Day 12
May 24 - 61km (Bishop Falls)
I left from Appleton, not exactly sure where I was going to end up. That’s kind of been the summary of this trip: I don’t know exactly where I’m going to go or where I’m spending the night, but I just figure it out along the way. And that, I think, is the best way to do it. All I know is my end point for Newfoundland is Port-Aux-Basques and all I have to do is just bike west on the TransCanada Highway. It’s really that simple.
As I was packing up, I talked to two men who were strolling through the park. They were from England but moved to Newfoundland. I asked if the hills get any better; one of them said yes (I did not find this to be the case!).
I biked across the bridge to the nearby town of Glenwood to get some food from the convenience store. I was aiming for Grand Falls Windsor and I knew there wasn’t much between here and there, so I stocked up on food.
I remember that I wasn’t biking as much as I wanted. I wanted to be doing 100km per day, but seeing 50-60km was disappointing to me. However, I know I needed to be patient and the distance would increase.
I eventually made it to Bishop’s Falls and realized I wasn’t making it all the way to Grand Falls. As I was sitting in the Tim Horton’s, it seemed like the entire community gathered here to just talk and hang out. A group of men were interested in what I was doing and one of them later offered their lawn to camp out at. After eating 4 donuts and a bagel, I headed out for his place - except I forgot how to get there. A woman from Tim’s offered to guide me there and when I arrived at night, he and his wife offered their couch for the night. Their names were Terry and Marie, and again, I was so grateful to them. Marie was a kind and expressive woman, while Terry was kind but more reserved.
They let me take a shower and wash my clothes, and afterwards, we watched Survivor together. It was the season finale. I had never watched Survivor so Marie explained the concept to me - it’s something I definitely would continue watching when I get back.
I came into this province not knowing a single person. When I leave, I’m doing so having made lifelong friends. Thank you Terry and Marie.