NEWFOUNDLAND – HELLO AGAIN, GROS MORNE NATIONAL PARK.
Day 142 – None of us slept well last night with the RV rocking from the howling winds. We got up to dense fog & rain, lower winds (in the teens) and 50 degrees. We looked at the weather forecast in this area for the next several days: continual rain, wind in the teens and low 20’s. It was worse towards the north & somewhat better towards the south. We decided to pack up and leave.
153 miles, (3:40), 42469-42622
We departed at 10:40 a.m., 53 degrees with heavy rain, some wind, and dense fog. Our initial destination was Port au Choix. A couple of hours later when we reached the turn-off, we saw that the weather forecast for that area wasn’t much different than what we’d seen for Flower’s Cove. It was just plain nasty out. Occasionally, wind gusts and/or the water in the road caused the RV to swerve just a little – it was two hands on the steering wheel the whole time. We kept on heading south. We stopped at a turn-out before entering Gros Morne National Park & let the cats out for a break while we ate our lunch. It was slightly less windy and still raining with fog. Then continuing south on Route 430, we entered the Park. We knew the tremendous, incredible scenery was out there but you couldn’t see it through the fog. Eventually, it was raining less & the fog wasn’t so bad – the views weren’t great yet, but it seemed like the right time to stop. We were approaching Rocky Harbour, a popular tourist town for Gros Morne. We decided to check out Berry Hill Campground, one of five Gros Morne National Park campgrounds, some of which had already closed for the season. In the Rocky Harbour area, there were several other campgrounds, independent, not Park campgrounds, but they were something to fall back on if Berry Hill was unavailable.
Beautiful day for a drive, NF-430 near Daniel’s Cove, NF
The scenery did pop out of the clouds now and again along NF-430, Gros Morne National Park, Rocky Harbour, NF
The Berry Hill Campground was open & we took a drive through. Perfect! Campsites in the woods (protected from the wind by the trees), away from the main highway at the top of a tall hill, and they weren’t very crowded. They were closing for the season in two weeks. We picked site #60 with water & electric hook-ups, not too far from the dump station. The girls would have their heated pads once again. No one was parked near our campsite. The wind wasn’t howling & shaking the RV anymore. And it had quit raining. We booked the campsite for two weeks. Our plan is to use it as a base for exploring most of Gros Morne National Park. It’s very quiet without the wind activity. We are all happy again.
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