Sojourn Days 31-40
Day 31 August 19 It was still raining lightly when we left Twillingate and since it was not the best of weather to do more sightseeing, we headed back to the Trans Canada Highway. Stopped in Lewisporte for breakfast, and decided to find a church to attend. We ended up at St. Matthew’s United Church, and were warmly welcomed by the greeters in spite of our jeans and tennis shoes.
Back on the road, we made great time heading to the western coast. Once we turned north at Deer Lake, we were heading into the Long Range Mountains, and the very strong winds that swirl through them. We would have stopped at every turn in the road to enjoy the view, however, there was rarely a safe place to pull over.
One stop we just had to make though, was the sight of a bull moose along the road!. At last………our desire to see a bull up close was realized. (For those of you who followed us through Alaska, it was our major disappointment last year). 
It was very exciting to see one that close up, in fact, after a few moments he crossed the road directly in front of our van. We did get a couple of good pictures, however, we were so excited at wanting to watch him, and also the fact that we were in the middle of the highway with oncoming traffic, that the moment came and went way too fast. Hopefully, we will do better the next time!
We were able to reach Rocky Harbour in the heart of Gros Morne National Park before dark, and quickly found a very secluded campsite for the night. We spent the rest of the evening driving around the coast line, working our way out to the lighthouse, and also back down the coast to Norris Point which had a great overlook. Unfortunately, between the overcast skies, and the approaching darkness our pictures do not fully depict the overall beauty. So many times we wish that we could be taking 180° panoramic pictures, to capture what we are seeing in person.
Day 32 August 20 Typical Newfie weather in Rocky Harbour this morning, misty and 54°. We made the mistake of trading our hot oatmeal at the van for an overpriced so-so breakfast at Fisherman’s Landing, filled up the tank, and started up the coastal road which is called the Viking Trail, toward St. Anthony (pronounced Sanantony by locals who drop most of their ‘h’s), which is close to the tip of the Northern Peninsula. We saw two large black fox within the first half hour. The Gulf of St. Lawrence was on one side of the road, and the mountains on the other side. There was little to no traffic along the way, but the usual bumpy roads kept our speed down.
A funny thing happened along the way to St. Anthony……….we decided to go to Labrador!
This side trip speaks to the looseness of our itinerary. We go where the spirit moves us on any given day. It turned out to be such a gorgeous day, that we felt that a ferry ride would be in order, and since we were so close to Labrador, it seemed logical to us. We also are dreading the time when we will have gone as far north as possible, and will start heading back south. It is the same feeling that we had last year in Alaska, when we got all the way to Circle and knew the rest of the trip was heading home.
The ferry ride took one and a half hours (20 nautical miles) with nothing in particular to look at.
After coming ashore in Quebec we drove the few short miles to Labrador and about 40 more miles past the border. 
Not finding a good looking restaurant we secured a campsite in Pinware River Provincial Park and then cooked our own dinner. The tiny black flys were so bad that we had to cover ourselves with bug spray before we could do anything. This was really the first major bug problem we’ve had on this trip. While talking with a park ranger about the flys he said, “Wen you’re in yer boat goin out ta fish aboot a mile or two, ya ave nary a fly wit ya. Wen ya stoop ta fish, in aboot 5 minutes ta blasted flys start shooen up”.
Our dinner was good and we were allowed to have a small campfire so we had a few of our very old marshmallows.
Darkness fell and it began to get very cold so we turned in about 9:30. The sky was clear and with no moon we could see more stars than we had ever seen. They were everywhere from horizon to horizon. It was a cold night and we had no electricity but we we very comfortable under our emergency blanket.
Day 33 August 21 We got up early as we had about an hour’s drive to the ferry which leaves at 10:15 and they recommend that you arrive one hour early. We left our camp at 8 AM, in great need of a cup of coffee since we had no power for our pot. Found a nice restaurant within view of the ferry terminal, and had breakfast. The owner talked non-stop, and told us his whole life history, including his ancestors’ as well, and all of his future plans. He was a really nice fellow, but almost caused us to miss the ferry.
The ferry ride was rather rough, and we were glad to reach the shore. We immediately headed to L’ Anse aux Meadows which is the northern most point on the peninsula which is where they have determined that the Vikings first landed 1,000 years ago. 
