NEWFOUNDLAND – PORT AUX BASQUES TO DEER LAKE.
Day 28 – There was no wind this morning. What a concept. At 7 a.m. it was 34 degrees and sunny. We’re looking forward to getting on the road again. What was supposed to be a fairly quick stopover, turned into 4 nights here. But this was a very good campground to be staying in for the longer period of time.
161 miles, (3:35), 39089-39250
We departed after dumping tanks at 9:50 a.m. It was 49 degrees, a little pleasant breeze, and just a few puffy clouds. Very nice out. It was a scenic drive, as expected after what we’ve seen already in just an approximate 30-mile radius. It’s only going to get better! We took the TCH north, and during today’s journey we passed several peninsulas leading from the Highway to the Sea with, according to the map, several small communities at the end of each road. We will take those roads and explore those areas when we come back this way on our way to the ferry crossing (in maybe 3 months?) or 5 months?). Hee hee. This is just so darned exciting!
Observed on the way to our destination beyond the farthest point we’d been thus far: hills & mountains; snow; lakes; oceans; rivers; streams; bays; waterfalls cascading from mountains to lakes; granite cliffs; snow skiing trails; walking trails; a small town & 2 cities (Corner Brook & Pasadena); 1 gas station (we have learned that you do NOT wait to get gasoline); 1 restaurant & it was boarded up; a few farm fields; a snowshoe hare; lots of Spruce trees that, as we left the windy areas, got taller and not so scruffy (this Spruce note was for you, Michael, the King of Spruce Trees); no sign of spring’s arrival on the bushes or trees, just a few yellow flowers by the side of the road – it looks like it’s still winter here; only 3 other RV’s , and two of then heading south, not north (not too many people going where we’re going); and a MOOSE, before the moose fencing started. Yes, that’s right. I am happy to report I saw our first Moose in Newfoundland! It was so quick, I didn’t get a picture, but he was a healthy-looking young male bounding off into the woods before the moose fencing began. Moose fencing? No, that’s not a sword fighting contest between moose. That is a special fencing which keeps the moose in the woods and off the highway, which is sure better for both, the moose and the people driving the highway. We have seen deer fencing in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia, but this was our first moose fencing. The fact that I saw a moose before the moose fencing began says there really are lots of moose in the area. By the way, one of the places we’re going soon claims to be “The Moose Capital of the World”. Also of note, we drove by the Barachois Pond Provincial Park turn-off to Highway 480: this was around the area where I saw the moose and it’s the road that leads through the woods to Burgeo on the Cabot Strait and the Sandbank Provincial Park, definitely a route to take in several months!
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We arrived at our destination, Deer Lake, a great stopping point for today’s journey north. The Trans-Canada Highway heads east from here to the more populated parts of Newfoundland. That includes some wonderful places we hope to visit: like La Scie at the end of the Baie Verte Peninsula, Notre Dame Bay, Twillingate, and Fogo Island (all excellent places to spot icebergs), Deadman’s Bay, Terra Nova National Park, the Bonavista Peninsula, Trinity Bay, Conception Bay, the large city of St. John’s, the Avalon Peninsula, St. Mary’s Bay, the Burin Peninsula (the end of which is the site of the disastrous 1929 earthquake & tsunami), Harbour Breton, Burgeo, and that would bring us back to the TCH and the peninsula’s we saw today that we hope to do on the way back to the ferry to Nova Scotia. After typing this up, I believe we may only be able to visit half of this Island with another trip next year to finish.
We are staying tonight at Gateway to the North RV Park in Deer Lake. We arrived at 1:25 p.m., having stopped earlier for a lunch break and to get gas as the first gas station we came upon. It was 51 degrees and mostly cloudy with little wind when we arrived. We were promptly directed to site #35 with full hook-ups, $39.33 per night with the Good Sam Club discount, Canadian currency. (This was the charge for 50 AMPs; we do great at 30 AMPs and do not need to pay extra for the 50 AMP campsites. Note to self: let them know up front that 30 AMP campsites are good.) This campground is close to the major highway but this is Newfoundland. A major highway here is not so busy! It is also right by the Humber River. Seasonal campers have the River campsites which look very nice. The campground is very convenient and good enough especially for one night. Also, it’s still winter here – very few campgrounds are open yet. It is located across from the Newfoundland Insectarium (um, do you want me to have nightmares) and Butterfly Garden. If we were staying longer, we’d walk over to that.
The high today was 55 degrees (can you imagine that?) with a little wind and mostly sunny skies. This was the scene at around 6 p.m. We’ve planned to drive less tomorrow since there’s very little open yet at the top of the Northern Peninsula, and we can slow down to stop along the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the night rather than driving straight through. Tomorrow we will travel through the Gros Morne National Park.
Gateway to the North RV Park: #1 Bonne Bay Road (exit 16 from Trans-Canada Highway Route 1) , Deer Lake NL A8A 2V1; (709) 635-5888 or (709) 635-2693 or 1-888-8898; website www.gatewaytothenorthrvpark.com; e-mail geribeaulieu@hotmail.com. The TCH goes east at this point to all the popular locations east of here, including St. John’s. Also, from here you can hop on Route 430 and drive to the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, a much wilder, less-populated area which is eventually located across from Labrador. When driving on the 430 north, you pass through the Gros Morne National Park, supposedly one of the most scenic locations in the world. This is a great stopover for either journey. There are 60 campsites in the campground, many of them along the pretty Humber River, most of them occupied by seasonal campers. The campground is conveniently located near the city of Deer Lake, the two major roads heading either east or north, and across form the Newfoundland Insectarium & Butterfly Gardens. The campsites offer full hook-ups, the campground is clean and well-maintained, and the traffic noise is minimal. It cost us $39.33 per night with the Good Sam Club discount, Canadian currency. This was for 50 AMPs. Less for lower AMPs. We had site #35. We would stay here again. This is the perfect one to two night stopover campground.