The Gold Cod – Found only in small part of Alexis Bay which is now a national reserve. It’s the same species as the Atlantic Cod but apparently feeds on organisms/fish that come from the river which has a brownish tint – as do most rivers. I think it’s tannin, a byproduct of decaying wood and other vegetable matter.
Sunday 9/4
Well, today we definitely are “venturing”, but so far, we’ve “gained” very little.
It’s 400 km from Goose Bay to Port Hope Simpson (photo to the left), 240 miles, with no services, towns, gas, crossroads, nada, and all gravel road – so we were told. Actually the first 40 miles or so was paved. That just might save us.
Since turning to gravel, and a really rough road, we have been averaging only about 15 mph. We are now at the halfway point and stopped for the night. Hopefully the road will improve as I figure we need to average 20 mph with the fuel we have to make.
The TLH has been advertised as the loneliest road in North Anerica. Don’t believe it. We have had constant traffic, one every 5-10 minutes, and they all are going 50-55!, and kicking up dust that lingers forever. With the weight of this trailer, I seldom get above 25 without shaking everything loose. The front metal steps of the RV have already been damaged.
We pulled into a large turnout for the night, overlooking a beautiful marsh and forest. Maybe we will see something alive here other than these damn black flies which go after Susan without mercy. Bastards.
It looks real gamey here, these mountains ( the Mealy Mountains – a pathetic name if you ask me) are home to a lot of caribou. But, today, the only mammal we saw was a squirrel scampering across the road.
Monday AM – it’s Labour Day in Canada
Morning. Still no wildlife. Only a couple trucks all night (we are about 30 feet from the road). At least the weather has been good. Time for breakfast.
I do find one interesting animal, the Gray Jay – very curious and opportunistic. I was standing on this bluff this morning with Adam in a stiff breeze, and one came gliding down in front of me and just hung there for quite awhile – about 5 ft away. They are larger than our Stellar Jay.
Eve. Well, we made Port Hope Simpson around 830 tonight. It was just about dark as we crossed the Alexis River, which empties into the Alexis Bay. What a long, hectic drive. To make matters worse, everyday around 530pm Adam starts whining. So we had about 3 hours of that too.
We were down to less than a quarter tank but not complaining. No more gas worries – but still 100 miles of gravel continues tomorrow. I hate gravel roads.
The fill up here on diesel was around $130, and they let us park in the back of their store which is level and free.
We met a guy from Albany two days ago in Happy Valley. Funny, the first guy we met from the states here in Canada, lives 75 miles away, in our Costco town. He actually is doing the reverse of our trip as he is headed west. He said coming across Belle Straight (where we will cross on the ferry to Newfoundland) they saw icebergs. Here’s hoping. That’s something we’ve never seen.
We did see another squirrel today! That’s two in two days! Animals?, huge disappointment.
06
Arrived in Red Bay early evening after interesting day, last 100 miles of gravel and that was it – no more gravel. It was a miserable drive, but we have to take the bad with the good. The last 20 miles took almost 2 hours!
This morning, leaving Port Hope Simpson, Susan said “Turn left” (we had driven less than 15 miles so far) – so we headed for St Louis, a small fishing community 20 miles off the main road BUT it was the smoothest gravel road ever!, and one of the highlights of this trip.
We met a married couple working a large fishing boat and they must have had 500 cod they were putting on ice. We talked to them for almost an hour, I’ll send pics when I get a chance. They use gill nets on the bottom to catch cod. Before we left they insisted we take one fish, which I filleted out on the way back to the main road – that will be dinner tomorrow night. For me, Atlantic Cod is the best fish EVER.
The funny thing, as we drove in to St Louis, we gave a thumbs up to the road grader as the road was so good. He was the father of the woman on the boat.
We did visit another fishing village – Mary’s Harbour, it too was beautiful.
Now in Red Bay, hooked up to an RV site next to a gas station – right next to the building – 4 ft away. It also overlooks the bay. This has historically been a fishing community, not so much now as the cod fishery is still hurting, but improving.
There were a bunch of First Nation people out front as I took Adam for his walk and we talked about (what else) fishing. Then Adam poops right at their feet. Bad dog!
FYI the fishery here is both cod and spider crab – a smaller version of King Crab. – you see those a lot on buffets at home (but those on the west coast are from Alaska).
Still going east having just racked up 6,000 miles. Couple more weeks and turning around.
We will catch ferry tomorrow afternoon for Newfoundland.
Love to all
M n D
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