DK Custom '19 Summer Adv. Riding to where Titanic Sank -Newfoundland Island & More

[ultrafxr]

Yahoo, we finally got to the dinner in Baddeck, lol. It was just great being with Kevin and Mary in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. I look back on the past twenty years of Harley ownership and can't count on both hands (and feet, lol) how many tremendous people we have met that we otherwise would not have met except for our involvement in Harleys and motorcycling . . . and I rate Kevin and Mary right up there at the top of the list. Awesome folks and proud to have them as friends.

It was truly serendipitous that Kevin and I were talking after he got his 2019 TG about our plans for the riding season to learn that we both were headed to Nova Scotia. I was up there in 2010 and absolutely loved it and wanted to go back and in 2019 we made it happen. So glad we had even this short time together in such a beautiful place.

I started a separate thread about my Nova Scotia trip - 'My Nova Scotia Adventures 2019'.

All for now.

 

[Fabricater]

Wow.

 

[ultrafxr]

Fuzzy, I am starting a separate thread 'My Nova Scotia Adventures 2019' with a link to my blog with details about how to access.

Don't want to hijack Kevin's great thread.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Fuzzy, I am starting a separate thread 'My Nova Scotia Adventures 2019' with a link to my blog with details about how to access.

Don't want to hijack Kevin's great thread.

Cool blog...started looking at it today!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 5-

Well today is a throwback. All this year we've been riding with the TH as the home base.

Out riding for the day, and then back at our home on wheels for the night.

We're leaving today for 7 days and 6 nights. Gotta carry everything we'll be wanting for that time, with us.

On top of that, even though Canada just recently changed their drone laws, and I am not licensed to fly up here, I'm taking it just in case there is a chance to fly.

So this morning was spent figuring out how to pack everything up!

It's a bit funny to us, we've carried everything we needed for many 40 & 45 day trips, and even for a 53 day trip to Alaska on the TG (see Alaska Ride Report HERE), but this little 7 day outing shows us how out of practice we are!

We get it done...

...and are on our way...

...beautiful sights as we head to North Sydney...

...where the Ferry Terminal is...

It is only a 45 minute ride...

...so we take a bit of a scenic route...

...to get there.

Cloud Pic!

We're getting closer...

...but still have a bit of fun riding before loading up on the ferry!

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 5 continued-

As many of you know, Mary really likes ferry rides. As often as possible we go on them for her. They are ok with me....

Until this one. I don't mine saying, I am not 100% comfortable being on a big piece of metal, loaded down with people, cars, trucks, etc. in the middle of the ocean, not far from where the Titanic went down!

17 hours...at one point we'll be EIGHT HOURS from the closest piece of land.

I cannot swim that far!

So, I'm enjoying this last bit of riding before getting on that big chunk of floating metal!

Fellow travelers!

We're getting pretty close to the Ferry Terminal...

...even though there is water all around, we are still on land!

We're getting close...

...a look back at all that land! lol

Newfoundland Ferry- 3km

We're all checked in, heading for Argentia, Newfoundland Island...

...it is NOT a hop, skip and a jump away. Do a google map of North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia, Newfoundland. lol

We had a nice chat with the 2 guys on Victory's ahead of us. They live in Newfoundland and make the trip on the ferry regularly.

Time to load up...

...wow, this is a big ship!

More of day 5 as time allows.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Yeah, I don't think I would like that...and having a compass or not seems somewhat less of a concern than being 200 miles from land in any direction. :laugh:

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 5 Continued-

After parking, we unloaded what we wanted for the night, then headed up to our cabin.

Our 2 berth cabin is on the 8th floor of this monster. The cost of it is about the same as a motel room.

Mary loves ferries, and we've never been on one with a cabin before...

...she's pretty pumped, especially that we got one with a window!

After looking around the room a bit, we headed out to explore...

...around the ship.

It is not long before we are underway...

...there are 10 levels...

...it took a while to check out the top 5 levels that are open to us, once underway.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 5 concluded-

We watch as we get further and further...

...away from land...

...time for some dinner, so we head inside to the dining room and enjoy a good meal with a view.

After dinner we head outside, no land in sight, but a nice sunset.

Talking with the guys on the Victory motorcycles earlier, we heard many a story of them crossing in colder weather, when, sometimes, icebreakers are needed to clear a path thru the fozen sea for the ferries going back and forth.

