12 Days On The Rock...

[francois_payen]

I had such a great time last summer touring on my VFR (the very very ridiculously long bike ride) that I decided to do it again, although in a slightly different format this time...less time (2 weeks instead of 3), a passenger, and a precise destination (last year was more about going as far from home as possible, then coming back). It was my first long trip two-up, and honestly I was a bit concerned about how the VFR would handle when fully loaded with two people and their luggage for two weeks. After a few hundred kilometers, I had to admit that the VFR isn't the best option for long-distance, two-up touring; but it still behaved remarkably well even if the suspension was pretty much used at its design limit.

(a big :blush: goes out to member kgnfld for his very detailed info, maps, facts, etc.)

8 August

I finish packing our stuff around 10:00 and we're all ready to leave. Turns out the first hour or so of the morning would prove to be quite frustrating. As we try to leave Eastern Passage, the most direct way out is blocked by the cops, as there is parade going through town today (and we have no idea what it's for). We turn around and try another route, but as we're almost out, we have to stop at a traffic light and guess what is going past us...yup, the parade...so again I turn around, and hurry towards my last exit route, before the parade gets there, and we finally make it out of Eastern Passage (after wasting 20 minutes riding in circles). Approximately 20 minutes later, as I'm riding on highway 7 east (past Porter's lake), we reach another roadblock and we can't get through...so AGAIN I have to turn around, ride 20 km in the direction I came from to take "the slab" to continue east. Aaaaaaarrrgh!

(My VFR in full touring mode, featuring the most ridiculously fat tankbag known to man)

After a while I leave the 107 to get back on the more scenic highway 7, along the coast. From that point on it's an uneventful ride. We stop for gas in a small town called Sherbrooke Village, then have lunch in Antigonish, then carry on to North Sydney where the ferry will take us to Port-Aux-Basques, Newfoundland, the next day morning.

Full Size

(Bras d'Or lake)

(North Sydney, Nova Scotia)

9 August

We get up bright and early, leave our motel and ride to the terminal to catch the 8:00 ferry. We're the first bike to show up, a couple minutes later the expected legion of trailer-hauling cruisers would show up. Not much in terms of non-cruiser bikes in the lineup...a Kawi concours 14, and two brothers travelling on BMWs (a K sport touring, and an Adventure GS loaded like a mule).

The staff at the ferry terminal instructs us to get in lane no.2...the handicapped lane! It's not a big deal, but I snap a picture...I like the irony of a red sports bike in the handicapped lane! Hey, after all, the VFR really IS a "special" bike!

After the tie-down ritual we head to the lounge on the top deck. The ferry ride is about 6 hours long, and with the time difference we end up in Newfoundland around 14:30. The weather is great and the sea is quite calm, but the slow rolling movement gets Rui a little seasick...and although I'm definitely not the nautical type, a drink of ginger ale does the trick for me (tip from my navy buddies) and I get through it just fine.

When we arrive in Port-Aux-Basques, we are immediately rewarded with great scenery, and a nice fast road to travel on. The winds can be quite strong though going in-between the mountains, and in some spots they have warning signs heeding motorists to slow down...

(Trans-Canada Highway near Port-Aux-Basques)

We ride towards Stephenville, where we will spend the night.

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=North+Sy....282227&z=7

We take the first exit for Stephenville off the Trans-Canada Highway. We end up in a place that looks like an abandonned industrial park...lots of empty hangars and wire fences, but no town in sight yet. I can't help to let out a "Where the f*** are we?"...finally we see a small "street" that seems to go around that industrial park, and a few minutes later we're in the town of Stephenville. I would later find out that the area we first "visited" is a decommissionned air force base. Aaah! it all makes sense now...We check into the one and only motel in town, and go to a local diner for supper.

