Crossing Life by bike, foot, boat… always with Heart & Courage
Before bedtime, a short video.
Before continuing my journey to Fogo Island, I was attracted by ‘the New World Island’ ! How could I resist the novelty ! And I did well to make this diversions by going north, I discovered Twillingate and a park with an evocative name: the Dildo Run Provincial Park (the ‘dildo’ being a piece of boat, you knew that right?!).
After my ride in the Gros Morne park, I realize when I get my bike back that I have almost no brakes left ! The only bike shop in this area, before the big city of St-John’s, is 115 km away.
Luckily, a nice cyclist I met recently on the road offered to take me there with her car and I accepted with great happiness, as I could not see myself getting stuck on the hills without brakes !
Then, the next day, radio silence in my being… !?!
On the road, all the paths are difficult and some are blocked !… So I have to make detours towards the highway and that extends my route of a good 35 kilometres.
The detours imposed over the last few days have forced me to remain in solidarity with myself and have brought me even more to the centre of my solitude as a road rider; even if these moments of silence are greatly appreciated, I feel more at home in the cycling event than on a Bixi ride !
After a few days and more than 300 kilometres, I am still happy to be back in civilization with this arrival in Lewisport and this welcome in a beautiful yellow house filled with sun !
I realise as I make this stop that I have no strength left…
My body and head are tired. My tinnitus has increased and is making an incessant buzzing in my head. The light, the sounds, the smells, the wind have become unbearable.
I was offered accommodation and it was greatly appreciated!
I will be able to rest here, on the sofa in the entrance.
Then a neighbour comes to welcome me, I try with all my being to wake up, it is not easy. I don’t want to show my exhaustion, I still want to get to know these people who are rich in history and full of goodness !
Let’s go for a little evening in the port with these lovely people ! Sailing is the main subject !
I had planned to take a rest day, then to go on my way…
But I linger; a wonderful woman offers me supper, offers me her car to go grocery shopping, and shares her story and her husband’s incredible story with me !
I am so surrounded and absorbed by these people that I don’t realise my energy is waning as it demands so much of my attention.
In between these meetings, the need for silence is becoming more and more apparent…
And finally I will need four days spent inside myself and away from the outside world, resting here on the sofa in the hall. How lucky I am to be able to take a break from my nomadic journey! How good the people are to me !
Every evening my luggage and my bike are ready to go, but in the morning when I wake up it’s impossible to leave. Have I gone too far ? Have I pushed my body beyond its limit ? Will I finally be ready to ride again tomorrow morning ? I want to so much… No choice, tonight again to rest my head and let go of this questioning… If this journey is to end, then I will have accomplished a major challenge and learned to recognize my limits more. Good night Julie…
But you know. I’m back on the road, of course !
It seems that my legs are stronger than my head !
But the solitude of the journey has been joined by an air of simplicity…
Pedalling would be enough for me.
Even if deep down, in order to share better, I would embark you all on a one kilometre long tandem-totem pushed or braked by the winds of this Great Country… Just to hear your breaths in the effort and your cries of joy on the way down !
My trip is not over yet. Newfoundland is made up of countless islands around an island and attractive peninsulas overlooking an infinite sea…
Next step, Fogo Island and its mythical hotel…
Thank you for continuing to follow me, to read me, to motivate me.
Shortly after my arrival on the island, on a beautiful day, I had the opportunity to hike the Gros Morne National Park.
I love the mountains as much as the road and this place was a longstanding wish because of its reputation. As they say, it’s a ‘must’!
And if you go to Newfoundland, and especially if you arrive by boat from Blanc-Sablon, for sure, Gros-Morne is waiting for you!
It is an exceptional place because of its landscapes, its geology, its telluric energy! I hope you will meet him, he is like a giant of the Earth and the Sea.
Here I am at last ! Newfoundland ! The New Promised Land !
Since 2019, I have been dreaming of coming back…
I arrived on a rainy Friday night; I put my tent in a small park in the port of my arrival, the village of Sainte-Barbe, the north-western gateway to the Newfoundland peninsula. And I fell asleep with the sound of the waves and the whales’ blowing… Wow ! Finally a new sea !
Saturday morning, it rains non-stop, but I get on my bike, too excited to discover this new road. I’ve been riding for two hours and I haven’t seen anyone, not a vehicle, nothing…
I ask myself: am I the last human on earth ?
What a strange sensation, this mixture of solitude and freedom…
And this coastline, so different from the North Shore and even more so from the west coast of British Columbia! Only the road, the horizon of the sea, a little vegetation, no big forest.
