North up the Viking Trail, Newfoundland

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The ferries are like mini cruise ships. Staterooms ( if you pay extra ), entertainment and of course, a pub with live entertainment. We bunked in the dorm. I was going to say slept but the old guy nearby snored something fierce.

The ferry ride over to Port Aux Basques was about 7 hours and the ride back from Argentia about 14. Tie downs are essential. Those supplied are usually dirty and rusty; I brought my own.

Newfoundlanders have a slightly different version of Genesis. They say that on the seventh day God did not rest. He made Newfoundland... and threw rocks at it.

The weather can turn nasty pretty quickly. When we got off the ferry in Port aux Basques, the weather was just ok but stayed that way for about 4 hours.

Then it got really windy and rainy. The roads are quite flat and rutted from the heavy trucks. The ruts really hold a lot of water and make hydroplaning a real possibility. The truck in front of us was throwing up nasty rooster tails.

It got so windy and rainy that we pulled off the road to figure out what Plan "B" was going to be. It turned out to be a detour into Cowhead for lunch and a strategy session. (Don't you just love those Newfie names). The rain cleared up enough to carry on North.

Some of the old transportation still remains like this old snowmobile.

Wood piles are evident everywhere, including along the sides of the highway. Each woodpile owner identifies his pile but the way he/she stacks it.

This is very common of the towns along this part of the coast

This is what remains of the wreck of the S.S. Ethie which ran aground in December 1911. Surprisingly, no lives were lost.

As the wreck is of no cultural or historical value, I did my part in cleaning up the beach by finding a very small piece of hull with the rivet still intact.

This is fairly typical of the northern end of Newfoundland. The wind never stops blowing. At times, it blows so hard off the sea that you feel like you're riding a perpetual left hand twisty. Then you see a right hand curve appear in front of you and you think the inevitable thought... "how the hell am I going to lean this thing left in a right hand turn ?"