In keeping with the tradition of VFRD, here's the mandatory greasy food shot:

We then walk around in the town of Stephenville, and come accross this building that we thought was simply hilarious. It's not unusual in Newfoundland to find several different businesses that have nothing to do with each other under the same roof (prime example that I saw later in the trip was a car repair shop/ice cream parlor), but this one beats the record in terms of diversity:

It's crazy-convenient though...get this: You can get your taxes done, then get a tattoo while you're waiting on your laundry. After you can go for a few pints at the pub, and if you get yourself into a fight you can get your dentures done on the spot. How awesome is THAT? :beer:

10 August

The next day we ride a little loop on the Port au Port peninsula. The scenery was beautiful and it felt like we were at the very outer edge of the world. The road wasn't the easiest one with rollercoaster-like steep inclines and tight corners with a pinch of loose gravel here and there to keep me on my toes. We get hit by a bit of rain, but nothing serious and it clears out later on to a beautiful sky.

Full Size

(For some reason the map doesn't display like it should...route was Stephenville-Cape-St.George-Lourdes-Stephenville)

After that loop we proceed towards our next destination: Rocky Harbor in the Gros Morne National Park, where we would spend the next couple of days.

Full Size

We check into small motel we had booked in advance. The place really is an RV campground, but they have a few motel rooms in the same building where their office is located. The guy who looks after the place was very friendly and helpful.

(Rocky Harbor)

(Rocky Harbor at night)

11 August

The first thing we do after breakfast is go to the post office. Since I wanted to do some hiking in the national park, but clearly had no room for any of that stuff on the bike, I ended up packing all our hiking gear in a cardboard box that I shipped to Rocky Harbor. So we go to the post office, pick up the box, pack the stuff in our backpacks then head back to the motel. We then drive around on the 430, before going on a boat tour of the Western Brook Pond. The views are quite spectacular, and the tour guide mentions that the water in the pond is so pure, that it doesn't conduct electricity...

12 August

The next morning we head out to the head of the trail that goes on the top of the Gros Morne Moutain, only bringing our backpacks. I park the bike in the gravel parking lot (something I've done quite often during the trip), we hide the helmets in the bushes and off we go. It takes us about an hour to get to the base of the mountain.

When we get there and see the path that goes directly straight up, I think that it can't be the trail as it seems too steep, plus there seems to be another trail going around the flank of the mountain...but the signs along the trail really insist and we slowly proceed upwards. We really have to stay low on the rocks as the path is very steep indeed.

Of course the views get better and better as we climb higher. I took a zillion pictures, so I'll just show you a select few...

Eventually, after about 2 hours, we finally get to the top!

We take a well-deserved break, put some warm clothes on (it's quite breezy at the top) and have a bite to eat...

Of course we snap several pictures from the mountaintop...

And here's my favorite one:

On the way down we finally get to see a moose! And honestly I'm quite happy to meet this guy while I'm OFF the bike...Newfoundland is known for having a large moose population (and sadly numerous vehicle/moose accidents on the highways every year). We were told by the park staff that in that particular area, there is on average 6 moose per square kilometer!

The scenery is quite nice on the way down, too...

The hike takes about 6 hours total...we then return to the bike and zip back to the motel. We have a nice meal (we're starved, quite understandably) and I pack our hiking stuff back into the cardboard box. I also take this opportunity to send a few unnecessary things back home, just to make some room in the bags. I manage to bring back the tankbag to a visually acceptable size through this process!

13 August

So again today, we take a trip to the Rocky Harbor post office (to have my box shipped back home) and then breakfast. We then drive around the national park some more, going to Norris Point (which to my surprise, is not named after Texas Ranger), then Trout River.

(Norris Point)

Again, we're treated to very nice scenery and rollercoaster-like roads, and a beautiful sunny day. We stop at a gas station in Deer Lake to fuel up, and we decide to pause for a while and have cold drinks.

We then begin the long (and somewhat boring) journey east on the Trans Canada Highway towards St. John's. There's a few nice views along the way, but there's also long stretches with not much to see except for trees. We stop in Grand Falls for the night.

