Newfoundland

[bbeezzz]

Wife and I travel in 30 foot Winnebago, towing an Equinox. We will be travelling from Alberta in 2020 to spend time in the Maritimes and the Eastern seaboard. Part of that trip will include one month travelling throughout Newfoundland, probably crossing on ferry mid July. Any information on roads, rv sites, Provincial Parks and dry camping in Newfoundland, would be appreciated.

[Veebyes]

NL is a confusing place & not just because of the way the locals talk. You look on a map & think that it is way far north but it is not. It is at a latitude a little north of the US Canada line out west. Then there is that time thing.

All in all a great place with wonderful people. Just nod your head & say yes when you don't understand them. They are really no harder to understand than some southerners.

We did a month on the island a few years ago & would like to go back again.

[Yeti_plus]

Make ferry reservations as soon as you can confirm your arrival and departure dates, especially departure. We booked our departure 2 days in advance and we were bumped back by 6 days due to storms and hurricanes coming up the east coast.Our original departure was Aug 26 night crossing and we left Sept 1 Night crossing. Nothing we could do about it. We were booked on Port aux Basques to North Sidney.(7 hr crossing).The folks that had booked long in advance were booked on the next available crossing and they worked through to the shorter bookings, until they had the backlog cleared up.
Roads are decent just like the rest of Canada except they seemed narrow in parts, with some frost heave pot holes and repairs, gravel roads to some of the provincial parks aren't too bad, but watch the road legend on the road map, as some of the "short cuts" are gravel and slower than the paved roads.
Make sure to give yourself lots of time. We had 3 weeks in 2015 from the time we left Southern Ontario until we got back. I drove long days and we were 2 days from home to the ferry and 2 days from the ferry back home. On the way home DW pulled out the notepad and said what do we go back for. 2019 we were gone for 12 weeks, through Quebec and Labrador then to the island and I think we pretty much did it all, but we could probably go back for another summer and do more.
And Jaxdad is correct we still saw snow beside the roads in mid July!

[dcason]

HA! I just assumed that going in September would mean some snow...I've got some time!
Donna

[Little_Kopit]

July, OK

Old NL saying: Newfoundland has 2 seasons, winter and July.

Actually fall is warmer longer than spring. Frost may not come until late October. My first spring there, I had snow on my 50,000 sq. ft lot on May 23.

&, of course, it takes while for the roads maintenance crews to patch up the frost heaves. But July can be TOOOOOOOOOO hot.

Granted I retired and crossed The Gulf in 2008.

Oh yeah, Gros Morne National Park has NS's Cape Breton Highlands National Park beat (IMHO) 1,000 to 1.

:B

[JaxDad]

bbeezzz wrote:
Part of that trip will include one month travelling throughout Newfoundland, probably crossing on ferry mid July.

Most of the snow should be gone by then, most. :B

[trailerbikecamp]

For NL campsites, check out Triple Falls just outside St Anthony on the Northern Peninsula. We also stayed at Gateway To the North. Also look at Square Pond just outside Gander. Around the east, check out Pippy Park in St. John's.

For attractions, look at L'Anse Aux Meadows, the Viking settlement. Near Gander is the Silent Witness Memorial. In the east there are numerous places to see. Cabot Tower, the Geo-center, Water Street etc.

For places to eat, look up Raymond's, Mallard Cottage at Quida Vida (pronounced Kiddy Viddy).

Roads can be narrow and twisting, rough in some spots. Take your time and enjoy the scenery.

[winniman]

Seeing icebergs depends on the year. We have been there twice. First time, we had to go all the way up to St. Anthony to see some. This time we found three at Kings Cove, but that was all we saw. June is the better month for icebergs. As stated, you cant beat the iceberg finder website to tell you where they are. If you are going to St John NFLD, Pippys Park is right in town. Its a nice park owned by the city. It may be the only show in town. Its a short cab ride down town if you want to enjoy the nightly music. For whales, we saw lots at Cape Spear this time. The first time, we didn't see any there. If you go down the Irish Loop to St. Vincents Beach, you can boondock beside the tourist info center and walk across the bridge to the beach. We spent three days there both trips. The whales, seals, and sea birds did not disappoint either trip. Its the best place in NFLD to see whales. They come 30 feet from the shore. The beach is actually a hundred foot drop off. The whales chase the Kaplin up to the beach, and take turns eating them. Kaplin are like small sardines or smelts. The seabirds put on quite a display as well. We watched Gannets dive from a hundred feet up into the school of Kaplin. There were thousands of birds doing it at the same time. I took a video of it. There are many videos of NFLD on my channel if you want to check it out. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDBMMO8MWOo

[dcason]

We've been two times and love NL...going this year also.
We found the provincial parks nice...some have laundry as well. Get the pass.

We boondock almost all of the time with some provincial parks (see laundry)...but we are also small (25 feet) for this trip not towing anything. We use our motorhome as a roaming hotel and stop when we wish. We tow out western USA but not in NL.

Newfoundland "food" is not good....lots of frozen fried stuff. So the few times we ate out were always disappointed...or we just selected wrong. HOWEVER, the Daily Catch up on the northern peninsula (Saint Lunaire-Griquet) was very good and we ate there twice (we don't eat out much)...freshly prepared food. There are probably other places that serve fresh food so if anyone else found any place feel free to chime in!

Iceberg spotting: Icebergfinder.com The last time we went in 2016 there seemed to be an iceberg in every northern cove/bay. It was also a rainy year...we are brining a few pairs of hiking shoes each! 2013 was NOT a rainy year.

We are considering returning home to NY via labrador again (2013 we did it) and more roads have been paved since then. Quebec 389 is a challenge but doable for us.

La Scie has an rv park that has serviced and unserviced sites (like a parking lot but has laundry and showers).

We also found water issues...boil versus bottle water. Maybe because we are there early when campgrounds are just opening...not sure. We found that the water situation was all over the place (boil it/don't boil it and drink it). We buy bottled water now or take only from reliable sources that tell us that water is okay to drink.

Fogo Island is one of our favorites but last time we timed it wrong and didn't make the ferry leaving...so spent the night on the road in line waiting for tomorrow. Some people slept in their car. The artistic studios are interesting.

Wildlife: MOOSE (do not drive at night), fox, Caribou.

Make a reservation for the ferry at that time of year...you can change it but will have to wait for an opening.

Here is our blog...we went in 2013/2016. http://roadsidechronicles.blogspot.com/2016/

Enjoy your trip...a month is a nice amount of time.
Donna in NY

[Little_Kopit]

A) The Maritimes = NB, NS, PEI (those provinces who were a part of original Confederation.

B) Atlantic Canada = above 3 + NL, Joey created that term.

When you get to that Province make sure you say Atlantic Canada.

& say New Fun Land. Yep, saying 'found' is taboo.

I lived and worked there for almost 25 years, but retired in 2008. Of course, there are changes. Make sure to dine out at least once a week.

:B

[Flyboy320]

Contact the Provincial tourism folks and get them to send ALL their info. Good starting point.