Thanks to everyone who replied to my message.

I can easily shift into first gear or reverse with the engine off.  That's
what I've been doing - as little as possible, but it works fine.  I'm now in
Port Hawkesbury, NS, heading north.  (Well, not at this instance - I'm set
to camp for the night and using some wifi...)  I can shift into higher gears
with basically no trouble (occasionally a bit of trouble getting into 3rd)
when driving.

The brake/clutch fluid is at the maximum level - doesn't seem to be a fluid
problem.  (yeah, despite being totally non-mechanical I did know to check
that!  Amazing, I actually figured one thing out before I emailed you
guys...)

There's not a whole lot of stop lights between Port Hawkesbury and St.
John's.  A few getting back on the TCA here, a stop or two getting onto the
ferry in N. Sydney, a few in Port aux Basques, a few in Corner Brook, and
then a few once I get to St. John's.  Oh, and some stopping and starting for
the Timmy's stops, of course, to keep me awake while speeding down the TCA.
I have a good mechanic once I get to St. John's.

So, if anyone knows of a great VW mechanic in Port Hawkesbury, N. Sydney, or
anywhere along the TCA in Newfoundland, please do let me know!  Assuming not
- if this is working smoothly (fine so far, now that I expect it and know to
simply turn the engine off if I get stopped at a red light), am I doing
great harm by driving this way?

Joy

On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 12:58 PM, Jake Beaulieu <jake_beaulieu@yahoo.com>wrote:

> I am joining this thread a bit late, but if you are looking for a mechanic
> in Maine you might consider Foreign Auto Supply (
> http://www.foreignautosupply.com/).
>
> jake
>