Goodbye to Albert

Ruth and Kevin really took me under their collective wings, and I was able to lick my wounds and recharge my batteries during the time I spent at Cache Rapids.  A great treat was to be taken on a couple of drives around the area.   One of the most interesting was around Cormack, where war veterans were each given a house on 50 acres of land to enable them to keep smallholdings.  Most of them have since been amalgamated into larger commercial farms since then, but some of the original small wooden houses still remain tucked away among woods and fields on rolling hills -very peaceful and rural. We also went out to sample the stunning scenery of the Gros Morne park, where Kevin sometimes takes trail rides.

   Mantracker's Sidekick perusing the mountains for prey?  No - Kevin taking a shifty at the remaining vestiges of winter snow....

And the Parks authorities have thoughtfully provided a couple of seats to admire the chilly view - al fresco with a glass of wine?  They are a hardy lot in Newfoundland.
Ruth and Kevin also took me for supper at a superb little restaurant at Woody Point - much recommended.  Here are the dynamic duo on the balcony outside...

Tuesday and Wednesday were also a chance to organise the next stage, one of the concerns being how to negotiate the narrow stretch between Steady Brook and Corner Brook where the steep mountainside comes right down to the lakeside and the rail bed has been replaced by the Trans Canada Highway.  I hoped to avoid trailering the horses over this section as it would leave a gap in my journey, but would it really be feasible or safe to lead the two horses along the highway verge?  Lady is almost bombproof but Albert while good in local traffic, is not so used to fast heavy traffic.   After careful consideration I decided it would be best to carry on with just Lady. For a variety of reasons I had already felt Albert would not be entirely suited to continue on the mainland, so it seemed a good time to find him a new good home, particularly as there were a few interested parties in Newfoundland who could provide just that.  The upshot is that he is going to Jessica Greening in Musgravetown who was originally interested in buying him around the time I came in on the deal.   A final photo of Albert in the corral at Cache Rapids...

So on Thursday June 12th Kevin trailered Lady and me back to the point we had reached and it was just the two of us that set off along the railbed to Pasadena.  A beautiful ride alongside the blue lake on a sunny day, but my camera was still recovering from the soaking it had received at the weekend.  This section was marked as horse trail on the Trans Canada Trail website, but it was horrendously stony in parts.  Happily I was now equipped with the boots donated by Terry, and Lady tramped over them with gay abandon.
Several weeks before Joan King-Pike had offered to sort out horse accommodation for me in Pasadena, and she was true to her word.  Lady had a large grassy paddock next to Joan's horse, and settled in quickly.  Unfortunately no camera so no photo of Joan (sorry Joan!) but many thanks for your help and the offer of a bed for the night which I was unable to take up as I still had some packing to sort out.