You can look out over the water and imagine their ships coming in from Greenland and Iceland. We have learned that they were basically marauders looking for adventure. They built sod homes, and the picture is of a reproduction. The sod is layered all the way to the ground.
On our drive on to St. Anthony, we saw female moose along the side of the road, but once we stopped she quickly disappeared into the woods before we could get a picture. 
St. Anthony is the largest town we have been in for a long while, and it was only about 3,000 population. Their coastline is very impressive.
We ate dinner (great seafood chowder, cod and halibut) at the Lightkeepers Cafe which sits high on a point and is the prime spot to watch for icebergs and whales. There are no icebergs now due to the unusually warm summer, but we could see many whales spouting and surfacing in the water. We were told that there was a small whale in the harbor at Goose Cove, and drove there after our meal. What a sight to see. The townspeople were all lined up around the docks watching the whale play alongside of the boats. Two young men were splashing in the water to attract it to them. The whale kept coming back to them and at one time gently pushed one of them over to the docks as if to get him to safety. Everyone was in awe of the event. We were told that it was a Pilot Whale, but we are unsure.
Back at our campgrounds, we took showers, walked the few steps down a path to enjoy the water falls behind our site, built a campfire, and looked at the stars. What a special day this has been!
Day 34 August 22 Today was spent driving from St. Anthony back down the western coast to Rocky Harbour. All across Newfoundland, we have seen stacks and stacks of firewood alongside the roadways. It seems everyone has a way of identifying their own piles, and they must definitely rely on the honor system, since we never witnessed any pilfering. We called and made our reservations for the boat trip through the fjords in Gros Morne National Park. The weather was mild and sunny until we got closer to town and then we started to get showers.
As soon as we had picked our site and got out to unload our things, we heard a cat crying in the woods. We were unable to see it from our site, so Barney went around to the next one, and could see a small kitten 
hanging onto the branches of a tree. With some effort, he was finally able to free it, and it immediately adopted him as her mother. Not being cat lovers per se, we were glad to give her a dish of milk and let her entertain herself around our camp, but later walked her to the owner for safe keeping.
Since we had picked up steaks for grilling, we decided to assemble our gazebo so that we would have shelter during our dinner, and we were glad that we did, since it did rain while we were eating. Our steaks were wonderful, along with baked potatoes, salad and wine.
By the way, we saw three more moose along the road during our drive yesterday, which means Barney now has 4 credits banked, and I only have one. There were many warning signs posted to be alert for Caribou herds, but we have yet to see any here.
Day 35 August 23 The skies were very overcast and threatening when we awoke this morning, and we talked about our options for the Gros Morne Western Brook Pond boat trip. We finally decided to go on the one o’clock trip and to take rain gear with us.
Since we had some extra time this morning, we emptied the car-top carrier, and cleaned it out. We had discovered a couple of days ago that some of our cans of root beer had leaked their contents. We discovered that our liquid bleach had done the same thing, but it was in a large plastic container and caused no damage. We also decided that we would remain in our campsite one more night, which meant we did not have to disassemble our very wet gazebo until tonight or tomorrow morning.
In order to reach the boat that takes you into the fjord, you must make a 45 minute walk from the parking lot to the dock. You walk through spruce forests and on boardwalks over peat bogs and marshes. We saw no sign of black bears but they are here. The boat tour itself is 2 1/2 hours, and by far, the fjord is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. Note: this is not a true fjord in that it is not a coastal inlet. It was millions of years ago, but since then upheavals have put it all above sea level. The sheer rock cliffs are mostly perpendicular to the edge of the deep cold and almost lifeless waters, so we could get extremely close to them. They have been dated up to one billion years old. We are going to let the pictures speak for themselves, since all of the descriptions we could give would not do them justice.
Gros Morne pictures 1, 2 & 3
Gros Morne pictures 4, 5, & 6
Gros Morne pictures 7 thru 10
One interesting note that we learned was that the Caribou swim across from one glacier crevasse to another in order to reach higher and colder temperatures in the summer months, and also to escape the mosquitoes and tiny black flies, that can actually suck out over 3 pints of blood per year from them. We can certainly relate to that, since our encounter with the black flies in Labrador.
