NEWFOUNDLAND – LAST DAY AT GROS MORNE.
Day 161 – It was 33 degrees this morning but it felt colder than that when we woke up – we’d run out of propane during the night & it got quite cold in the RV. Rob disconnected that external tank & hooked up the RV propane, and we heated it up as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Gracie & Pixie cuddled together on a heated pad.
Gracie and Pixie staying warm
We were up & out by 9 a.m., turning in our external propane tank at the gas station in Rocky Harbour for a refill. It was still cold out but fairly clear with sunlight and a few clouds. We drove the southern part of Gros Morne again; we’d been there before but it was cloudy & overcast that day. Today we thought would be a good time to see it all in better weather. We were glad we did.
We spent some time in Trout River & Woody Point, both great little towns. We took more pictures of the Tablelands since the sun was out. At Woody Point, we came down the hill approaching the village & there was a cruise ship, dwarfing the town by its size. There were also a couple of tour buses letting people off to walk around. You had to be really careful driving through on the narrow roads with all the people wandering the streets, stopping without warning to stand in the middle of the street to take pictures, etc. It was really busy in town. We had lunch at the Merchant Warehouse Retro Cafe & Wine Bar, getting there right after they opened & beating the crowds for lunch. You would’ve thought it was mid-summer at the National Park with all the tourists. I think they were here for the fall colors (which haven’t been much to jump up & down about – what has turned colors has been muted for the most part – almost certainly because of the weather conditions this year). But what are you going to do if you’ve taken a fall tour somewhere & the colors had a bad year? All these people were walking around bundled up in winter gear, it was so cold out. Maybe next year, folks….you really never know.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
It was a good drive & having a clear day was really nice. Tomorrow we will begin making our way south towards Port aux Basques & the long ferry trip back to Nova Scotia. We were going to go north & try to get an oceanfront campsite for a few nights at Green Point Campground, but it’s getting colder, snowing at night in the mountains, and we really need to start heading south. We were surprised that this campground started getting busier today; it’s been pretty quiet. Well, it is Friday, another weekend is here. There really are other people who camp in the cold temperatures.
Gros Morne/Norris Point KOA Holiday Campground: 5 Shearakin Lane, Rocky Harbour, NL Canada A0K 4N0; phone 1-800-562-3441; e-mail koa.grosmorne@warp.nfld.net; website www.koa.com/campgrounds/gros-morne. There are alot of campgrounds at or near Gros Morne National Park. We really liked the Berry Hill Campground, a National Park campground, but when they closed for the season, we had concerns about where we could stay that was not just a parking lot. This KOA campground was very good. Of course, it originally was a National Park campground, therefore it had the trees & trails & lake, etc. that comes with Park campgrounds, but KOA took it over & probably actually improved it. The place was spotless & incredibly well maintained. You had your choice of 20, 30, or 50 AMP electric hook-ups or no electricity at all; you could have only water at your site or you could have water & electricity; or you could have full hook-ups including sewer; or finally, no hook-ups at all. You could park by the lake or out in the open or in the woods, or any combination. Prices varied depending on the amenities you chose. There were 103 campsites – 44 were full hook-ups in an open area (6 with patios), 10 were cabins, and the other sites were in the woods & private. Since it wasn’t very crowded, we got site #3 with 30 AMP electricity and water hook-ups. No sewer, we’ll just use the dump station. We were right on the lake, a beautiful location, and we really liked it. We were surrounded by trees; it was very private. The laundry room had 4 washers & 4 dryers, all spotlessly clean. Customer service was excellent. We were conveniently located between Rocky Harbour & the lovely towns of Norris Point & Neddy Harbour. $39 & change per night Canadian currency (this included a 10% off-season discount. We would come back again.