Full Size

14 August

We leave our hotel late morning and head towards Gander, taking a small detour through Norris Arm (I would insert another Chuck Norris reference here but I'm not inspired at the moment), and finally get to Gander where we meet up with VFRD member kgnfld at Tim Hortons for lunch. Outstanding fellow...gave us very good info and directions...again, thanks Dude! (and let me know how your trip to Nova Scotia went!) We follow his suggestions and head towards Lumsden on route 330 north after lunch.

It is quite hot and we decide to stop at a convenience store/paint retailer/ice cream parlor in Musgrave Harbour for cold drinks and a little pause in the shade. About 30 minutes later, as we're getting ready to hit the road again, an old fellow comes over to chat a little. This was going to be the first of a handful of hilarious and equally embarrassing moments. I know and work with several Newfoundlanders, and I did notice they have a bit of an accent and tend to speak fast, but it was nothing compared to what I was about to experience in that parking lot. Granted, English is not my first language, but to my defence I'll mention that I never had any problems understanding (or being understood by) English speakers with all kinds of regional accents...Americans from the south, Brits, Scots and Irish, Aussies and Kiwis...but Newfoundlanders, oh my dear God! This dude starts talking lightnin' fast with an incredibly strong accent that almost sounds more like Dutch or some scandinavian language than English...I focus my best when he speaks but I honestly can't understand more than 15% of what he's saying. I get him to repeat twice but it doesn't help much at all...I do my best and "chat" with him for maybe 5-10 minutes (he seems to understand me perfectly, the problem is on my end!), and then we leave and carry on...

(This kind of situation would happen again at least twice at gas stations in this part of the province: someone would come over to chat and I'd only understand fragments of what he's saying! Hilarious AND fascinating all at once...)

We take a little break in the lovely little town of Deadman's Bay...

We then start looking for a place to stay when we get to Newtown, but the one Bed & Breakfast there is not opened (the owners are away!), so we continue driving and head for the Eastport peninsula, which is a beautiful spot...

...and somewhat too popular. All the motels/B&Bs have their "no vacancy" signs lit. We try a motel/bar/video lottery/gym in Eastport, but the bartender gives us the bad news that all the rooms are rented out for the weekend, and that chances are we won't find anything available on the peninsula on any given weekend: the place sells out all the time. He tells us our best bet is to try to get to Clarenville before dark. We hurry up and get back on the bike, and ride out of the Terra Nova National Park. We stop at a motel in Charlottetown, and we figure they may have something available, since we're now a bit outside of the park...but no luck. The staff is kind enough to make a phone call for us at a nearby place (Port Blandford, about 20-30 kms), and we book a room there...SWEET! We have supper then head out immediately after, around 9 o'clock. I'm quite stressed out since it is now dark (which is when the wildlife is most active on the roads, apparently), and, well the highway is entirely surrounded by a thick forrest that is probably full of moose... :3:

I ride very carefully and scan the road and the ditches constantly. At one point I see the reflection of my headlights in the eyes of a hare that is standing up on his hind legs on the right shoulder of the highway...which of course doesn't really help my efforts to relax...even a small critter like that can probably trip me up quite good if I run it over. Eventually we make it to the place where we'll spend the night. It's neither a motel or an hotel...There is a main building with the office and kitchen, and a couple of cottages around it. Basically what we have for the night is a room in one of the cottages.

Full Size

15 August

We have a delicious homestyle breakfast at the "Terra Nova Hospitality" (including toast with partridgeberry...awesome!) then head out...There's not much to mention, we simply travel from Port Blandford to St. John's, and take it easy once there. We check into an hotel, unpack then go for a movie.

Full Size

16 August

Another day of rest, visiting St. John's, and treating ourselves to a nice dinner at the very classy "Majestic" restaurant downtown. Awesome food.

17 August

We ride one of the scenic loops that I had planned to do, the Irish Loop. The scenery is very nice in certain spots, but doesn't quite compare to what we've seen earlier on this trip (hence the relative lack of pictures).