We were very fortunate to get our ride in with the iffy weather. The morning tour was cancelled due to the fog, and the late afternoon tour must certainly have had a good bit of rain. Our ride was perfect, thank goodness.
Our day ended with a great dinner of Codfish and chips at Jackie’s, a local restaurant in Rocky Harbour. We were starved after our day’s adventure. Came back to camp, packed up our gazebo and carrier, updated our log, and took wonderful showers. Good night!
Day 36 August 24 It was raining when we awoke, so we waited until it let up a little, made a mad dash for the coolers and ladder and got on the road by 8 AM. We stopped in Corner Brook 
and took care of our chores, (laundry, haircut for Barney, Wal-Mart and lunch). This was a perfect day to work inside since it has been raining continuously.
A good example of the friendliness and generosity of the Newfoundlanders was while we were stopped in a parking lot with all of our maps and resources spread out trying to locate a campground for the evening, a man came and knocked on our window, and asked if he could be of any assistance to us. We explained our dilemma and he went into the building and brought out a phone book. He had checked with some others inside for their input as well. When we recorded the phone number to call later, he went to his car and insisted we use his cell phone to make our call now. As it turned out, we reserved one of the the campground’s last two sites. We thanked him profusely, and once again were so impressed with the friendly folks we have encountered here. As the man on the ferry told us, “they will kill you with kindness”. He was so right.
Day 37 August 25 The temperature really dropped after the rain last night. It was 46° outside when we got up. Inside of the van, we were nice and toasty between the electric blanket, and the small space heater we use in the mornings. We drove back into Corner Brook for breakfast before heading south down the Trans Canadian Highway (TCH) on our way to Channel Port aux Basques, our final stop before leaving Newfoundland.
We drove route 460 west which is about a 200 km loop out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The southern side of the Port au Port peninsula was along St. George’s Bay. 
Just when we thought we had seen all of the beauty there was in Nfld, we kept encountering more and more at each curve along the coastline. The winds were gusty, and the water deep blue. Today is clear and sunny, so the combination was perfect. 
Arrived in Port aux Basques around 6 PM, and quickly found that the only two campgrounds with power were back up the road 30 kms. So we gassed up and turned around. We had to pay .849 per liter, which equates to $2.21 in American dollars, our highest yet. The odometer reads 6100 which is close to what it was when we crossed the Alaskan border into Skagway last year.
One stroke of luck is that our campground here in Codroy, Nfld has Internet access so we were finally able to do this upload.
Day 38 August 26 A beautiful morning, crisp and cool breezes. It was in the 40s when we first got up, but it quickly warmed up, and the most required during the day was a windbreaker. We checked on churches in the area and were told there were only two. The Catholic church had a very early mass, and the Anglican church only had a 7PM prayer service. We opted for the latter.
Spent the afternoon driving through the Grand Codroy Valley area. Stopped at the Silver Sands restaurant and had our daily dose of fish and chips. We are addicted to cod.
There was a nature trail immediately behind our campsite,
and we were delighted at the beauty along the path. They had even provided several places where you could stop and meditate or listen to the stillness. 
Along the path were signs pointing the way and with little slogans on them, many of which were very pertinent. This camp was being run by the Downey family that owned much of the land in the area and had donated 10 acres to the Provincial Park system, only to take it back over when it was privatized. They were nice folks.
We spent some time in the evening with several of our neighbors and as is customary we shared some of our good and bad experiences. We always gain knowledge from others, and some of the stories are hilarious.
Day 39 August 27 The alarm went off at 6 AM, and we were out of the camp and in line for the Channel Port aux Basques ferry by 7AM. We had been told that we would get a car wash as part of the Agricultural Inspection process and were disappointed when they informed us that we did not need one. Ha! That is one man’s opinion.
Since this is a ferry day (5-1/2 to 6 hours, 90 nautical miles) it is also a good time to talk about the economics of our type of travel in Canada. Most Canadians think we US citizens are getting a tremendous bargain when we travel in Canada. That is probably true in relation to what they are paying, but we have found several things to be more expensive even after converting our dollars to Canadian dollars.