I am glad to be here during warmer weather...we are not far from where the Titanic went down.

We head back up to our cabin, take hot showers, before heading back outside. It is completely dark now, very windy, and very few people out and about.

This is a shot looking toward the back of the ship.

After roaming around a bit, it gets cold, so we head back up to the cabin for the night.

I sit down at the desk to do some work, Mary lays on her bed and turns on a local TV channel.

A minute later she says to me "you're not going to believe this, come look".

Right when she turned on the TV it was at the scene in the movie Titanic where it has hit the iceberg and is sinking.

I did not get any work done...we both watched the rest of the movie (and all the Canadian commercials) to the end.

WOW!!!

Kevin

 

[ol' school]

That is totally crazy that movie was on and that was the exact scene that was playing... :xzqxz::shock::titanic:

 

[Zammy]

Hmmm, talk about coincidences, loving the pics and commentary.

 

[DK Custom Products]

That is totally crazy that movie was on and that was the exact scene that was playing... :xzqxz::shock::titanic:

Hmmm, talk about coincidences, loving the pics and commentary.

Yes, we'd been talking about the Titanic quite a bit, what with the route we were taking, talk of icebreakers, and the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia having a Large Titanic Exhibition!

Then when it was on the TV...was quite a coincidence!

At first I thought it was playing on some sort of internal ship network, and the ferry company just had a strange sense of humor....Nope, it was a regular TV station.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6-

After a good night sleep to the deep sound of the engines, we're up and packed...

...as the ship nears...

...docking in Argentia.

It is amazing how long...

...it takes to maneuver this monster into place.

But after about an hour, we are loaded up...

...ready to head out and explore Newfoundland Island!

It's good to be back on land...

...first stop is...

...the visitor center.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6 continued-

Back rolling...

...there are some amazing sights...

...as we make the trek to St. John's.

A look back-

It's about 140 km to where we have...

...reservations. We are taking it all...

...in, as we travel in this completely new place.

Finally got past that slow camper...

...right before we pull over to get some fuel. lol

Back rolling, not quite halfway there.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6 continued-

Water everywhere!

Fellow Travelers!

More Water. We've been to "The Land of a Thousand Lakes" in Minnesota, but this place has a crazy number of ponds and lakes.

Faked out...

...for a minute I thought we were already at the outskirts of St. Johns.

Now we're getting close...

...to the city.

Near downtown St. John's...

...and Jelly Bean Row. (google it)

In the traffic proper now, not far from our hotel on the harbor.

More of Day 6 as time allows.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Viking blood?

You'll enjoy it!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6 continued-

Here is the hotel we're staying in tonight. It is too early to check-in, so...

...we're off to Cape Spear...

...it is just outside of St. John's, over a little mountain that is in the clouds, and...

...is the easternmost point in Canada and North America.

It is a nice ride...

...out here. I thought it would be far more built up.

Almost there...

...here we are. No more land to the east until Europe!

We did a lot of walking. Besides the amazing view...

..Cape Spear is the location of the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland. 1836.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6 continued-

It is Not warm here. lol

Amazing views...

...two lighthouses, and a nice walk along the cliffs.

After meandering around a bit, we walk back down past...

...the lighthouses...

...along the coast...

...toward the...

...second (past) use of Cape Spear. Fort Cape Spear.

During World War II, two large guns were placed here to defend the entrance to St. John's harbor and protect convoys between North America and Europe.

There is quite an underground bunker still in place here.

Day 6 concluded in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 6 concluded-

Headed back to St. John's now...

...more amazing views...

...from the opposite direction.

We get to Murray Premises Hotel...

...get checked in, and carry our stuff into the room...

...they upgraded us to a massive room. Not sure the history of this hotel, but it is an old structure that has been nicely finished out.

Big shower too...oh, and the floors are heated!

We went out for a walk around downtown...did not take any photos, but thoroughly enjoyed this old city...one of the oldest in North America.

Tomorrow we head for Twillingate.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7-

Today is the longest day we have planned on the island.

Headed for Twillingate, and going to try and take a bit of the coastal route. This was recommended to us by the two local guys on the Victory motorcycles.