The place indeed appears to have strong ties with Ireland, as there are several Irish flags that can be seen floating here and there. Some of the folks we meet at a gas station speak with a typical Irish accent. We stop in a small town to stretch out, goof around and take a few pictures...

Including my best centerfold pose:

The general condition of the road is good, with a few bumpy sections that made me wish I had a longer travel suspension.

Full Size

18 August

We ride from St. John's to Placentia in absolutely miserable conditions. Strong wind gusts tossing the bike from left to right, and rain, rain, rain...I was initially planning on riding the Cape Shore (another scenic drive) that day, but change my mind when we reach Placentia, as we're pretty cold and wet by the time we get there. We go straight to the hotel that we booked the day before by phone. We take off our gear and I realize that my jacket is not-so-waterproof anymore. We get to the hotel around 14:00 hrs, and I'm hoping it'll clear out later. The rain stops around 19:00 and I try to go for a ride, but it is quite foggy and I have to turn around.

Our hotel room is tiny, but at least they have cable and I kill some time watching the Brno MotoGp on Speed while I'm drying.

Full Size

19 August

The worst day of the entire trip. It rained all night and early in the morning, but the sky seems to be clearing out. We have breakfast then leave the hotel around 10:00, decided to ride the Cape Shore scenic route and go see the seabirds at Cape St. Mary's. There is not much fog at sea level and the ride is fine for the first few kms, but as we get higher in altitude, the fog gets quite thicker. The road isn't the best either: there are lots of large potholes, and the fog is such that I can't see them until I'm actually IN them, which gets me quite frustrated. To top it off nicely, all the vehicles we encounter in the first 40 km or so are big-arse pickup trucks with moose-proof pushbars at the front, running with their lights off despite the fog. As disapointed as I am, I decide to head to the hotel back after 50 km. It's a shame though, in proper conditions (i.e. sans fog) this road would be quite fun to ride...twisty with lots of climbs and descents...

Full Size

20 August

We hang out at the hotel until about noon, then head to the ferry terminal. We leave at about 13:30, and from there it's a 16-hour crossing back to Nova Scotia, so after getting a bite to eat and a bit of reading, we go to our bunk and sleep until about 5:00 the next morning when we arrive in Nova Scotia.

Full Size

21 August

We roll out of the ship at about 6:00, stop for gas and breakfast at Timmies (Tim Hortons) and drive straight to Truro...gas up, then go home.

Full Size

Well, that's it folks! Hope you enjoyed the report...

Keep the rubber side down!

:beer:

François

In summary

-3,300 km total;

-Newfoundland: Awesome place with lots to see, fantastic scenery, very friendly (and often times hilarious) locals;

-The VFR is absolutely fantastic for solo touring, but not so much for extended two-up travel (just one man's opinion - don't shoot me);

-My Bering jacket is NOT waterproof;

-The Collet communicator works quite well, if you're patient enough to put up with the cables; and

-As always, I'm looking forward to my next trip!

[JBAXX]

Wow, some really gorgeous scenery there!

[BOBINOTTAWA]

Great write-up. Thanks for posting it. It is on my wanna-do list.

[Knife]

Beautiful photographs and excellent narrative. Thanks for taking the time to share it all. I hope to make a similar trip within the next three years.

[FotoMoto]

Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn and end up in Norway?

WOW! Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Polarbear]

Great pics and report, Mr.Clean! The scenery is breathtaking!!

c

[Guest]

Great write up! BTW, is it Newfoundland that is 1 hour 30 minutes faster than the Eastern time zone? I have never understood that one.

[SEBSPEED]

Nice ride, thanks for sharing!!

[Guest]

great write up, enjoyed that this morning.

looking forward to some similar adventures soon!

[francois_payen]

Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn and end up in Norway?

