Rumour has it they are enjoying the West Coast right now, visiting some friends. :-D
Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...
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Kri$han
Well-known member
This is an amazing story, and I LOVE reading about these. There's another -now internet famous- couple that did this, but in a Land Rover jeep, and their tour through Africa is well documented with pictures and descriptions of their travels.
Reading stories like these fascinates me in ways I can't describe, yet I doubt I'll ever have the courage, resources or companion to do this with (my woman rides and loves adventure, but she can't be comfortable without a bed to sleep on).
Safe travels, and I look forward to reading/seeing more.
Reading stories like these fascinates me in ways I can't describe, yet I doubt I'll ever have the courage, resources or companion to do this with (my woman rides and loves adventure, but she can't be comfortable without a bed to sleep on).
Safe travels, and I look forward to reading/seeing more.
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/6.html
Start the day right!
The next morning, we rode around St John's to get some supplies and walked the downtown area. Ended up at Ches's fish and chips, which was a Newfoundland institution, and came highly recommended by Roy the night before. One of our resolutions on this trip is to try everything the locals recommend. I suspect the food tasted extra good because of all the hills we had to walk up and down to get to Ches's. Did I mention the roads in St John's are crazy steep?!
Lake Quidi Vidi
After lunch, we hopped on our bikes and rode out to a very pretty area just outside St John's, recommended by the waitress at Bacalao last night. It's called Quidi Vidi, and it's where the beer we drank is made. The brewery is housed in an old fish processing plant on the lake, the white houses above are fishing stages.
GS at Lake Quidi Vidi.
Hanging out at the Quidi Vidi brewery
We took a tour of the brewery and received some beers to take home with us. These are not the beers, we only got one each. Unfortunately, mine leaked in my top case on the way back. It's very hard to wash out the smell of beer. So right now I'm carrying a little bit of Quidi Vidi 1892 dark ale with me everywhere I go.
99 bottles of beer on the wall...
The fishery was bought by the brewery after it was shut down when Newfoundlanders faced tough restrictions on fishing in the 90s.
Signpost at Signal Hill. Foreshadowing, maybe?
Around the same area is Signal Hill, which was the site of the first transatlantic wireless signal by Marconi. Later used by the military as a communications centre, it provided us with great views of St. John's from above as well as the waters of the Atlantic ocean.
Cabot Tower at the top of Signal Hill
Neda gets shot out of a canon at the top of Signal Hill
The view of St. John's from the top of Signal Hill.
Whale-watching from Signal Hill
These tourists must have gotten their money's worth. There were a lot of whales jumping in and out of the waters below Signal Hill, and all you had to do was look for the whale-watching boats as they followed whales swimming in the bay.
Colored row houses are a famous sight in St John's
The legend is that the fog was so thick in St John's that when the fisherman came home, they couldn't distinguish which house was theirs, so they painted them all different colours so they wouldn't walk into the wrong home. Dunno if it's true, but it's pretty.
Still empty on George St, the hub of nightlife in St. John's
In the evening, we took a bus into St. John's looking to taste a bit of nightlife. However, we were reminded how old we were when at 10PM on a Saturday night, we were ready for bed and the party hadn't yet started yet...
Not "screeched in" officially...
Newfoundland screech is a foul-tasting paint-thinner that the locals used to brew cheaply. There is a whole tradition of being "screeched-in" involving drinking this slop, kissing a cod and reciting a dirty limerick about jibs and penises... The only place that we could get screeched in was Trapper John's, which was dead, so we instead went to a crowded bar and ordered some screech there instead. Turned out we walked into a cougar bar...
Next day was a travel day - ride down to Argentia, at the southern tip of Newfoundland to catch the ferry back to Sydney. We were recommended to ride some of the more interested roads around the coastline instead of taking the main highway straight there. So we did! Scenic routes like the Irish Loop which winds its way around the Avalon peninsula and ends up near the ferry dock. Apparently, the Irish Loop gets its name from the fact that most of the initial settlers of the coastal towns hail directly from Ireland.
A wedding and a funeral on the road
The pictures above depict a wedding roadside toll: two women raising money for a stag and doe for a local couple getting married that weekend. Neda donated $5 to pass.
The bottom picture was actually a funeral procession, which we initially thought was traffic due to construction! We saw cars lined up behind heavy machinery, but then the construction vehicles did a 180 and all the cars followed as well! Turns out everyone in that town, including the construction workers rode in and out of town to pay their respects to the dearly departed. We joined the procession at the end of the line and followed them back into town and passed them as they turned into the cemetery. A wedding and a funeral on the same road within the same hour! Bizarre!
The ferry ride back to Nova Scotia from Newfoundland
Since we were leaving from the east coast of NL, instead of the west, where we arrived, the ferry ride back was 15-hours long. So, to avoid getting kicked in our sleep by the ferry crew, we dished out a small fortune for a cabin during the overnight ride back to Nova Scotia. This was our first time during this trip that we're sleeping in a bed and the cramped accommodations felt so luxurious!
