Cape Breton Highlands National Park, NS

The 1st of many gas stops to come.

A little arial survellience of the farm i’m at for the night.. \240thanks to Anna and the boys!

Managed a quick shot of the sunset tonight. \240Beautiful day all round. \240Looking forward to another tomorrow.

1st night camping and I’m loving my setup. Shared dinner with the two families from Maine at the site beside me. \240There on a fishing trip (that’s Gord!) and the oldest caught a large bass. \240

Then a couple from New Brunswick across the way brought me some beer. \240Happy camper I am.

a little fog along the way.

another beautiful day on the road. \2402nd night camping at a provincial park just across the boarder to Nova Scotia. \240

First vista view of the day. \240The scenery along the cost is magnificent. \240I can’t wait to get to Cape Breton. \240It’s been more than a decade since my last visit.

Arrived on to Cape Breton in the rain. \240It rained most all of the morning. \240I stopped into the info center to find out about the weather along the Cabot Trail. \240The ladies showed me the Cabot Trail cameras and it was sunny up in the highlands. \240Here’s hoping.

The rain stopped about 1:30pm along my way to Glenora to visit Glenora distillery.

a little tasting never hurt anyone.

Stopping for the day and for an ocean swim. \240Off to listen to some live Cape music tonight.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

I had read somewhere that one shouldn’t miss a drive to Meat Cove. \240It’s down a twisty dirt road that climbs and drops as it makes it’s way along the coast.

Looking down into Meat Cove.

The best views of the cove are from a price of private land that belongs to the only campsite in the area. \240A quick hello and I was able to get to the edge.

The beach at Meat Cove

The sun has made an appearance and with it the temperature has shot up. \240I’ve seen lots of motorcycles with riders bare armed and in shorts. \240I hope they don’t come off.

Token light house photo opp.

Heading off the island and to North Sydney to catch the over night ferry. \240Going to stop at the Black Spoon for dinner. \240It was highly recommended along the way.

Bike storage and tie down.

Reserved seating lounge.

It’s now 10:37pm, more than 1hr to go until we depart. \240Time to watch a movie then hopefully get some sleep.

Channel-Port aux Basques Harbor, NL

As we docked I took a picture of the town. \240The sky’s aren’t looking good. It’s going to be a wet day.

Channel-Port aux Basques, NL

As luck would have it, not five minutes along the Trans-Canada Hwy 1 I found the trail system and managed to get onto some dirt.

The trail isn’t in good shape but it’s so much nicer than highway riding. \240At least for awhile.

Not a soul in sight, stunning.

Arrow straight trails to the horizon.

After stopping for a token light house picture it was time to hit the tarmac and get some breakfast.

Cape Ray Lighthouse, NL

I stopped into a small dep for some travel snacks and local info on a good breakfast spot.

This ‘swimming hole’ was in their front yard.

Grand Daddy’s Swiming Hole, Millville, NL

It has rained all morning and into the afternoon. \240My gear is all dry but I’m having a jacket failure at the collar and sleeves. Will have to sort out tonight.

I’m stopping in Corner Brook for the night. \240Found an inn with a pool and laundry facilities to dry things out.

Corner Brook, NL

My route today takes me to Gros Morne and several of the villages scattered within.

The road to Gros Morne has some amazing senery. \2401st stop is to Trout River to see the Tablelands.

Trans Canada Hwy #1 - east

Gros Morne National Park entry.

The park entrance fee is just less than $10, which is a steal. \240Around every corner and bend the most amazing views appear.

Hwy #431 towards Trout River, NL

Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, NL

The Tablelands apparently is the only place on the plant that the earths mantel is exposed. \240I got to ride on middle earth!

Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, NL

Token Lighthouse pic.

I don’t have the words to describe this place. \240It truly is a wonder to behold. \240I can’t wait to see more of it tomorrow.

I’ve stopped at a campsite at Shallow Bay. \240Picked up some food to cook in Cow Head and have a great site for the night.

Shallow Bay Campground, Gros Morne.

Port Saunders, NL

The sky for the most part has been over cast for several days now. \240The wind today is making riding difficult. \240The shoreline for most of the day is exposed to the Gulf of Staint Laurence or the Atlantic.

Several times the gusts have had me riding at a foot dragging angle. \240Crazy.

Abandoned fishing skip, Port Saunders, NL

The wind is relentless and the sky is a solid grey mass. \240I can’t believe it’s not raining yet. \240

I decided to take advantage of the weather while its no raining and aimed for the top of the island. \240Time to see the Vikings.

L’Anse aux Meadows, National Historic Site, NL

The combination of wind and sea spray forces stops every 30-45 minutes to clean visors and glasses. \240It’s extremely annoying and makes progress very slow.

Viking House, L’Anse aux Meadows, NL

The geology of this island keeps changing. Any direction you choose something different is waiting.

The Parks Canada Centre at L’Anse aux Meadows is excellent and worthy of a few hours of your time.

A hand built replica of the original Viking buildings made of peat moss, wood and stone awaits for exploring.

L’Anse aux Meadows, NL

Time to find a place to stay before the rains come.

