NEWFOUNDLAND – NOTRE DAME PROVINCIAL PARK TO HARBOUR BRETON.
Day 94 – We were up at 7 a.m. It was a beautiful day, 57 degrees, sunny & breezy, but it was going to be hot again. We packed up & departed the campground at 9:25 a.m., after dumping tanks. It was 63 degrees & sunny.
147 miles, (4:00), 41234-41381
We took the TCH west to exit 22 south, Route 360. We’d planned to get gas in the RV & Honda plus propane for the RV, having run out of propane last night. One of the first things we saw upon getting on Route 360 was a sign that said, “Check Fuel, No Services for the next 129 km”
and with that, we knew we were headed to a more remote area. We checked fuel & we did have enough to get to the next opportunity to buy some. There was not a single town of any size for 2 hours, then we reached a turn-off for a few lake & river towns to the west. We checked fuel again & we had enough to get to Harbour Breton, further south. The scenery thus far had been nice, lots of healthy trees, some rolling hills, hardly any traffic, etc.
About 10 km later we stopped at a campground, Jipujijkuei Kuespem Park (say that 5 times fast, LOL), a campground run by the Miawpukek First Nation Indians. We wanted to have a backup in case we couldn’t get into the one campground at the end of the peninsula. The camp host said we could drive thru. There were 38 campsites with no hook-ups. There was water available & two dump stations. 35 sites were on a loop that had lots of trees & bushes, some were private, others were not, a few of the sites had water views and most of the sites were occupied by what appeared to be long-term or permanent campers. Three large campsites were located right by the lake off a separate turn-out. One was occupied. They did not have the trees to separate them, but there were bushes and the lake view was great. The sites were large enough for the RV, tent, car, and then some. We liked site #37 & when we checked with the host, she said there had been a cancellation and it was available. We left our name & phone number and said we’d call to let her know which nights we’d be needing to camp there. It was good to know we had some place to stay if needed.
We again headed south on Route 360. The hills got bigger and there were more lakes & rivers. Soon we saw the red rocky cliffs we love. Then the deep blue water of fjords came into view. This was the scenery we’d read that we would see here. Gorgeous. We stopped at a pull-off overlooking lakes, mountains, and fjords – still no towns – and had our lunch. Breathtaking scenery.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
An hour later after heading downhill towards the Ocean, we arrived at Harbour Breton. We’d passed two turn-offs for routes to other towns – roads we would take for exploration later, assuming we could get a campsite here. Harbour Breton had houses perched on the cliffs of a rocky island attached to the rest of the small town by a bridge. The rest of the town was spread out around this island with the emphasis being on the port. It was very nice. Everything was surrounded by the red-rock & forested cliffs. The Ocean lay in front of us. We followed the signs to the campground.
Deadman’s Cove RV Park was a town Park with only five RV sites & ten tent sites. A playground & a building with showers, laundry facilities & restrooms were located in the middle of the circle of campsites. Each site was surrounded on three sides by a grassy berm about six feet high, providing some privacy even though there were no trees, and the RV sites were large. There were electric & water hook-ups at the RV sites, and a dump station was located in town. There was a small water view from four of the campsites. Three campsites were occupied & one was reserved. We grabbed the one remaining site, unhooked the Honda from the RV, and drove to the Town Hall to pay for the campsite. We were lucky to get it. One tent site was occupied. The campground was amazingly quiet. All we could hear was the Sea Gulls. It was $25 per night, Canadian currency.
We arrived at 1:25 p.m. and it was nice & cool, 66 degrees with a wonderful breeze, mostly sunny with just a few clouds. We set up camp and the screened tent, baked a loaf of bread, and sat out in the tent. The high today was 71 degrees.
Later we decided to go out for dinner. Looking online there were few possibilities – a pizza express + sub express and Scott’s Snack Shop. We drove through Harbour Breton, thinking there must be more than that. We found a Cafe at the harbor and went inside. All they served was grilled cheese sandwiches & pastries. They said there was a Pub located at the Southern Port Hotel down the road. We went there. The hotel was just a few rooms and the express pizza/sub place was there off the lobby. There was also a small room with 7 tables, several of them occupied. We decided to give it a try. No one came to seat us. We waited. Finally Rob found someone in the kitchen who took us to a table. The “Pub” was actually a small bar with video games off the “dining room”. Hey, beggars can’t be choosy. The menu was limited, mostly beef items. We ordered the pan-fried cod dinners with an order of garlic bread sticks. Rob got fries with his; I got a caesar salad. We waited awhile for our food. There was one girl doing the seating, serving, and the pizza & sub making – probably mixing drinks, too. We never did receive the garlic bread, nor the onions we’d ordered. Rob’s fries were good, my salad was good. His also came with what looked like canned peas & carrots. He didn’t try them, and I was glad they forgot to include mine. The fish was not the fall-apart, melt-in-your-mouth fresh cod we’d been getting since we came here. We each got two very small portions of what probably was frozen fish, about the size of two fish sticks, with a package of commercial tartar sauce. Yummy. You can’t win them all, and we finished no longer hungry. Back to the RV, we relaxed & went to bed early.