Off "The Rock"

During one conversation I had with someone the topic of pronunciation and accent came up. She admitted that when she stumbled over the proper pronunciating of "Newfound-LAND" she sometimes caved and just used the nickname people have for this place. "The Rock". And as I was having that conversation I got a message from my friend in Margaree saying, "The fish are in!". So since I had already admitted that I was feeling just about complete with this Newfoundland trip I thought that maybe I'd just roll with it and try to get a fishing day or two in on my way back. I was able to book the ferry on the fly. Even with the truck. In the middle of summer, no less. It was a midnight ferry that arrived in Nova Scotia early the next morning. A little aside: I drove down to the ferry port to buy the ticket since I was right there in the neighborhood, so to speak. Newfoundlanders apparently don't like to bother with too many road signs, I've found, and this port area was no different. I got myself to the booth and stopped. No human. I paused for a minute. Still no human. And it was in between ferrys so there wasn't any other traffic. Maybe I was suppose to drive to the next part, to the building I could see? So I put the truck in drive and rumbled through. All of a sudden there were flashing lights of two vehicles! One vehicle did a pretty impressive skid in front of me to block my way while the other vehicle stayed behind me. "What the Nick!?" Apparently I wasn't suppose to move on from that initial building. Ooops. International incident to leave the province! I eventually righted myself and bought the ticket but now I had a few hours to kill. I popped into the ubiquitous coffee place and plopped into a booth. At the next booth, where there was a man and two women sipping hot drinks, I heard, "Ish-diddly-oshidoak-skinshiddle". Or something like that. I literally had no idea what I had heard. It was english. Newfoundlander-english. Sounded a lot like the deep cajun accent that is spoofed in the movie, "Water Boy". Shockingly interesting.
Back to the ferry...this ferry, the one from Port aux Basque, covered half the distance of the ferry I had come in on. And the shorter distance mean't fewer amenities on this smaller boat. No raucous entertainment. No nice benches to stretch out on. And it was freezing like the bus ride Kelly and Vaughan reported from Argentina back to Brazil. The difference was I had a sleeping bag. I dozed on and off in the uncomfortable seat but at least I was warm. I arrived back in Nova Scotia to a peninsula that looked really different from the one I had left. Everything was now mid-summer green and the heat wave that you guys at home have been dealing with was reaching this far north. For the first time since June 7th I took off my down coat and reached for the lightweight clothes. Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about this! I drove through the Cape Breton NP in deep fog for the first half and then things opened up. The air was warm. And still. The water was glass. And I was able to find a spot in the six site, beach side campground I stayed in last year. I was welcomed back with the treat of a spectacular sunset. The breeze kicked up after sunset to make for a nice, comfortable sleep.
Today, I'll head back to Margaree and maybe a fish or two.Read more