Driving, driving, driving

Man, Newfoundland is big! (And nearly every side trip, requires you to retrace your path back to the TransCanada). 560 km up to L’Anse Aux Meadows, and another 560 km back again to Deer Lake. Then another 9 hours driving to reach St. John’s. Whew!

We broke it up into several days, trying to take in a bit of culture and nature along the way.

We stopped to walk trails in Flower’s Cove along the Viking Highway, and in Gros Morne National Park. 

White Rocks Trail

Thrombolites Trail

Bob also went on a boat tour of Western Brook Pond to see an inland fjord.

We happened to arrive at Rocky Harbour on the same night the church was holding a yummy Jigg’s Dinner fundraiser at the Town Hall. We joined in, stuffed ourselves silly, and chatted with some of the locals.

We stopped at the Newfoundland Insectarium in Deer Lake, and checked out the butterflies and other creepy crawlies (this was Lily’s requested stop). I found several butterflies I’d never seen before in their garden.  

An overnight in Gander, and then two nights in Terra Nova National Park, the most easterly National Park in Canada. I quite enjoyed our stop here. The park puts on activities and evening shows in the summer, and we were treated to a rather hilarious skit entitled CSI: Terra Nova. It wasn't meant to be so silly, but it was the first run of the season, and the cast was still getting used to their microphones (they forgot they had them on!), and costumes (the moose had a bit of trouble keeping a straight face). Regardless, we all thought it was great fun, and the audience was very appreciative of the entertainment.

Looking at Gambo from the highway - very pretty

Finally we made it to St. John’s…

I’ll get to St. John’s soon, but want to share a couple thoughts.

For Travelers:

Coming to Newfoundland is not cheap – the ferry for a vehicle of our size (55 feet) is over $500 each way (it beats plane tickets from Alberta, though!). Fuel is similar price as the mainland, but with the driving distances, and hilly terrain, our big dually goes through diesel like crazy (man how I miss a fuel efficient vehicle!). I've been keeping track of our fuel bill this month, and %#^%#!!!! Guess that’s the price to pay (literally!) for touring the country. At least camping here is relatively inexpensive (in comparison to many other places)! That all said, I am not regretting coming to The Rock at all. The scenery is amazing, the people friendly, and there are so many things to see and do here. Two weeks is really not enough.

An aside: I always seem to be doing my blog posts days after the fact – which makes it a lot harder to write about. We have been so busy, constantly on the move, that by the time evening rolls around, and I actually get a few minutes to write, I’m too worn out from the day’s activities to gather my tired brain cells enough to create anything coherent. Campground WiFi is also less common here (or so slow it’s practically useless). I can use the data on my cell-phone – sometimes. Not always though. In many places, cell-service is surprisingly spotty. Oh well. Guess I’ll just have to keep trying to catch up. Someday I might even succeed!