I end up arriving at a mini village. The inhabitants welcome me with open hearts. A lone woman on a bicycle arouses a lot of interest. Sitting quietly at the local convenience store to dry off a bit, a good man buys me a hot dog !
The rain has finally stopped and after 160km on my bike, I arrive at Arches Provincial Park. A beautiful sunset awaits me there, it’s fabulous ! I set up my solo tent and quickly fell asleep. My first day was a blast !
Next destination: Rocky Arbour, located in the heart of Gros Morne National Park. The road between this park and Rocky Harbour is smooth. The smell of the sea, of flowers after the rain and of conifers intoxicates me. I feel an intense joy to be on this impressive island !
As I am so close to the Gros Morne Park, I take the opportunity to go for a hike that is popular with many hikers.
Waiting to participate in the interview with Pépito Live Costa Rica, I ended up at the ‘Out East Adventure Center’ youth hostel where for 20$ I could pitch my tent and enjoy the nice facilities.
This corner of the country, despite its sometimes undeveloped, bare and wild appearance, is full of natural and human resources !
I get off the ferry, I am in Blanc-Sablon.
I have 8 hours before the next ferry leaves for Newfoundland…
Labrador is not far away and I really want to visit and see everything!
I see on the map the little village of L’Anse Amour…
What an inspiring name!
Who doesn’t want to know about love!?
And after the ‘love handles’ there is Anse!
I want to go there. Go !… on the bike, while wishing me to come back in time not to miss my crossing to the promised New Earth !
Once there, I take a few moments to say a beautiful prayer.
A prayer in the name of all, for all, so that the Love of Self may manifest itself in the heart of our lives…
While waiting to be answered, I have to return quickly to the port. I pedal so fast that I am exhausted, I have miscalculated my time and it is raining so hard! Luckily, a man stops his car and offers to carry me to the boat! Wow, what kindness and what luck! Along the way, he tells me about his part of the country and I realise that I would have spent more time there…
Labrador, I’ll be back…
My departure from Quebec City (in fact from Lac-Beauport) to go in one go to Baie-Saint-Paul was like the shooting of an arrow towards a distant goal, but long visualized! I experienced the first stage of this long journey eastward as a renewal that I wanted to celebrate upon my arrival in Baie-Saint-Paul.
Each hill, each climb, each descent of these beautiful Charlevoix mountains were like moments of transition towards a new, much softer reality, that of a solo journey, in total freedom.
And it all started in a big way with the long Saint-Joachim hill, when we left the beautiful and historic Côte-de-Beaupré.
The uncertainty of undertaking this other part of my challenge solo was replaced by the pleasure of discovering myself fully as an accomplished, solitary and assertive woman.
I rode hard! I did days of 100, 120, 150 kilometres…
And the kilometres I rode paid off with exceptional encounters filled with kindness and generosity!
From Quebec City to Baie-Saint-Paul, then to La Malbaie to Tadoussac and finally to Les Escoumins. Where a close friend, her daughter and her mother offered me the privilege of sharing the comfort of their cottage, not to mention the most important, the comfort of their presence…
Because I left the companion of the beginning of my journey.
Yes, it’s really another energy that drives me. The demonstration of knowing that they are present (even virtually) makes me feel safe and helps me so much in the pursuit of this healing adventure. So does the support of the GoFundMe donors and all the people who follow me via social networks.
After their hospitality and a certain amount of rest, I knew I would have to set off for the North Shore, far from my loved ones, to reach Sept-Îles with a certain urgency…
Given the changing sanitary conditions, who knows if I will have to do a quarantine to reach Newfoundland? No choice. In fact, I am in a hurry and I take the boat that will take me to the port of Blanc-Sablon.
Throughout this crossing, I fall in love with wonderful villages, inaccessible by road, that I am shown around and that leads me to think, to think that I would live this experience of life in an isolated land. Who knows, a little later, in a few years… It’s ‘La Grande Séduction’!
These 72 hours on the boat rock me and heal, I feel, my wounds from the past… On my arrival in Blanc-Sablon, I feel fully alive again, it seems that my luggage, my burden, is no longer the same…
Following my last text which mentioned my great difficulty in crossing the centre of this country, I would like to express myself on the beauty of the world… of humans!
All your hellos on the roadside, your encouragement and appreciation of my project, your smiles nourish me day after day.
In these times of pandemic, I feel like an intruder and the fear of not respecting people worries me, because the last thing I want is to be disrespected!
