We've Finally Arrived!!! - Newfoundland!!

It’s finally here! The day we board the ferry – the three of us and all our worldly possessions – to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to Newfoundland! We were excited and a bit apprehensive wondering what 17 ½ hours aboard a ship would be like. The MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood , named after a former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and his wife, can carry 1,200 passengers, 370 automobiles, has a cafeteria, snack bar, pub with live entertainment, video arcade, gift shop, full length movies, cabins and dormitory berths. We had verified that our ship was leaving at 3:30 p.m. on Friday as scheduled and that we should be there around 1:30. We arrived at North Sydney, Nova Scotia, docks around 1:15p.m. After getting our “line-up” instructions, we were informed that the vessel we were boarding, would not be arriving at dock until 3:30 and we would not be boarding until 5:00 p.m. So we parked our truck and trailer in line and walked around and talked to other people who were also waiting. Everyone kept asking if we had make reservations for a bunk or at least a recliner for the night. We finally decided maybe we’d pay the extra $40.00 and get two recliners that we could possibly sleep in. And, so we did! About 4:00 p.m., the ship finally came creeping into the dock area. We were all tired and bored! They informed us by loudspeaker that it would be at least an hour before we could enter as they needed to clean the vessel before they could start loading us. By this time, McKenzie was ready to drive us up onto that boat herself!!

Finally, at 6:00 p.m., we started boarding. Looked like we were going to be right in the front, so maybe at least, we’d be the first one off the boat. We finally said goodby to North Sydney Nova Scotia and were underway. The weather was windy and cool.

We didn't know how warm or smelly it would be down in the belly of the boat where our trailer and truck was, so we elected to take Miss McKenzie up to the kennels on the ship. What a mistake! She didn’t like the kennels and she especially didn’t like the other dogs barking all the time. Since they wouldn’t hush up, she decided to add her two cents by howling like a banshee for at least two solid hours! To make matters worse, we could only walk her twice during the now 20 hour trip and it had to be at the time the steward designated so everyone could go at one time. She is not used to “doing her business” on command, as they only gave us 15 minutes. She also didn’t want to “do her business” on the boat floor. She was looking for grass!! We finally convinced her, took her back to the kennel, and once again she sang acappella for an hour or two.

George and I didn’t have a much better night as we couldn’t get any sleep in the recliners. They were too short for George and just generally uncomfortable for me, but we managed to make it thru the night. On the morning doggie walk, we took McKenzie to the trailer and left her there. It was cooler and much less oily smelling and she was a happy camper.

Finally at noon, we were able to disembark at Argentia, Newfoundland. 260 nautical miles from North Sydney. By this time, we had been on the boat for 20 hours and neither of us could walk a straight line – but, here we were in beautiful Newfoundland! As the ship's front end opened, we got more exicited!
Once they gave us the "go ahead", we rolled onto Newfoundland soil!

It took us a bit of time to figure out the roads here. After being lost and having to turn both the truck and trailer around twice in 20 minutes, we took a few minutes breather in a parking lot, located our position on the map, and headed off – only to get lost again. Well, it wasn’t our fault! Seems like we were looking for the Atlantic Charter Monument and though we finally found the little village it was supposed to be in, we couldn’t find the monument, but did we ever see some beautiful scenery. At last, we saw a sign and there was a couple sitting out on their porch, so we stopped to see if we could take the trailer up the gravel road to the monument. They advised against it and I then asked if we could walk it. They said sure and were nice enough to let us park the truck and trailer in their yard off the road. My mistake was not asking how far we'd have to walk. We thought we were walking just a short ways up the gravel road. About 3 miles later, we finally found the monument. Evidently a group of Canadian citizens felt the same way we did about the lack of signage leading to this historical site and have posted several signs to voice their disgust. Overall, we've found all the Canadians very proud of their provinces and they all fly the Canadian Flag as well as the flag that represents their province.

The monument indicated that in August 1941, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and President Franklin Roosevelt, of the U.S. met aboard the USS Augusta in Placentia Bay to discuss their countries common goals for peace. They agreed upon 8 principles which would guide their two great countries thru the war and beyond. These principles were later issued in a press release and a London newspaper dubbed them the “Atlantic Charter”. The Atlantic Charter was accepted by an alliance of 26 nations which came into effect on January 1, 1942 to fight the Axis Powers. President Roosevelt named this alliance, “the United Nations”.

Okay, this was a little too much on the first day, so we decided to find a place to park, have a nice glass of wine, eat dinner and go to bed. Tomorrow we will start out fully rested with map in hand and headed for the Cape Shore Loop!