Again, got up earliesh. We were just a few minutes from the ferry so we did not have to get up too early. We packed up and drove to the ferry terminal.
Wow. The ferry to Newfoundland is really big. Like reaaalllllyyyyy big. There were rows and rows of cars and trucks ready to board. The ferry was running late so we did not board on time, but when we did it was impressive. The larger and heavier vehicles drove straight onto the ferry, while the smaller and lighter vehicles drove up a ramp and onto a second level. The ferry itself has seven decks, and has everything from a cafeteria, to cabins, to a kennel. With the aims of saving money we opted out of getting a cabin and instead just planned on chilling on the ferry for the sixish hours that we would be there.
We boarded, left Jerusalem in the car deck and then proceeded to chill.
Ferry rides are relatively uneventful. We found some plug-ins and fiddled around on the computers. This proved to be a very bad idea because even though the ferry was huge, it was still a boat and on boats, and all forms of vehicles... Alexander gets sick. So. I got sick.
It was a very long ride, and when you get sea sick... it was a very very long ride. There were some perks though. It was very interesting, gave me some time to catch up on a few blogs, and... there were free meals. We do not know why, but we think that it could be because the ferry was late. People all seemed surprised at the free meals, but who were we to complain.
After a complimentary supper we were feeling exceptionally sick so we headed to the top deck. There we watched the better part of a fantastic sunset and watched as Newfoundland approached. It was not long until we were told to prepare for disembarkation, and when we docked, disembarked we did.
We followed a long string of cars on the TCH (Trans Canada Highway, but here the signs say “TCH”) and off into the wilderness. We were out of Port aux Basques in moments and then there was nothing. There were no lights. No houses. Nothing. But... it was gorgeous. The sun was setting so we were able to see beautiful silhouettes of hills with the setting sun behind. Already Newfoundland was amazing.
We drove on for a while and gradually the line of cars began to spread out. We were going at a pretty good clip, and the chance of hitting wildlife was limited because there were so many of us. Up ahead the car in front of us swerved. We did not have time to swerve, and we could not see the obstacle due to the car in front of us. It was a deer. The deer was dead and had been hit some time earlier (not too much earlier though, it was still fresh) and it was lying in our lane. At that speed I could not swerve in time, so I did the next best thing and planted on wheel on either side of the poor deceased beast. Jerusalem is riding low. Very low. Deer are small, but not that small. At once we heard the grinding of flesh on steel as we dragged Jerusalem’s underbelly over the carcass, smearing blood and guts all over the bottom of the car. I imagine that the car behind us had a similar experience passing over the deer.
Everything still seemed fine. Car was ok, and nothing seemed broken. We continued on our way. Not much later we were driving through a construction zone. The whole column of cars sped along merrily as we made our way north. Hurricane Igor ripped up Newfoundland a few weeks ago and washed out parts of the road. The road has since been fixed temporarily with gravel. The column of cars sped over the gravel and so did we. Then, just at a bridge there was another patch of gravel. All of us, one after the other, passed over the gravel with a sudden jolt as the gravel was not level with the road. There was a sickening grinding sound as Jerusalem’s belly dove into the compacted gravel and dug in.
Not even in Newfoundland for an hour and we had already hit a deer, and bottomed out the car. Great.
There was a gas station up ahead and heaps of us stopped. Turns out that only like 50% of the pumps were working so we got in line to get to a good one. I was on my belly with the flashlight checking for damage. As for the damage, I found none, well... none to us. Jerusalem looked fine, but there was a streak of blood and stringy tendrils of... meat... hanging from various parts of the undercarriage. Yeah... ok... anyways. I am happy to report that we were not the only ones looking underneath our vehicles to look for damage.
We asked for directions to our campground inside the gas bar (yeah, we had to go in to pay... that is sooo 1990’s) and it turned out that we had over shot it by about five minutes. Full of gas, we turned around and headed back. We were careful crossing over where we bottomed out before and then managed to find our campground, though how I am not sure since there were no lights and the sign had fallen down.
We pulled in and managed to get the owner to come and give us a hand. They were having a dinner party and not expecting any visitors. They were very kind and thickly accented. We payed for a site ($10 for the night) and were told that we could actually set up the tent on the dance floor in the gazebo... so... we did. It was warmer and flatter than we were used to.
Tent up, we went down to sleep...
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