Travelblips

AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!

Driving BLIND!!!

I was woken from a pleasant sleep in the suprisingly comfortable dorm bunk bed on the Ferry, Caribou, by the impression an announcement had been made. I looked at my watch and saw it was 6.15am and figured we had to be getting close to Nova Scotia now. It hadn’t been at all rough on the crossing – just felt like every now and then we went over a minor crack in the road….

I staggered out of bed, still tired and asked a lady ‘putting on her face’ in the restroom if an announcement had been made. She was in the same boat as me (literally… ha ha!) and was under the impression something had been said… But then speculation was put to rest at 6.30am as an annoucement now occurred in the dorm rooms and the lights ramped up. Yes. We were expecting to dock in an hour…

I grabbed my stuff and went down a deck to the vast cavernouos seating area which had a few people scattered here and there. I took a seat by a window and gazed out into… fog. Complete fog. The ship was sailing very quietly on weakly choppy grey waters. It was like being in the Bermuda Triangle. Except it was raining. Absolutely pouring…

As I sat there staring as far into the fog as I could see (which I think was about 10m), I became aware around 6.55am that we were passing a shape… a lighthouse shape to be precise. Land ho! We had entered the harbour. It took another 3/4s of an hour before we were summoned to our cars. I went down and thought I was parked near the front – but didn’t realise how close to the front until I couldn’t find my car (I was only 5 minutes after the announcement) and saw the 2 cars in front of me were gone! I gulped and dashed into my car as I thought I was holding up the line, but the men were starting to get a series of trucks and trailers out and I would have been held back anyway.

Finally after getting the trucks and another line of cars out first, it was my turn – and I was at the front! I emerged from under the cover of the ferry into an absolute complete torrential downpour of rain – I had to hastily turn my wipers onto maximum speed. Then I crept out, somewhat cautiously, but aware of all the anxious people behind me. I drove straight onto a multilane freeway where everyone behind me immediately sped past me, forking into different lanes. I scanned the road signs above through my furiously swishing windscreen wiper, but they all seemed to point to a myriad of highways going all over Nova Scotia – but none indicated the Transcanada!

Aaaaaaagh! Driving blind in torrential rain without a clue as to where I am going!

So, being a typical driver… I just kept going…. and eventually, after about 10km, I was able to place myself on the map and work out I was on the right highway! Phew! It hadn’t felt wrong.

I drove for about an hour and then pulled over to grab some breakfast at a nice looking coffee shop on a lake. In fact, depsite the rain now varying between torrential downpour and heavy drizzle, I thought Cape Bretton looked like it might have a lot of potential to be very scenic in spring and autumn! The trees somehow seemed denser and healthier than the poor hard done by ones on Newfoundland, and there were more (currently leafless) desciduous trees. However, with the rain, I was very very very glad I was not doing this run in winter as I had feared I might have to!

After breakfast, I drove some more, pausing only at some place which claimed to be open and selling gifts (I wanted a fridge magnet). It might have been a mistake… As I pushed open the nearly stiff door, it was suddenly yanked open and spry man in his late 50s boomed at me “WELCOME TO MY STORE! WHERE ARE YOU FROM?”

I meekly said Newfoundland, and he picked up his phone and bellowed into it “I”VE GOT A YOUNG LASS FROM NEWFOUNDLAND HERE!” He turned to me and asked, “WHERE ABOUTS?” I said I was originally from Australia but travelling from St John’s. He turned back to his phone “SHE’S FROM AUSTRALIA! I HAVE To TALK TO HER!”

He hung up and then beckoned me over to his crowded counter, plastic wrapped gifts in partially torn boxes tumbled out and over and down to more stuff spilling out of stacked boxes on the floor.

“HERE! You”VE JUST COME OFF THE FERRY – HAVE THIS!” and he handed me a pamphlet of the Ferry… Why would I need that after just getting off the ferry?!

“YOU MUST BE THIRSTY! HERE, HAVE AN ORANGE JUICE. I’LL POUR IT WHILE YOU SIGN THIS BOOK!” he boomed at me, trying to juggle 2 polysterene cups, a carton of orange juice and a book with a pen which he was hastily writing in todays date.

I signed the book as he filled up our cups, a never ending barrage of questions coming from when suddenly he spun back to the phone.

“I’VE GOT A LASS HERE FROM OS-TRAYLIA! YOU HAVE TO SAY HELLO! SHE’S FROM OS-TRAYLIA! YES…YES… JUST LIKE OUR MISSIONARY!”

Missionary??? Yikes! Suddenly the phone was thrust at me.

“Hello?” I hestitantly said.
“Hi there. So Mr. Puttipas says you are from Australia,” a resigned ladies voice said to me.
“Yes…”I replied.
“Well, you are in good hands with Mr Puttipas,” she said then wished me farewell and safe travels.

Mr Puttipas or whoever he was, then proceeded to drag me around the junk in his shop first making me sign some petition for a one legged runner and squeezing $10 out of me (well… it was for charity) but then tried to sell me some other awful stuff which i didn’t need. He broke off half way to sprint to his phone and then bellowed into it,

“HELLO? WHO IS THIS?? AH. DO YOU KNOW JOHN SMITH? NO? WELL YOU SHOULD! HE’S OUR LOCAL POLITICIAN AND HE’S USELESS! I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO HE IS SO YOU DON’T VOTE FOR HIM!” GOT IT? JOHN SMITH! USELESS. GET RID OF HIM!” and then he hung up (I am making up names here… I can’t remember his name exactly or his politician…).

Then he worked out I wanted a fridge magnet, dragged me over to his feeble collection of 5. I didn’t like any of them but picked the least offensive one and bought it, refusing to accept his deal to buy a pink Halifax baseball cap in the process and then began to make my exit. He let me go as the phone rang… but chased me out to the car to give me some pamphlet of a museum near Halifax, the opposite direction to where I was going…

I drove 200m and found another souvenir store. It might have been less painful to go in there!

The rest of the drive across Nova Scotia was fitful – with periods of heavy cars and few cars. I liked it more once I got past New Glasgow and the Transcanada became a dual carriageway with a 110km/hr limit on it – and no cars! My car did not, and with having to drive through rain, into a gale force headwind and at a higher speed than it was used, we knotched up the worst mileage it has ever done for me on a lonmg distance rain, barely getting above 24.3 mpg…

The dual carriageway continued into New Brunswick, which I got to about 1pm, but the cars behind me all evaporated…. The landscape became flatter… and after Moncton, I became intrigued by these lakes by the road which shouldn’t be there. By the time I was approaching Fredericton I realised it was flooding… Spring melt was on! I arrived at Moncton mid-afternoon in another rain squall and my friend found me drenched and wet, pathetically pumping air into my tires in another rain squall as I was convinced they were too soft….

Kilometers driven today: 661km
Total driven since leaving St John’s, Newfoundland: 1570km

Popularity: 1% [?]