He Says: New-found-land
In the lead up to our trip, people often asked “which part of the trip are you looking forward to the most?” For both of us the answer was easy: Newfoundland.
Newfoundland is a big island (locals call it “the rock”) off the eastern coast of Canada. It is the most easterly part of North America, and the closest point to the European continent.
It’s hard to explain what it is about Newfoundland that appeals to me so much – the stunning scenery, the small towns and cities dotted across the island, the strange accents and interesting history… the province certainly has a certain mystique about it. I can honestly say that I spent more time planning and then changing plans for our two weeks here than I have for the rest of our trip combined!
In a similar way to how I advise friends to visit New Zealand, Newfoundland is one of those places where you want to see the whole thing, not just a couple of towns here and there, which makes trip planning that much more complicated!
The first challenge with Newfoundland is getting there… from Inverness in Cape Breton, we drove 3 hours to get to the ferry terminal, where a 7-hour boat ride across the 180km stretch awaited us. Thankfully the weather was perfect and the ride was much more comfortable than your typical Cook Strait crossing from Wellington….
When we hit land and continued on the Trans Canadian Highway, our jaws dropped at the stunning landscape that unfolded before us. Atlantic Ocean on the left, snow-capped mountains on the right. It was getting late and we still had a couple hours driving to get to our AirBnB, and we were both on high alert for wild moose that graze nearby (see below!)
Someone else’s photo of the highway from Port Aux Basques - you get the gist!
We spent a day in the city of Corner Brook catching up on laundry and picking up supplies for the next few days…before leaving we stumbled on a Captain Cook (yes, that, Captain Cook) memorial. As it turns out, before his well-documented trips to the Pacific, James Cook spent 5 years surveying the Coast of Newfoundland, producing amazing maps that were used even hundreds of years later. His amazing skill as a surveyor and cartographer were a major factor in why he was sent to the Pacific….the things you learn!
The great man himself
We packed up our car for the umpteenth time, and set off for our next stop, Gros Morne National Park. A sneak peak of one attraction we saw there - we stumbled upon these two great moose grazing beside the road. Hard to describe the presence these animals have, especially seeing them up close for the first time.
Enjoy Amanda’s commentary below… not quite David Attenborough…
P.S. in our time in Corner Brook we were alerted to a famous Newfoundland soft drink – Pineapple Crush – which is only made on here on the island. To most other visitors it would be just another artificially flavoured fizzy drink…but it just happens that the pineapple flavour is exactly the same as the flavouring in Pineapple Lump candy. After a couple litres each it’s fair to say we’ve had more than enough yellow food colouring for a little while!(Amanda even tried it in breakfast cocktail form, with yoghurt and vodka.)
