We decided to get a \240jump on our trip and headed out Wednesday night I nstead of \240Thuraday morning \240and stay the night at darlington provincial park. Because I was expecting to have te morning to finish up my packing it was of course a mad rush. As per usually, as soon as we hit the highway I remembered things I forgot and we had to loop around to go get them. The drive was pretty good until we were about 3 km from the park. The highway was closed and they were diverting everyone off at the same exit as we need to take! \240Neither of us had dinner and it was after 10pm so we were both getting a little hangry. When we got to campsite \240there was no one \240at the gate but they had a machine that you could pay for the night. Unfortunately it doesn’t select a campsite for you so we wasted yet more time searching for an appropriate site in the dark. When we finally got set up and headed for something to eat, it was 11 and everything was closed. We ended up at McDs, my least favourite place of all. Let’s hope tomorrow is a little smoother

This morning Jeff had meetings until 11:15 so I explored Darlington while waiting for him. I hadn’t realized that it was right in Lake Intsrio until my walk. Nice place for a stop over but not for an extended stay. Next stop is Saint Roch de Aulnaies in Quebec.

Today was as a long hall. We left Darlington around noon and arrived in Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies around 10pm. \240As we got closer to our destination it got significantly rainier and cooler. It made for a beautiful sunset though.

We stayed the night at Aulnaies camgound in Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies Quebec. We didn’t get there until 10 and the front gate was already closed. A couple of friendly girls noticed us and came up and gave us the number of the owner. We called him and he immediately met us and had us follow his golf cart to our site. We would have never found our way in the dark otherwise! \240As Jeff started setting himself up to back in a whole bunch of people jumped up to give him some helpful suggestions on how to pull in easily. Once We pulled into our site, we \240didn’t even bother to unhitch the trailer since we knew we would head out first thing in the morning. \240Our site was right next to a pond so we fell asleep to the sound of many many bullfrogs!

We got an early start this morning and left Aulnaies camgound by 7am and arrived in Kouchibouguac National Park, Saint-Louis-de-Kent in New Brunswick around 2pm. .

After we set up we drove to Richibuctou for a late lunch and groceries. We ate at La Riva Grill and had our first seafood of the trip, an order of mussels each. After lunch we stopped for groceries and bought mussels for dinner too!

On \240our way back to camp we we stopped at Kelly’s Beach. The boardwalk to get to the beach is beautiful. It’s a short walk (1/2 km) There are lots of interpretive signs along the way to explain the evolution of barrier island dunes, which are a pretty cool natural phenomenon! It was pretty deserted so it felt like we were on our own little island, with a 25 km beach! \240Near the parking was a canteen to get treats, so we both treated ourself to soft serve ice cream.

When we got back it was around 9pm so Jeff started a campfire and then fired up the bbq to \240cook up the mussels. Mussels and Caesar’s sitting around a campfire, life is good!

We left Kouchibouguac in the morning and headed for North Sydney. Our Ferry wasn’t until \24011:45 pm but we figured we spend the evening in North Sydney. On the way we stopped at the side of the road and had lunch in the trailer from groceries we had bought the day before. It’s time like this we appreciate the traveller over the pop-up! \240When we got to North Sydney we did a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some stuff for the trailer. After that we headed to the ferry, parked our truck and trailer in the queue, then went out for dinner. Surprisingly; there weren’t many choices. \240We ended up at a mediocre pizza place After dinner we went back to the truck and waited to board. For some reason boarding was delayed and we didn’t end up on the ferry until after the time the ferry was suppose to leave. We lucked out and ended up in a lane that was near the front for exiting the ferry. After we parked we headed to our reserved seating. It was an entire room of chairs that were a cross been a lazy boy and airplane seat. We dropped our stuff off and headed to the lounge for a drink. After our drink we headed back to our seats. We discover that night that neither of us are good at sleeping in chairs. Jeff moved to the floor and I dozed on \240and off (mostly off). At 5:30 we headed down for breakfast. The ferry arrived in port around 7:30 and we headed off to Gros Morne.

We arrived in Gros Morne around noon but since check in time wasn’t until 2 we decide to go the the Gros Morne Discovery Centre first. Little did we know this would take us 90 minutes out of our way. On a normal day, not a big deal. But after a sleepless night and 5 hour drive we wished we hadn’t bothered. The view was spectacular though and we picked up some pamphlets about activities in the area.

