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| Just one of the RV lines waiting to board the ferry |
For our adventure in Newfoundland we had to take a six-hour
ferry ride from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port Aux Basques, the entry point
to western Newfoundland. So there we were at the ferry terminal at 8:00 am—me,
Russ, the motorhome, car dolly, and car, all 59’ of us—lined up in the RV line
to board the ferry. It was a pretty amazing process to see how they loaded
everything onboard from minicars to semis.
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| Packed in like sardines on the ferry |
The stevedores packed all those
vehicles in like they were working a Rubic’s cube. At the end of our ferry ride
as we pulled into Port Aux Basques I could see why they call Newfoundland “The
Rock”. The lighthouse standing in the harbor as we cruised in was built on a
massive rock island with a cluster of tidy houses scattered on a rocky shore
behind it.
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| First look at Newfoundland from the ferry |
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| View of Port Aux Basques where the ferry pulls in to Newfoundland |
Like many
first-timers planning a trip to Newfoundland, we had originally figured about eight
days to travel through the entire province. It quickly became clear after
talking to campers we met who were on their way back from Newfoundland that
we’d need more time than that so we tore up our calendar and decided to leave
our return date open-ended.
In the end we chose to stick to the Viking Trail portion of
Newfoundland that winds along the western coast with a side trip to the southern
coast of Labrador. Both Russ and I wanted to slow down our travels enough to
really explore the coves and fishing villages and to talk to people living in
them to get an understanding about what it’s really like to live in such a
remote place.
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| Tour boat on Western Brook Pond |
Marveling at the massive mountains and colorful wildflowers
along the road, we took off on the one and only highway in the province. We
immediately noticed the lack of commercialization. There were no billboards or
fast food joints along the way, just miles of gorgeous scenery dotted with occasional
mom-and-pop B&Bs or local convenience stores.
Our first destination was Gros Morne National Park, which
reminded me a little bit of Yellowstone, primarily because it has such distinct
and unique geologic areas. We hiked in for a boat trip on Western Brook Pond
which is a deep water-filled canyon with 2,300’ steep walls carved through the
rock by glaciers. At one time it had been a fjord but since it had closed off
to the ocean and is filled with freshwater instead of saltwater it is now
classified as a “pond” or what we call a lake.
The water is crystal clear and so pure that it has hardly any mineral
content. While we were on the boat tour we were surprised to learn that the
Appalachian Mountains extend all the way into Newfoundland and Labrador.
A completely different part of Gros Morne is the Tablelands
area. The Tablelands is a group of mountains created when the earth’s mantle
was pushed up above its crust millions of years ago. According to the Visitors
Guide, the Tablelands are “a slice of ocean floor”. They look very other-worldly:
flat plateaus of orange-brown rock formations dropped into the surrounding
mountains. Unfortunately it was raining on the day we went to the Tablelands so
we didn’t get any good close up photos but we do have one where the Tablelands are
in the background.
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| The Tablelands form the golden plateau in the distant right of the photo |
Our home base during our stay in Newfoundland was near Rocky
Harbour. One of the things people said we absolutely shouldn’t miss was the
local band Anchors Aweigh. They’re so popular they sell out three times a week
and we had to go two hours early to the show to get good seats. And they really
are that good. They play traditional Newfoundland music but with a modern twist
like playing a traditional song like Led Zeppelin would play it. They also
incorporate jokes into their act. My favorite was “What do the Titanic and the
Maple Leafs have in common? They both look good until they hit the ice.”
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| Playing the ugly stick |
The
band also did an impressive bit where they asked the audience members what
province or state they were from and played a relevant song for that place—Jimi
Hendrix for Seattle, Margaritaville
for Florida, etc. It was fun to see the more traditional parts of their gig
too—playing the traditional “ugly stick” and ending the night with jigs that
got people out on the dance floor.
Rocky Harbour was a big town compared to most that we saw.
Usually the town consisted of a small group of houses in a cove—sometimes as
few as five or six—with a few small, open fishing boats that we couldn’t
believe the fisherman actually take out on the ocean. There are no chain stores
or restaurants in any of the towns, no supermarkets, only small local
groceries—with no fresh tomatoes, a real shock to me—and maybe a B&B or two
that look like all the other houses. The houses are small and modest
saltbox-type houses that often jut up right to the water.
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| Even ordinary scenes are beautiful in Newfoundland |
For two people who don’t like to fight crowds it was a
spoiler of a trip—most of the time we would be driving the only car on the road
for miles in either direction. Unlike in the States there were long stretches
of beaches that are uninhabited and undeveloped.
Canada provides a free guidebook for Newfoundland and
Labrador that has absolutely gorgeous photos of the provinces. And in this case
the photos didn’t lie. At almost every turn we took the scenery looked postcard
perfect. Even with our little point-and-shoot camera we got lots of good shots.
We decided to leave the RV behind, storing it at the
campground at Gros Morne, while we left to travel to the heart of the Viking
Trail in Newfoundland and over into Labrador.
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| A "hanging valley" in Western Brook Pond |
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| The "Tin Man" Rock in Western Brook Pond |
