Sou'western Coast

The fog had settled in on us in the gravel pit, but by morning, all that was left was the dew. We jumped back on the bikes, had a beautiful and uneventful ride, and for what seemed like the first time this whole trip, we made it to our destination ahead of our predictions!

We were so excited to be arriving to this lovely coastal town, we had to take a picture.
Things only got more exciting from here on out. On the edge of town, we reached a grocery store bigger than we ever expected to find in such a little town (population 1700, or 2000, depending on the sign). It being the 3rd day since we'd seen a store (or basically any sign of civilization), we clamored inside, wide-eyed like kids in a candy store. In a way, we were kids in a candy store, for we went straight to the candy bar section and loaded up. Outside on the bench, we shared Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Humpty Dumpty Chips (off-brand and better version of Cheetos), carmel bars, etc. We did this to give us ample energy for the real shopping we were about to do and, more importantly, to stay in accordance with the ancient law: don't shop hungry. (We take this one very seriously.)

We then stocked up on real groceries and went to the harbor. After eating again (popcorn and veggie deluxe sandwiches), a nice but unintelligible man somehow managed to convey the message to us that if we haven't seen Sandbanks Park, we haven't seen Newfoundland. We were skeptical, but there's something about a very insistent unintelligible man that makes it hard to say no. Maybe the fact that we weren't sure if "no" meant the same thing in Newfie speak. We exaggerate a little, but Newfies really do have a strange way of talking. This guy was such an extreme example that Nick couldn't resist snapping a video in the car (he apologizes for the shoddy camerawork--it's the audio he was looking for).



Anywho, we checked out the Sandbanks, which though nice, were not as entertaining as the company in the car ride itself, and made it back to the harbor in time to catch our ferry. Our stay in Burgeo was bound to be short, but we were onto something more exciting: Ramea.

Ramea is a small island, both in population (462) and size. We climbed to the top of Man o' War Hill and took a picture of the town.
And the sunset was lovely too.

We were excited about this island not just because of its beauty and remoteness though. We had made contact with some folks from warmshowers.org, a website for traveling cyclists, and they had agreed to welcome us into their home. Jim and Judie, it turned out, were about as excited to see us as we were to see them, and lucky for us, they turned out to be the coolest retirees on the sou'wester coast of Newfoundland, bar none.

Life on the island is pretty slow and they were happy for the change of pace. They shared a wealth of knowledge with us, and pretty much waited on us hand and foot. If our stomachs hadn't been so delighted about it, we might have felt guilty. Dominic and Gretta, confronted with the serious matter of tackling so much food, had little time to smile.

The next day, we were socked in with fog and rain, but we used the time for some serious rest and recuperation. We took a lazy jaunt along the boardwalk that encircles the island, rummaged through the dump for a rear wheel axle for Nick (no luck, but it was fun jumping from pile to pile in the rain), and visited the fish plant, which has recently been converted to a whelk plant. Gretta was brave enough to sample the whelk (a type of sea snail) off the assembly line, though she only made it so far before spitting it out. Nick thanked his lucky stars he was born with the ability to close off his nasal passage without using his fingers. (T'would have been rude, you see.)

Our hosts' warm house provided sanctuary against the elements, and our stay in Ramea was lovely. Thanks Jim and Judie for everything!