August 18
End: Rocky Harbour
Miles: 31.6
Total: 5245.0
Sleeping in the cabin caused me to sleep in a little bit. In the morning I had to force myself to put on my damp clothing quickly and leave without delaying the inevitable. Thankfully it had stopped raining the night before and I could expect my clothes to dry out reasonably soon, assuming there was some sunshine.
I started off wearing my rain pants, but it got too warm for them quite quickly. I continued to pass by campers occasionally where tourists must have decided to set up camp for the summer. Though I usually did not admire people traveling in a big RV, I appreciated the fact that some people chose to travel to a remote part of Newfoundland and park their vehicle there for at least a couple of weeks.
Distinctive mountains could be seen as I made my way north, wandering the dirt roads up and down them. I finally arrived at a paved road and was surprised to not see any IAT blazes directing me. Luckily I knew which way I wanted to go, but the lack of trail markings reaffirmed my devotion to walking the road without worrying too much about the IAT’s route through Newfoundland.
Grabbing some chips at a convenience store, I was told that the water taxi from Woody Point to Norris Point would do its last run in two hours. Since I was exactly two hours of walking from that point, I left immediately and went fast. When I arrived I found that I actually had an hour to spare.
When the water taxi finally arrived I got on board with some tourists and we rode across the bay. I was never asked for any money, so when I disembarked I started walking towards Rocky Harbour, hoping to get to the store before it closed. Soon another walker and I were picked up by friendly tourists, who drove us to Rocky Harbour.
The other person was a girl from Germany touring Newfoundland for a couple of weeks. Flights from St. John’s to London have made tourism more feasible for Europeans. She mentioned a hostel in town and I decided to fork over the money for a non-hiker hostel, since my other plan was to hike all night to attempt to escape the impending rain scheduled for the next day.
Another German girl appeared at the Wildlife Museum, where I paid for my bed, and offered to give us a ride to the hostel a few blocks away. I went to the grocery store first, and found it was better than a convenience store, but not stellar by any means.
What was much better was the hostel. Being accustomed to hiker hostels, I was happy to see a kitchen, bunks with mattresses and sheets, and even my own towel to use after taking a shower! It was nice to talk to the other travelers and hear about their time in Newfoundland before I went to bed.