We checked in \240at Berry Hill campground and set up, The sites weren’t nearly as nice as Kouchibouguac with very little privacy but still much nicer then most of the electrical sites back home. Like Kouchibouguac, there was a shared pavilion area with sinks; picnic area, and wood stoves. Since there has been a lot of rain these “kitchens” have been heavily used. Probably campers with tents. Since it was raining, again, we headed into Rocky Harbour.

After we set up we drove \240into Rocky Harbour for dinner. We ate at Fisherman’s landing. We both ate the fisherman’s platter that was a selection of various fish and seafood. So good! \240On the way back to the trailer we passed a lookout \240trail so decided to check it out. We climbed steadily through the forest, and then emerged from the trees into a patform atop Partridgeberry Hill. It was a spectacular viev of Bonne Bay, Gros Morne Mountain, and the Tablelands. After the lookout we passed Lobster Cove lighthouse and decided to take a look around. Again, an amazing view. After the 2 stopovers we finally headed back to the trailer. We started a campfire but decide to return to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. It was a little cloudy so the sunset was only mediocre. We finally ended the night we our campfire and a relatively early night to bed.

Today our first destination was the Tablelands. You can tell as you approach the Tablelands by car that it is going to be something special, and it is! \240One minute, you feel like you are in Newfoundland and the next minute, you feels like your are in the desert(a cold desert!). The weather was good \240hiking weather. A touch cool but great for walking. The Tablelands are one of the few places on Earth where the mantle has risen to the surface. A good portion of the path is cleared and is grave orr boardwalk. \240 The Tablelands are like no other landscape I've seen on this earth and can make you feel like your on Mars. A spectacular site to see. \240At the end of the boardwalk is a small platform overlooking the creek. Most people stopped at that point but we decided to continue a little further. \240We walked another hour maybe \240 The nice part was that for the most part \240no one else was around. We were able to get a few pictures without anyone else in them. After walking for a bit I \240realized a was spending more time looking at my feet because of the rockiness nstead of the scenery so we sat for a bit in the silence \240then urned around and hiked back.

In the afternoon we headed to Cow Head for the Cow Head Lobsterfest. Unfortunately, when we got there, there wasn’t much festivities. We did at least have our first lobster of the trip at Shallow Bay Inn

At the last minute we decide to check the Anchors Aweigh band at the Anchor Pub in Rocky Harbour. So glad we did! \240These 5 guys have been doing this for 23 and it shows. It was a great mix of comedy, Newfoundland music, and a little Newfoundland history thrown in. We also learned a few thing. For example, what the word `Dunch” means (my arse has gone dunch , meaning). We also learned what an ugly stick is (. \240).

The band did a song tribute to the provinces or countries the audience \240were from which was a great musical end to the evening. We discovered at this point that most of the audience was from Ontario. . Touristy, yes...but worth every penny.. We decide to buy their CD to listen to on our travels.

The trip started with 3 kilometre walk on a gravel road to get to the dock of \240Western Brook Pond. We we’re running a little behind so had to do a good pace to make sure we made it in time. \240The boat had both inside and outside seating. Because it was cold and rainy there was plenty of seating in both areas so we moved in and out depending on the rain and how cold we got. Fortunately there were periods without rain where we were able to snap some photos. We enjoyed a two hour narrated tour of the lake where we saw the incredible rock formations, waterfalls and learned a bit about the geology and history of the area. This beautiful and unusual lake was, at one time, a salt water fjord. Now a fresh water lake, the change occurred when the land rose up and blocked the area from the sea. About an hour into the tour we dropped a group of hikers off at a dock. The guide told us that they would hiking through the mountains to a spot in the other side and would spend 4 days out there. He said quite often hikers under estimated how difficult; cold; and buggy the hike will be and are found in the dock waiting to take the boat back. I was ready to be done after 2 hours in the boat ride, I can’t imagine 4 days! \240When the tour was done the boat dock area has a nice little restaurant where we decide to get some soup to warm up. It ended up being this amazing roasted tomotoe and red pepper soup. One of the best soups I’ve ever tasted!

