NEWFOUNDLAND – LA MANCHE PROVINCIAL PARK TO BUTTER POT PROVINCIAL PARK.
Day 54 – It was a great day for traveling today. Bright sunshine, a few billowing clouds, a nice breeze – just gorgeous out. It was 47 degrees when Rob got up at 6:45 a.m. and it was already up to 65 degrees when we departed La Manche at 10:50.
33 miles, (0:45), 40324-40357
There wasn’t too much traffic, and the one really rough road didn’t last too long. The girls only yelled at us a little bit. The scenery was familiar because we’d driven this way previously, but it was always foggy. With the sun shining on the water, the green hills, and the blue sky, it was really pretty.
Heading North on NF-10 near Tor’s Cove, NF
Heading North on NF-10 near Tor’s Cove, NF
NF-13 heading toward Butterpot Provincial Park, Hulyrood, NF
We arrived at our destination at 11:35 a.m. It was 61 degrees, mostly sunny, and breezy. It wasn’t a long drive. We have an internet connection here. Fancy that. Once we’re settled in we’ll catch up on any e-mails, texts, or phone calls we may have missed. And we’ll start getting past blog posts out. Our objective, moving to this campground, was to move north closer to St. John’s since we plan to visit there several times soon. Also, we’ll be nearer to the next peninsula we tackle. Because the kids will be out of school soon and vacation time will begin, we’ve been told the Parks will book up in advance. We’ve started scouting out Parks in advance & making reservations. Our new campground, Butter Pot Provincial Park, is expected to be full this weekend, so we visited it recently and booked our campsite in advance. It’s very nice to know what you’re getting and not worry about being stuck with a lousy site.
Butter Pot isn’t on the coast; it’s inland. The campsite loops run between two ponds: Peter’s Pond and Big Otter Pond. (They may be called ponds, but like we’ve seen elsewhere, they seem more like big lakes to us.) There are no hook-ups here. Generator usage is allowed during specific hours. There is a dump station and water is available at locations in the Park. Just like La Manche Provincial Park, you have to boil the water; you cannot drink it. Our campsite of choice is on the loop farthest away from the “action”; that is, the playgrounds & organized activities are elsewhere. Site #155 is fairly large, completely private on two sides & separated by trees on the other two sides. Being the middle of the week, hardly anyone is here & it’s very quiet. That’ll change come the weekend. The biting black flies are out in force. Rob put up the screened tent. We’re sealing every possible teeny hole and point of entry. These flies are nasty! The high today was 69 degrees! We skipped spring and went right into summer. Or maybe this is a freak thing, this warm weather. Time will tell. Tomorrow we have two boat tours out of Bay Bulls. Let’s hope this weather holds!
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