Trip planning to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, NB

[Aage]

So much to do in the Atlantic Provinces, it's hard to imagine what might be the best way to do it. Of course, reading up all the available literature both printed on paper and published on the web will help you to make an itinerary in tune with your own interests.

My wife and I managed to spend over a week there, without going to Newfoundland or Labrador.

I would only venture two comments: if you go anywhere near Baddeck (and no trip would be anywhere near complete without seeing that beautiful area) be sure to drop in to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Bell was brilliant, a Renaissance man across many fields, and his home deserves a good long visit. It was no accident that it has been a National Historic Site since 1952.

My second point is to be sure to do it in the best part of the summer. It does not have a "friendly" fall or winter, from a weather point of view..

[SilverEagle6]

I made my timeline a little easier to read, hoping to get feedback on whether too much or too little time in tha varoius areas:
Cross the border at St Stephens on June 1.
Drive the coast for 8 days and take the bridge to PEI on June 9.
Spend about 8 days on PEI and take the ferry to Picou NS on June 17.
We stay in NS for 30 days and take the 6 hr ferry to Newfoundland on July 17.
Six weeks in NFL and will take the same 6 hr ferry back to NS on Aug 28.
We'll take the same route back through NB, taking 11 days and arriving at Acadia NP on Sep 10.

Just wanting to see from you experienced travelers up there if this timeline makes sense.

John

[RangerJay]

Originally Posted by SilverEagle6

I made my timeline a little easier to read, hoping to get feedback on whether too much or too little time in tha varoius areas:
Cross the border at St Stephens on June 1.
Drive the coast for 8 days and take the bridge to PEI on June 9.
Spend about 8 days on PEI and take the ferry to Picou NS on June 17.
We stay in NS for 30 days and take the 6 hr ferry to Newfoundland on July 17.
Six weeks in NFL and will take the same 6 hr ferry back to NS on Aug 28.
We'll take the same route back through NB, taking 11 days and arriving at Acadia NP on Sep 10.

Just wanting to see from you experienced travelers up there if this timeline makes sense.

John

Looks like you've got lots of room for spontaneous decision making - I'm envious.

Have a great trip.


Jay

[Aage]

Very relaxed plan, John. You'll have a great time.

[Sbb]

Your trip is dream come true, keep us in loop when u travel.

[Cyclist]

Originally Posted by SilverEagle6

I made my timeline a little easier to read, hoping to get feedback on whether too much or too little time in tha varoius areas:
Cross the border at St Stephens on June 1.
Drive the coast for 8 days and take the bridge to PEI on June 9.
Spend about 8 days on PEI and take the ferry to Picou NS on June 17.
We stay in NS for 30 days and take the 6 hr ferry to Newfoundland on July 17.
Six weeks in NFL and will take the same 6 hr ferry back to NS on Aug 28.
We'll take the same route back through NB, taking 11 days and arriving at Acadia NP on Sep 10.

Just wanting to see from you experienced travelers up there if this timeline makes sense.

John

I would move up the trip to Newfoundland and add the PEI trip after returning. One of the pleasures of PEI is the warm water swimming at the magnificent beaches and I think mid-June is early. Six weeks in Newfoundland is nice.

[weirdstuff]

Originally Posted by Jim Flower

Your comments are spot on in every case and you have proven yourself to be a dedicated Airstreamer since very few have ventured to Meat Cove. We were entertained by a braying wild horse on the wild, moonlit, night during our stay there a few years ago. Jim


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Thank you, Jim! It was worth every bit of getting bumped around on the the 7 or 8 kilometers of gravel road to get to Meat Cove!! A magical place!!

[paiceman]

Just a bit of advice if you have not thought of it. We lay out our itinerary as you have whenever we travel. Then at our stops we look, on the internet, for veterinarians just in case. Our last two major trips, 2013 and 2014 we have needed Vet care. In the first our seven year old Lab passed on and on this most recent our young Lab inhaled something in a river in MI and then sniffed in a bug of some kind at Zion. In both cases our list proved accurate as we went to great Vets. We used Angie's list to qualify the Vets in each town we had them listed. A little work, but at least in our case well worth the effort. As and aside there is a great Vet in Baddeck, NS. He worked on our seven year old Lab for three hours on a Saturday afternoon in an effort to save her, unfortunately she lost the fight.

[Gilmurr]

SilverEagle6

We live in Halifax, NS.

