Monthly Archives: September 2009
“Ferry cross the Mers… uh…North Atlantic…”
Today was our last day in Louisbourg for a while.
Tonight at 11:00 pm we catch the car ferry for the 15 hour, 325 mile trip to Argentia, Newfoundland.
However, unlike some RV’ers, we’re not taking our coach over. Jan said “No way I’m putting my home on a ferry. Those things can sink. I’ve seen it on the news.”
So we’re leaving the rig in Louisbourg and taking the truck on the ferry, and we’ll stay at B&B/motels for the 3-4 days we’re in Newfoundland.
We went out for breakfast about 10 am and ended up sitting next to another RVing couple from VA. Gene and Chris had just spent two months in Newfoundland and gave us a lot of good tips. Hopefully we’ll meet up again sometime. Nice people!
About 3 pm we left for North Sydney, Nova Scotia, where the ferry dock is.
We wanted to drive around the area, do some last minute shopping, get gas, and then eat supper before we boarded.
Although we didn’t sail until 11 pm, we had to be checked in and in line by 9:30, or we would lose our reservations. And, after taking care of all our chores, we ended up getting in line about 7:30, along with a lot of other people who were already there.
Ferry Ferry 1
Ferry Loading
Ferry Loading 2
After entering the ship on Deck 1, we drove up a ramp and parked on Deck 3.
Ferry Loading 3
We had reserved two seats in the sleeping area that reclined and had footrests. It turns out to have been a mistake because they were very uncomfortable. We would have been better off to have just stayed in the regular seating area. Those seats also reclined, but didn’t have footrests. But they were much more comfortable.
After grabbing a late night muffin snack in the cafeteria, we settled in for the night.
More road trip tomorrow…
Fresh Haddock and Fortress Louisbourg…
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Today we packed up and headed toward Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, which is about 40 miles from where we will catch the ferry tomorrow…or rather, tomorrow night at 11:00 pm for the 15 hour ferry ride to Argentia, Newfoundland.
Our park here in Antigonish is actually right downtown, and is pretty nice.
Whidden RV Park
And it came complete with a bridge and a babbling brook.
Antigonish Bridge
Antigonish Brook
The 135 mile drive to Louisbourg, to put it plainly, just sucked!
We had long stretches of bad road, intermixed with shorter lengths of really, really bad roads. And we had a 25 minute wait for construction.
And I’m really dreading the trip back to the States after we return from Newfoundland, because we’ll have to go back on the same road. There’s only one.
Anyway, we pulled into the RV park about 3 pm and got set up. The park is right on the water next to the docks. Talk about scenic!
Louisbourg RV
That’s our rig in the very front.
This time I didn’t even try the satellite since there was a building in the way. And since we’ll only be here one day before we head to Newfoundland, I won’t worry about it.
Later we drove over to the Fortress View restaurant for a great meal of Fish and Chips. This was fresh haddock, right off the boat. Really good!
After dinner we took a drive around the town. One of the sites to see is Fortress Louisbourg, built by Louis XV when the French held this area.
Fortress 1
Fortress 3
And of course, more great views.
Louisbourg 1
Louisbourg 2
Louisbourg 3
Louisbourg 4
Coming back to the park, I walked down to the docks in front of the park. It’s easy to see why the fish at dinner was so fresh.
Louisbourg RV Docks 1
Louisbourg RV Docks 2
More tomorrow…
