Suicidal moose and other nightmares - Departure T-minus 31 days

"Sweetie I'm scared of the moose, they are suicidal."

3am and exactly a month to go before we land in Newfoundland and the very real prospect of coming face to nose with a moose sporting suicidal tendencies has just been broached in an early morning panicked conversation.

The previous night my wife woke with nightmares about driving on the icy roads surrounding St Anthony on Newfoundland's northern peninsular.

"Sweetie, I've never driven on icy roads, what happens if I have an accident, I don't want to have an accident?"

I concurred.

"It's okay, driving in those conditions is the best way to learn," was my sleepy response. Last night I went with "moose are only suicidal if you hit them and if we try not to drive at night and avoid going too fast we will be fine."

It's funny how your dreams are shaped by what you do just before you go to bed. Last night it was a quick scan of wikitravel which said:

"Moose of any size are often aggressive on the roads and frequently attack the headlights of passing cars. Drivers who survive collisions have been killed by the legs of an injured moose wedged in the windshield opening of the wreckage. Animals who have moved out of a vehicle's path may suddenly reappear on the road and exhibit suicidal behaviour."

The real lesson here is you should always try and avoid reading about moose attacking headlights of your car just before bed.

In a month my wife and I will be sitting in an airport in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland at about 2am. That's almost 7000km away from where I type this, Vancouver, British Columbia and the journey will have just begun because we will still be a 10-hour drive away from our final destination, the tiny community of St Anthony.

The plan is to hang out in the airport until day break (travel Scrabble and chess is on the cards) finding a cheap car to buy then setting off up the west coast to our new home, which we will see for the very first time when we arrive.

You would think going to a completely foreign town with no home, no friends with four suitcases and a big black cat named Sir Richard Von Pinkenbar III is scary but it's not as nightmarish as the thought of suicide moose.

In fact, we can't wait.