I did a quick route from my home in Texas to Montreal, on to Sydney, touring NF, and then returning home. It came up at over 7000 miles.
This may exceed my comfort level for miles to tour by myself. Doing a 5000 mile trip that stays in the US doesn’t bother me to do alone, but for some reason leaving the country changes that. I need to think it over and see if I can modify the plan to get comfortable with it.
The map is enormous because it’s all on one side, but despite it’s size it doesn’t include Newfoundland so I still need to get a map of that province.
Gilbert and I talked at length today. He pointed out Highway 138 which is called “Highway of the Whales” that leads to Tadoussac a prime whale watching area. Highway 138 continues to Baie Comeau. Just past Baie Comeau there is a point with a wonderful lighthouse. If I stay on 138 it will lead to Sept Iles and Havre Saint Pierre. The pavement ends at Natashquan.
There is a ferry that crosses the St. Lawrence at Baie Comeau and takes passengers to Matane. From Matane there are several routes to get to Sydney, Nova Scotia to get the ferry to Newfoundland.
Sydney has two ferries to NF. One goes to Port au Basques in 5-8 hours and the other goes to Argentia which is a 14-15 hour overnight boat ride. Both are busy and reservations should be made in advance.
Gilbert told me the winds can be very bad on the east cost of Newfoundland and taking the eastern most road may not be possible. Fog is also an issue. If I can get there, Gros Morne National Park is wonderful.
I have enough information to start checking routes in MapSource.
I spoke to Gilbert today and I found out he’s been to Newfoundland several times. He has many suggestions for routes and places to see, but it didn’t mean a lot to me without a map. Since I hadn’t gotten any info from the tourism offices he recommended the Michelin regional map 583 for the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada.
It was available in local book stores, but one offered to order it and it should arrive in four days.
Gilbert sent me a link to Ride the Rock forum of people who ride Newfoundland.
http://www.ridetherock.com/forums/cmps_index.php
I had just purchased the Lighthouse Encyclopedia so was happy to see the members of the forum were having a Lighthouse Trophy Photo Contest. They provided links to lists of lighthouses and many photos of lighthouses on the island. One of the members posted a POI (point of interests) file that can be imported into MapSource.
I went to my personal web site and officially added the Quebec/Newfoundland trip to the planning board. I’m going.
Last year I had been researching throttle locks for my F650 GS before going on a trip to Mexico and had run across mention of a Tilt Cruise made by a man who lived in Montreal, Quebec. I contacted Gilbert Piccard and he sent one of his throttle locks that I installed before leaving on the Mexico trip.
If you own a BMW I would recommend you check to see if he makes one for your motorcycle. As a fairly new rider I felt it was critical to get a lock that was extremely easy to turn on and off. The Tilt cruise is easy to use and looks great on my F650. Contact me if you would like Gilbert’s email.
Gilbert and I have become long distance friends. He was born in Switzerland, almost moved to the United States, but ended up in Canada. He’s been riding motorcycles since he was a young man in Switzerland and is very knowledgeable about BMW’s. When I was having stalling problems with my F650 he contacted an expert mechanic friend in Germany and got information to help me.
I sent Gilbert an email today telling him I’m considering escaping the Texas heat this summer and making a ride up for the rally. I also mentioned my interested in Newfoundland.
I got a quick response with links to Newfoundland and Quebec:
http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/
http://www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/accueil0.html
Gilbert said both provinces are very generous with their tourism information so I ordered visitor guides from their websites. Now I wait on the mail.