Where do we go now?

Well that's the question really. Where to head next?

My initial answer was simple: try to get back to the UK. I planned my return journey a fair while ago, but that involved me trekking to Halifax, where my flight back to the UK was leaving from.

I had left plenty of time to get there, but the problem with travelling on Newfoundland is that places are quite far apart and not a huge amount of public transport. Now I hear you say, just hop on your bike already! But it's a hefty 80 mile ride to get to the ferry, my bike is incredibly knackered, and, to be honest, I know the hills I have to conquer to get there (I've already cycled over half of them) and I don't know if I fancy trying to tackle them again!!

So after asking around for lifts from the very few people I knew in St Johns, sadly none of them were heading out in that direction, so a new plan came into being: get to the highway and hitch hike!

The day dawned possibly as one of the wettest I've experienced here in Canada - a severe weather warning had been issued for that day and the previous evening for torrential rain and high winds - and I dragged myself out into the storm at a healthy 6am.

It took me an hour of peddling uphill to get to the highway, and then I started to stick my thumb out and start flagging down cars. It didn't take long before someone took pity - no one would wish people to be out cycling in this weather after all! - and the wonderful Ronnie helped me out with a ride to the Whitbourne junction, a good two thirds of the way there.

And then Brenda came into my life. She picked me up just after the junction, and was a great bundle of laughs and fantastic stories. She brought me into her home for bacon and eggs, took me to the local pub for a pint, and packed me off to the ferry with a bag stuffed full of food. AND (I feel it was fate running into her) I finally saw a moose on Newfoundland! It ran right out into the road in front of us, making us both jump and shriek 'IT'S A MOOSE!!!!' In the excitement of it all I managed to get a great photo....of the car's dashboard and the white van that scared the moose away - good to see my photography skills have improved over my time here, at least I attempted to take a picture this time!

Damn you white van man!!

Final pint in Newfoundland

The ferry was long: 15 hours spent on a boat to get back to the mainland is a fair amount of time to spend twiddling your thumbs. Though I wasn't short of people to talk to: hilariously, news was spreading about the girl from Manchester (the best place I decided to describe myself from, apparently everyone has heard of Manchester United...I should probably explain here that I grew up in a Liverpool supporting household, and wasn't particularly impressed when this was brought up.... Sorry I'm digressing!!) who had cycled across the country, so I had a few people come up to me to ask me about my travels. This included a lovely chap who had done a lot of walking holidays in the UK, and the intense biker named Dwight; he didn't really understand the importance of a personal bubble when meeting someone new, nevertheless an interesting guy, who had travelled a lot of the country on his motorcycle (not proper biking of course!) and understood the wonderful simplicity of living with very few possessions and feeling content with what little he had.

People watching 

The view from my window seat

But I spent the majority of my journey sitting and talking with the lovely Don and Sharon, who were from Newfoundland and heading to the mainland for a short holiday; no fixed arrangements, just seeing where the road would take them for a week or so, they were celebrating Sharon's completion and freedom from radiotherapy.

Getting to Halifax involved more hitchhiking, and I felt very lucky to be picked up by a pair of fellow tourers (who were travelling to a wedding that day - I really hope Mabel emails me her recipe for that chocolate date cake she gave me a slice of, it was simply divine!) and a fantastic drive down to Halifax with Brian, who was incredibly knowledgeable on local history, and the nation's favourite sport ice hockey, so we wiled away the drive easily.

So I've finally made it to my absolute, complete final destination! I've spent the last of my 'newly-meet' relatives Sara and Alan before I fly back to the UK in a few short days.

Sightseeing at Lunenburg

I've really enjoyed writing this blog - I was incredibly uncertain about it to begin with, and have been overwhelmed by the kind messages from people who have been following me on this journey.

I was struck by the Terry Fox quote that's engraved on his memorial in St Johns:

'I just wish people would realise that anything's possible if you try; dreams are made if you try'.