Since it was still raining in and off we decide to \240tke the Bonne Bay boat tour out of Norris Point. The crew member that welcomed on board was Wayne from 'Anchors Aweigh’ that we saw perform \240the night before! \240The scenery was breathtaking. We saw the cliffs, waterfalls, the mountains, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, little towns along the bay, and several eagles on the 2 hour tour. Just like last night; Wayne was full of great stories and neat information \240As we neared the end of the trip, several crew members serenaded us with a few songs.

We had planned on buying mussels from the seafood market in Rocky Harbour and cook them back at the camp but I t was still raining. We could have cooked them inside but we didn’t want the smell lingering in the trailer. Instead of buying mussels \240we ate at a restaurant called Java Jacks. The name is deceiving as it’s not just a coffee shop. The upastairs was a cute little restaurant with a nice menu. We got an appetizer of cod tongue to start that were actually much better then I expected. We both had clam chowder and mussels for dinner which was also very good. After dinner we went to the main floor and had coffee and split a huge date square which was also very good.

We are now officially a Newfoundlander, we’ve been screeched in! \240Screech-in gets name from Newfoundland Screech - the rum peculiar to the province that’s used as part of the initiation process.

We were excited to find a real grocery store and a Walmart superstore in Grand Falls Windsor! \240We bought some sweet kale salad for the first half decent salad since we hit the island. Lunch was in the trailer in the Walmart parking lot.

We arrived in Notre Dame provincial park around 3. Beautiful site right in the water! \240If only it would stop raining long enough for us to enjoy it!

Gander was the closes major nearby town. Unfortunately, once we got there we discovered there wasn’t a lot to do there. We ended up going for a walk on a Boardwalk at Cobb’s Pond.

Gander didn’t have much selection in restaurants other the Rosie's Restaurant & Bakery. Both Jeff and I had the pan fried cod and baked potato

After dinner it was still raining so we drove up to Frederickton. It felt like driving to the cottage! We saw our first moose of the trip so made it more so like the cottage. Unfortunately he was moving to quick to get a photo.

We got up at 6am to head into Twillingate with the intentions of taking a iceberg boat tour at 9:30 it was raining, yet again. \240Turns out that the morning boat tour does not go far enough to see icebergs. The afternoon boat tour does but it was a 4. 1/2 hour tour that would cost 130 each and wasn’t until 1pm. It was rainy, foggy, and cold and probably wouldnt be enjoyable. We also needed to be out of our site by 2 so passed on the boat tour. We drove around Twillingate and ended up at the isles wooden boat museum. \240 Not being avidly into boats I was prepared to be a bit bored. While the museum part was a little dry I enjoyed the boat building work shop and explanation of how a wooden boat is built. \240 The workshop is in the top floor of an \240old School house. \240It's amazing to see how they build boats in the manner they've used for over 100 years. Tony, a boat builder, whose grandfather was a master boat builder, \240explained the construction of a punt he was building \240which the Museum will raffle off to raise needed funding since there is no government assistance for this project. \240The Museum wants the art of boat building to remain alive. Tony explained how a punt is designed and gave details and demonstrations of how it is done from the trees in the woods to the finished product.

We left Notre Dame provincial park around 1pm \240and arrived at Sir Richard Squires provincial park around 5pm. The drive felt long, especially the last 15 km which was a long windey gravel road that shook everything in our trailer even causing some of the lids of the beers to loosen up and leak. After we set up we went the the trading post in the park to eat dinner. After dinner we took a quick walk to the falls (called Big Falls) that are in the park. A lot of fly fishing going on in the river. After our walk we came back to the trailer and had a fire since it was the first night in many nights that it wasn’t raining. We also discovered the that river runs in behind our site but you can’t see it unless you walk up the berm at the back of our site.

We woke up to sunny sky’s, yay! Very welcome to see after days of rain. We left Squires park as soon as we packed up. \240Back down that brutal and long gravel road! \240It was even bumpier if that is possible. \240On the way out we had to stop to let a family of pheasant looking bird cross the road with all her little chicks. Mom crossed the road first and once she got to the other side she waited until each chick came across one at a time. They were hiding in the long grass so you couldn’t tell how many were there. \240Sometimes they would start out but get spooked and go back. Unfortunately there was a car in front of us, so again missed a chance to capture it on camera. \240

Almost the entire trip to Raleigh was driven on the Viking Trail. The highway takes you through wooded valleys, over mountains, and of course along the seacoast. The view was stunning at points, especially when it felt like your were surrounded by water and sky from all sides . \240We even saw a small iceberg just offshore but there wasn’t a good place to stop to take a photo!

