Newfoundland

It has been some time since our last update so to bring you up to date from 15 to 24 July we had the opportunity to travel to Newfoundland (NFLD), a rather big Island. We only had time to travel up the West Coast and we intend to return to the East Coast at some later date. Over this period we travelled some 3,500 kms and spent 45 hours in the car. So our story of this trip will be divided into segments as we are limited to the number of photos we will be able to place on the blog. Up front we want to tell you that we saw 7 Moose, two silver fox and several ice bergs. We meet friendly people, saw great scenery and ate very tasty food. We hope that you will enjoy the few words that will follow and in particular the great scenery.




Our first over night stay on our way to NFLD was at Antigonish. This is a very pretty town and very Scottish. Every window was decorated in the tartan of their city. We stayed here again on our way home and enjoyed the stop over at the Victoria Inn and ate at Gabrioux Bistro where we enjoyed a delightful meal.

We then travelled to Sydney (Nova Scotia) where we departed by ferry for Port Aux Basques to begin our travels up the Westen side of NFLD. The ferry was 4 hours late in departing from North Sydney so the 2 1/2 hours drive north to Corner Brook saw us arriving at 9 pm. After booking into the Glymmill Inn we found our way to the Wine Cellar, a charming restaurant which served great NZ lamb. While staying at Corner Brook we took the opportunity to spend 3 days on the way up and overnight on our return trip. We wanted to make the most of our time in this area and embarked on day trips which took us to the Big Falls where we saw salmon returning to their birth place to spawn. It is truly an amazing sight to see these salmon fighting to get up the overwhelming waterfalls to return to their birth place. We will let the photos display the wonder of this area and if you look closely you will see (maybe - but it is there) a salmon fighting to return home.

From Corner Brook we travelled further north to St Anthony where we stayed at the Grenfell Inn. The name Grenfell is held in high regard in the area as the Dr Grenfell did so much for the community. To read more about this extraordinary man please go to http://www.grenfell-properties.com/

Just as we were entering St Anthony we saw our first iceberg. We were so excited to see this marvelous wonder that we took a detour and took the first of our many photos of "our iceberg".

From St Anthony we travelled another 50 kms to see the Viking Village. To learn more of this amazing find please go to http://www.norstead.com/ . In the National Park where the village is situated we saw the first of the Moose family. Over that day we were to see several more as we drove to different areas along the trail.

The West coast of NFLD is best described as rugged beauty and the terrain is forever changing. One passes through many small fishing hamlets and quaint villages where folks seem very content and happy with their lot.

On our return to Port Aux Basques we stayed at St Christopher's Hotel which is located on a hill that provides a great view of the town. We took the opportunity here to visit the Board Walk where we enjoyed the local fish and chips.

Our ferry trip home which takes 5 hours was on time and on returning to Nova Scotia we had on overnight stay at Antigonish and arrived home the next day.

More to follow over the next few days.

Stay safe

Ross and Bev