WOW! Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

It's funny that you mention that. I took a trip to Norway a few years ago, and when we got to the west coast of Newfoundland I immediately thought the same thing: the landscapes are very similar in certain areas...

[francois_payen]

Great write up! BTW, is it Newfoundland that is 1 hour 30 minutes faster than the Eastern time zone? I have never understood that one.

Yes indeed. For us (in the Atlantic time zone) it's only a 30-minute difference. It's rather unfortunate that I couldn't invoke the time difference as an excuse for being "right out of 'er" at work the next Monday... :rolleyes:

[francois_payen]

Great pics and report, Mr.Clean! The scenery is breathtaking!!

c

Merci!

I was positively impressed by the beauty of the landscapes as well. Newfoundland now comes a close second on my "Favorite places in Canada, scenery-wise" list (pole is still held by BC).

:rolleyes:

[dr.toto]

Great report. What do you use for a camera?

[Knute]

Absolutely stunning scenery!! Thanks for taking the time to put the report together and sharing it with us. :warranty:

[V4 Rosso]

What an awesome trip and ride report with fantastic pics, thanks for sharing :beer:

I ride very carefully and scan the road and the ditches constantly

Riding carefull safed me from colliding with a large boar last weekend at a desolated spot at 2am. This time of year they're all very close to the roadside where they find the best food.

-My Bering jacket is NOT waterproof;

My Textile gear lost it waterproofing too recently, but I restored it washing it with NikWax tech wash and then waterproofing it again with NikWax TX Direct Wash-in :huh:

[francois_payen]

Great report. What do you use for a camera?

Thanks! I use a very basic compact camera: a 8 MP Nikon Coolpix...it does the trick for me. I don't think I would have the talent to exploit the full potential of a fancy single-lens reflex camera anyway, and it's better for me when travelling because it takes less room.

Glad you enjoyed the report!

:beer:

[francois_payen]

What an awesome trip and ride report with fantastic pics, thanks for sharing :beer:

I ride very carefully and scan the road and the ditches constantly

Riding carefull safed me from colliding with a large boar last weekend at a desolated spot at 2am. This time of year they're all very close to the roadside where they find the best food.

-My Bering jacket is NOT waterproof;

My Textile gear lost it waterproofing too recently, but I restored it washing it with NikWax tech wash and then waterproofing it again with NikWax TX Direct Wash-in :huh:

Thanks for the tip on waterprooding Rosso, I'll check it out! If it works it would definitely be a better solution than spending another 300-400$ on a jacket...

It seems like wildlife is always a concern...on the first day of the trip, on the way to the ferry in Nova Scotia we saw a bear cub cross the highway...luckily mama bear wasn't following. A couple of years back, there was a collision between an adult bear and a sedan on the highway near the area where I lived. The sedan hit the bear at 120 km/hr...the car was totalled, the bear walked away...crazy, eh? Considering how massive moose are, I'm really happy I didn't see any on the road!

[ECX585]

While in Maine last month, I met a man who has toured the entire continent and he told me that New Foundland was hands down the most beautiful area he's been to. Judging by your photos, I'd say he was right! Looks like an awesome trip!!

[Guest]

François, you have become one of my favorite touring documentarians on VFRD. Sorry we probably won't see any more travelogues from you until next summer's thaw. I'm sure we'll all look forward to your adventures in 2010. Perhaps back to the Gaspe' Peninsula next year? Good luck!

[francois_payen]

François, you have become one of my favorite touring documentarians on VFRD. Sorry we probably won't see any more travelogues from you until next summer's thaw. I'm sure we'll all look forward to your adventures in 2010. Perhaps back to the Gaspe' Peninsula next year? Good luck!

Thanks...I'm truly flattered by your comments. I really enjoy sharing my trips with people on this forum...as long as I get some sort of feedback (questions, thoughts, sharing of similar experiences) from others on here, I'll keep doing it.