After we got settled in at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park we headed to Burnt Cape for dinner. We both decided to order lobster for dinner. The restaurant owner asked us if we wanted to come along to pick them out so of course we said yes, not having a clue what that meant. It turns out that he keeps them in a container in the bay 1 km \240down the road from the restaurant! \240When we got to the dock he hauled up a container full of live lobsters and told us to pick. Not knowing what a good lobster was, we asked him to pick for us. He picked a big male lobster for me with giant claws and a big female for Jeff. \240The lobsters were much better then the ones in Cow Head. \240We \240also found a sour beer we really liked called Boggs and \240 . Apparently made from bakeapple berries.

Lightkeeper restaurant.

Grenfell House is the restored residence of Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell. It is part of the Grenfell Historic Properties which also include The Grenfell Interpretation Centre, Grenfell Handicrafts, Tea House HIll & walking trail, the Dock House Museum and the Jordi Bonet Murrals at the Rontunda. Sir Wilfred was a young medical doctor who came to Newfoundland in 1892 and left behind a legacy of schools, orphanages, coop's and medical services, which still exits today.

The house is beautiful. After our visit, we walked up the trail beside it take in an amazing view of St. Anthony.

Grenfell cottage in St. Anthony is a beautifully restored house that Dr. Grenfell and his family lived in. A lot of the items located inside are original as this is a living museum. You can get up close and get a good look at many of the letters and awards given to Dr. Grenfell, as well as a lot of family heirlooms. Some of these include a picture signed by the Wright Brothers, letters from Theodore Roosevelt, and picture where he attended a garden party with Queen Elizabeth and King George VI. There are so many wonderful artifacts located in the house. Take your time and enjoy them.

There is also a hugh wooden porch surrounding the house with lots of trees. On a warm summer day, what a great place it would have been to hang out.

After dinner we went for a walk in the Burnt Cape fishing village. It was cool but sunny so a very enjoyable walk. On the opposite side of the bay, the shoreline still had snow on it. At one point, Jeff decided to take a walk out into the rocks further and as he \240got there a wave went up over the rocks and splashed him. Fortunately it just got his shoes.

Iceberg tour

We ran out of things to do in St Anthony and our campsite was too buggy to have a fire so decided to inquire about a iceberg boat tour. A tour was just going out but too late to get on it. On this particular day they had one additional tour at 6 because a bus tour had booked them but there was room for us. \240When we got on the boat we found out the bus tour is based in St Catharines!! We met a couple from Grimsby, one from Burlington that used to live in Ancaster, and other relatively close places. As luck would have it, it started to rain as soon as we left the dock. Unlike the other boat tours, this boat had very limited inside area so we were stuck out in the rain. We did see a iceberg up close, albeit fairly small, but still much bigger then the boat. They said it had been there for 6 weeks and was on its last days. It was much prettier then I expected and had a blue sheen that I wasn’t able to capture on my camera.

On the way back we saw a seal and a whale but both at a distance. So basically just black blobs in the water.

When we arrived at the dock we were happy to get out of the cold rain. Since we had a big lunch we stopped in Raleigh and bought a can of chilli for dinner and warmed it up back at the trailer. We were still cold from the tour so we just went to bed after eating.

On our way to L’anse aux Meadows we spotted an iceberg in Noddy Bay in Straitsview. \240Just as big as the one from the boat tour but this one was free!

Facts we found out about in our trip

• Icebergs are edges of glaciers that have broken off and slipped into the ocean
• Most \240icebergs seen off Newfoundland come from the glaciers of western Greenland.
• iceberg takes from 3 to 4 years to make its journey
• Once they head south, they rarely last more than one year
• As glaciers travel, melt water fills the crevasses and later freezes, creating clear, bubble-free ice. This shows up as bluish streaks in icebergs because of the light scattering characteristics of pure ice.
• Icebergs are not salty because they \240are created from pure, fresh water and snow.
• Harvesting icebergs for water is common in Newfoundland because of its purity and low mineral content, I t’s used in craft beer—sold in pretty, cobalt-blue bottles, ice cubes, wine, cosmetics, bottled water, vodka. And Iceberg water,
• Their organic shapes and smooth blue lines are incredible to witness
• In a blind taste test it’s obvious which is which
• Iceberg are a lot harder than ice your make in your freezer \240Because of its density, iceberg cubes last much longer in a drink then normal cubes. One of our tour guides commented that it causes home to drink more. You don’t want to wast the ice so you keep pouring drinks until the cube melts lol.

