Day 13: Argentia to St John’s

Distance: 132.4km

Total distance: 1363.8km

Average speed: 22.8km/h

Weather: cloudy 

I have been dreaming of this day for 8 years and today we made it! 

After finally boarding the Marine Atlantic ferry last night (which was delayed for almost 2 hours), we scoped out the ship and looked for places to sleep since we didn’t book a cabin. In the end we camped out in the children’s play area and contrary to what we thought would happen nobody kicked us out and we had one of the best night’s sleep being rocked by the rough-ish seas. 

The ferry was like a mini cruise ship, complete with bars, lounges, a buffet restaurant (which we indulged in for dinner), and even a movie theatre. It was very stormy when we finally sailed out of North Sydney and we celebrated with some drinks to say goodbye to Nova Scotia and the mainland of Canada. 

We arrived in Newfoundland in the fog, in true Newfoundland style. People warned us about the wind but we got lucky and it was generally blowing in the direction we wanted to go today. As we rolled off the ship, it really dawned on me how far we’d come.

The first 40km or so of today’s ride on route 100 was incredible, filled with seaside views and just the right size of hills and one of the best roads I’d ridden on for the whole trip. That flow feeling where your pedal strokes and fluid you are one with the bike is priceless. Eventually we had to go on the Trans Canada highway, which definitely wasn’t the worse part of the Trans Canada I’d biked (the prize goes to Manitoba for that one). 

After getting lost multiple times in Conception Bay area, we finally arrived at our last Warmshower’s hosts Neil and Hailey’s cute house at the edge of St John’s downtown area around 8pm, to a lovely dinner of Newfoundland freshly caught cod. We had so many cycling stories to share because Neil himself had biked across Canada as well. 

Combining with the previous trip, the grand distance I biked I across the country was: 5962km

Total days biking: 54 (42 + 12)

Average per day for Tour de Poutine 2.0: 124km (113.6km if counting the first very short day in Quebec City)

As was the first time, it’s going to be weird to stop biking everyday from tomorrow onwards, but we are going to spend some time exploring St John’s and do some hiking and swimming in these next 2 days before flying home. 

Just like the first trip, I was met with such warm hospitality from all the people I encountered on this trip. The Maritimes is a magical place and it’s a bit of a shame I had to go such lightening speed due to the time constraint, but I will definitely return for a more thorough future visit. Thank you so much especially to the man who tied my bike rack with zap straps on the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia; it’s made through hundreds of kilometres after and is somehow still intact.