To Louisbourg, NSAug 25, 2006
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Doyles, NL to Ferry - 24 miles - August 25, 2006
Ferrys seem to come early. We had to leave at 5 am so the Tail Gunner was banging tires at 4 am. When I went out to pull our electric cord at 4:45 I found most rigs were already in line. I pulled the levers to start retracting the jacks and began the jeep hook-up. When I started the MH the jacks hadn't retracted. By the time I recycled and got them up in the dark everyone but the TG had left the park (by 4:55). Everyone now asks if times are "Caravan Time" or clock time.
No problems getting into the ferry waiting line except for a but of excitement Don had when he couldn't find the paperwork he had to come to NL on the ferry. We were lucky to find ours as we had not been told the papers would ever be needed again, until last nights drivers meeting. A ferry was unloading when we arrived. At 7 am it loaded all lines but ours, blew the horn, and left! Turned out our ferry didn't leave until 9 am. No reason given by Ferry officials as to why we were to be there at 6 am. Not a problem for the ladies though - the ferry terminal had, what else, a gift shop.
Routine ferry ride; a bit less than the scheduled 6 hours. One reward was we now get rid of the confusing 1/2 hour time difference that is practiced in Newfoundland/Labrador. We're not on Atlantic time - 1 hour ahead of Eastern time.
Ferry to Louisbourg, NS - 35 miles
We made a quick side trip enroute to pick up our forwarded mail that didn't arrive before we left for NL. Mail forwarding to Canada has proved problematic. It has worked for some folks - not for others. We had a 10 day lead time, which wasn't successful for us. About half of our trip to Louisbourg was over road as rough as that we had found in NL. Our campground was congested, but very nicely located. We were in a park surrounded by active fishing wharfs. Our big bonus was Snow Crab, frozen but just off the boat, for $4 per pound. We filled all remaining space in the freezer.
Our schedule here included a Theater-in-the-Round performance tomorrow. Our Wagon Master found that a group that had previously been a hit would perform tonight, but not tomorrow and changed the schedule to tonight. Super choice!! The six young musicians/actors put on a performance that ranks in the top three events of our tour. Each played at least 4 different instruments, with great skill, during the performance. Even more impressive, during one number everone switched instruments with someone else while the tune went on. All were local Cape Breton youth. The area is blessed with good musicians. Everyone seems to play the fiddle, and most are proficient "step-dancers" (similiar to clog dancing).
