Newfoundland: Part 1
Itinerary:
Thursday, July 18th - Board ferry in North Sydney, Nova Scotia
Friday, July 19th - (Morning) Dock in Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, (Evening) Camp @ Blow Me Down Provincial Park
Saturday, July 20th - Gros Morne National Park, Camping @ Green Point
Sunday, July 21st - More Gros Morne: Boat Tour of Western Brook Pond, Camping @ Shallow Bay
Monday, July 22nd - Ferry to Labrador, Camping @ Pinware Provincial Park
Tuesday, July 23rd - Ferry back to Newfoundland, Camping @ Green Point again
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The Newfoundland leg of the trip started with an eight-hour overnight ferry that was actually more like 12 by the time we boarded and got offloaded. We started in North Sydney, Nova Scotia on Thursday night and ended up in Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland on Friday morning. The ship had ten decks and reminded me a lot of the cruise boats I went on with my parents as a teenager. From what I can tell by looking at the boat’s maps, this beast had four vehicle decks, three passenger decks, one rooftop sky deck, and two other utility decks. The vehicles were lined up bumper-to-bumper across eight rows and there were a LOT of transports. There were sleeping cabins available but being the cheapskates we are, we opted to stick with "steerage class" and slept on deck eight, which was the quieter of the two economy decks. Seats were first-come-first-serve and we managed snagged a pair near the back windows, giving us a great view of the ocean… not that that the night sky gave us much to see for the bulk of the crossing.
Given that this was an overnight crossing, every passenger had the same prerogative: sleep. Some people reclined back in the big armchairs and slept as though it were an airplane and others slept on the bare floor or even pulled out small air mattresses and sleeping bags (the website said that wasn’t allowed…. but nobody seemed to enforce it). The atmosphere was laid back and everyone was very respectful of each other's space. I don’t sleep well without a proper bed so I only got about three hours of light chair sleep that left a nice kink in my neck, but I'm not complaining. The rumble of the engines and harmony of snores made for a peaceful night and I didn't even pop headphones in until around 4am when I had caught just enough Zzz’s to not be sleepy anymore. It felt like the overnighters we pulled in university, minus the brain strain and add the excitement of adventure. Our campsite for the next night was only an hour and a half from the ferry port in Newfoundland, so we knew we had a good nap waiting for us on the other side.
I got up around when sunrise would have been, had it not been cloudy, and found a secluded sitting spot on the top deck where I could write and take in the moment. I picked up a fleece blanket at our thrift stop in Nova Scotia, which I wrapped around me to block out some of the wind. I sat cross-legged with my sketchbook in my lap, favourite pen in my hand and genuine excitement buzzing through my body. My thoughts toggled between being captive to my surroundings and considering the context of my life more broadly- the people waiting for back me at home, the decisions that were still up in the air and not quite knowing what the next chapter of my life would entail beyond this trip. None of the feelings were fearful; I trusted fully that I was going to get where I needed to go, wherever that was.
We got off the ferry around 8:30 and headed straight for a small breakfast spot just up the highway. The restaurant was simple, the food was cheap, portions were big, and the staff were friendly as could be. Taylor and I mapped out the route we needed to drive for the afternoon and with full bellies, we headed back on the road. We drove only for a few minutes before stopping again to take photos with the Newfoundland and Labrador signs, laughing a bit at our squirrely energy. I took the first shift of driving because I knew I was going to crash once the morning caffeine wore off. Taylor slept a bit more on the ferry than I did, so she had a more steam and took over after about an hour while I took a turn napping in the passenger seat. We stopped at a grocery store in a town named Corner Brook to pick up some fresh meat for dinner (fish cakes!) and kept driving to our spot for the night, a place called Blow Me Down Provincial Park. I initially booked this campsite because of the hilarious name but quickly realized after arriving that the name was literal- the winds were enough to blow you down. We were lucky to be visiting on a good day, so the only things that got knocked over were cups and small table items but the park ranger said they could get quite bad with worse weather.
Once we got to the site, Taylor napped for a bit while I did a repair on a support beam on Cece’s build. It was a piece of wood that moved to create access to the “dungeon storage” while also supporting the bed platform when it was in place. It had gotten chipped at some point and I wanted to reinforce it before it wore down anymore, so I bent a flat dollar store spoon into a brace and it fit like a glove. After the repair and while Taylor was still napping, I headed down to the water to draw and paint and take in the ocean cove that the park was built around. A bit later, Taylor made us a delicious dinner of fish cakes and veggies with seasoning and we ate by the water as the wind tossed our hair around. We looked for pretty rocks along the shore and explored a neat staircase that went up a rock cave at the edge of the ocean.
The next day we headed to Gros Morne, which is a huge national park with lots of surreal sights and beautiful campgrounds. After we got inside the park boundaries, Taylor found a great little paddle shop and rented a kayak for a couple hours. I’m wary with kayaking because my shoulder muscles are messed up and are often tingly and numb to begin with, so I opted to hang out on the dock while she paddled. I used the top of the kitchen tote bin as a countertop and whipped up a quick lunch of tuna salad with tortilla chips, which I ate in a deck chair looking out at the water while I worked on my job application. Afterwards, we moseyed down the road to a lighthouse with LOTS of wild strawberries and raspberries scattered along the trails. We filled our bellies up and made our way to Green Point, where we had an oceanside campsite booked. Our site was on a cliff overlooking the water and had a surreal ocean view, very plush and squishy grass, and a little trail that connected the parking spot to the actual camping pad. We set up with lots of daylight left and spent most of the afternoon crafting and enjoying each other’s company and waiting for the sunset to come. Once it arrived, the colourful show took our breaths away and left us speechless.
