Doyle Inspiration
We stayed at the Doyle RV Park which came highly recommended by other RVers we had met so we booked a night to spend there before catching the ferry back to Nova Scotia. We weren’t disappointed. It was a large open, grassy area along a river. Very large sites and the park wasn’t overly crowded. A lot of people left late evening to catch the night ferry. I discovered one of the best walks through the woods when I was taking Lucy for her walk. I spotted a sign that said Inspirational Walk so had to go check it out. As I entered the woods, I noticed a sign a little further in with a little quotation and an arrow pointing the way. Every few feet was another sign and arrow. Soon I found myself laughing out loud. What fun! I even could ignore the mosquitoes. Tomorrow the drive to Port Aux Basques and the...
Read MoreGrand Falls – Windsor
August 11th We decided not to take the Argentia ferry back to Nova Scotia because it would have cost us $900 and it took 16 hours to get there. Lucy wouldn’t have been able to cross her legs for that long. Another reason was that the Port aux Basques ferry was $420 and it would cost $250 for diesel and RV camping but we would still save some money. So, to make the trip back to Port aux Basque easier, we broke it into two days. We stayed at Grand Falls – Windsor at the Sager RV Park which is on the bank of the longest river in Newfoundland. Lots of fishermen and boats out on the water to watch. It was a relatively short drive there so we had a relaxing afternoon and a nice walk down to the...
Read MoreSt. John’s – Pippy Park
August 7 – August 10 Bonavista to St. John’s Pippy Park It was a bit of a drive to St. John’s and we were playing tag with a couple of other rigs we had seen along our travels. It was very easy to find Pippy Park with the large signs on the edge of the highway. Pippy Park is very old, well established, an RV Park and Campground as well as a golf course and a park. After we got settled into our pull through (the only area that had wifi, weak as it was), we took Lucy and ended up walking around Long Lake, almost a 2 km hike. It was really hot. When we got back, we took a quick drive through St. John’s. Really narrow streets, hilly and scenic. The next morning was drizzly and much cooler. Felt like snow. We packed our rain gear in our backpack and then went to meet Brendan, our guide from Legend Tours. We would be spending 3 hours with him and several other travelers. Brendan told us about the local lore and legends and showed us all the important historical spots in the area. It was a cold walk up the hill to Cape Spear Lighthouse. Our Parks Canada pass once again got us into the lighthouse for a guided tour. You could really fell the remoteness of the area and imagine how hard it would be to bring a family up there. Generations of the family kept the light going until it was automated. One of the women on the tour had only three days during which she was expecting to see the whole province, including L’anse aux Meadows. I told her we had been there for almost three weeks and still wouldn’t be seeing half of it. I don’t think she believed me. That afternoon, after the tour, we found a grocery store and stocked up again with frozen veggies. Our friend, Doug, had moved back to St. John’s from Sooke and we wanted to look him up. I found him on Facebook and messaged him. He was busy with the Busker’s Festival but could meet us on Monday so on Monday we headed to The Rooms, the museum, and just as we were finishing there, he called us. We met him downtown, drove around for about half an hour looking for a parking spot, and then...
