NEWFOUNDLAND – HOLYROOD TO ADMIRALS BEACH.
Day 60 – This was our last day here to cover the areas within the lower Avalon Peninsula we hadn’t covered in the past few days. It was 44 degrees and sunny at 7 a.m. Looked like a good day weather-wise. We spent some time with the girls then left at 11 a.m., heading south to Route 90 off the Trans-Canada Highway.
We’d wanted to go to Salmonier Nature Park, but when we got there the parking lot was full, so we decided to drive further south and try again later in the day. We drove several scenic loops that we hadn’t covered last week when we ran out of time. The weather was excellent reaching a high of 70 degrees, sunny with some clouds. We visited the small villages of Harricott, Mount Carmel, and Mitchells Brook. Nice places to live, all of them. Then we went further south to O’Donnells and Admirals Beach. These two villages were really isolated and we loved them both, such nice scenery, rolling green hills, and deep blue waters. We had our lunch and then, alas, we had to turn around & head north again. We couldn’t stay there forever.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
for the havenhurst folks
Yep! Even in Newfoundland!
On the way back up to the TCH, we tried again for the Salmonier Nature Park but they were still too busy. We drove through several beautiful & scenic towns above the TCH: Avondale, Harbour Main, and Chapel’s Cove. All three villages were surrounded by rocky cliffs and on one side, the deep blue waters of Conception Bay. Gorgeous. We stopped at the Post Office at Holyrood to see if our mail had come in yet. No such luck.
We drove further north to Conception Bay South where we finally found propane for the RV, and ran a couple of other errands. Then back to the campground and hello, girlies, who didn’t even seem to know we’d been gone. We sat outside in the screened tent for awhile, enjoying the last few quiet daylight hours here. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Grates Cove at the tip of a different peninsula.
Butter Pot Provincial Park: Route 1 (Trans-Canada Highway), 38 km west of St. John’s; (709) 685-1853 or (709) 637-2040; e-mail nlcamping@gov.nl.ca; website www.nl.camping.ca. This is a large campground with 175 campsites. It is conveniently located near St. John’s and the Avalon Peninsula. It’s open mid-May to mid-September. There are no hook-ups here, but generator usage is permitted from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. There is a dump station and water is available at the comfort stations (it is not drinkable at this time – it must be boiled before consuming). Most of the campsites in the lower portion of the campground (sites 1 thru 150), are close to each other and a decent amount of them are small for tent campers. Facilities (dump station, a comfort station, numerous restrooms, playgrounds) are located close to these campsites. Sites 151 thru 175 are deeper in the woods and at the end of the campground. We had site #155. These sites are larger and much more private than the other campsites. We loved our site. Within the Park there are hiking trails that go out into the surrounding mountains, and there are two large ponds for swimming and boating. This was a good campground and we stayed a week. We’d definitely stay here again, but during the summer they book up completely particularly on the weekends.