The basics; right now 64 US cents will buy you a Canadian dollar. Or for one US dollar you will get $1.54 of Canadian goods and services. The thing that throws off all your mental calculations when you buy something is that often they will tack on a 7% GST (goods and services tax) and a whopping 15% HST (harmonized sales tax). I think the HST pays for their government operated health system but I am not sure of that. We have heard that Canadians pay an average of 44% income tax. Just a rumor, don’t hold us to that figure.
You never know for sure when they will add the taxes as it sometimes depends on the size of the business which may be measured in gross annual sales, or number of rooms or campsite for accommodations. Part of the HST and GST is recoverable for foreigners traveling here. How much of that is recoverable is also a mystery and is a whole new subject so we won’t get into that.
Our personal experience has shown that lodging is a bargain for us as is eating out IF you get away from the touristy areas where they jack up prices during ‘hunting’ season. Ha ha. Campgrounds here cost about 60% of those in the states and that is BEFORE converting dollars. This is great. Hotels and motels are a little cheaper before the conversion, but you must watch what you are paying.
Gasoline is much higher here even after the dollar and liter to gallon conversion as was shown earlier on this page. The higher price is mainly due to taxes. As an example, today we bought $82 worth of gasoline. Of the $82, $36.79 was for taxes!
We have found great codfish and chips for as much as $12.95 or as little as $5.95 before conversion. Food in grocery stores may be a little cheaper here than at home. We have seen some medical products at Wal-Mart which are MUCH higher than at home.
All things considered, this is a great time for Americans to visit Canada and a poor time for Canadians to visit the states.
As of this morning, we have driven 6200 miles, approximately 2600 miles of it while we were in Newfoundland. Considering this island is slightly smaller in square miles than the state of Pennsylvania and slightly larger than the state of Ohio, and given the fact that we only covered a little more than half of it, that is pretty good coverage of “The Rock”.
| Sorry about the broken hyperlinks to some of the pictures. They are all fixed now and we will keep them that way. Give them another try so that you don’t miss any of the picture captions which sometimes contain something of value. 😉 |
Day 40 August 28 One thing more about the economics of travel in this part of Canada. About 90% of purchases can be made with a credit card. Of those, all places will accept VISA. Only about 50% will take MasterCard. We have noticed very few places which will take American Express. Many places seem to prefer debit cards.
Today we started up northeast along the Cabot Trail as we head for the Keltic Lodge, our home for tonight. From what we have heard about the place, one night may not be enough. We shall see.
The Cabot Trail climbs the sides of the mountains, and follows along the edge of the ocean. 
We stopped frequently at overlook parks to absorb the wonderful views. Actually, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, which is what we were in, appears to be located at the point where the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean meet. 
The weather was great, partly sunny and mild. We met several nice people during our stops who gave us tips on places to go and things to see while in Nova Scotia.
We arrived at the Keltic Lodge around 2 PM and were able to check in early. Our room was elegantly decorated and we were fortunate to have two windows since we were at the end of the hall. Each view was overlooking coastal waters, so that made it even nicer. The hotel was built in the early 1900s, and the rooms are not air conditioned, so the cross ventilation was a bonus for us. 
We decided that we would hike the 4 km Middle Head trail out to the point overlooking the ocean. It was classified as an intermediate trail taking 90 minutes to hike it, so we felt that would put us back in time for showers and dinner. Along the trail, I was not sure that we would ever get back, even slid on some gravel and cheated a little by sliding on my backside a short distance. We were a couple of hundred feet up off of the crashing waves below, the views were wonderful, and well worth our effort. Afterward, we felt proud of ourselves for doing it.
After happy hour in our room we went down for our 6:30 reservation in the Purple Thistle Dining Room. It was six on the half shell for me, a warm concoction consisting of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, bacon and a basil custard sauce for Diane. 
For the main course we both had prime rib, Yorkshire pudding and a nice cabernet wine. We both splurged on delicious desserts, stopped in to listen to the pianist who was the entertainment for the evening, and then went for a walk outdoors to help digest it all. What a grand evening! We will always remember how special it was.
A great day on the Cabot Trail.