It is now Sunday afternoon on September 20 and we are in Blanc-Salon, QC, but I am uncertain of the time. Apparently, Blanc-Sablon is on Eastern time, perhaps not even Eastern Daylight time. My GPS Switched to Atlantic time as soon as we disembarked the ferry. Our cell phones are on Newfoundland time which is probably a good thing since the ferry operates on Newfoundland time. Regardless of the time, we have respectable internet service so let me rewind to Corner Brook and yesterday morning.
We did not have a long trip from Corner Brook to St Barbe so, after stopping for coffee at the last Timmy’s until St Anthony, we diverted from Highway 430 toward the coast in Gros Morne Park and the area known as Woody Point. From there we drove through the “table lands” to the community of Trout River. The scenery in Gros Morne is quite spectacular. We enjoy the drive and found a place to have lunch. The remainder of the drive was uneventful but the day became more and more overcast as we neared our destination.
The Dockside Inn was only a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal and part of it also served as the ferry ticket office, how convenient for the morning. There was rain during the evening but we had nowhere to go and the hotel had both a restaurant and a bar. Gail had her choice of wine, white or white. She chose white. The food was acceptable and they served locally caught seafood, yummy scallops.
While we were in the bar some of the locals mentioned that the weather was becoming very windy and the trip across the Strait of Belle Isle might be cancelled as apparently has been in the past. We awoke Sunday morning to mostly sunny skies but it certainly was windy. By the time we finished breakfast the weather was sunny and warm so we walked around the area along a trail through the woods to the ferry terminal and back to the motel. Soon after 11 AM I was able to convert our reservations into a ferry boarding pass so we finished packing up the car, checked out and took our place in line at the terminal. We still had time to walk back to the restaurant for a takeout coffee and return to greet the incoming ferry.
The trip across the Strait of Belle Isle was, as expected, quite rough, and after a calm start the ferry rocked and rolled for about 45 minutes and then suddenly, we were there. After about 20 minutes while they prepared for disembarkation we drove out of the ferry for the 5 minute drive to our accommodation for the next couple of days.
We took a short drive along the Quebec shoreline to the west but the heavy rain and mist was too much for any sightseeing. So back to the room and then a visit to the local hamburger emporium for a quick dinner.