This was a wonderful thing to read at the end of my journey, and it confirmed a lot of what I've been learning on this trip - that you truly can do what you want if you try. A great deal of this trip was completely unknown for me - I sometimes think the only thing I actually knew was how to ride a bicycle! - and I'm proud to say that I feel like I've accomplished more than just a bicycle ride across a fairly large country. I hope you've enjoyed reading about this and the fascinating people and places as much as I've had fun divulging it all for you - I really have tried to make this more than a standard 'I'm cycling this far, listen to how much my legs hurt and the speed I averaged for the day' blog!

I think it's fair to say I've seen a decent chunk of Canada. However, I have decided that I am merely treating this trip as a reconnaissance; there is far more to see and do that I feel I have missed out on for the sake of reaching my destination on time. So it is definitely fair to say that I will most certainly be back!

And so, where to now? That, my friends, is a very good question - if you have any suggestions then please get in touch! My bike could do with a bit if a breather, but my mind is already plotting for the next adventure. Let's wait and see where the next few months of planning take me...but for now, it is most definitely time for a brew!

Newfoundland: Home of the moose myth!

Well there was nothing quite like the excitement and anticipation of hopping onto that ferry for a jaunt across to Newfoundland. My last province and final few days of cycling awaited - I'd been told wonderful things about the fondly named 'Newfies' and their beautiful island, and I was itching to experience it for myself.

Leaving North Sydney

However there is also nothing quite like hopping onto a ferry with hundreds of other, equally excited passengers, in particular young children who were loving the late night and simply wouldn't settle despite their parents' efforts.

A long night with little sleep does not make for the most chipper of cycle tourists (anyone who knows me knows how much I love and need my sleep!) and I rolled out of the ferry terminal at Port-aux-Basques feeling rather sluggish, my morning brew doing its best to perk me up.

Now for those of you who are new to Newfoundland, it is an island with not all that many people, lots of trees and hills, and one main road that runs through the island from Port-aux-Basques to St Johns. Small communities sprout off this main road, making any day of cycling that little bit longer if you want to stop in a town to sightsee, or bed down for the night.

Starting along the TCH

The aforementioned hills are present throughout the island, so the 900km road was rather like a big dipper rollercoaster, cresting and troughing with no flat sections to be seen...you could say that I my finish was incredibly worthy, a difficult end to a big challenge, what could be more appropriate?!

Beautiful, challenging cycling

I followed the Trans Canada Highway (or the fondly acronymed TCH) pretty much from start to finish. The scenery was nothing like I'd seen beforehand, and gave me a real feeling of isolation as I peddled through the rugged landscape. The road was quiet for a highway, with the odd burst of cars every now and then, which I assumed to be the ferry traffic being set loose on the island.

Like so many family holidays to North Wales: looks warm, actually freezing!! The kids playing in the water had more guts than me!

After making some great progress in the first few days, and having a great time deciphering the Newfoundland accent (I hear a cross between Irish and deep America South, I don't know how it sounds to other people!) I hit a bit of a wall. The weather had been hot and sticky, and after a few heavy days in the saddle, I'm not particularly surprised that the tiredness caught up with me.

So I decided to try and be sensible, and made the decision to take a day off in Gander. I gave myself the rare treat of a bed and breakfast stop, and did my best to just chill out.

The lovely Inn on Bennett, with an incredible breakfast to set me up the next morning!

But I still felt that tiredness the next day, and it carried through the rest of the week. I was getting to the stage where I didn't want to cycle anymore, every push of the pedals was a genuine effort, and it took a lot of reasoning with myself to keep pushing through the miles.

I think part of the problem was that is been on the road for so long, and knowing that my destination was St Johns, so when I arrived on the island and constantly saw signs for the province's capital, my body started switching off. And as much as I wanted to enjoy those last few days of my journey, so much of me wanted it to be over and completed, and it was really hard work trying to coax my body into climbing yet another hill which would bring me that bit closer to the finish line....Combine this with the songs the final countdown, the theme from Rocky, and let it go from Frozen running through my head in the most bizarre mix/mash up - you could be forgiven for questioning my sanity, I've clearly been spending too much time alone?! - and you can easily see that I've been having problems!

