NEWFOUNDLAND – BUGS BE GONE, PLUS BUCHANS & MILLERTOWN.
Day 102 – We slept better last night with the bugs under control somewhat. It was 55 degrees, partly cloudy, and breezy at 7:30 a.m. We hung around the RV until after lunch. Rob checked out the windows in the RV hoping to find how the mosquitoes were getting in. He plugged up some drainage holes and other possible spaces that might’ve allowed them entrance.
We took at drive beyond Buchans Junction and the campground, to the end of Route 370 at the town of Buchans. It was like driving into a 50’s time warp. Instead of the colorful small houses placed haphazardly on cliff edges overlooking the water, we drove into what Rob called “a company town”. We came across row upon row, street after street, of identical small houses, then on the outskirts of these streets the town was surrounded by sheds for everyone’s ATV. Only a few roads in town, at the end of the main road were what was left of “the company” and we tried to figure out what kind of business had once dominated this town out in the middle of nowhere in central Newfoundland at the end of the road. Lots of dirt roads went off in all directions – we figured it was now a snowmobile/ATV recreational paradise. But what was it before? Once we had a signal, we looked up Buchans on the internet. Voila! It was a mining town in the early 20th century, and was operational until 1985. According to the article we read, it really was a company town in all meanings of the phrase. The company owned the homes & controlled everything, government was secondary, and in return workers got housing & everything they needed in one place, never to leave again. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but it felt that way as we drove through the town. We wondered what kept this place alive now that the mine was no longer active. Was it all retirees, living cheaply in identical houses? Had the Stepford Wives moved in? A weird feeling to say the least.
We drove back on Route 370 beyond the campground and Buchans Junction to the road that branched off for six km to the town of Millertown. This was a charming town on Red Indian Lake. Also, remote in the middle of nowhere, this town was more a quiet, pretty lakeside community.
Back at the campground we headed out to the screened tent. The bugs inside the RV had decreased in number tremendously. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the tent, and for the first time since we got to this campground, people arrived to camp near us. No big deal, we are leaving tomorrow. Back to the ocean we go. The high today was 73 degrees, partly sunny, and breezy.
Mary March Wilderness Park: Route 370 Buchans Highway, Buchans Junction, NL; (709) 672-7074 or (709) 672-7777; steveharris007@yahoo.com: ww.marymarchpark.wordpress.com. Open May 15 to September 15. Wilderness Park indeed! This campground consisted of 78 acres out in the middle of nowhere. A beautiful setting on a large, lovely lake, heavily forested with dirt roads & no noisy paved roads at all close by, this was a wilderness paradise. If it hadn’t been for the monster mosquitoes which tried to eat us alive, it would’ve been perfect. We had site #35, on the lake, surrounded by trees, a large campsite with plenty of room for our vehicles & screened tent. We had 20 AMP electrical, plus water hook-ups. There were two dump stations at the campground. Some campsites had no hook-ups and were small, designated for tents; others had 30 AMP hook-ups. There were showers, restrooms, and a place to do laundry, playgrounds, beaches, swimming area, and a boat launch. $31.50 per night, Canadian currency. We would stay here again.