Saint Barbe, NL

I’ve made it to the ferry terminal, cold and wet. \240No sure why but my ass got wet. \240To top it all off the ferry has been delayed till 3:45pm due to yesterday’s winds canceling one or more trips.

At least I can dry out and use the laundry facilities at the RV Park across the road.

Clothes are dry and I figured out my gear failure. \240Mental note.. do all the zippers up before riding in the rain.

Peters blog.

I had lunch with another GS rider. \240His name is Peter he’s Swiss and is 2-1/2 months into a world tour. Interesting guy.

The weather has cleared up and the sun is staring to make an appeaeance. \240Ferry’s arriving, time to go.

Saint Barbe, NL

The crossing takes 1-1/2hrs to Blanc-Sablon, QC. \240Then it’s a very sort drive into Labrador.

L’Anse-au-Clair, NL (L)

The sailing was smooth, even saw a pair of whales. \240The new hwy runs all the way to Mary’s Harbour, which is the destination for tonight. \240

Tiaga in Labrador half way between Blanc-Sablon and Mary’s Harbour. \240

Arrived in Mary’s Harbour and am staying at the River Lodge. \240Peter and I will ride to Hapoy-Valley Coose Bay together tomorrow.

Peter having a snack along the TLH, NL

The Tiaga in Labrador is beautiful. Along the route today I saw a wolf cross the road. \240I stopped and watched it for a minute before loosing sight.

Next was what I think must have been a large fox. \240It stopped and started at me for a couple of minutes until Peter came along on his bike and scared it off.

Finally for the day was a small black bear. \240It was standing on the road at the top of a hill. \240We road up the hill and it ran into the gully, Peter managed to get a few pictures of it.

Tiaga along the THL, NL

Made it Happy-Valley Goose Bay after 9.5hrs of riding. \240A long day but fanastic! There’s thunder in the distance so it’s a room again for the night. \240Getting disappointed in the weather, I was hoping to camp more. \240Maybe tomorrow?

Dead forest along the THL, NL

About an hour into today’s drive the sun has finally decided to grace us with its presence. \240It’s so nice to be out from under the grey gloom of the last few days.

Today’s riding along the TLH is all paved but the distances between anything up here are large.

Raging river along the TLH, NL

We’ve been playing dodge the rain clouds all day. \240Several times we’ve arrived to wet pavement minutes after rain has fallen, with the sun shining on us.

With the sun out I managed to take some longer photo stops today. \240During one of these I did a short time lapse video of a river.

Fast flowing river, TLH, NL

The mass of hydro towers and lines has been with us for the better part of today. \240They’ve been leading to or from the electrical station at Churchill Falls.

Hydro Electic Installation - Churchill Falls, NL

We’ve arrived in Lab City. \240Going to find a place to stay for the night as there are no serviced camp sites around. \240Also need to get onto a computer to help Peter load some openmaps to his GPS for the rest of Canada.

Tomorrow we’re going to Manic-Cinqu Hydro Station and hopefully catch a tour.

Station Uapishka, QC

We’ve arrived at Uapishka on the shore of Lac Manicouagan. \240Uapishka is a scientific research station that offers cabins and camping. \240Lac Manicouagan is the beginning of the Manicouagan reservoir that serves all the Manic Hydro installations and an impact crater from a meteorite.

It’s been raining lightly for most of the morning but there’s hope. A bit of blue sky in the distance.

Station Uapishka, QC

Peter has been wanting to see a moose and as many as there are they’ve until today been elusive.

Female Moose, Hwy 389, QC

The sun has arrived and just in time for our 1st view of Manic-5

None of what I knew about Manic-5 prepared me for the sheer enormity of this installation. \240The road way on top of the dam is 1.3 km long.

Top of Manic-5, QC

Manic-5, QC

Manic-5 model shows the scope of this project.

The tour of the facility was excellent and I highly recommend it. \240It’s in French so brush up. \240The guides donspeak English and there are supplemental materials in English to follow along.

Our original plan was to wild camp above the damn but with a 2hr drive to serviced site in Baie-Comeau and lost of day light left we headed off.

The drive from Manic-5 to Baie-Comeau is one of the best motorcycling roads I’ve been on in eastern QC. \240It’s fast and flowing with lots of tight turns and elevation changes.

We happened upon the Manic-2 installation as dusk was settling in. \240Not Bradley as large as it’s big brother but still impressive.

Manic-2, QC

Arriving in Baie-Comeau we stopped for gas, food, beer and to find a campsite. \240We ended up at Camping Boréal, which is one of the nicest sites I’ve seen.

Low Tide St-Laurence, Baie-Comeaux

St-Laurence near Forestville, QC

I lost track of time and had to run out during lunch to catch the ferry but I made it! \240It’s a 90 minute crossing. \240There’s only one other motorcycle on board.

It’s a beautiful day, sky is blue with clouds and the wind is blowing a cold breeze off the water.

I’m heading back towards Anna’s rental to surprise Ronan and Tahla. \240I won’t likely get there today so will camp along the way.

Les Escoumins-Trois-Pistoles, View from Ferry.