Start the day right!
The next morning, we rode around St John's to get some supplies and walked the downtown area. Ended up at Ches's fish and chips, which was a Newfoundland institution, and came highly recommended by Roy the night before. One of our resolutions on this trip is to try everything the locals recommend. I suspect the food tasted extra good because of all the hills we had to walk up and down to get to Ches's. Did I mention the roads in St John's are crazy steep?!
Lake Quidi Vidi
After lunch, we hopped on our bikes and rode out to a very pretty area just outside St John's, recommended by the waitress at Bacalao last night. It's called Quidi Vidi, and it's where the beer we drank is made. The brewery is housed in an old fish processing plant on the lake, the white houses above are fishing stages.
GS at Lake Quidi Vidi.
Hanging out at the Quidi Vidi brewery
We took a tour of the brewery and received some beers to take home with us. These are not the beers, we only got one each. Unfortunately, mine leaked in my top case on the way back. It's very hard to wash out the smell of beer. So right now I'm carrying a little bit of Quidi Vidi 1892 dark ale with me everywhere I go.
99 bottles of beer on the wall...
The fishery was bought by the brewery after it was shut down when Newfoundlanders faced tough restrictions on fishing in the 90s.
Signpost at Signal Hill. Foreshadowing, maybe?
Around the same area is Signal Hill, which was the site of the first transatlantic wireless signal by Marconi. Later used by the military as a communications centre, it provided us with great views of St. John's from above as well as the waters of the Atlantic ocean.
Cabot Tower at the top of Signal Hill
Neda gets shot out of a canon at the top of Signal Hill
The view of St. John's from the top of Signal Hill.
Whale-watching from Signal Hill
These tourists must have gotten their money's worth. There were a lot of whales jumping in and out of the waters below Signal Hill, and all you had to do was look for the whale-watching boats as they followed whales swimming in the bay.
Colored row houses are a famous sight in St John's
The legend is that the fog was so thick in St John's that when the fisherman came home, they couldn't distinguish which house was theirs, so they painted them all different colours so they wouldn't walk into the wrong home. Dunno if it's true, but it's pretty.
Still empty on George St, the hub of nightlife in St. John's
In the evening, we took a bus into St. John's looking to taste a bit of nightlife. However, we were reminded how old we were when at 10PM on a Saturday night, we were ready for bed and the party hadn't yet started yet...
Not "screeched in" officially...
Newfoundland screech is a foul-tasting paint-thinner that the locals used to brew cheaply. There is a whole tradition of being "screeched-in" involving drinking this slop, kissing a cod and reciting a dirty limerick about jibs and penises... The only place that we could get screeched in was Trapper John's, which was dead, so we instead went to a crowded bar and ordered some screech there instead. Turned out we walked into a cougar bar...
Next day was a travel day - ride down to Argentia, at the southern tip of Newfoundland to catch the ferry back to Sydney. We were recommended to ride some of the more interested roads around the coastline instead of taking the main highway straight there. So we did! Scenic routes like the Irish Loop which winds its way around the Avalon peninsula and ends up near the ferry dock. Apparently, the Irish Loop gets its name from the fact that most of the initial settlers of the coastal towns hail directly from Ireland.
A wedding and a funeral on the road
The pictures above depict a wedding roadside toll: two women raising money for a stag and doe for a local couple getting married that weekend. Neda donated $5 to pass.
The bottom picture was actually a funeral procession, which we initially thought was traffic due to construction! We saw cars lined up behind heavy machinery, but then the construction vehicles did a 180 and all the cars followed as well! Turns out everyone in that town, including the construction workers rode in and out of town to pay their respects to the dearly departed. We joined the procession at the end of the line and followed them back into town and passed them as they turned into the cemetery. A wedding and a funeral on the same road within the same hour! Bizarre!
The ferry ride back to Nova Scotia from Newfoundland
Since we were leaving from the east coast of NL, instead of the west, where we arrived, the ferry ride back was 15-hours long. So, to avoid getting kicked in our sleep by the ferry crew, we dished out a small fortune for a cabin during the overnight ride back to Nova Scotia. This was our first time during this trip that we're sleeping in a bed and the cramped accommodations felt so luxurious!
Full gear is not bad until you are at a complete stop, above 50 the gear is well vented
Sent from phone
the photos show they are in bars drinking in full gear. crazy!
+10000 :thumbup:
kickstartt
Well-known member
Cool plan man! Very admirable!
atgatt!!!
Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/7.html
We rode out from the ferry into early morning rain coming down on Sydney, Nova Scotia. We've had such perfect weather for our ride so far, very un-RideDOT.com-like, so we were due for some precipitation! Not a lot of pictures from our ride, since we had to meet friends in Halifax, about 400 kms away.