Read MoreBonavista
From Twillingate, we drove to Bonavista and stayed at Paradise Farm RV Park. Again, another back in and again, we had some trouble because this time we had to jackknife and back down a hill without enough turning radius for the truck. We did it and unhooked. Paradise Farm RV Park is a very pretty spot up next to a large pond. We drove to Elliston to see the root cellars and the puffins. Good thing we had unhooked and not dragged our 5th wheel behind us. It would have been shaken to bits. What a bad road. So many large potholes to dodge. A lot of the roads in Newfoundland are like that, including the one we took to Bonavista. Don hates them and everything in the Rig gets shaken about. The couch walks across the floor along with the table and chairs. We have learned to make sure the fridge latch is clicked after one very bad experience. 🙂 On the drive to Bonavista with the rig, one of the cabinets over the couch popped open and everything fell into a box that was behind the chairs. Weird that it all landed in the box. Nothing was broken and it was an easy cleanup. Elliston is a very quaint village with very narrow streets. It was really difficult to find the puffin cliff and the first fellow we asked for directions sent us in the wrong direction. However, we eventually found the info centre by accident and then we found the root cellars and the puffins. While at the info centre, we met a couple from Quesnel. We had a nice chat with the old fellow who was pointing people to the puffin walk. He told us to do the scenic 5 minute drive to Maberly and along the way are all the root cellars. Afterwards, we headed back to Bonavista by a different road and drove out to Cape Bonavista and the lighthouse. We searched for a gas station that sold diesel and finally found one. The gas stations either don’t have diesel or have hidden the pump behind the building. There usually are no signs saying diesel. You have to be a real detective. We are also finding that the signs are place right at the entrance to places, not allowing any warning time to slow down. I have to add that when we got...
Read MoreTwillingate – A Whale of a Time
On August 4th, we reluctantly left Gros Morne Park. I could have spent much more time there and was sad to be leaving. We drove to Twillingate and found the RV park. Again, another back in. This one was more difficult because we had limited maneuvering space and we had to back in between very large trees. A fellow RVer came over and helped because I couldn’t be in both mirrors at the same time. We did it but it did take a bit of time. It was a lovely spot close to the ocean where I could take Lucy up a hill and then we sat on a bench at the top and drank in the view. For some reason I am finding the Atlantic Ocean to smell differently from the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean smells briny to me where the Pacific smells like seaweed. I don’t think I am alone in that. In the evening we took a drive around the area and accidentally drove up to a lighthouse that was perched up at the top of a cliff. I have some photos of it that I took from the ocean looking up but I had forgotten my camera so didn’t get any pics from the land side looking down. I booked a boat tour for the next morning. When we woke up, it was drizzly and foggy. We weren’t sure if the boat trip would still go but packed up our rain gear and headed off to the boat. As we were standing on the wharf, it suddenly cleared off. Amazing! Captain Cecil took us out the bay and found the humpback whales fishing. Lots of great photos. I learned to put my camera in sports mode so that it would snap a pic every few seconds and that’s the only way I could capture them. We would have been happy even if we hadn’t seen whales. It was just great to be out on the water. The boat passed by the tall cliffs with the lighthouse. Twillingate is also a special spot. Lots of older homes. Everyone is putting vinyl siding on their houses and removing the clapboard. It changes the look to something more cosmopolitan and seems to take away a lot of the charm. We were really craving a restaurant meal for some reason so decided to risk it again. Off we...
Read MoreShoal Brook – Water’s Edge
We booked August 2nd and 3rd to spend some more time in Gros Morne Park. After a very relaxing afternoon at the River of Ponds, where we had much needed downtime, we headed back to Gros Morne and a spot right on the ocean at Waters Edge in Shoal Brook. It was another back in. Don will soon be a pro. Beautiful. Right on Bonne Bay near Woody Point. After unhooking, we drove up to the Discovery Centre to find out more about the guided hike to the Tablelands the next morning. That side of Gros Morne Park is pretty spectacular. We did a quick run through Woody Point and then back to the rig for dinner. The next morning we made the 20 minute drive to the parking lot and headed off to explore another absolutely fascinating geological location. It was weird to think we were walking on ancient ocean floor. It looked like the moon. After our hike, we drove to Trout River and then back to explore Woody Point. We had been thinking it would be nice to eat out and that’s when I discovered that it probably would not be a good thing for me to eat out. Too much seafood on the menus and the possibility of cross contamination so much to Don’s dismay, we had to go back to cook our own food. we spent our last afternoon in Gros M9rne sitting behind our rig on the ocean watching the local fishermen going for mackerel and cod right from the beach. Once again the water was not potable. The source was a dam up on the mountain and it could be accessed by moose and other critters. So many boil water advisories on that side of Newfoundland. Once again, once I find better wifi, I will upload the...
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