Day 25: Tues, July 7: Argentia to Harbour Grace, NL

"Harbour Grace". Isn't that the most lovely name? I'm gonna do some research to find out the origins of the name -- I think it would be fascinating ... along with Heart's Content, Dildo and other weird and wonderful monikers ;-)

Anyway, we are staying here in this little town of 3,000 on the sea, at a fabulous B & B here, Rothesay House, built in 1855-ish (full of paneling, wood floors, bay windows etc., etc.) and run by George and Lynn, who are the quintessentially perfect hosts (plus Meggie the dog). Very highly recommended folks and place to stay, if you ever get to the Rock.

We arrived here in the late afternoon, after having had a very late lunch on the way and enjoying the views and (windy) ride in the burgeoning sunshine ('burgeoning' is my word for the day, yah see). LOL

First stop after checking in was to head for the local beer store -- Alexander Keith's Pale Ale turns out to be a perfectly acceptable substitute when Corona & Lime is unavailable, BTW -- aren't I just broadening my horizons sooo much, eh?

I see that I should back up here and say that the ferry came in about 1-1/2 hours later than advertised (what's up with that eh? Perhaps the captain was Mexican and we were on manana time?)

Passengers were not allowed down to the vehicle deck until she was completely docked and tied up, so then there was (somewhat) of a mad stampede to get down and get the bikes untied as well -- luckily for me, a fine young laddie parked behind me helped me wrestle the straps open and we jumped on our bikes and away we went off the boat -- where I promptly wound up pulling off in to the terminal area cuz I spotted what looked like two bikers waiting -- one with those wonderfully 'slutty' Drifter fenders I was pretty sure had to be Tequila Sheila.

Yep - it WAS them and it was like Old Home Week all over again. Both Sheil and Mikey are warm outgoing sorts and we've already had plenty of giggles. And the fun part is, they both are interested in exploring a bit off the beaten path as they haven't had the opportunity to do so before, so we will all be touristas together :-)

Once the formalities were over, we headed off down the road, where we stopped at the local Tourist Information Centre for maps and a guidebook and wound up chit-chatting to a fellow and his wife and trying to help him persuade her to learn how to ride -- don't know how successful we were, but at least we got her to sit on all our bikes -- just to try out the fit, doncha know!

Interestingly, Mikey quickly identified that my bike seemed to be idling too high and I realized he was quite right -- that is probably what is contributing to my difficulty with shifting smoothly -- happily, he was able to arrange an appointment for day after tomorrow for me to get 'er in to be computer-analysed in Grand Falls near their home, so hopefully that will get sorted out pronto. I will be doing the happy dance then, boyoboy!

Pretty bushed now, so will sign off and get some sleep. Oh, yes, I have taken a number of pics and will get those posted, hopefully tomorrow night.

G'Night All!

EDITED to add photos: Day 25: Harbour Grace, NL