NEWFOUNDLAND – SEARCHING FOR OUR NEXT CAMPGROUND.
Day 78 – At 7:30 this morning it was 57 degrees and sunny. It looked like another great day. It’s the weekend & this campground is full. Tomorrow we’d planned to leave here, but we didn’t know which way to go – another peninsula north & west of us, or one south & west of us. Both areas would be visited eventually but we are approaching peak summer weekends.
Twillingate, one of the most popular locations in NF is on the northern peninsula; would we even be able to get a campsite through next weekend? It probably won’t get less crowded there until September. The southern peninsula was a much quieter location & one we’d been looking forward to seeing. We decided to drive to the Twillingate area today & scout out the only two campgrounds in the vicinity. If we could find a week-long, unoccupied site in a campground we liked, then that would make our decision for us.
It had been awhile since we’d been out to eat, so we decided not to pack a lunch today. We left our campground at 10 a.m. (66 degrees & sunny). Traveling northwest, it was an hour & a half later when we reached the first of two campgrounds. This was Dildo Run Provincial Park, and we had both expected that we would like this campground better than the second one. Peyton’s Woods RV Park & Campground, was an independent campground and we tend to prefer the province or state-run campgrounds better. Normally they are more private & quieter, probably because they normally offer less amenities than most independent campgrounds.
The Ranger was not particularly interested in letting us know which sites were available to narrow our search, but she did let us drive through the Provincial Park to look at all of the 55 campsites. We were surprised to find most of the sites were too small (and our RV is not nearly as big as many of them are). Everything was quite tight, the roads narrow, and many of the campsites would not have fit our screened tent, too, if we managed to get the RV & car into the site. We chose our favorite campsites that we thought we might fit into and drove back to the Ranger’s Station to ask if any of those particular sites would be free for the next week. That was all we had to say – available for a week – and she said nothing was available for the entire coming week. Okay, then. Off we went to Peyton’s Woods at the top of the peninsula in Twillingate. How likely would it be that there would be something there?
About ½ hour later we arrived at the campground. It was fairly crowded; it did not bode well. The owner gave us only three available campsites to look at. Two of them, (#46 & #62), were available for Sunday through Tuesday & the other one (#45) was available Wednesday through Saturday. That was it. No sites were available for the entire week without moving.
This campground had sites in the open, sites surrounded by trees, sites with electric & water hook-ups, and even sites with water, electric & sewer hook-ups. They were located within walking distance to the cove & were not close to the busy road. We went to look at our three choices. Site #45 had full hook-ups but was right next to site #44 with nothing between those two campsites. On the other side of #45 was an open area for tent camping. Then a group of trees and site #46, another of our choices, was next. It had trees around it on three sides. It was not a large campsite but there was room for the screened tent & the car. Site #62 was vetoed right away; it was open on both sides.
Rob asked the owner if there was any way that site #46 was available for all seven nights because that was the campsite we liked. He moved some things around in his reservation book & made it available for us. Bingo! We paid for 7 nights & he said we could arrive any time tomorrow that we liked; there was no one in the site for tonight, so we wouldn’t have to wait until check-in time to arrive.
We happily went to look for a place for lunch. Alot of the places we’ve camped at haven’t even had a restaurant nearby. The Twillingate area had several to choose from. A tour bus was parked at one restaurant and it was mobbed. Another one was on a hill overlooking the ocean but there was a waiting line stretching outdoors. Shades of things to come in Twillingate. We passed by a whale watch place. There were two tour buses parked there. Guess we’ll need to book our boat tour early! Other restaurants were crowded, also.
We stopped at a tiny place that advertised home cooking. A couple we had talked to at our current campground who were doing laundry the same time as us had been to Twillingate & had eaten there. They said it was good. They only had 8 tables and we got one. Two little old ladies were working there. Turned out they not only own the place, one of them cooks & the other does everything else. The building was one part of a house. We assume they live in the other part of the house. It was a popular place. There was very little on the small menu that didn’t have meat in it, but we found a couple of things. I had the “Fish Burger”, which was cod lightly fried on a homemade bun with sauce, served with a hefty side salad. Rob had “Fish Cakes”, which was two NF fish cakes (flaky fish mixed with onions, potatoes, & seasoning and lightly fried), served with homemade baked beans and homemade molasses bread with raisins. Our food was good. They had lots of baked items for sale and homemade pies for dessert, but we weren’t hungry for more.
We stopped at the only grocery store in town. As usual, it wasn’t well stocked so we knew we’d have to go elsewhere for the two items we needed. We headed back to Gandor and a grocery store that we knew would have what we wanted. (When in NF, grocery shop at Dominion or Sobey’s; they are the best grocery stores in the Province.) After a brief shopping trip, we drove by the Gander International Airport to see the place where all the airplanes were redirected to land during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the northeastern U.S.
Gander International Airport, Gander, NF
This was not an exploration day, so we didn’t take the time to do a lot of picture taking. That will come during the upcoming week in Twillingate, assuming we can see anything through the bus loads of tourists, LOL. The high today was 72 degrees, but after noon it clouded up & the sun disappeared. Tomorrow we move on. This campground has become busy & a bit noisy, but then again, it is the weekend.
Jonathan’s Pond Campground: Route 330, 15 km north of Gander & the TCH, Newfoundland; (709) 424-3007 or (709) 651-2492; e-mail pemoss@nlrogers.com; website www.jonathanspondcampground.com. Open May 19 to September 30. 186 campsites in a wooded area by a lake. Excellent customer service. Alot of the campsites are seasonal, particularly those right on the lake. The campground was clean & the laundry facilities were spotless. There are serviced & unserviced sites. We had site #115 with electrical & water hook-ups. There is a dump station. The campground was nearly full when we arrived on a weekday, and only 3 sites were available for us for a four-night stay including a Friday/Saturday night. The cost was $27.60 per night, Canadian currency. We would stay here again.