at the beauty around me.  most of the highway was smooth and had very few vehicles on it.  loved loved loved it.

stephenville, newfoundland

as soon as i got off the ferry and onto the highway, i fell in love with newfoundland!  so beautiful!!

again, photo's just don't do it justice.

including twilight, the days were about 19 hours long.  that made it easy to cover a lot of miles when needed.  makes it easier to watch for moose too!  apparently newfoundland is particularly notorious for moose accidents. i liked this warning sign:

it didn't take much longer for my first moose spotting of my trip!  it's that blob in the middle : )

i got to stephenville in time for the 9:30pm-ish sunset.

then i nestled in at the walmart.  i recognized one of the two camper vehicles from another walmart night.  hmh.

big ferry

i got up early and drove to the ferry.  it was a big ferry that required a good portion of the day for loading and cruising.  it can hold up to 350 cars and 1,200 passengers.

this was on the upper parking deck.

port to port took about 6 hours.

while i was on board, i got to use the free wifi.   i also chatted with some native newfoundlanders, garris and jackie for a little while.  it was a tough balance wanting to hear their stories and wanting to use the internet in that limited time.  meeting people like that would almost always trump the internet, but going days without updating my blog and contacting people etc bumps up the internet in the ranks.  i think i ended up with a fair amount of both.  : )

sydney, ns

the evening before my scheduled ferry ride to newfoundland, i sat near the water's edge in sydney.  

it was nice to sit and enjoy the same scene for more than just a moment - a novelty.  i got some good thinking and life pondering done there, which is always a good thing.   i watched the fishing boats float around and bring in their catches.

i think they might have been catching lobster or crabs, bringing them to the dock, and letting trucks make their fresh deliveries so someone can have a plater with the day's catch of seafood on it.  

a gentle rain storm dropped by and then the setting sun made a final appearance for the day.

halifax, nova scotia

halifax seems like a cool little town.

the hill for sunbathers.  it reminded me of pigeons on a roof slanted toward the baking sun. : )

harbor.

suspension bridge.  when going through the toll, i forgot to put money into the basket and had to back up a few feet to do it.  i forgot that when you get change from the booth person in canada, they give exact change and don't deduct the fare for you.  oops.

lunenburg, ns

if you wanted to make a change to your house in the town of lunenburg, you'd have to keep it looking like it did a very long time ago...

driving nova scotia

since leaving philadelphia i had been averaging about 250 miles per day.  that pace continued.  it's a good thing i enjoyed the driving itself, because i was spending much more time glancing at scenes while driving than stopping to gaze from one spot.  a good portion of my photos were taken at 50mph while going around a curve and simultaneously opening the window, grabbing the camera with one hand and blindly pointing it toward the intended object, all within seconds and often with decent results.

most of the roads around the perimeter of the province were in very poor condition and had speeds of about 30mph through the little towns and 50mph between them.  much of the time i was actually paying attention to navigating the road's cracks rather than to the surrounding scenery.   but i enjoyed that part of it too!

as for what i saw...   lot's of cute towns sprinkled among countless coves near the bay of fundy or on the south shore, each with their token little white church.  

the bay of fundy had that distinct orangey-brown silty muck that's exposed twice a day.  i thought it made for a beautiful and unique backdrop all along the coast.

the south shore had a similar share of towns set among the rolling hills but with rock and stone sea coasts and lakes, rivers, and the ocean that where very dark blue in color.

"the ovens"

peggy's cove

thorburn, nova scotia

i had one point of contact in nova scotia: my friend leah's uncle scott and aunt sherrill.   they invited me into their house and i had a great visit!

for one thing, i got a shower for the first time in 10 days and felt pretty fresh after that.   then, since i love waterfalls, they drove me over to park falls.  their daughter julie came along too.  the falls was one of the places they visited a lot as kids.  here it is from the top.

scott and sherrill gave me a ton of tips and pointers about nova scotia as we spread out maps on the dining room table.  it gave me a better feel for where i wanted to go.

after a night of blogging and sleeping on their couch, the bright morning sun was calling me to keep seeing more.  so i went.   i really enjoyed my visit, and planned to stop in again after seeing newfoundland and labrador.

into nova scotia canada

i took the tourist routes through little towns and back country roads, periodically branching onto other roads.

uh oh, a dirt road detour!  well, if i have to...  i guess i was still traumatized. 

sure, i know how to handle flooding!

fuel costs there were killing my budget... between $3.90 and $4.20/gal everywhere.

at least there was a cool bathroom at the gas station.

loving the back roads.