We've Arrived in Newfoundland!

Three nights of not sleeping on planes later, we have finally arrived, deliriously tired, in St. John's, Newfoundland.

After an overnight flight from Sydney, perhaps a three hour hike up a mountain in Honolulu wasn't the best way of conserving energy, but there was a great view from the top. We are fortunate enough to have friends living in the Aloha State, and so rather than spending the day kicking around the airport or taking expensive trips to Waikiki, we explored some of Oahu with our mates as guides. After a long, all four limb, climb up Hawaii Loa, a swim in the Pacific, and some great Mexican food and local beer, we had rather hoped that at least we would be exhausted enough to sleep on the next flight. To no avail.

Another red eye brought us to Vancouver where my brother picked us up to visit my folks in Sechelt. It was a brief visit as it takes some time to get there from Vancouver. We drove from the airport to the ferry terminal, caught the ferry, drove half an hour after docking to Sechelt, kissed hello, ate dinner, said goodbye and then did the whole thing again, but in reverse.

In the Vancouver airport everyone was glued to the television screen, including stewardess' and pilots. The Vancouver Canucks were playing the Chicago Blackhawks in a vital game that determined whether the Canucks were to continue on in the Stanley Cup playoffs or no. Nigel is a diehard Canucks fan. Chicago scored in the last few minutes leaving them tied 1-1.

Needless to say the tension was incredible. When the Canucks scored the winning goal in overtime, the entire airport erupted with cheers. Nigel beamed.


Then came another sleepless, bedtime flight to Toronto. Then on to Halifax. By the time we arrived in St. John's everything was feeling like an out-of-body experience. Plus my quads were aching. Probably from the hike in Honolulu, but there's a chance they were aching in anticipation for our coming ride.

We spent a couple of hours in the St. John's airport, assembling our bikes, packing our panniers, drinking Tim Hortons coffee and sleeping on the floor. Then we set out to our temporary home with friends of friends, on fully loaded bikes for the very first time. And then it started to snow.

We had anticipated cold. But it is a fair bit colder than we had expected. Temperatures are hovering just over 0°, and it has snowed and spewed freezing rain. Canada's weather is welcoming us home with the sort of spite the cat welcomes you back with when you've left it with a house-sitter for 2 weeks. Frigid temperament. However, it is supposed to be warm tomorrow and we are holding out hope that that trend continues for us, as we start out on our journey in a few days. Australia, send us some thoughts of sunshine.

The bird list began day one. Our ride from the airport had us passing Kent's Pond where we spotted lingering Tufted Ducks and Mallards. Bird number one was a Common Raven. We are on 14 species. We'll post a list page in the next day or so for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing.

Tomorrow we'll continue exploring St. John's.