Late Ferry to Newfoundland!! Last to Board!

Thursday July 10, 2014

Here we go again, flying by the seat of our pants! This adventure isn’t suppose to be a marathon run, but it is intended to be an exploration of westerly side of Newfoundland and

Vehicles waiting to board the ferry

Labrador. Getting there quicker is just a way of spending more time in the area that we want.
Last night stay at New Beach Provincial Campground seems like a week ago as far as distance is concerned. Leaving the campground around 8ish I had planning on traveling about halfway to the ferry way up in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. The beginning of the ride, although exceptionally foggy, went by us before the morning hours even hit noon. We were at the New Brunswick, Nova Scotia border. Way too early to stop for the night. The traffic was also very light and before we knew it, North Sydney, NS was within our sights. Our plan now was to see if we could catch the 11:45pm ferry to Newfoundland. It was already a little after 8pm when we pulled up to the ticket gate. I asked the attendant, “Do you have anything available for the 11:45pm? “No”, he said. “Well, can I get a ticket for tomorrow’s 11:45am ferry”?  “No” he said again! “When is the next available ferry”? He said “SuInsidenday evening”

3rd vehicle deck inside the
Maritime Highlander Ferry

Wow, it was only Thursday night! I was bummed out! He then said “Let me see how crowded they really are”! He shut the window and picked up the phone and started to talk to the load master of the ferry. I guess he told them that I had a small truck camper. He reopened the window and said, “I’ll put you on standby for tomorrow morning, but we’ll see if we can get you in tonight”!  I paid the fee and drove up to lane number 7. Lane seven turned out to be lucky for us as we did make it aboard. I must also mention that I only had enough gas for 59 miles. I couldn’t gamble before getting that ticket! Time had run out to get on the Maritime Highlander to Newfoundland…we made it!
The story doesn’t end right here. Remember the departure time of 11:45PM. I had forgotten that this was a six hour ferry ride and with a time change in New Brunswick plus another half hour time change for Newfoundland. It made for a long night, in a chair, on the ferry. They won’t let anyone stay in their vehicles while at sea. With fellow passengers snoring and young folks talking it was a long night or maybe I should say a short night. We headed straight for the gas station once off the ferry. This was followed by a parking spot at the local mall for a short restful nap in the comfort of our own truck camper.
Landing on the shores of Newfoundland, we have logged in 790 miles from our home in Berlin, NH.


That is what we did and saw!