Central & Eastern Newfoundland

Nothing better to warm you up than a good hill. Over a distance of about 5km we climb from sea level to 275m after leaving Woody Point on July 8. In the early days this highway was even steeper and was known as "the struggle". Cars could only take this hill in the low gear and you'd better not have to stop! We run into some showers once back on highway 430 but in Deer Lake the sun is out again and it is quite windy. This time the wind is right at our tail and we are moving down the TCH at 25 - 30 km/h. Our target is the junction of the TCH and highway 422 and once we reach it there is a gas station with a restaurant. We don't have to cook tonight! Once again I order pan fried cod. The people at the next table are interested in me and my trip and are quite impressed that I was all the way up the North Western Peninsula. After they paid at the front desk they came back to my table and told me that my meal had been paid for!
The next 2 nights we stayed in motels in South Brook and Badger.

On July 11 I met up with Eileen and Ted again who had to be in Grand Falls that day. We met at Tim Hortons and while waiting there a fellow made me aware of the salmon interpretation center in Grand Falls. There is a restaurant attached to it as well and when Eileen and Ted arrived I suggested that we go there and they were game. After our meal we paid a visit to the center. It is basically a long fish ladder around the power dam in the Exploits River. You can actually see the wild salmon working their way up the ladder and there is one section where there is a large viewing window.  

Fantastic to think that these are wild salmon on their way to their spawning grounds. Looks like Newfoundland still has quite a number of healthy salmon rivers. 

After we said our goodbye's we biked to the Falls View Municipal camp ground in Bishop's Falls. It is an open field and there is no protection against the strong west winds. We had to wait until the wind died down a bit before we could erect our tent. 

On July 12 we camped wild beside the TCH about 20km past Gander at Soulis Brook. Here you can see all our gear in action. Blue fold-up bucket kept upright by a rope from the handlebars, water filter and the tent without the fly. Bob is used as a cooking platform so we won't put the grass on fire. The fly is put on when the sun goes down, otherwise it is too warm.
Not a good sleep, the wind stayed up all night, rattling the fly and lots of trucks rushing by during the night.


When we reach Joey's lookout at Gambo on July 13 it starts to shower. Gambo is Joey Smallwood's birth place, his father David moved here from PEI and started a sawmill.

Here is a view of Gambo and the Fresh Water Bay. 

We bike in light rain for the next hour and by the time we reach the Terra Nova National Park the sun is out again. Ted warned me to expect some steep hills here and he was right. We select the Norman Sound campground and book for 2 nights. Presently it is the morning of July 14 and we are at the store/cafetaria of the campground. Had a great night's sleep. Almost 12 hours in the tent and most of it asleep. We should be well rested for tomorrow!

 East from the Terra Nova National Park the TCH gets busy. The highway is in good shape and has mostly a wide paved shoulder. Exception is a new stretch past Arnold's Cove on a steep incline. Most of the paved shoulder is taken up by a rumble strip leaving a few inches wide path to bike on. I have to stand on the pedals to make it up here and with the traffic rushing by I need all my concentration to keep things straight. This makes biking very stressful and if the whole highway was like this I would have quit a long time ago.


I am behind om my schedule and I won't have time to make it to St. John's. I don't mind, travelling the TCH is not longer any fun. Glad when I reach the junction with the 202 and can leave all the traffic noise behind. Soon we find a good spot for camping near a small lake. There are quite a few travel trailers here from folks who found a nice spot and parked their rig there for the summer. Apparently that is allowed in Newfoundland. I put up my tent right across from a trailer on a grassy field. After a while the owner walks over and informs me that the field floods during a heavy rain. Since there only a few showers in the forecast for tomorrow I will take my chances. Only 50km to Argentia from here where we will board the ferry for Nova Scotia tomorrow.

It is now July 17. I expected the 202 to be a very quiet highway but while packing my stuff cars keeps passing by like a city rush hour! Later we find the reason, there is large processing plant in Long Harbour with a huge parking lot and it is full of cars. Once we are past that things become quiet.

From the 202 we connect to the 100 via the 101. I am surprised how mountainous the Avalon Peninsula is here. The 100 is a breeze, it has a wide paved shoulder and is mostly downhill.
Soon we bike besides the Norh East Arm of Placentia Bay with some great views.

At 1pm we reach the ferry terminal. We first bike around Argentia for a while but it is just an industrial complex and there is nothing to do. So far we have been able to avoid the showers but it looks like they are now on their way. Shortly after we enter the ferry terminal the ferry "Atlantic Vision" arrives from North Sidney. We will be on board when it leaves again just before midnight. It is going to be a long sail, scheduled arrival in NS is 3pm tomorrow!
We did not make it to St. John's but after having done 1925km on the island we can keep our heads high and say that we biked Newfounland!