Neda tries to make the guard smile at the Citadel. Unsuccessfully...
The weather clears up as we enter Halifax and we ride up Citadel Hill to check out Fort George, the latest and largest of many fortifications built to repel attacks from the Indians first and then the Americans later on during their Civil war and the War of 1812.
Tall Ship Silva is a permanent fixture touring around Halifax Harbour, a popular spot for weddings and events
We met our friends Khanh, Ed and Dirk in Halifax harbour, they had just completed a harrowing Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000 from Toronto through torrential rain and pea-soup fog in New Brunswick! It was nice hanging out with folks from home and we took the Alexander Keith brewery tour for some free beers at the end. Oh, and the show was nice as well, if not a bit cheesy...
Alexander Keith brewery. Our second beer tour this week!
The rest of the Toronto riding gang, Will, Mel and Irene pulled in later and we had a great dinner in the harbour, and then checked into a motel (BEDS! LUXURY!) for the evening. While it's great to be on the road and seeing new places and meeting new people all the time, it's nice to hang out with familiar faces again.
Fog creeps over the harbour at Peggy's Cove
The next morning, we all rode out to Peggy's Cove, a very picturesque community on the south shore of Nova Scotia, less than an hour outside of Halifax. It was very foggy, which added to the Maritimes atmosphere, but thankfully the thick blanket burned off while we were walking around the lighthouse and granite rocks at Peggy's Cove.
Arguably the most photographed lighthouse in the world
I'm trying to bump up the stats for "Most photographed lighthouse..."
We doubled back towards the northern tip of Nova Scotia in the afternoon. This would be our third time doing this route on the trip and co-incidentally we stopped in Antigonish for a third time to gas up. No McLobster this time though. Speaking of, we've been eating a lot of seafood this trip, I'm not normally a big lobster fan, but it tastes so fresh out here!
Sun sets on our bikes at our campsite outside Port Hawkesbury
We rode out to a campsite for the evening just outside Port Hawkesbury, yakking and laughing over dinner, while poking good-natured fun at each other until the sun set on our tents. We're rolling with our own motorcycle gang now!
We rode out from the ferry into early morning rain coming down on Sydney, Nova Scotia. We've had such perfect weather for our ride so far, very un-RideDOT.com-like, so we were due for some precipitation! Not a lot of pictures from our ride, since we had to meet friends in Halifax, about 400 kms away.
Neda tries to make the guard smile at the Citadel. Unsuccessfully...
The weather clears up as we enter Halifax and we ride up Citadel Hill to check out Fort George, the latest and largest of many fortifications built to repel attacks from the Indians first and then the Americans later on during their Civil war and the War of 1812.
Tall Ship Silva is a permanent fixture touring around Halifax Harbour, a popular spot for weddings and events
We met our friends Khanh, Ed and Dirk in Halifax harbour, they had just completed a harrowing Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000 from Toronto through torrential rain and pea-soup fog in New Brunswick! It was nice hanging out with folks from home and we took the Alexander Keith brewery tour for some free beers at the end. Oh, and the show was nice as well, if not a bit cheesy...
Alexander Keith brewery. Our second beer tour this week!
The rest of the Toronto riding gang, Will, Mel and Irene pulled in later and we had a great dinner in the harbour, and then checked into a motel (BEDS! LUXURY!) for the evening. While it's great to be on the road and seeing new places and meeting new people all the time, it's nice to hang out with familiar faces again.
Fog creeps over the harbour at Peggy's Cove
The next morning, we all rode out to Peggy's Cove, a very picturesque community on the south shore of Nova Scotia, less than an hour outside of Halifax. It was very foggy, which added to the Maritimes atmosphere, but thankfully the thick blanket burned off while we were walking around the lighthouse and granite rocks at Peggy's Cove.
Arguably the most photographed lighthouse in the world
I'm trying to bump up the stats for "Most photographed lighthouse..."
We doubled back towards the northern tip of Nova Scotia in the afternoon. This would be our third time doing this route on the trip and co-incidentally we stopped in Antigonish for a third time to gas up. No McLobster this time though. Speaking of, we've been eating a lot of seafood this trip, I'm not normally a big lobster fan, but it tastes so fresh out here!
Sun sets on our bikes at our campsite outside Port Hawkesbury
We rode out to a campsite for the evening just outside Port Hawkesbury, yakking and laughing over dinner, while poking good-natured fun at each other until the sun set on our tents. We're rolling with our own motorcycle gang now!
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OP- Never met you or your wife but I am truly inspired by your sense of adventure.
Keep on riding and keep us posted, have a safe and fulfilling trip.
For anyone interested in actually following along, just visit their blog.
This thread went downhill pretty quickly.
Keep on riding and keep us posted, have a safe and fulfilling trip.
For anyone interested in actually following along, just visit their blog.
This thread went downhill pretty quickly.
