Diary of a 7 hour ferry ride with our dog and van

Written in Nova Scotia, on a boat crossing the ocean, and then in Newfoundland.

TLDR

• If you want to bring your car to the island of Newfoundland, the only option is to take a ferry.

• We checked in just after nine am and were off the ship around seven pm, making for a ten-hour day of travel in total.

• After check in, we sat in a long line of other parked cars and were able to walk around.

• We left Scout in the van during the trip with windows cracked and fan on low. (It was pretty chilly outside, but we wanted to cycle fresh air and provide a bit of familiar background noise.)

• The boat ride itself was about six and a half hours.

• When we came back, she was sleeping in the passenger cab chair and had also bunched blankets into a nest on the bed. Signs of coziness!

• She got pretty hyped at our return but seemed to shake off residual stress as soon as we parked for the night and stretched our legs with a game of tug.

• We’ll do the same thing for our return trip (but maybe the overnight voyage instead).