Canadian Maritimes RV Trip - Part 2 - Our Travel Adventures

In line for the ferry to NL

On July 8th, we got in line to board the ferry to Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. I didn't know how to make a booking (reservation) for our motorhome towing the truck, so I just made two separate bookings. It ended up being a little cheaper this way. The ferry ride was smooth, except it wasn't quiet trying to sleep in the lounge chairs. We were exhausted when we arrived, so we just drove a little up Hwy 1 and spent all day and night at the Newfoundland Wreckhouse Rest Area. This area is known to be the 2nd windiest place in the world! There used to be a narrow gauge train that ran through here. The winds frequently would blow the trains over. They don't have trains here anymore, lol. There is a reader board we saw on the way here, stating the wind speed. Thankfully it was only blowing about 2-20mph during our stay. Early the next morning, we moved on.

Wreckhouse Rest Area

On this trip, we spent many nights just boondocking in various locations. The phone app iOverlander was a big help in finding locations. Our second night in Newfoundland was near Crabbes River on a cliff overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A beautiful spot with nobody around. A couple days later, we stayed at the Cow Head Provincial Park. However, we didn't have cell service here. Thankfully we could drive to an area that did have service about 1/2 mile away. We also went for a little drive to find these arches. We couldn't believe the weather difference just 30 minutes away. Foggy & windy.

View From Boondocking

Crabbes River Boondocking

View From Boondocking

The next day was a beautiful day to do some sightseeing around Cow Head Newfoundland. Cow Head Lighthouse, SS Ethie shipwreck, view of Gros Morne Tabletop Mountains, and Gros Morne Dinner Theater. The weather was perfect! After reading about and viewing the SS Ethie Shipwreck site, it was fun to attend the dinner theater based on the SS Ethie wreck. We were served a Pan-Fried Cod dinner with a Partridgeberry (it tasted like raspberries) crumble for me and Larry had blueberry crumble for dessert. The play & dinner were both very good.

SS Ethie Dinner Theater

Gros Morne NP Tabletop Mountains

Red Chairs in National Park

SS Ethie Shipwreck

Cow Head lighthouse

"The Big Hill" Overlook,

View from "The Big Hill" overlook,

Since we were so close to the province of Labrador, we had to go visit it for at least one night. We booked a couple nights at a RV Park in Saint Barbe Newfoundland, which is where the ferry is at. The next day, we boarded the ferry taking us to Blanc Sablon, Quebec. This was a quick 2-hour ferry ride. We only took the pickup truck and spent the night in a hotel in Labrador. The next morning went for a drive to see the sites of Labrador, but there wasn't much to see. Our friends Bob & Joyce, came over on the ferry early that morning and we met up with them for lunch before we all took the ferry back to Saint Barbe. However, we were 2 minutes late arriving the required 1-hour before the ferry and they cancelled our booking! Now what? We were put on the waiting list for the ferry - number 54! After waiting the hour, they only took 3 people from the waiting list. We would be on the waiting list for tomorrow's ferry. We tried to get a hotel for the night, but they were all booked. Luckily, the ferry company decided to run another ferry that night and were able to get back to our RV. Lesson learned - DO NOT BE LATE to your ferry booking!

Labrador Coast

We left our last campsite on July 17th and headed up to the furthest point north on the western arm of Newfoundland. We found a beautiful boondocking spot then went to explore L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. This area is where Vikings landed! This is a beautiful area, but it would've been even more beautiful if we hadn't had two days of rain & fog.

It was time to start heading towards the Northern and Eastern coasts of Newfoundland. We had a long, beautiful drive stopped at another boondocking site at Thunder Brook Falls parking area. A popular swimming hole for the locals. It was a hot day but thankfully it cooled off after the sun went down. Joyce and Connie hiked up to see the falls. We were told there was a second waterfall about 1 1/2 minutes up the trail, but it was a little too rough for me since I didn't have the proper shoes on. Bob and Joyce hiked it and gave us some photos.

Thunder Brook Falls

We're only halfway across Newfoundland and this Blog is getting long, so I'll end this part here. At this point in the travels, we still have about 6 weeks left. Part 3 coming to you soon!

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