July 25, 2009 Port Aux Basques, NL to N. Sydney, NS

As we left the campground, we entered a stretch of road called Wreckhouse. Winds here can get up to 110 km/h or more and have blown trains of their track and vehicles off the road. The wind comes at you from the water and also down the mountains. Kind of scary. Didn't think much of it until we left port.

We arrive at the Ferry Terminal with time to spare. You cannot bring potatoes into the mainland from Newfoundland because of some critter that could really affect the potato crop. So you had to drive through a car wash, although not every vehicle was washed. Depended on the mud you had and whether it was in your vehicle. They would vacuum you out and wash your wheel wells. We passed with no mud much to our surprise.

The ferry was late in leaving, but only by 15 minutes. It was a huge boat and one of the newest in the fleet. We were among the last to be loaded, so when we reached the main deck, seating was limited. It was lounge type seating. We got a seat with a table, because Mike was going to work on pictures, and we were near a window. We sat next to a man traveling from Virginia and struck up a nice conversation that lasted a good bit of the way. For the first 45 minutes the trip was fine, but then as we hit the full force of the wind, there was a lot of rolling and waves crashing on the windows. About this time they passed out the barf bags. Mike was not working on pictures.I was wearing my wrist bands and had a good view out the front of the ship at the horizon. I have found this to be helpful. Many people had problems and disappeared back toward mid-ship or outside on the protected side of the ship. The crossing was supposed to be 3 1/2 hours, but ended up over 4 hours because the ship in N. Sydney had not left port so we couldn't dock until it left and we circled the harbor for almost an hour. It was quite calm in the harbor, so conversation returned to normal, with folks eating and drinking once again.

Departing the ship was quicker than getting on, and we just cruised south to the campground we stayed in on our way north. It is still rainy here. We hope the rain holds off for the rest of the trip home.