7/28/14 – Gassed up and filled propane before heading into Gros Morne on the 430, since all park campgrounds are no services. They do have showers and wifi, however. We stopped at the entrance station to get our park passes, and discovered we could have saved money had we done this before entering Fundy or Cape Breton Highlands National Parks. Instead of day passes, this time we bought nationwide season passes, good at all National Parks in Canada, for one calendar year, at the senior rate of  $58 each. This also gets us a 25% reduction in park campground rates. I had been worried about getting into the campgrounds without reservations, but the helpful lady attendant assured us it was no problem. We continued into the park, taking the southern fork of the road, the 431, past the Lomond area, stopping at the Tableland trailhead. The Tableland is one of the most significant features of the park, a pretty barren, boulder-strewn remnant of the collision of the North American and African tectonic plates that created the Appalachian mountain range. The barrenness is because this is one of the few places on earth where the mantle has protruded through the earth’s crust, and this dense rock is unfertile and toxic. Many streams flow down these well-watered cliffs, however, some glacier remnants still visible, and low-lying hardy vegetation hangs on over this wind-swept terrain.

We drove on over a steep pass thru the community of Trout River and back into the park at the Trout River campground for the evening. We wanted to take the trail up the other side of the lake, but decided to wait until we leave camp in the morning. Instead we walked a short trail down to our side of the river/lake, and enjoyed the scenery walking along the shore, before heading back for dinner.

7/27/14 – Rained most of the night, and started again in the morning as we get ready to leave. We headed north on the 238 to the town of Bonavista, rain easing up a little as we continue beyond to the end of the cape, and the lighthouse. On a rock island just offshore we could see a lot of birds, including some puffins, but too wet to hang around.

Slightly south of there we took a detour to the ‘Dungeon’, a double-entrance sea cave with a collapsed roof, and the rain slacked enough for us to walk over and be awed.

We backtracked then to town and went to see the Mathew, a full-scale replica of John Cabot’s vessel. Cabot first landed in the New World at Cape Bonavista. The ship has a specially-built boathouse whose doors will clear the masts and crows-nest, and it current resides there for some maintenance work – good, because it poured outside while we perused the exhibits and boarded ship inside. I highly recommend this stop.

We left town south on the 235 towards TCH, traveling through some of the pretty little coastal towns enroute. Once on TCH we headed onward westbound and stopped for the night at Jonathon’s Pond Campground on the 330 just north of Gander. We took a no-services pull-thru site, but drove back to the entrance area to first do laundry and showers before setting up camp.

7/28/14 – We Headed back to Gander, where we made a wifi/shopping stop at Walmart, then on to the North Atlantic Aviation Museum, back on TCH in Gander. Gander has a strategic role in aviation history. During WWII, bombers bound for England from US and Canadian factories were flown to Gander before heading across to Northern Ireland, this representing their maximum range. That was true too of all the early transatlantic passenger and freight flights, and the Gander International Airport ran a 24/7 full-service bar for the passengers. The unusual small museum has several neat planes and lots of artifacts and historical storyboards detailing the history. Another worthwhile stop.

We next headed west on TCH to Springdale, where we turned north on the 391 to Rattling Brook Falls, which is an 800’ high cataract off high cliffs reminiscent of those at Yosemite. Unfortunately, damage to the staircase needed to get a full-on view of the falls foreshortened the trail, so our pics were from a bad angle and a distance.

After retracing our steps and continuing westward on TCH, we headed in the direction of Gros Morne National Park, ending up for the night just off TCH at the 430 at Gateway to the North RV Park, full hookups.

7/24/14 – Driving out of Pippy Park, we gassed up and restocked groceries before heading off to Signal Hill. A stop on the way was the Johnson Geo Center, a fascinating tour through the geologic peculiarities and history of Newfoundland and Labrador, including fossils, oil exploration and production, the Titanic story, with lots of specimens, a 2D/3D theater, and kid-friendly exhibits. The staff was comprised of experts in the respective fields and they lead informative interactive tours. Highly recommend this stop.

We proceeded up this very steep road to the top of Signal Hill to Cabot Tower, the location where Marconi sent his first transatlantic wireless telegraph transmission. It was crowded and parking was tight for our FL. Once there, the view was spectacular in all directions, overlooking the narrow entrance to the harbor, the whole city of St. John’s, and up the coast to Cape Spear, but extremely windy.

We drove back down through town to the TCH, heading west for our visit to the Bona Vista Peninsula. The winds were vicious, but we managed to make it to Clarendon for a planned overnight at the Walmart parking lot. Restocked a few essentials in the store. Wifi was the best yet, and right from our site in the boonies! Lulled to sleep by the rocking of the rig in the wind.

7/25/14 – Woke up to rain, coming down steady for an hour or two, then sporadically. Moving slowly, but by the time we were ready to roll the storm was over and sun was peeking through fog. We left Clarenville headed north on the 230 to Trinity, where we strolled around this picturesque little restored village, before heading back to the 230, then the 238 to Elliston. We set up camp at the Municipal Park, 15A service, but not much else but a view of the bay and the beach. We then walked about 15 minutes up the road to the ‘Puffin Trail’, a short walk out to the point overlooking a rock island, which is a puffin nesting ground. There were thousands of them, as well as nesting gulls and others. The puffins even landed on the heathery cliff top where WE were, sometimes only a few feet away. Remarkable little critters – when flying, their short wings flutter like a bat, while the gulls seem to effortlessly glide the currents. Not far off, another berg.

