August 10, 2019 – August 19, 2019
One of the best things about travelling the way that we were was the flexibility and freedom we had….if we liked a place, we would stay an extra day or two, if we didn’t like a place, we would move on. Plans were never written in stone, and we had altered our route many times on the trip in order to avoid areas where there might be a bit of civil unrest, or to take a detour to see something of interest that was previously unknown to us.
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August 1, 2019 – August 4, 2019
The ferry from Newfoundland to Labrador actually lands a few kilometres south of the east-west Labrador/Quebec border in the remote town of Blanc Sablon. From here you can drive about 70 kilometres east along the south shore of Quebec, then take a series of ferries to hop from town to town, or you can drive north into Labrador. We headed north.
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July 9, 2019 – July 20, 2019
The ferry arrived to the island of Newfoundland just as the sun was rising. It had been a long night, neither of us really sleeping much on the ferry despite the ample leg room and comfortable, semi-reclining chairs. We had originally thought that we would get a campsite close to the ferry for the day and then head the next morning to Stephenville in order to take Piper to the vet, but as we drove off the ferry, Derek said he felt pretty good, so we drove the 165 km to Stephenville.
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July 4th, 2019 – July 8, 2019
Note: We have been home now for about 2 weeks. It was hard to blog as we drove across Canada due to remote camping locations and the long driving days. I have read many blogs that just suddenly ended, and they left me wondering about the return home and the final parts of the trip and it just kind of bothered me, but now I understand….the return home is a busy time, seeing family and friends, getting the hot tub operational again (prioritizing at a time like this is essential), getting your home and life back in order,etc. I am determined however to see this blog though to our return home, and hope to do so within the next few weeks.
We boarded the boat operated by Bird Island Boat Tours and motored out to Bird Island for a “3 hour tour” (…..key theme song from Gilligan’s Island…). We were promised that we would get to see puffins, among many others, and I was excited to see these little clown like birds (friendly clown, not scary clown).
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June 5, 2019 – June 14, 2019
On the road again, we drove along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean south of Halifax, through small, authentic fishing villages like Terrence Bay, before making our way to the touristic Peggy’s Cove. We had hoped to free camp at the visitor’s centre, but were told it was not allowed, so we continued on to the nearby ocean front King Neptune Campground. We entered the registration office/home of the owner, where Derek greeted the man by saying, “And so you must be King Neptune!” (which got quite a laugh from Granny in the corner). We then were shocked to hear that our camping spot for the night was going to cost $40. Pricey by Canadian standards, super pricey compared to what we had been paying in South America….not all is perfect about being back in Canada or maybe Derek just had to pay special price!
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February 14, 2019 – February 16, 2019
We drove along the Strait of Magellan to where we would load Seymour onto yet another ferry, to make our way to Tierra del Fuego. Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego…..names that I had read about in history class so many years ago, but that my teenage self never, ever would have imagined having the opportunity to visit. It was a bit surreal.
January 1, 2019 – January 7, 2019
The Carretera Austral is a 1,240 kilometre road that runs from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, through mountains and forests, around fjords, lakes and glaciers, and relies on a couple of longer ferry crossings where the terrain is just too challenging for road construction. Work on the highway began in 1976. It was opened to traffic in 1988 and the last 100 kilometres to Villa O’Higgins were only completed in the year 2000. The road winds through remote areas of what is know as Chile’s Northern Patagonia region and we were very excited to be finally making our way into this region that is so famous for its beauty.
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September 24, 2018 – September 25, 2018
We headed away from Lake Titicaca, getting some last views of the huge sapphire lake as we climbed high into the surrounding countryside. We were driving to Tiwanaku, an important set of ruins in Bolivia, and a place that some consider to be the cradle of Andean culture.
June 1, 2018 – June 4, 2018
We needed to do a fairly major resupply before we could leave Cartagena. After a few false stops at what Google Maps had mistakenly indicated were grocery stores, we had a full fridge and were on the road again. Not knowing how long our shopping would take we had picked a spot close to Cartagena for the night to break up the drive the drive to our next destination which was Mompox.
May 4, 2018 – May 8, 2018
Bocas del Toro is the name of a province in Panama, it is the name for a set of islands that are part of that province, and Bocas del Toro (known as Bocas Town to avoid at least SOME confusion) is also the name of the capital of the province. We hadn’t planned on visiting the islands of Bocas del Toro (translates to Mouths of the Bull), but when we saw how close we were to them, we decided we had to go.