Newfoundland and The Maritimes

22/10 – 6/11/2000

 

We docked at Lewisporte, on the north coast of Newfoundland, at 08.30 on a grey, damp day that later became very wet.  We took the road down the rocky coast (if you have good eyes, you might just see a moose through the mist ahead on the left)

via Musgrave Harbour; passing sheltered inlets and small fishing villages with stacked lobster pots.

We were not surprised to find that we were the only occupants of the campground on Newman Sound in the Terra Nova National Park.

Next day, we stopped at Salvage on the Eastport Peninsula;

where we sought out a fish packing house that sold us 2lbs of flounder and two dressed spider crabs.

We stopped briefly to take in the view of Terra Nova National Park from the Blue Hill Mountains.

Afer a clear and very cold night,

we drove down the Bonavista Peninsula;

stopping for lunch a Trinity;

which, for 150 years was, in effect, a colony of fishing people from Poole in Dorset.  There are fishing villages called Wareham and Sandbanks in the region.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the accent of the people of Newfoundland still has a distinct West country burr.

Next day, we crossed the bay to visit ‘Heart’s Content’  where the first transatlantic cable came ashore in the 1860s; and Harbour Grace, a haunt of pirates in he 17th Century and the original capital of Newfoundland.

Afer a day in the new capital, St John’s,

we drove 500km west across the island

to the Gros Morne National Park; where we camped on the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence.

The following day was cloudy and drizzly; not the ideal weather for the 16km hike up Gros Morne.

The only wildlife I saw were two moose

and a (very hazy) ptarmigan.

Next day was the worst weather we have encountered in all of our travels – a real north Atlantic Autumn blizzard.  We struggled to get out of the park through the drifting snow.  Shortly after the junction with the trans Canada Highway, we were stopped by police who were pulling a snow plough out of a ditch.  On the road into Channel Port aux Basques, we passed four trailers that had been blown off the road and onto their sides.

Although the following morning was bright, clear and calm, the storm had disrupted the ferry schedule.  We took the opportuniy to drive slowly along the coast road,

stopping at a few of the small fishing settlements,

and finishing at the Rose Blanche Lighthouse.

The delayed ferry finally docked at Sydney, Nova Scotia, just after midnight on Halloween.  Later in the day, we enjoyed a Halloween fireworks display on the beach.

Next day, we drove the Cape Breton Highlands coastal loop; but had only fleeting views of rocky coves through the rain and mist.

We took the afternoon ferry from Pictou to Prince Edward Island; and were happy to find a fish shop a Port Hastings selling lobsters out of season.

We spent a day in Charlottetown, enjoying its Victorian buildings

and art gallery.

After crossing the snaking, 14km Confederation Bridge

into New Brunswick; we camped by a reservoir at the end of a disused road.

We continued along the banks of the St John River to Edmunston;

before leaving Canada by crossing the river into Maine.