And it wasn't just me. My poor bicycle and travel companion Bella, has been struggling somewhat, and suffered a broken back spoke the day before we were due to finish. We hobbled onwards with a seriously wobbly back wheel, the brakes scraping the rim, making hill climbing even more tricky - I didn't dare loosen the brake cable as braking power would have been nonexistent, I was already comfortably hitting 30mph on pretty much every downhill, and didn't fancy pushing those speeds further!!

The Final Countdown starting anew when I saw this sign

Nothing like a hilarious town name...good work Newfoundland!

So when I finally did reach St Johns, the relief was pretty intense! It had been a long slow crawl along the highway (because, let's face it, it would have just been plum wrong to finish with a tailwind eh?!) but the huge cheesy grin could not be slapped off my face as I zoomed down Water Street, right along the waterfront.

I had decided first to visit the Terry Fox Memorial at the far end of Water Street. This marks the point where this incredible Canadian dunked his prosthetic limb in the Atlantic in 1980, to start his Marathon of Hope, where he had intended to run the distance I had just cycled, despite having bone cancer.

When I arrived, a couple of tourists were also there taking photos of the statue, and asked me, out of polite interest, how far I'd cycled. When I told them that I was finishing my cross-country bike tour then and there, they were so happy to greet me into St Johns and celebrate my finish with me! It turns out the lady actually knew Terry Fox and his family too, which made it feel even more special to have reached this spot.

I relaxed there for a while, enjoying the warm sun, chatting to other tourists, or simply lying back and staring up at the sky, overwhelmed at finishing...

...Well, nearly finishing...

See, the thing is, the most easterly and oldest European-founded city of the continent is indeed St Johns, but in my eyes the 'official', finish point is Cape Spear, the most easterly point of North America. It's not that much further than St Johns, but quite possibly the hardest bit of cycling I've done all trip.

The road was only 17km but some of the steepest hills I've encountered. Maybe they were just so long ago, but I would definitely rate it tougher than some of the climbs I did in the Rockies. The gradient was utterly brutal, quite often hitting 20%, which is not the most pleasant of inclines after already riding a hilly 80 miles!

Canada most easterly point!

But, I'm thankful to say, I blummin well made it with not one foot touching the ground for that entire stretch, despite having all my luggage still attached to my bike...well let's face it, if I contemplated stopping to get off and push, that would have involved unclipping, which would have resulted in a 'face meets tarmac' moment all too quickly.

And the feeling of reaching that end point, after such a long time of thinking about it was quite something! I couldn't quite believe I'd made it, as I looked out over the ocean, the wind sending my hair flying and goosebumps racing up my legs (it was freezing up there!) I simply stood there chuckling to myself in disbelief - I think the other tourists thought I was a bit mad.

So I headed back down into town where I grabbed the key for my host's apartment and have had the privelage of staying in this beautiful town for a few days, including spending my 24th birthday here. Few things could have pleased me more than spending this birthday having two stonking breakfasts, drinking copious amounts of tea, snoozing and wearing clean clothes for the first time in a couple of weeks - blissful!!

View of St Johns from a walk along the Eastern harbour, on my way up Signal Hill

Well then. I guess this is me done with cycling for the time being! I think more locals are in awe of the fact that I've seen ZERO MOOSE here on Newfoundland than the actual cycling that I've achieved! But then, this island supposedly has more moose than people...I simply have to assume that, until proven otherwise, there are simply none!...and as for Newfoundland dogs, well they're a complete no show too!! The closest I've come to seeing one in the flesh is the statue of one down in Harbour Park...Newfoundland, sort it out!! I was plotting ways of transporting one back as a 'well done on  finishing' present to myself...but at this rate, the best I can do is bring back a frog, I've seen loads of those!...

