SER1 Labrador City

[prev] [thread] [next] [Date index for 2005/08/18]

Hi,

I am pleased to advise that I have reached Labrador City one day ahead of 
schedule thanks to driving south of New Hampshire's White Mountains and 
bettering that 400 km day with a 500 km day the following, which brought 
me to Campbelltown NB one-and-one-half days to the good.  Gave some of it 
back crossing the St Laurence the following -- hadn't anticipated three 
hours spent in queue and that I'd land at Godbout 58 km east of my 
intended Baie Comeau, which put me at Baie Comeau too late to make the 
trading post at Relais Gabriel 316 km north.  Turns out there's lodging 
and fuel at Manic 2 (95 km in) and Manic 5 (214 km in) so I could have 
pushed on, but that's for next time.

Roughly 300 km of gravel of varying qualities so far, and lots of hills 
north of the St Laurence, on which the going is noisy and with much 
shaking.  THe TT is pulling well, but there's little to be done for the 
low power/weight which turns 4th gear hills into 3rd gear hills, and even 
2nd gear hills.  You could make good time if you could build a head of 
speed, but I'm averaging 60 km/hr on the paved and 50 km/hr on the gravel. 
At least north of Manic 5 the massive Western Star logging trucks stop 
overtaking, so less time is lost trying to let them by. Tomorrow its 238 
km of gravel to Churchill Falls.

Scenery is spectacular below Labrador City, where the vistas open up; 
below that other than the two great dams and the power station between 
it's mostly black spuce and mountain lakes.  Interviewed today by the 
local magazine '53 North' and the local newspaper 'The Aurora'.  Losing a 
bit of 90 wgt at the passenger side swivel but, other than that, nothing 
important has fallen off since Petersham.

George E Sollish	Chief Engineer		Auto Gear Equipment
 			Project Manager		The Payne Lake Project

To change subscription see www.landrover.net/series1/mail