We were going to do the straight shot thru, they said it was worth it to do the coastal route, up thru Lumsden and Musgrave Harbour.

So instead of 467 km, we're gonna try and do 572 km.

So it's an early start...

...got everything packed up and ready to roll out to the TG...

...and it all fit, with lots of space leftover.

And we're off...

...thru downtown St. John's...

...back on the same road we took into St. John's from Argentia...

...a last look at St. Johns, not sure when we'll be back here.

Back on the Trans-Canada Highway...

...which we take 2/3's of the way...

...back to Argentia.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

There's water everywhere...

...if there's not water in front of you, it is probably beside you or right behind you!

Yes, you read that right. More on Newfoundland and some of their city names later.

This is where we're staying on the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 1). Exit 28 is what would take us back to Argentia.

My new policy is to stop for gas whenever I see it if we are anywhere near half a tank...

...ended up talking to the owner of this pristine El Camino for a bit. He also has a Road King. There are only 2.5 months a year where he can ride his Road King or drive the El Camino. The rest of the time there is too much snow and ice. Crazy!!!!

Back rolling...

...heading north now...

...toward the isthmus...

...that connects the Avalon Peninsula to the rest of Newfoundland.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

It's been looking like rain...

...here and there all morning, so far we've been avoiding it.

Mary in the Mirror, and some fellow travelers!

This is some beautiful land...

...it's crazy to think about...

...how cold and windy it is here most of the year.

We do not need gas again so soon, but this looks like a good place to stop and put on our rain suits...don't think we're going to be able to avoid the rain any longer.

Yep. It's raining now!

Not a lot, but enough...

...to get very cold in this chilly weather.

btw, we're also running our electric jackets to stay toasty warm, it's been ranging between 40-44 degrees all morning.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

We're now on the isthmus...

...headed toward the "mainland" of the Island.

Even though we're getting a little rain...

...we are thoroughly enjoying the road and...

...the fantastic views! (above is water to the left of us, and at the same time-below- water to the right of us)

There are over 110,000 moose on Newfoundland Island. There are signs everywhere warning drivers/riders to be careful of them.

We have not seen any yet. We did see this sign...for so many, there are relatively very few accidents.

What a great road!

Some more fellow travelers.

I have no desire to get a ticket here...even with the rain coming down a bit heavier, I am 5 km over the limit and still getting passed here and there.

We're on the "mainland" now, and it also looks like we're out of most of the rain.

More of Day 7 as time allows.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

This is where we have to make a decision...

...we pull over to a little clearing to discuss...do we want to turn off the Trans-Canada Highway & take this extra 110 km loop, on what will be a 2 lane road of questionable quality, with a 30-70 km speed limit?

Yep, we don't know when we'll be back up here...it is along a lot of coastline, let's go for it!

Looking back, we're on the way around the coastal loop...

...we are right on the water...

...and other bits we are cutting inland some...

...but mostly...

...on the water...

...and more water. lol

Before we got up here, we thought there would be big sections of Newfoundland where there were no people or buildings. While the towns are small, there are a lot of them, and it is rare to go very far without passing thru or near one.

This is about a 10 mile stretch of road with nothing...but it is inland.

More in next post.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

We are starting to see...

...a lot of rocks sticking up out of the water along the shoreline...

...this is some beautiful land...

...we're glad we took this route...

...and are glad we are not up here during the winter! We can't imagine there's enough firewood to keep us warm. lol

I suppose I should google it...what are all these rocks about?

Open ocean...

...if we were here a few months earlier, that is when icebergs are passing by...

...but we have our electric gear at about half strength now...

...it would not be enough a few months ago. lol

Will post more of Day 7 as time permits.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Day 7 continued-

We cut inland again...

...we are almost at the end of the coastal loop...

...getting ready to turn right, up toward Twillingate.

If you do a google map of the area between Clarkes Head and Twillingate...

Hold that thought, we are a tad tired and hungry...

...so we stopped along the water, at a wide spot in the road at this abandoned store, for a snack and a walk around.

...on the map you will see there is a lot of water...

...then when you zoom in, you see they are not lakes, but there are dozens of islands...

...we assumed that the road connecting these islands were bridges...

...nope. They are mostly causeways that have been built. Only saw a couple of small bridges at the end of some causeways, like this.

More in next post.

Kevin