As if the view wasn’t spectacular enough, once dusk started to set in, we noticed toads starting to hop out from the grass and onto the paths. Now, we have toads back in Ontario but I'd never seen *that* many toads before- the park was full of them! I smiled from my heart when I saw them because toads have become a symbol of gratitude for me and I call them grattitoads. I think I got the reference from a Netflix show called Big Mouth but I vaguely remember hearing about them before that, too. Whenever I see them, I smile and give thanks for something in my experience, whether it be the sunshine or the people around me or even just the fact that I and my loved ones are safe. These toads struck me more powerfully than any toad has in the past because there were so many of them that I couldn't keep up with giving thanks with every one I saw. Instead, I felt like I was surrounded by gratitude. I smiled with my toes planted in the squishy grass, watching the sun put on its spectacular show with toads hopping all around me in the background. It's hard to put into words how beautiful the land was and how peaceful everything felt; it was truly one of those experiences that just had to be soaked up in the moment because any attempt to save it only took away from the magic.
The next day, Taylor and I decided to take a boat tour of one of famous Western Brook Pond, which is home to some of the most beautiful rock cliffs I'd ever seen. Earlier in the trip, Taylor talked to an older man who was staying near us at one of the campgrounds in Nova Scotia. He had a Gros Morne t-shirt on and when she asked him about it, he said "It's another world" (in a thick German accent). I heard about the interaction through her and never met him myself, but we quoted that line many times during the tour and once again, soaked up the experience with hearts full of gratitude. At the end of the tour, one of our guides pulled out a guitar and gave a concert of traditional Newfie songs just as it started to rain. I took lots of photos of that tour but none of them do justice to the experience- it was truly another world!
That night (Sunday), we stayed at another campground inside the park, Shallow Bay. It was still raining when we arrived and we didn't have enough cell service to check the weather, so I pulled out my stockpile of emergency tarps and rope to make a canopy over our site. My family has a lucky streak of always camping in the rain, so much so that when I was a kid, it felt weird if we ever camped without a tarp canopy above us. My dad is the master of campsite tarps and I channeled his skills as best I could, making sure I had elevation points and made sure that the drainage spots were away from our stuff. After an hour or so of finessing the setup, I had constructed a surprisingly effective canopy and we stayed dry as the sprinkles of rain came down throughout the night.
In the morning (Monday), we went for a quick walk on the fine sand beach, then headed out at a decent time and began driving north to the ferry terminal that would take us to Labrador. The drive was a few hours of oceanside highway with very few houses or towns and lots of wilderness. We finally got to the ferry terminal around lunchtime, hoping to make a 1:15 ferry that never ended up coming because the water was too choppy. After a few hours of waiting, we got on a 3:30 (ish? Time is a blur) boat and spent the hour-and-forty-five crossing with our headphones in to drown out the tourist chatter around us. We shared a table and happily hermited in our own worlds. Taylor beaded and I worked more on my job application which was due Thursday but I wanted to submit sooner. The water was choppy and although I'm usually good with motion sickness, the way the boat bobbed up and down with the waves had my stomach turning a bit.
The vessel docked in Quebec and was just a 10 minute drive to Labrador. We headed up the road with big curious eyes, not sure what to expect from this remote part of the province. Some sunny rain showers came just minutes after we docked and a beautiful double rainbow formed across the ocean. We stopped at a few different lookouts to take in the sight and once again, appreciated the moment with grateful hearts. Here we were in Labrador, very far from home, surrounded by a brillaint sunny rain shower and a breathtaking rainbow- just wow.
Our campsite for the night was at Pinware Provincial Park, about 45 minutes away from the ferry terminal (not including stops). We navigated winding roads that took us through little fishing towns that had colourful and surprisingly well-kept houses. We were surprised by how cozy and… normal? The towns felt compared to what we were used to in Ontario. We arrived at our campsite around 7ish and got right to work setting up camp before the sun fell and the cold came in. Our site was right on the ocean, separated from the beach by a grassy dune. After the initial setup, I walked the shore and put my toes in the frigid water as I stood in the golden sun with a chilly breeze on my cheeks. The gate attendant warned us that the flies might be bad and if they bugged us too much (pun intended), to cook and eat in a screened-in shelter that was by the park's playground. Sure enough, little gnat-like flies were everywhere and we spent most of the evening in the shelter to stay away from them.
We were up early the next morning (Tuesday) so we could catch the 10am ferry back to Newfoundland. The journey back was just as choppy as the way there but the people watching was great and we still arrived with smiles on our faces. It was a two and a half hour drive from the ferry dock to the Green Point campground, where we had grabbed the last available site for the night. We got to our spot at a decent time and I immediately sunk my toes into the squishy grass, appreciating the green canopy above us and the sound of the ocean coming from the other side of the camp road. I used the comfort station wifi to submit my job application, then headed back to our site to make dinner before doing a shore walk. Our Newfoundland stretch was about half over and it was quickly speeding by.
Next stop: more Newfoundland!
