Newfoundland, 2003

I had long been told that Newfoundland was a desolate, cold, and featureless place full of strange people who were horribly inbred. Even the people who live there call it "The Rock". Then, I started meeting people who had been there, who all said "you have to see it", and saying what great people the "Newfies" are. So much for the quality of information you in the US about places outside the US that aren't Europe.

All this fits in a Subaru?       Photo by Judith Meyers

Judith and I went there for 2 weeks in July of 2003, with 4 friends (Mike M, Mike K, Alison & John) to see the area around Gros Morne on the west coast, and the eastern part of the Bay of Exploits on the north coast. Paddling would be our primary goal, and a little hiking, too.

Driving off the ferry into Port aux Basques, I saw a treeless terrain, with mountains all around. The architecture was what I expected (Basic, sturdy buildings, mostly painted white), and the town is small, and right on the water. The scenery changed as we drove up the west coast, and then trees appeared, and then forests. Once we got 40 or so miles north of Port aux Basques, the terrain began to remind me of southern Alaska on a smaller scale.

Port aux Basques      Photo by Judith Meyers

Our first campsite was on Bonne Bay near Gros Morne. Bonne Bay is a fijord that has two arms, and our campsite was at the end of the northern arm. Gorgeous. And then the rains started.....I set up a tarp, and set our tent up under it. It rained all night, and until about noon the next day. Once the weather broke, we went paddling from camp. We didn't go far, because the winds were whipping up the fijord at about 25 knots or so. I wore my tuliliq, much to the amusement of everyone in sight, but it kept the wind out of my ears. I also sweat like a pig in it. The water was much warmer than I had thought it would be, so even a few rolls didn't totally cool me off. We paddled upwind for a while & then surfed back to camp.

The next day, we drove up to Woody Point on the southern arm of the bay to paddle. Woody Point is next to the Table Lands, which is a piece of the earth's mantle that forced it's way up through to the surface. Very amazing sight --- a huge bunch of barren, flat-topped red rock mountains in the middle of a forest. They dominate an already gorgeous landscape. There were patches of snow near the summit, even though where we stood it was about 80 degrees.

The Tablelands seen from Norris Point

As we were driving to Woody Point, Judith started yelling and pointing out the window at the bay. I stopped the car & looked out: A pod of Minke Whales were in the bay near Woody Point. We drove into town, and got a few pictures from shore. We launched our kayaks about a half hour later, and were almost immediately surrounded by whales. A Finback whale cruised by close behind us, and the Minkes were in front of us. Ahhh.....my perfect record of paddling with whales in Canada remains intact! We paddled from Woody Point to Norris Point, and then out into the Gulf of St Lawrence to Rocky Harbor & back to Woody Point. About a 14 mile paddle. We saw whales off and on all day long & paddled along the cliffs on the way out to Rocky Harbor. Great day. We saw several Moose in the road as we were driving back to camp that night. Newfoundland has so many moose that they have signs next to the road that depict a moose standing in front of a crushed car. Sort of a humorous version of a universally understandable warning.

We hiked the base of the Table Lands, and then climbed a hill next to them to get a good view the next day. You're not allowed to climb the Table Lands, because of the winds on top. We encountered a huge bull moose on the way back to the cars. The view from the top was wonderful: You had the Table Lands on one side, and Bonne Bay & Gros Morne on the other. Judith and I both agreed we could have spent a lot more time here, and still not see everything. I would have liked to have climbed Gros Morne, too.

One of the villages we visited near Twilingate  

We relocated camp at the end of the week to New World Island, on the north coast, bordering a stretch of water called Dildo Run. It's about a 5 hour drive from Bonne Bay. Dildo Run is littered with islands & rocks, literally thousands of them. The terrain is much lower than the west coast, but interesting in it's own right. We paddled Dildo Run two days --- once sweeping to the east and once sweeping to the west & back to camp. On the eastbound day, we met a family on a power boat that were enjoying the warm sunny weather. We talked to them for a half hour or so. We also entertained the park rangers after the paddle with a little skills practice in the water next to our campsite. Everyone we met there wanted to talk to us, and were interesting to talk to, and extremely friendly. You can spot an American there a mile away, just by their attitude, and the fact that they avoid contact, unlike the locals, who'll talk to you all day. I even overheard one middle-aged American man complaining that the Newfies "need to be taught proper english". The Ugly American is alive and well.....