For my next trip I'm working on something big...not sure if it'll work out but I'm gonna try anyway. A navy buddy of mine is moving to British Columbia in a week, and the plan for next summer is to go visit him (I live at the opposite end of the country)...so we'd go coast to coast and back, probably taking 3-4 weeks. I already talked a buddy of mine into it, now we just have to negotiate the conditions with our respective ladies...mine is showing great enthusiasm, my buddy's wife...not so much....

I still have a couple weeks of riding left (probably going to put her away late October), but big trips are unfortunately out of the question until next season...days are getting shorter and colder (and it's starting to go below the freezing point at night).

Again, thanks for the comments!

[V4 Rosso]

Thanks for the tip on waterprooding Rosso, I'll check it out! If it works it would definitely be a better solution than spending another 300-400$ on a jacket...

It have ridden through several mild showers now and it has done it's job very well. I did add a little more wash-in than what's on the label as it mentions how much to add per item and I figured a riding jackets equals to more than 1 regular item.

An alternative to NikWax are the the waterproofing products from Granger. But then you have to put the gear in the tumble dryer or heating cabinet afterwards to maximize the effects and not all gear can stand the heat of a tumble dryer, the label will you. I put mine in the dryer using the low temp setting.

It seems like wildlife is always a concern...on the first day of the trip, on the way to the ferry in Nova Scotia we saw a bear cub cross the highway...luckily mama bear wasn't following.

Here you'll only find bears in the Zoo. I think only in the Alps and the east of Europe there are some wild bears.

[elizilla]

Here you'll only find bears in the Zoo. I think only in the Alps and the east of Europe there are some wild bears.

One of my traveling companions came within inches of hitting one, about two hours out of Halifax. I've also seen them down in the Deal's Gap area, and of course tons of them along the roads en route to Alaska. I'm still more afraid of deer, though, because they are absolutely everywhere in North America, even in areas that have a lot of people. Bears are easier to not hit, since they move in a straight line.

Francois, I love your pictures! I've been to Cape Breton, but now I want to go back and do the rest. Maybe that will be my next big trip.

[Guest]

Francois: As a native Newfoundlander it was very interesting to read about your experience. I'm glad everything worked out and for the most part you enjoyed great weather. Newfoundland is a fairly huge island and you had a lot of ground to cover but you did well and got to see a range of scenery. Getting to meet some of the locals completes the trip.

Hopefully your post inspires others to head this way and explore Newfoundland. Lots of scenery and good roads for motorcycles (especially the VFR!).

Your pictures have inspired me. Next year I'd like to take the time to get some good photos like you've shown. With that in mind here are some pictures of Newfoundland I'd like to share.

Marine Drive

Witless Bay

Rodgers Cove

Average scenery but I like the VFR profile!

As Francois mentioned I had a trip myself this summer. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, PEI. 5 day trip, 3500kms.

Strapped down on the ferry going from Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland to North Sydney, Nova Scotia

My first time with a bike on a ferry. Wasn't sure what to expect but Francois gave me the heads up: Marine Atlantic provides tie down straps and it is up to you to secure your own bike. I was traveling right after hurricane Bill and the seas were rough. You aren't allowed to go below deck when not docked. Mid crossing I asked a deck hand to check on the bike and they did and let me know that the straps were still holding tight.

Early morning outside hotel in Sydney, Nova Scotia

Amazing reflection of the horizon off the water

Confederation bridge New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island

(Francois would have taken a much better picture here!)

No bike but nice sunrise (Sometimes getting up early for work isn't all that bad)

No bike but nice icebergs (Sometimes having to travel by helicopter for work isn't all that bad)

Next year I'll try harder for some good photos and hopefully I'll hear of some more VFRers coming this way.

[vfrcapn]

Amazing pics and looks like it was a great trip, thanks for sharing. :fing02:

[VFRSuperfreak]

Excellent report & picts, thanks for sharing eh!?.

Halifax is the furthest east I've been, and with these shots from NFLD we may just have to chase the sunrise again.