And then, on my way, I realise that people are so happy to be there for me. It feeds my physical body, my spirit, and my soul. So many beautiful encounters fill me with joy and help me to continue.
I see and understand the essence of this journey: the human encounters, the non-judgment of everyone and the happiness of sharing with each other.
You, gentleman at the grocery shop… I see you, I feel you. It’s been a long time since anyone has spoken to you or taken an interest in you… We sit and exchange a few simple words and we feed on this moment. Thank you to you whose name I do not know!
I am sitting on the side of the road, exhausted, hot and thirsty; a woman offers me water! Then, further on, the lodge, a good supper and a big breakfast! A hot shower. Ordinary moments for everyone, but they take on a whole new meaning after days of cold, heat, rain and drought.
Thank you to all those who helped me along the way, thank you for the hellos, smiles and everything else.
You on the side of the road encouraging me yes you… Thank you you made my day!
See you soon, dear reader, and thank you for encouraging Répit-Jeunesse, which helps young people in need by providing them with shelter, comfort and reassurance, in a non-judgmental and loving manner!
The wind, the sand, the pesticides are coming at me, head on at 40km/hour. The dryness of the land dries my mouth, my eyes and hits my lungs.
I am thirsty, there is no water here. The small lakes are filled with minerals from the soil and chemicals from man to satisfy a material thirst for which we are all responsible.
I resist and continue to drive against the wind to get to the next gas station. Here I am not self-sufficient, but rather dependent for a proper drink.
Since I am in the plains, I make sure I have my 5 litres of water in the morning when I leave. I can’t carry more than that. I have to consider what stops I will make in small villages. Some of them don’t have a grocery shop or gas station. I am in a desert…
Ten kilometres separate me from the next gas station and I can’t get there anymore, the wind is slowing me down, the intense heat is dehydrating me and the sun that burns me doesn’t want to go to sleep and let me cool off. It’s 7pm, I look for shade, but there are no trees. So I rush on, exhausted, and hope to arrive before the closing of this gas station, otherwise I won’t have any water.
I see a mini lake, but I don’t dare to drink from it… A ring of salt surrounds it and all these fields full of pesticides slow me down.
Here, most of the inhabitants do not drink tap water.
The beauty of the plains that brings me inner peace is also violent and exhausting. I have been fighting for some time with this wind that does not turn. I resist, an overwhelming loneliness takes hold of me.
Today the weather will change.
It is announced, snow, wind and sub-zero temperature.
As I progress through these linear landscapes, I am almost tempted to believe, as some do, that the Earth is indeed flat!
But the Sun reassures me that tomorrow will be here, but not quite the same… Like the revolution of my wheels in front of endless landscapes. Like the ephemeral wishes that we make day after day…
In these conditions, daily life is a challenge in itself. Every morning I pack my bags and every evening I make a camp to spend the night. My body works continuously to provide for my basic needs. It also works to keep me going. Hydration is a vital need, it plays an important role in maintaining my energy. I can’t afford to be dehydrated.
Taking minerals (ionic trace elements) is highly recommended for maintaining hydration; it helps with tissue formation and muscle function.
To treat my water I use a UV lamp system commonly known as SteriPen. This kills bacteria, protozoa and viruses by 99%.
A simple and effective system for a trip of several months. But you need to have water sources on the way. This system has been perfect so far; except here with the limited accessibility to water and especially polluted water, as this system does not remove the chemicals accumulated over time.
Often, during intense challenges such as climbing 1100 metres in 46 km on snowy, muddy, rock-filled trails, morale can falter and can lead to a state of mind of complaint and discouragement.
I will tell you about something that happened in Australia in 2003 that was a great lesson for me. This learning has served me well ever since and has changed my outlook on life.
We are penniless, we have no job and suddenly a man offers us the opportunity to work in a garlic field picking garlic. It’s 45 degrees Celsius, the wind is constant and the dust whips around our bodies.
We are bent over and our backs hurt…
As we are paid by weight, we want to go faster, but we are too slow and it is impossible for us to go faster because of the pain our bodies inflict on us.
Suddenly, between a few complaints, I notice a group of Africans gathering garlic so quickly that I decide to watch them.
They are singing, laughing and having fun as they work and their harvest is immense compared to us. I start to listen to their singing and even sing with them… After a few hours my body hurts less, I feel happier; I don’t focus on my pain or the heat anymore. I realise that I am collecting much more garlic than before! So I make more money…
Now, whenever I face a challenge, I think of them as they helped me to transform my mindset and not to dwell on the difficulties, but to see the good and the beautiful even in difficult times.
