In chatting with some terminal employees, I discover that they were subjected to a serious thunderstorm at approx 4:30am. Wind, lightning, pelting rain, the works. Hmm. . . this all occurred while I was quietly searching for gas along deserted country roads. So being forced to slow down allowed me to miss this bad weather. Not a bad trade-off. The system now seems to have tracked offshore towards Newfoundland.

As the day wears on I meet an interesting motorcycle traveler. His name is Larry. He's 72 years old, but looks much younger. Larry lives in Vancouver B.C. and is on a cross-Canada trip. It turns out that he's always wanted to ride across Canada. So he went out, bought his bike (a new Kawasaki Vulcan) and began his odyssey. His bike had less than 1,500 km when he left Vancouver. Today is his tenth day on the road!

I look at Larry's outfit and am amazed. Here I am decked out in modern high tech gear, ready to battle anything that I might encounter. And here is Larry. He's wearing a light summer leather jacket, jeans, no tech gear of any kind. He's got a nylon windbreaker to pull over his leather jacket in case of light rain. His luggage consists of a couple of saddlebags, a tank bag, sleeping bag roll, a tent, and a tarp (he's mostly camping!).

I'm very impressed! I ask him how it's been going so far. He doesn't complain. Found a little rain sometimes, but other than that it's been good. Of course he only rides in daylight; roughly 500 km per day. He's touring with the sense of wonder and the innocence of a child. No one's told him that he can't go on a cross-country trip dressed as if he were riding out for an afternoon jaunt. And so he's doing it!

He's planning a quick 3 day tour in Newfoundland and then return to Nova Scotia where he'll meet his wife in Halifax. She's flying in from Vancouver. There, they will rent a car and tour the northern Maritimes as well as the Gaspé peninsula. I'm uplifted by this encounter.

The crossing is uneventful. By the time we pull into Port aux Basques harbour, it's 10:30pm. I'm standing on deck watching final docking maneuvers. It's dark, foggy, and there's a mixture of fine drizzle. Everything is quiet except for the occassional fog horn.

This is going to be just great. The general rule in Newfoundland is not to drive at night, if you can help it. The abundant moose population just makes it too risky. Fortunately, I only have a 40 minute ride to reach Doyles in the Codroy Valley. The gates open and I'm off.

Soon I arrive at the MacLellan Inn. Within minutes my gear is off the bike and in my room. It's now Tues night.

A quick shower and I'm out like a light.

Bruno
Montreal, Canada