This is the site of Viking Leif Erickson’s landing in North America around 1000. They know because of Viking artifacts found here. There is a visitor center and wooden walkways to the recreated Viking huts.

a 'guided walk' down to the 'Village'. While all the tourists were bundled up (I had my down jacket in and scarf!) the guide was in short sleeves and shorts! \240offered many realistic insights into why the Norse were here, what they were doing and why they didn't actually settle. The exhibits were very interesting. Learned the difference between Vikings and Norsemen.

The half hr tour finished with leading us to replica huts that had staff in Viking costume giving explanations and engaging with the visitors. I found this a little awkward and somewhat interesting.

Rather than heading straight back to the info centre we took a path off to the coastline for a 2.5km walk that eventually led back to the parking lot. Fantastic walk, beautiful scenery

Sticking with the seafood theme I had the seafood chowder. Jeff swayed on the menu this time and had pulled pork chilli. \240Restaurant was nice, but nothing special. Still haven’t found my bakedapple beer since the restaurant in Burnt Cape! \240

When we were at the \240Norseman restaurant we noticed the oLeif Ericson Monumen, a large bronze statue over looking the bay. Nothing special but a good photo opportunity.

To be honest, this village had very little to offer over L'anse aux Meadows Historic it was like the hokey theme park version of . L'Anse Aux Meadows. The \240replica viking ship "Snorri" was interesting.. If L'Anse Aux Meadows were to add a viking ship replica I would see little need to go to Norstead.

We a extremely early start this morning. We are taking the ferry from St. Barbe \240to Blanc Sabon in Quebec and the driving up to in Labrador. \240We were at the ferry station 3 hours early so once we were in the line up I climbed in the trailer for a nap! \240We saw our 4th iceberg of the trip on the ferry. \240After a rocky boat trip we landed in Quebec at 1 and headed for Labrador

Pinware River Provincial Park has a \240fantastic scenic view of Pinware Bay. Apparently whales and porpoises are current sights, but not for us. \240We did see a \240lot of \240arctic hares! They were everywhere, jumping in front of us. So cute!!! They seem pretty used to people and let me get fairly close to take a photo.

Just like there was a Viking named restaurant near the Viking historic site there was a whale named restaurant near the whale historic site Red Bay Labrador. Both times they were the only restaurant around. Whalers restaurant Is a great little restaurant \240I had the Fisherman’s harvest soup which was very good and Jeff had the fish and chips which he said was one of the best he has had.

Red Bay National Historic Site in Red Bay tells the difficult story about the hardships and life of the Basque Whalers, who established the first oil processing station in the New World 450 years ago. Lots of culture and history on display.

Point Armour Lighthouse

After breakfast we went for walk along the beach that our trailer is on. A little pathway at the back of our lot lead to it. The sandy shores are really pretty here and not at all like the rocky shorelines we’ve become accustomed to seeing in Newfoundland.

The ferry was late and we didn’t board until 4:30. This time Jeff napped until they were ready to board us. \240While crossing the strait there were several whale sitings but still \240nothing close enough to get a picture! \240After the ferry we started the trek homeward and arrived at Blow me Down Provincial park at 12.

Decided \240to head into Corner Brook today. About an hours drive from our campsite. We had hoped to do the Corner Brook Caves but many of the reviews commented on how wet it was. Given all the recent rain; and we were having a hard time finding the entrance we decide to pass.

We decide to try a restaurant called Newfoundland Sushi not sure what to expect. It was probably the best sushi we’ve ever had! \240The presentation was cool too as it came out in a fishing boat.

We decide to check out the Captain James Cook Historical Site. This lookout had an amazing panoramic views of the city and the Bay of Islands as well as the Blowmidown mountains to the west.

We stopped at bootleg brewery in Corner Brook. We ordered a flight of beer of all 8 beers in their menu hoping maybe to bring home some good beer. The Boggs & Barren we had at Burnt Cape is still our favourite though and we’ll be stopping at a local liquor store before we head home in search of it.