And you thought I was kidding

Then came "THE" paddle of the trip. We drove up to Twilingate Island, and launched out of Shady Harbor, on the Bay of Exploits side of the island, just west of Long Point. Long Point is a 300 foot high cliff with a lighthouse on the top. Shady Harbor is an abandoned copper mine, with machinery still in place, including an old steam engine that once pumped water out of the tunnels. There was a 4 - 5 foot swell running in from the north that was bashing the cliffs and rocks, and spray was flying all around, creating a fine mist at the base of the cliffs. We were going to head out of the launch, paddle around some large rocks and small islands to the west, and then round the point and paddle into Twilingate Harbor. We did about a 7 mile paddle which took 5 hours. Every corner you rounded yielded a dozen new play spots. The waters were turbulent, but not pushy, and were the most amazing deep emerald green I'd ever seen. It was so clear that you could see 30 feet down, and the swells were churning up foam all along the shore. We stopped in a cove for lunch that had a sea cave on one end of it, and cliffs all around. A very sweet place to stop.

Lunch Time                                                                                            Long Point Light

I paddled more rock gardens, ledges and cliffs in that one day than I had in the entire several months before it. Mike K, who is a shutterbug, shot about 3 rolls of film this day. He caught John nearly losing it when a swell broke high on a rock he was paddling over, Alison surfing a chute between two ledges, John and I paddling right on the cliffs and rock gardening in the swell, and just about every other thing we did. We earned a big dinner and early bed this day. We didn't have any whale or iceberg sitings here, but nobody seemed to mind. We saw lots of guillemots, but no puffins. I was intently looking for puffins all the time we paddled there.

                           
            John paddling in the rocks                                                                         Foam everywhere!

We took a "tourist day" to just poke around, and then did the 8 hour drive back to Port aux Basques in one shot, and took the ferry back to Nova
Scotia the next morning. I'll definitely be going back soon.

The view east from Long Point

You have to see it!

Getting there:

 It’s a 17 hour drive from Connecticut to the ferry in North Sydney, NS. The ferry to Port aux Basques takes 6 hours, and the ferry to St John’s takes 12 hours if you decide to go that way. Drive time from Port aux Basques to Gros Morne is about 4 hours, and it’s another 4 to 5 hours to Twilingate.

 While you’re there:

 You can’t bring fresh produce into Canada or large quantities of alcohol or tobacco. So, you’re best off shopping in Nova Scotia before you get on the ferry. You can also re-supply in Newfoundland at Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor, both of which are large towns with all the retail facilites you’ll ever need, including supermarkets, and Wal-Mart. Just plan ahead for food & such, and buy it as you go. It’s better than eating canned hash for 2 weeks. And Newfie beer is pretty tasty stuff! I highly recommend the Quidi Vidi beers, especially the red ale and the “1892” traditional ale.

 Bugs:

 At Gros Morne, the black fly rules. Even in august. At Dildo Run, it was mosquitoes. A screen house and repellent were nice to have.

 Other critters:

 Moose, whales, bears (Including polar bears in the spring), guillemots, puffins, and foxes are common.

 Weather:

 We had great weather for most of the trip, and the daytime temperatures were 75 to 85 degrees. Nighttime temps were in the low to mid 50’s. At Bonne Bay, a west wind creates rain (Fijords do this). The water temps varied from swimmable to lethal depending on where we paddled. Next time I go, I’m bringing a wetsuit, as a drysuit was not always necessary. This was fortunate, as Mike M and Alison both blew out neck gaskets on the trip. Get good local info about what weather to expect for when you go.