WE ARE THINKING OF YOU, GAIL! MUCH LOVE!
NEWFOUNDLAND – HUMBER ARM.
Day 157 – At 7:30 this morning it was 43 degrees and windy. It was very cloudy at first but the sun came out at bit, so we left for some exploring. We had a little rain, lots of wind, plenty of clouds, and a little bit of sun for most of the day – that’s better than no sun at all. The high was a cold & windy 49 degrees.
We left at 10:20 & headed north on the Trans-Canada Highway to Corner Brook, stopping to get sandwiches to go from Subway. Then we went west when we got to Route 440 and drove to the end of the road. Route 440 is the road that travels along the north side of Humber Arm; Route 450 is the road that travels along the south side of Humber Arm. Humber Arm is a long arm of water coming inland from the Bay of Islands which is at the end of the Arm where it opens out to the ocean.
Route 440: the drive was very nice. At first it was basically sprawl from the larger city of Corner Brook, but the farther we went the less populated it became. We passed through the small towns of Irishtown, Summerside, Hughes Brook, Meadows, Gillams, McIvers, and at the end of the road, Cox’s Cove. The scenery just kept getting better & better. The Humber Arm flows beneath tall, forested, rolling hills that go right down to the water. The towns are nestled at the bottom of the hills. From our viewpoint on this side of Humber Arm, we thought that the Route 440 side would be less populated & prettier. We turned around at the end of the road and drove back to where we started, thinking that Route 450 would be more of the same (which wasn’t a bad thing).
Route 450: we got gas, then stopped at the first turn-out on the 450 to eat our sandwiches. A beautiful setting, we were on a hill above the water looking back on the city of Corner Brook. The wind was blowing, the waves were crashing below, and the seagulls were either gliding with the wind or struggling to fly against it, at eye level. We continued west on Route 450 to the end of the road. It was a gorgeous drive & as we got about halfway thru, the Arm began opening out to the Bay. The Bay of Islands was just that – a beautiful bay with islands of different sizes & shapes, some covered with trees, some all rock, and some jutting out of the water, large, smooth and rounded. The water was very deep blue with decent-sized waves due to the wind. The waves crashed onto the shore & sprayed mist up, even on the road a little bit. The sky was blue & alternated with dark grey storm clouds & big, white billowing clouds. The sun kept going in & out of the clouds. There was some fall color. The beach sand was white. The road was winding through the hills, coming out of the turns onto incredible views of the islands in the bay. It was very much like Gros Morne National Park. We wondered why it wasn’t included as part of the Park. We passed through the towns of Mount Moriah, Benoit’s Cove, Halfway Point, Humber Arm South, Frenchman’s Cove & York Harbour – each town lovlier than the previous one.
Beyond York Harbour, we got to Blow Me Down Provincial Park. This was a Park we’d hoped to stay at, but we didn’t make it back to the west coast before the Provincial Parks closed for the season, The gate was closed so we couldn’t go in to look at the campsites, but the location was incredible, overlooking the Bay of Islands. We’ll definitely come back to this Park next time! We drove to the end of Route 450, driving through beautiful Lark Harbour & Bottle Cove, and ending up at Little Port. These towns were amazing and we kept gawking, saying “WOW” at every turn. We turned around & drove back the way we came, blown away by the scenery on Route 450 in particular.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We headed back to the RV, stopping on the way to get a couple of pictures near the campground of the red ground covers mingled with the other fall colors & the dark sky. Looks like more rain is coming. The temperatures have definitely cooled. We got back to the RV a little after 4 p.m., and of course, after chasing the sun all day, the sun shone brightly once we got inside. Oh well. Tomorrow we’re leaving to go back north to Gros Morne. The National Park campgrounds will be closed for the season; we’ll have to stay elsewhere. We hope the fall colors are close to peak by now. And that there are a couple of sunny days for taking pictures. Soon it will be too cold & there won’t be any open campgrounds. Then we’ll have to leave Newfoundland.
Dhoon Lodge & RV Resort: 11 Route 460, Black Duck Siding, NL A0L 1G0; (709) 646-5177 or (709) 214-0709; www.dhoonlodge.ca. This is an independent campground with 36 RV sites. We had site #9 with full hook-ups including sewer. Electric at some campsites appears to be less than 15 AMPs even though it’s rated as 30 AMPs. The campsites surrounded by trees were filled with seasonal campers (although very few were there). We camped in the larger, more open area. All campsites in this area were very large, some had decks, all had picnic tables & fire pits. One end of the open area had lots of campers, our end had very few. We had plenty of privacy. There were also a restaurant & bar (which we did not use), a lodge, cottages & cabins, a golf course, fishing, showers, restrooms, and laundry facilities. They were one of the few campgrounds south of Gros Morne still open through October. We stayed a week. $35 per night Canadian currency. We would stay here again.