Anyway! So thank you lovely readers for following me on this rather mad adventure. I'll do a proper round up post in a few days time, but for now I'll leave you with a few stats:

Days spent cycling: 59

Average mileage: 82 miles (131km)

Rest days: 20

Total distance travelled: 4831 miles (7730km)

Bear sightings: four

Moose sighting: two (none in Newfoundland, leading me to believe that they simply are not present on the island despite what people tell you!)

Spokes broken: three

Punctures: none

Tea shortages: one, very serious but luckily recovered!

Helpful people met along the way: infinite

Yes, I'm wearing a woolly hat in July, I regretted not bringing gloves!!

Nova Scotia: The race for the ferry

New Brunswick came and went very quickly. I cycled away from my relatives newly recovered and ready to tackle the leg that would take me through Nova Scotia to the ferry.

Now, I've been using Google maps for my general route throughout this trip. And, in general, it's been alright, far from perfect, but it has given me a fairly decent idea on a route for each day.

But it surpassed itself on a couple of occasions recently, taking me so far off the beaten track that there was practically no track left.

The first of two cases took place on that first day leaving Moncton. At first it took me out of the city and onto some lovely quiet country roads, and I was enjoying a lovely jaunt on a lovely sunny morning, the road quality still pretty good (I've found it becomes questionable very quickly as you leave the main highways). However this road rather suddenly became a dirt track with a sign proclaiming it to be a closed road. At this point, I consulted the map and found that it wasn't a particularly long road, so I thought 'how bad can it be?!' and proceeded anyway.

Well, I can now understand why this was a closed road, what a rollercoaster of pot holes, thick sand and some parts completed flooded, resulting in me having to walk through thick bushes around the edges of the water.

It took me about 45 minutes to cover less than 3 miles... not a great speed, but I did get to see a deer and her baby bound along the track for a good half a minute - I would say that was worth the times I had to drag my bicycle along this, for want of a better word, road!

The other time was much further up the road, after I had pedalled along the Northumberland coast of Nova Scotia, a beautiful part of the world with stunning seascapes, and  'warm beaches' - sadly not confirmed though - and plenty of Scotsburn ice cream. I even passed through a place called Pugwash, a UNESCO site named for it's importance as a meeting place for scientists during the Cold War for discussions on how to end the arms race, and, I'm sure, for being inspiration for a great children's television programme.

I had made it to the causeway that crosses over to Cape Breton, the last chunk of Nova Scotia and 'the mainland' of my trip. And Google maps was waiting to strike once again.

I had a leisurely day of riding ahead, an easy 60 miles with a bit of a hill in the way. So off I went, taking my time, enjoying the views and spending a long lunch break in Baddeck.

The people of Baddeck being terrorised by possibly the worst bagpiper I've ever had the misfortune to hear - zero pitching and no real tune made for painful listening!

After here my route was meant to come off the main highway and follow a slightly shorter way through the hills. So off I turned, once again onto a dirt track...but it didn't seem too bad so I pushed on...I kept looking out for the fork in the road, but when I looked back at the map, I'd missed it. I backtracked, and discovered that my 'road' was now an overgrown trail with a 'no trespassing' sign barring the entrance... great work Google!

Interesting intersection!

Fortunately I had not come more than a couple of miles off the main highway, so I managed to rejoin the highway with little difficulty and no significant loss of time. But I'm glad to say that of I've learnt anything on this trip, it's to take any route for bicycles with a huge pinch of salt!

I made it to the ferry terminal at North Sydney in good time; the title of this post is a little misleading. I guess I wanted to make it sound like exciting, 'down to the wire' cycling - 'will she make it?! - but alas, I actually had a comfortable four days to get to the ferry, my slightly obsessive need to be early for things is vastly exacerbated when it involves  public transport.

Beautiful views on the way to North Sydney

So it's the final push, one last province to go. I'm looking forward to my final days of this trek with great anticipation - everyone has told me what a magnificent place Newfoundland is, I can't wait to experience it for myself!

Montreal to Moncton: soggy days and overdoing it

Leaving the cultural metropolis of Montreal, I headed north along the St Laurence river in the direction of Quebec city.