Elliston is also known as the root cellar capital of the world, as there are hundreds of them, many still in use, some approaching 200 years old. There are a couple near the puffin viewing site.

We returned to barbeque dinner and plan the rest of our stay in Newfoundland, since we need to call for ferry reservations ASAP.

7/20/14 – Headed south along the coastal route east to Musgrave Harbor, a scenic route

and stopped for lunch in the rig at the harbor, fishing boats idle as it was Sunday. Next brief stop was Banting Memorial Park, where there was wreckage of the plane crash that killed the co-inventor of insulin.

We continued south to Windmill Bight Provincial Park for the evening, on reports the beaches were nice. We had a pretty site next to the babbling creek that terminated in a freshwater lagoon, with beaches and lots of beachgoing families. The lagoon exits to the ocean, so across a short dune were MORE beachgoers, sunning themselves and romping in the surf. We hiked a bit, enjoying the pleasant, balmy weather, before retiring.

7/21/14 – Started early this morning, arriving shortly in Newtown, called the ‘Venice of NL’, as it spans several small islands, and has a section preserved as a historical site.

However, we were too early to tour it, so we continued on, our destination a long drive ahead. We joined the TCH at Gambo, after stopping for info and wifi at the visitor center, continued through Terra Nova NP without stopping, pulled into a church parking lot for lunch in Come By Chance, then pulled into Butter Pot Provincial Park for the night.

7/22/14 – Left Butter Pot Provincial Park early, headed for Witless Bay, just off the coast of which is an island preserve that is a puffin nesting site. Couldn’t see them from shore though, and the boat tour was expensive and wouldn’t leave for 3 hrs. Since we wanted to get to St .John’s with enough time to see the town after checking into the Pippy Park campground, we decided to continue up the road to Cape Spear. The road wound along the coast and through tight but picturesque Petty Harbor/ Maddox Cove…

…and then up to the point of Cape Spear, the most eastern tip of land in North America. We hiked around above the impressive cliffs, toured the restored old lighthouse, spied on nesting gulls across the cove, and watched huge freighters steam out of St. John’s harbor.

We then drove into St. John’s, looking for the campground.

None of our maps agreed, so I took an arbitrary zigzag route up through narrow city streets from the harbor until we suddenly were on the road to the park. After getting settled, oriented, and relaxing awhile, we headed up to a pavilion for wifi in the 50A section. Row after row of behemoth busses and fivers, but squeezed in at the end of a row was a tiny, unmistakable profile!  Scurrying right over, we called into the open door of the 2002 gray FL Lazy Daze and Loreen (sp?) popped out. She’s traveling with a caravan, lives near Sacramento, and knows Lorna through Ladeze. After social hour, we walked to the city bus stop and took that to the harbor area, to people watch, check out the quaint old streets and quirky shops, pubs, restaurants, music venues, etc. This area is principally comprised of Water, Duckworth, and George Streets and Harbor Drive. Docked parallel to Harbor Drive were three huge, modern, and highly specialized oil exploration and operation ships.

Then we headed up a stair alley between Water and Duckworth to Duke of Duckworth for dinner. Our bus driver told us they have excellent fish & chips. Nancy had those, but since they aren’t gluten-free, I opted for the spicy chicken wings & chips. It was all delicious, and in a great pub atmosphere.

Then we headed off to O’Reilly’s on George St. for 2-for-1 well drinks and serenading by Jason Simms on vocal and guitar, original and traditional Newfie-Irish ballads and bawdies, with occasional accompaniment by Stevie, an accomplished step-dancer.

Exhausted by sundown, we headed back by bus to plan the next day’s attack.

7/23/14 – Nancy wanted to see the botanical gardens, near the other end of very large Pippy Park, so we left on foot early by trail, overcast skies, cool, and a bit sprinkly at times. Although, it was only 3 km away, there was a LOT of vertical gain, by steep trail and 400 steps, mostly in the last third of the hike. Had this been a warm, humid day we would have turned back. The gardens were worth the effort, though, and unlike our typical fall trips, almost everything was in rampant bloom. There is an extensive trail network beyond the planted gardens and around Oxen Lake, but since we were worn out from the hike up, we decided it was time to head back. We dragged back to the rig, prepared to head to the camp showers and get ready for St. John’s – when the sky opened up. It poured, the first real rain since we arrived in NL. So, we showered in the rig. By the time we were ready to head out, the weather had cleared. Waiting for the bus again on the busy street, I noticed a group of ducks gathered near the opposing curb. Suddenly, the momma waddled forward, into the street, the rest lined up behind. Traffic screeched to a halt as the procession slowly crossed.

That entertainment done, we spent the ride into town talking to a gentleman who filled us in on what else to do. Also, he told us that Newfoundland is oil-rich, Labrador is hydro-rich, which has made the province very wealthy. This explains the ships in the harbor. Anyway, the rain and bus delays got us back to town too late to visit the Railway Coastal Museum, though we walked there anyway, so we may add that to tomorrow’s list. We had dinner at Green Sleeves on George Street, sitting outside under clear skies, listening to the guitar and vocals inside as well as tunes drifting in from the other establishments along the row, as we dined on pan-fried cod served Newfoundland style, with veggies and a nice salad. We headed back early.