Clean shorts (8/12/23 Sat)

No beer in our camp. No bear either, even after the wonderful meal we ate and sent downwind.

The tent almost dried during our morning coffee. Then it lightly rained on it and us. We pack away what was exposed and cuddled under the umbrella until the rain passed. We shook most of the rain off the tent fly and packed up the tent. Then headed for the laundromat 40min to our south in Rocky Harbour.

We met and ate breakfast with another couple on bikes also doing their laundry. They hale from Nova Scotia and are heading north. They rode 250cc and 300cc bikes. Certainly more off-road then we've been on this trip. They had a closeup shot of a carabou from the part of Newfoundland we have yet to visit. Their comments may push us to overnight there this evening.

On the ferry from Labrador we met a woman who's son owned the Big Irving on Deer Lake. So we stopped there for gas, bathroom, lunch, coffee and icecream. It's a stop that really does have everything. But we didn't visit it's full liquor store.

On route to the ferry terminal in Port aux Basques we decided to exit towards Stephenville and the Port aux Port Peninsula. The ride in to the peninsula is very isolated with open flat low bush. Many caribou and moose utilize this grazing space. Once on the island/peninsula the main loop road has houses all along it. More houses than I have seen in most of Newfoundland. It seems to be almost suburban.

We chose the Piccadilly Park Campground, as it may be the only campground on the island. It's much closer to the campgrounds I used when crossing Canada. Total cost $15/tent/night, pit toilets.being the only service offered.

The island is trianglangular like a arrow pointer, pointing out to sea. It's connected to the mainland by a causeway that extends back inline with one of the blade edges. To match the causeway another long barb of land extends back towards the mainland from the opposite blade edge. The park is located on a point of land where the arrow shaft would be. So from the park you appear to have land in every direction, yet still have oceanside surf hitting your beach. The mainland shore that is visible consists of mountain cliffs. Sunset should light up those cliffs, but storm clouds obscured both the cliffs and the sunset, with a gap of blue sky only above and behind us towords open ocean.