As much as I love visiting a city and experiencing its vibrant diversity, for me it will always be just that - a visit. I'm a country girl at heart, and I think I will always prefer to spend time drifting through the countryside, enjoying peaceful country lanes and lush green vistas. And Québec, I'm pleased to say, has these in abundance.

My route along the riverfront was a wonderful, relaxed reintroduction to cycling after nearly two weeks of inactivity. The province caters very well for the growing numbers of recreational cyclists, with an extensive network of cycle paths and routes that are well marked out, collectively known as 'La Route Verte'.

I passed through small riverside villages and plenty of farmland with lots of 'pick your own' fruit fields, many people taking advantage of the just-ripe strawberries.

Trois-Rivieres was a great stop for the night, conveniently situated halfway between Montréal and Québec city. I stayed with David and Marie-eve, friends of a Warmshowers host who was away working in the northern territories, so she managed to hook me up with this great pair instead. A wonderful evening of pasta, hunting for a good gelateria and a wee bonfire; nothing like a ceremonial burning of schoolwork to mark the start of the summer break...Marie-eve is a primary school teacher.

Towards Quebec city, the road began to undulate more, and upon entering the city itself had some real belters of hills, the kind that sneak up on you out of nowhere and just love to surprise you! One in particular is etched in my memory, the road turned to the left and suddenly there was a huge grey wall in front of me... And once I'd started I was not stopping, unclipping would have been fatal and would definitely have resulted in my falling off...no no, it was a real crawl job, trying to keep some weight on the front wheel to stop me from keeling backwards (one of the few times I regret not having front panniers to even the weight distribution on my bicycle).

I let out a few choice swear words towards the top, which a roadie chuckled at as he glides past me, his lightweight, built-for-speed carbon road bike glinting smugly as it sauntered along effortlessly...I could only glower at his back in reply. BUT the important thing was that I made it to the top - Go Team Tourer!!

Rooftop view of Quebec city

July rolled in incredibly wet and windy, so my host very kindly offered to let me stay an extra night to avoid cycling in the dismal weather. Marc-Andre (a fellow tourer and keen photographer) was a fantastic host, giving me tips on places to sightsee, and lent me an umbrella, which proved invaluable on this very soggy Canada day. I wandered the streets of this beautiful city, dodging slow tourists and enjoying the surprise extra rest day.

Soggy wanderings

Issues with taking pictures in the rain!

I continued up the St Laurence river and then into  New Brunswick, and made it as far as Grand Falls in a couple more days. However the huge increase in mileage after two weeks of inactivity was clearly not the best of plans (I'd done roughly four hundred miles in four days), and I woke up the next day to my calf throbbing and painful - strained muscle!

Stopping in Grand Falls

So I made an executive decision. I felt guilty doing it, but I am now glad that I did - for once I can look back in hindsight and know I made the right choice for me in the circumstances...brace yourselves everyone... I caught a bus!

I know the purists will really slate me for this, but in this instance (I have a flight prebooked for my return to the UK) I have a clear deadline that is fast approaching, along with a dwindling bank balance...my logic was that I could spend a day resting my leg while still moving forward, and could be with my relatives in New Brunswick by the end of the day, allowing a further rest day to heal and reevaluate my plan.

Admitting this has been hard if I'm honest! I really wrestled with the idea to hop on public transport, and I almost feel like someone justifying why they've eaten something unhealthy while they're meant to be on a diet (something that I'm fairly well practiced at, although in my eyes, there is never any need to justify enjoying ice cream) but hey it's out there now! I've accepted that this has been just another part of my adventure that happened for a reason, and it's made me thankful that I had relatives close by who could take me in for an extra day.

So I've spent a couple of days in Moncton with Andrew, Karen, Mark and Meghan. It's been lovely getting to know them all, and spending time stretching and planning, as well as fitting in a few sightseeing trips. The drive down to the Bay of Fundy was an amazing experience, walking on the ocean floor and then watching the tide gush in and rise up by 35 feet! Low tide was also great for the geologist in me...reminded me of many a field trip getting up close and personal with coastal bedrock.

