From Land to Sea

 

We took our time on this, the first waking up morning of our trip.  I took a walk before breakfast, and did not take a pic, not one.  I remember noticing the bird songs, the flowers in full bloom, the old old well kept houses.  Women walking their dogs, a few bikers, a coolness that reminded you of how it would be heating up during the day.  Then breakfast at the Inn.  It was a good hearty breakfast, the coffee was strong and the food was good.   The Maritime Inn has a little gift section, and I picked up some Peace Chocolate, I bought a bar that had the Lesbian Flag as its wrapper, some Gay Pride bars, and some Indigenous honoring chocolate flavors, my first treats to bring home and some to enjoy along the way!  AND supporting local businesses.  

The drive to Marine Atlantic terminal in North Sydney is a little less than 3 hours.  We decided to take the southern route below Bras D'Or Lake.  Bras D'Or is an estuary with a connection to the Atlantic Ocean, it is the natural habitat of many seas and land birds, it is beautiful.  This area was also a second home to Alexander Graham Bell.  This southern route to travel to the ferry terminal was so close to the ocean, to this large lake of brackish water, and also feeling remote.  Traveling in the eastern, maritime provinces I am always reminded of how geographically huge Canada is and how small their population in comparison, lots of wide, open spaces, lots of wide, open amazing vistas.  Breathe-taking, heart opening vistas.  With each mile I can feel the pull of the ocean, the cradling of the sky and the support of the earth - this desire to head far far north, to travel to a big rock in North Atlantic, to go to the place where icebergs travel, all feeling more real and closer.  

These two days have been easy travel days, planned around our scheduled 5:30 pm  sail with arriva; in Port Aux Basques after midnight and then will travel 30-40 minutes to a small cabin like resort in the Codroy Region.  I don't like driving at night, and driving along the western coast of Newfoundland, with little moonlight was a part of the trip that I was not looking forward to.  With the awareness that it was going to be a disruptive sleep night along with unfamiliar driving in the middle of the night, the slow, leisurely drive towards Cape Breton was a sweet delight.  Traveling along Hwy 4 there is beauty a mix of the ocean so very near and rolling land, lots of spruce, shorter trees and not very many people, very few little towns, and an easy drive moving towards Ferry Time.  

We pulled up to the check in booth, we were directed to "Lane 1" this is the lane for vehicles where there are passengers that require wheelchair assistance.  Marcia now needs oxygen 24-7 and we traveled with a home and a portable oxygen concentrator.  It is not always easy to travel with a medical condition and we took advantage of whatever supports were available to help us along the way.  The woman in the booth was very very helpful.  She printed out our tickets, gave us lots of helpful information about when and how we would load onto the ferry and the help we would have.  We would be the first car onto the ferry after all of the large commercial vehicles had been loaded.  There were many lanes, all numbered and cars waiting in them and we drove up to the very space in lane one, excited to get on board the Blue Puttees. 

We had snacks packed and planned to have supper on the ship, the time for loading approached, and then past, and then past some more.  We never found out what was delaying our entry. Finally two hours behind schedule we got the call for everyone to get in their cars.  The loading staff appeared with their orange vests, radios.  The  huge commercial vehicles slowly moved up the ramp and when the last one boarded  it was our turn.  My tiny little car slowly moved up the ramp, sometimes not being able to see ahead at all, then the loading staff appeared and waved us to our spot.  Before we could even open the door, a very friendly staff woman (I wish I knew the nautical terms for all the staff, but I don't) was at the car with a smile and a wheelchair.  We grabbed our backpacks and off we went to cabin!

I have not been on a vessel this big in a long time, I have recently taken the car ferry several times from St. John New Brunswick to Digby Nova Scotia. Before that the car ferry, the SS Badger from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington Michigan. I went on one cruise to Alaska.  This was a big ferry.  The dining area was at the front of the ship and we got to watch us leave the dock and head out into the sea!  It was a beautiful night and many commented on what a good sail we would have for the next almost 6 hours.  After walking around the seeing all the different spaces and standing out in the open taking it all in, watching the sun as it was getting ready to set I headed back to the cabin.

As I tucked into bed, Marcia still enjoying the night I found myself remembering the late night sails from Wi to MI , how good it was to have a little berth, the crisp sheets and the rolling back and forth, the excitement of heading to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and here I was being lulled into a good sleep.  The sheets felt great, the rolling movement was just right and the next stop would be Newfoundland.

I feel asleep almost immediately  and the next thing I knew the announcement was waking us up, letting us all know that we were to dock in Port Aux Basques in 30 minutes.... it was past 1 a.m. 

I had loaded the address for Codroy Valley Cottages into my phone, and I had printed out the directions that Claudell had sent to me, with a reminder to load in a specific gps address or I would be taken the wrong way.  Our friendly porter (not sure that is the right term) knocked on the door, smiling once again.  Backpacks in tow.  We were headed back to our car and soon we would be driving on Trans Canada Highway to our overnight stop!  

Here are some of my notoriously not so good pics from the day, the better ones were probably taken by Marcia: