May 31,
2018
Just a few
months ago we were struggling with lack of confidence about making this long
long trek to Newfoundland. Could we really make it? Were we experienced enough?
Were we taking on too much? We finally decided to go ahead and go. We weren't
getting any younger! Now was the time!
We are a day
later getting to Newfoundland than planned. The ferry cancelled for one day due
to high winds on the seas! Apparently when the ferry rocks back and forth, the
trailers (travel trailers and semi trailers) rock and hit each other and causes
damage that the ferry does not want to pay. So, they cancel the trip rather
than risk the damage costs.
This is the
day we have been planning for. This is the day we have dreamed about.
We arrived
at the Marine Atlantic Ferry in North Sydney, Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia at
9:00am. Our Ferry was scheduled to leave at ll:45am. They told us to be there
at 9:30 but I’m glad we arrived even earlier because the lines were already
forming. We waited in line about an hour and after confirming tickets etc, we
were ushered to another line.
There were about 50 other RV’s similar to ours
(Class C, Class A, Custom Vans, Travel Trailers, 5th wheels) also on
the Ferry. Then there were 50-75 Semi Trucks! We were all loaded on in some
kind of organized manner that was unfamiliar to us. In the end, we were all packed
in like sardines and it worked out great!
 |
| Our Ferry! |
 |
| Loading into the underbelly of the Ferry. |
 |
| Packing in. |
 |
| And here we are! Tightly packed in. |
It was easy
loading. We got out and walked around a maze of trailers/cars/semi’s and found
the stairs going up. We were in the underbelly of the Ferry. We climbed up to
the 7
th level where there was a Café, Casino, restaurant, several
areas of seating, gift shop etc. We went up to the 8
th and 9
th
levels (where you could reserve tiny berths). Wow! We went outside and what a
view! We were outside until we got out of the cove but then it got very windy
and cold so we sat by a window inside.
It would be
a 6-hour trip across the Cabot Strait in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We had
packed a lunch and water. We bought coffee and Tom ate snacks. We had hoped to
see some whales but we didn’t. I read on my Kindle.
 |
| Our table inside the Ferry. |
 |
| Our view the entire time! |
 |
| Elmo has on his hat and life-jacket for the trip! |
We met another couple
sitting next to us. They are Margaret and Barry from British Columbia, near
Vancouver Island. We talked and talked. They are going to be in Newfoundland
for a month, also in an RV. We discovered we are going to be at the same
campground for a couple days once in Newfoundland.
Toward the
end of the voyage they opened up the restaurant but after a VERY slow line to
order, we sat down to eat and our food was not arriving….. we arrived in port and
we still did not have our food. Several other were in the same situation. I
asked for our money back and we left.
We had time
to walk up to level 8 and 9 again! We looked out onto NEWFOUNDLAND! What a
beauty! Newfie’s (People who live in Newfoundland) refer to Newfoundland as “The
Rock”. It is a huge rock, forming a very large island in the Atlantic Ocean.
We found our
truck and Honalee and we were off the ferry very quickly and on to Trans-Canada
Highway #1. It’s the only major road throughout Newfoundland.
We drove
straight to our campsite about 30 minutes away. We followed our friends, Ty and
Ida from North Sydney that we met at the Arm of Gold Campground (the Birding
people) most of the way. We had talked with them about the campground we were
going to but they were not sure where they were going to camp that night. They
ended up at Grand Codroy Campground also!
Along the
way, the terrain changed from rock to trees and mountains with snow. Our
campground was the Grand Codroy, located in the Codroy Valley. What a beautiful
place!! Very spacious sites with trees, right on the inlet and great mountain
views. Jason checked us in. He’s Alice’s son, the woman I spoke with on the
phone who was SO nice and friendly, many months ago. Jason owned his own
business until he sold it two years ago and he came to the campground to help
his parents. This is his second year here.
We did
struggle to back into our site. Alice’s husband, Dennis came over to help and
then stayed for about 45 minutes telling us about the history of the campground
and his family.
 |
| Our first sunset in Newfoundland. A view from Honalee. |
June 1,
2018
After a
great night sleep (only 5 hours of darkness) we were ready to explore. We ate
breakfast at a recommended spot just up the road at Joe’s Café. While there, we
spoke with another couple from our campground who are from Austria!! They have
a rented Class C and said they were here to explore Newfoundland, Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick.
We drove on
north to Cape Anguille Lighthouse. It’s the western most point on Newfoundland.
We walked the rocky bluff and saw a lot of Lobster buoys. While walking we ran
into Margaret and Barry!
 |
| Cape Anguille Lighthouse |
 |
| Tom walking along the rocky edge of the Ocean. |
 |
| Elmo loved the lighthouse and the walk. It's still a bit cold so he wore his hat. |
 |
| This is the western most point in Newfoundland. |
We decided
to drive down to the Codroy Fish Plant in the cove nearby. There, they bring in
their fish and clean and prepare them for shipment. There were lots of seagulls
and old Lobster fishing boats. We went up some stairs and were able to buy some
Lobster. It was just the meat and already cooked. We ran into Margaret and Barry there also!!
 |
| Older wooded lobster pots and newer rubber coated metal. |
We decided
to drive south to Port aux Basque (where we departed the ferry yesterday) and go east from there and explore the
southwestern portion of Newfoundland. Wow! What a difference in terrain!! It’s
all rock!! There are very tiny little fishing villages on the rocks in various inlets.
There are also trees but only in the areas that are protected by the wind. It
was a beautiful drive and a very bumpy and non-maintained road. These little
towns were only recently connected to Port aux Basques by road. Prior to the
one road, they were serviced by boats.
 |
| Shoreline |
We drove about 45 minutes to the end of the road. It goes no further. It stops at Rose Blanche. The Rose Blanche Lighthouse is at the end of the road. We hiked up to the lighthouse and walked around on top of the high bluff! It was built in 1871 and restored about 15 years ago. Along the way, there were stories posted about various shipwrecks in this bay area. What a great view!
 |
| Rose Blanche |
 |
| Little village of Rose Blanche in the background. |
 |
| Rose Blanche from the lighthouse hilltop. |
When we
hiked back down, a lady was coming out of one of the brightly colored
buildings. She owns the B&B there and talked for almost 30 minutes. Great
stories about the area and she had a great accent that was fun to listen to!
Newfoundlanders are skilled in the art of conversation!
On our drive
back to Port aux Basques we stopped at Margree, a little fishing village and
ate at the Seashore Restaurant and yes, we ate more seafood!
Back at the
campground, we had decided to move to another site (and Tom needs practice
backing up!). The site we were in backed into a very treed cozy area on the
water but we noticed the pine tree was touching the top of Honalee and any wind
would have caused scratching. So we moved to another spot with little problem.
Moose have
been sighted all day around the campground area but of course we were out
seeing the sights!! We did not see a
single Moose!
Once set up
we were invited over to Margaret and Barry’s campfire and stayed until 10:30
talking! They are headed out in the morning but we plan to keep in touch via
email so we can hopefully meet up again in the next month.
June 2,
2018
Today is
Tom’s ONE YEAR Anniversary of his heart surgery! Both girls text/called him to
say congratulations! All the adventures we have had this last year! What a
blessing!
It rained
today. Just a slow steady rain with a lot of fog, low clouds. We decided it was
a great day to do our 5 loads of laundry! The laundry here only has 3 washers
and 3 dryers so we only did 3 loads. The others will have to wait. We also
spent some time reading.
Around 3:00
Tom suggested we drive around and look for moose! It was an innocent thing to
do! We drove a couple back roads; there are only a few. Mostly we drove the
Trans-Canadian Highway #1 north. We drove for about an hour and turned around
and headed back. We stopped to get some diesel. Then we decided to take a Loop
through a little town and get back on the highway. That “loop” turned into …
well, let’s just say it was an adventure we’d rather forget. No harm done and
we learned from it. If you really want to hear the story, just ask and we’ll
tell you privately. We’re a little embarrassed that we didn’t see it coming.
And we never saw a single moose!
June 3,
2018
A very cold
morning and 20 to 25 mile an hour winds we were prepared to move north to Gros
Morne National Park. We were told the wind would be at our back the entire
drive and it was not something to worry about. So, we headed to our next
destination, Gros Morne National Park, about 3.5 hours away. We hoped to see
Moose along the way…. No Moose!
Wow! We
drove through the most beautiful mountains to get to our campground, which is
located in the heart of Gros Morne. It had snowed earlier in the day and all
the mountain tops had more than a dusting of snow! We heard that just north of
here, they got a foot of snow! It was around 35-39 degrees all day.
In freezing
temperatures (due to wind chill), which reminded us of Northern Missouri last
December, we hooked our utilities up and came inside to warm up. We have a
great rig! We are never cold inside!
We rested a
bit and then decided to look around. We drove into Rocky Harbour. It’s a little
village of about 900 people at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Bonne
Bay. Colorful houses along the water, it’s a cute little town. Several people
were out walking in ski pants and coats and scarfs. It’s so cold! I guess a lot
of us got here to vacation (or “Holiday” as they say around here!) and found
that the weather wasn’t cooperating!
 |
| Our campground right in Gros Morne National Park. |
 |
| Rocky Harbour |
We drove a
little bit further north to Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse. The inside was closed
but we walked around a bit until we were frozen and headed back to the truck.
June 4, 2018
Today it’s a
little warmer and the sun is out. It’s actually beautiful but still pretty cold
with a high of 44 degrees.
We decided
since it was so cold, we’d drive 1.5 hours to Corner Brook. This town has about
30,000 people so it’s a major city in Newfoundland! We drove by it on the way
to Gros Morne.
We went to
an electronics store first. We bought a booster for my laptop to help with my
ability to Blog and manager photos. We also bought a Sirius radio for Honalee.
We have Sirius in the truck but when we don’t have enough connection to watch
TV, we’d like to at least listen to the radio. We love The Bridge and Classic
Vinyl for music and then we also like news shows and talk shows.
We also
found a camera store and Tom bought a telephoto lens for his camera. I am
expecting GREAT photos from him, for my Blog!!
I was
driving and all the way there we kept our eyes out for Moose but no Moose. On the way back we were almost
back to our campground and there,… on the left side of the road was a ….
MOOSE!!! It was a beautiful Moose! Healthy looking and perfect! He crossed from
the left shoulder to the right and off into the woods. Since we were stopped by
then, we got a great look at him but no photo! Finally, a MOOSE! About 5
minutes later we ran into construction and there, standing on the side of the
construction area was another Moose, watching the workers as they worked on the
road. Two Moose in one day!
June 5, 2018
This morning
we got up early and went into Rocky Harbour for breakfast on the coast.
Beautiful morning with boats in the Harbour and boats out in the ocean
collecting their Lobster.
 |
| Our view of Rocky Harbour while eating breakfast. |
We drove about
an hour north along the coast on Highway 430. On the way, the truck in front of
us had stopped in the road. And then we saw why. A newborn baby Moose! It was
barely walking and it’s back legs were hardly holding him up. He had been in
the road and the guys in front of us got him off to the side. The mother was
not where in sight. The poor thing kept crying out for his mommy.
We drove on
north to Arches Provincial Park. These are huge rocks that the water has carved
tunnels in. We walked down and into the arches. Amazing and so beautiful!
 |
| Elmo still goes everywhere with us! |
We got back
on the Highway driving back south and our friends from the Ferry and Codroy
campground, Barry and Margaret were driving north and pulled into the Arches
Provincial Park! We turned around and went back and talked with them for a
while. It was so good to see them! They are headed north to St. Anthony to the
Iceberg Festival.
We began
driving south again and stopped at Cow Head. It’s a tiny port village with an
island right off of it. We drove to the island and parked and hiked up to the
lighthouse. What a view from the top!!
 |
| Beautiful views!! |
We saw signs
for Broom Head which has a Fishing Exhibit so we went there. It was really
interesting. Newfoundland acquired the property from a family that had been
fishing there for many years. Their boat, buildings, nets and other equipment
were there. A guide relayed the story to us.
Coming out
of that area, we ran into a huge herd of sheep that were just roaming around
freely.
Further down
the Highway we drove through Sally’s Cove. It’s so tiny… maybe 50 people live
there. It’s a fishing village. The weird thing is that the entire town is -2 to
-42 feet below sea-level. There is a large rise by the bay that keeps the water
out. Kind of strange.
Heading
south again, we saw 3 Caribou!!
June 6, 2018
Kind of a
lazy day to start off. We drove into Rocky Harbour and inquired about tickets
to an entertainment/musical show tonight at the Oceanview Hotel. We also
reserved tickets for a boat ride into Western Brook Pond where the ice age
carved a huge gorge in the rock.
Later we
drove into Norris Point and went through the Bonne Bay Marine Station. They
reviewed tide pool fish/animals and we learned about Lobster, crab, Cod, and
other fish industry here in Newfoundland.
 |
| Beautiful Norris Point |
 |
| Rare Blue Lobster |
 |
| Extremely Rare Yellow Lobster |
In the
evening we went to great musical presentation by Anchors Away!! Before it got
started we got there early to eat supper and have a few beers. A couple from
Ontario sat next to us and we really hit it off. They are from Toronto in the
Province of Ontario. We discovered that we are all taking the same boat
excursion tomorrow on the Western Brook Pond. We had a such a great time
talking with them!
 |
| Anchors Away! |
It’s a
musical group of 5 that sing Newfoundlander songs but were also extremely
funny!! It was great! They wove in great stories of the history of Newfoundland
and the people and their humor. They asked where people were from and sang a
song that related to the Canadian Provence they were from. Obviously, most are
from Canada somewhere. When asked if there was anyone from “south of the
border” Tom raised his hand. They asked what state. He yelled Kansas! They
immediately broke into a rendition of “Home On the Range”.
June 7, 2018
Wow! Great
time on the boat on Western Brook Pond! It was a about a 45 minute hike in to
get on the boat but it was a beautiful day! We met up with our friends from
last night, Pat and Richard. We saw some Moose which was unexpected. The
glaciers carved away at the walls of the rock and it was amazing. They continue
to have rock slides as recent as 1994 where whole sides of the rock fall and go
into the water. Some areas of the “pond” are 300 feet deep, right at the edge.
There is no gradual decline… just straight down at the waters edge is 300 feet.
We also saw lots of waterfalls that were long and dramatic!
 |
| Glaciers cut this huge gorge in the rocks. |
 |
There is no "beach" because from what you see, it goes
straight down 500 feet!! |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Elmo had his life jacket on. He enjoyed the boat ride! |
Coming back
the wind was coming at us it was really cold! Another hike out and we were
done.
We had such
a great time with Richard and Pat, we decided to meet up for dinner too. We ate
at Oceans Room Restaurant in Rocky Harbor and we all had some kind of seafood.
Pat ordered a whole lobster which became slippery at times! Tom and I had
Salmon and Richard had Cod. It was all delicious. But the best part was that we
were there for 3 hours talking. It was wonderful to connect so completely with
these total strangers. We talked about so many topics and were in sync on so
many issues. Such a great evening! They are not campers, just folks on
“Holiday”. They leave tomorrow for Twillingate!
The waitress took a photo but it was straight into the sun so it didn't turn out. We'll miss them!
June 8, 2018
It started
out to be a nice day and it even warmed up a bit and then it got cloudy and
cold and rainy.
We decided
to drive to Corner Brook to look at some Class C RV’s. We have found that we
don’t use all of our space in Honalee. It’s really too big for us! Also,
driving a 1-ton dually is becoming more and more of a huge pain in the ARSE (as they say around here!) as
we go through small towns and small parking lots etc. A Class C RV would be a
perfect size for us and we would pull a small vehicle (small jeep?). We looked
at Thor Class C’s but wow! They are so cheaply made! It does not compare in
quality to our Honalee. We’ll keep looking. We love Honalee so it’s nothing
urgent.
We ate
lunch, found a bulk store and stocked up on lots of nuts (pecan, walnut,
Macadamia, cashew and almonds). We also bought some fresh ground Peanut Butter.
Then we did some grocery shopping and headed home to Rocky Harbour. No Moose
today!
June 9, 2018
A very lazy
Saturday! We spent several hours in town (Rocky Harbour) at Java Jake’s using
their WiFi. I transferred this blog from Word to the Blog and began downloading
photos. However, more people came in and soon the WiFi was horrible so we ate
lunch there and left.
 |
| Java Jack's in Rocky Harbour. We ate here a couple times. |
I spent the
rest of the day doing laundry and made some phone calls to various relatives.
June 10,
2018
Another lazy
day! We laid around and read ALL DAY. I finished another book. We literally did
nothing! Around 7:00 we decided to go for a walk around the campground. It’s a
large campground with mostly very spacious sites with lots of trees. Some back
up to the beautiful large clear lake. It was a cold walk, just around 40
degrees.
When we got
back, we played a few vibrant games of Mexican Train Dominos.
June 11,
2018
We spent the
morning going to the Health Clinic in Norris Bay. Tom saw a doctor to get his
prescription filled. After a few questions, there were no problems filling
them. We took the prescription to the pharmacy in Rocky Harbour and poof! It
was filled. He got 3 months’ worth of pills. The doctor visit and the
prescriptions came to a whooping total of $75 dollars!! So much cheaper than the USA.
Came home
and napped. Neither of us had slept well last night. Must have been the Domino
game! It’s overcast and only 44 degrees. We had thought about leaving tomorrow
but decided to wait and maybe leave Wednesday.
June 12,
2018
Today we
decided to go to Woody Point. Although it’s only about 1/3 mile from where we
are “as the crow flies”, it took over an hour to get there. You have to drive
all the way around Bonne Bay (67 kilometers) to get there. The road is
absolutely beautiful, through mountains and the views are spectacular! There is
a passenger ferry but it doesn’t begin running until June 15th. On
the way, we saw a very large moose eating
along the side of the road!
There were
very small little fishing villages on the south side of Bonne Bay which we
drove through (Glenburnie, Birchy Head, Shoal Brook). Woody Point was tiny! We
found a great little café where I had the best Seafood Lasagna! The arts and
crafts in the café were really different. Most were carvings out of Moose
Antlers and they were very good!
Then we went
to the Discovery Center but the main exhibit was under reconstruction so there
wasn’t a lot to see. We drove a little further to the Tablelands which is a
huge piece of ocean bottom that was pushed up and exposed millions of years
ago. It has no trees and no vegetation. There were spots with snow still.
 |
| Woody Point |
 |
| Great craft store with lots of local talented artists on display. |
 |
| Still some snow! |
 |
| Discovery Center. The twigs to the right are what a moose eats in one day! |
June 13,
2018
It rained
all night and all day. So, it was a great day to put together a 1,000 piece
puzzle, read books and do a load of laundry! We leave tomorrow to go further
north. We heard on the news that there was a sighting of a Polar Bear near St
Anthony. There are not supposed to be any Polar Bears in Newfoundland but some come over every spring on either ice or they swim from Labrador. They are following their food source... seals. Then they swim back to Labrador or they are tranquilized and taken back.
June 14,
2018
Today we
drove two hours north to Port au Choix (Port-aww-shhh-waa). We are staying at
the Oceanside RV park owned by the local Lions Club. There isn’t much to it but
it’s perfect! The sites are all back-in and facing the ocean…. The beautiful
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
 |
| View from Honalee. |
The water
front of Port au Choix is filled with fishing boats of all sizes and painted in
bright colors.
 |
| Elmo loves visiting the fishing villages. |
We went
through the French Room which is a cultural center depicting the history of the
resettlement movement in the 1960’s. There were so many tiny towns in
Newfoundland that the government decided to move them to “Growth Centre’s” and
Port au Choix was a destination town for the resettlement. Some people floated their
homes to Port au Choix which seems very odd but apparently it was cheaper to do
that than to build a new home.
Then we
drove to the Point Riche Lighthouse. As with the rest of the province of
Newfoundland, this lighthouse sits on top of a huge rock. At the Port au Choix
Heritage Centre and Visitors Center we saw the history of the lighthouse
keepers.
We also
stopped by Ben’s Studio and met the artist that creates the unique wood-scapes
that we have enjoyed looking at since Rocky Harbour! He was a character! He is
full of stories and each wood-scape has a story behind it. We were glad to
finally meet the artist!
We also ate
dinner at Anchor’s Cafe which is owned by Ben’s cousin. She too was a talker!
We loved listening to her stories and fast talk. Suddenly she looked out the
window while talking with us and saw our truck. She said, “I saw you in Corner
Brook!” “I remember you were there and we followed you for a while!” Small
island! She has to drive to Corner Brook for food items for her Café, which is
a little over 3 hours away!
We leave tomorrow for the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland!