At Ribfest - Moncton

I also got the chance to eat freshly caught Atlantic lobster, woah that was delicious yet messy!

My calf has improved greatly, and I've sorted out my timings on the road to accommodate for a slower return to the big miles. I'm better prepared, and all set to head off again. Last few weeks left on the road!

AT THE SEASIDE!!!! 

The incomprehensible world of Québec

I really enjoyed getting to know my relatives in and around Ottawa. But after a few days I was beginning to get itchy feet, Bella had been too long sitting in the garage...it was time to move on.

Waving goodbye for my new found cousins, I pedalled through the rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Ottawa, heading east to the Quebec border. There was more beautiful riverside cycling, and a huge tailwind made for swift progress.

I crossed the bridge at Hawkesbury and finally, after nearly a full month of cycling in Ontario, I made my entrance into Québec.

Nearly got blown off the bridge taking this photo, an insanely windy day!

It was almost like being back in Europe! With that one bridge crossing, everything about my surroundings instantly felt different, almost disconnected from the rest of Canada. All signposts are now written in French, not bilingually, which has been great for brushing up on my languages. But there are also now some great bicycle routes through the province, which I've been looking forward to taking advantage of.

Now, in general, I consider myself to have a fair grasp of French - I may not understand everything, but I can get the gist of a conversation and get my own point across when I need to. I also lived in France for four months awhile ago, and thought I would pick it up again fairly easy. I even spent a bit of time chatting away to myself in French on my bike, recalling bits and pieces I thought would be useful...

But wow, everyone was right when they said Quebec French is a whole different language! I was expecting the  colloquial language to be different. I hear people speaking and all can think is 'Okay, it definitely sounds like French, so why the hell can't I understand any of it?!?' It's rather like each sentence is all one long word - I wonder if this is what it feels like to someone who can speak English as a second language but then tries chatting to a Scouser or a Glaswegian??

I took a couple of days to make it Montreal from Ottawa, camping at an organic farm en route. The following day's ride into the city was delightful, sauntering through farmland with fields dotted with wildflowers and plenty of other cyclists out on the road too - it was St. Jean-Baptiste day, a big Provincial holiday for Quebec, so everyone was out making the most of the beautiful weather. I made it to my couchsurfing stay by lunchtime and settled in for mini-break number two!

Camping at the organic farm

En route to Montreal

Destination reached! 

Pier-Vincent (Matt had put me in touch with way back in Fort Frances) and his flatmate Alex, have been hosting me for five days now, while I experience this fantastic city. I've been staying near 'Little Italy', and have had the time to sightsee, meet some of P-V's and Alex's friends, and catch the beginning of the Montreal Jazz Festival.

At the Old Port

BBQ and twister in a local park - hilarious! 

When I first planned this trip, along with the Icefields Parkway, the jazz festival was something I was incredibly keen to experience. Having worked in a great festival venue back in Edinburgh for two summer seasons, I've really missed the atmosphere that comes with being surrounded by musicians and fantastic live music (although I definitely don't miss the exhaustion that comes with working 8-530 into the morning!).

Nowhere near as good as the original - I miss you Jazz Bar

So I've had the chance to head down to the Place des Arts and spend a couple of days listening to plenty of free live music, and simply wander and feel the energy that comes from such a culturally vibrant city. It's been incredible!

Montreal Dixie

West Trainz - they gigged on a small 'train' that moved around the festival area, the crowd growing with every tune

Side of a trumpet/trombone player - he kept leaping off the train into the crowd

Eli Bennett 

Michael Kaeshammer playing two sets of keya at once

Awesome horn section for Michael Kaeshammer's set

And with that, my break from cycling has come to an end. I've really enjoyed it, but it's now time to get packed up and back on the road. I think it's safe to say that I will be returning to Montreal though, I have absolutely loved this city!

Everyone in Montreal has told me that the Quebec accent gets harder and harder to understand the further north and east...should make for an interesting few days ahead! A bientot!