I am attaching a map with some sugusted routing. If you follow the blue lines/arrows you will see a trip that takes you from NB into NS doing a loop through the Valley, South Shore, Halifax Region, Eastern Shore, Cape Breaton. Then NF. The return from NF takes you through Northern NS, ferry to PEI, then the bridge back to NB.

Go to Travel to Nova Scotia | Canada | novascotia.com for great info on what is going on in NS. I'm sure PEI, NB, and NF have similar sites

I have circled on the map National Parks and some other areas of interest that folks have already pointed out.

Sounds like you will have a great trip with plenty of time to explore.

David

[SilverEagle6]

David, thanks for the map and route suggestions. To Cyclist, I'm still chuckling about moving up the trip so as to enjoy the warm water on the PEI beaches. I'm a good southern boy, so if it is below 70F I'm cold....add to that going swimming in water around 50F ?.....is it even that "warm"? To the rest of you thanks much for all the suggestions. I'm now getting doen to route/camping plans.

has anyone taken the ferry from St John NB to Digby NS?

[GreggH]

John,
The waters around PEI are warm in the summer. The Gulf Stream and shallow waters in the bays contribute to the warmest waters north of Virginia. PEI has some beautiful, sandy beaches. Keeping PEI for the end of your trip isn't such a bad idea.
GreggH

[Gene]

I'll have to find time to read this later as the Solstice tree is getting set up.

Newfoundland had some really good tourist publications in 2004 when we went there. You can probably order them online. I'd like to go this year with the trailer we now have, but think it is better to go in 2016 for various reasons.

Spend as much time as you can in Newfoundland because it is bigger than you think and you'll most likely never go back. We were there 10 days and it was not close to enough. Labrador has a road up the coast and over to the Province of Quebec through Goose Bay—I don't know the condition of the road or services available, but it has to be one of the more remote places you can drive to in N. America.

Gene

[SilverEagle6]

Has anyone towed their TT on route 7, east coast of NS going north to Mulgrave?

[Jim Flower]

Yes, I have done it. You will want to follow 7 to 211 and then 211 to 316 ( including a wee Ferry ride) Follow 316 and then left at 16. Right if you want to check out Canso. Follow 16 to 344. It will spit you out at the Causeway near Port Hawkesbury. Roads are fine. Lots of spots to boondock. Lots of choices on Cape Breton. I usually go counter clockwise since the view points are normally on the starboard side.
Ile Madame is home to Silver Donald Cameron and a little further up the coast, near St Peters (actually River Bourgeois) is where Farley and Claire Mowat resided in the summer. There is a nice campground at St Peters near the canal to Bras d'Or Lake. 247 takes you to Point Michaud Beach where I have boondocked many times. Follow 247 and St Peters Road to 327 to Sydney. I have taken Ocean View Road to Louisbourg but it was not paved.
If you go to Louisbourg from Sydney, the fun way is through New Waterford, Dominion, Glacé Bay, Mira Gut (another great campground near Mira), Main-a-Dieu.
Bottom line. Be prepared to doddle. Jim


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[Gene]

We went to Newfoundland without a trailer in late May, 2004. That is too early, but there were few tourists and every place we went was quiet. But snow on the Northern Peninsula was a problem in places, especially at the Viking park where it was covering the visitor center. Otherwise, things were fine when they were open.

Roads in Newfoundland can be very bad off the TransCanada Hwy. Hilly, bumpy, frost heaves, as bad or worse than Alaska. It means driving slowly but you'll get there. Nova Scotia had some bad roads too.

Some of the places we stayed had bad water. It was yellow from silt and I assume their wells were getting a lot of runoff from winter. Buy some bottled water for drinking.

We were asked at the ferry going to Newfoundland whether we had any potatoes even though we only had an SUV. Potatoes seem to be a problem in Canada.

Some Canadian provinces require you have your propane shut off when you travel. I guess spoiled food is less dangerous than the explosions they expect. We bring frozen gel packs and keep them in the freezer in case there's a problem with the fridge anyway, but I have yet to turn off the propane while traveling. On the ferry, they will mean it.

Halifax is a very nice city. The harbor is perfect—well sheltered and easy to defend—that was important in WW II. Check out the museum downtown. Nice museum and you can learn about the munitions ship that exploded there during WW I and flattened part of the city. St. John's, capital of Newfoundland, has half the population of the province. It also has a wonderful harbor. Go up to Signal Hill for a great view of the city and maybe ice bergs in the Atlantic. We had a good Chinese meal at a restaurant near the harbor.

We saw a lot of icebergs when we were along the coast of the Northern Peninsula. Some elsewhere, but I don't know whether June was too early or too late to see more.

Stephenville had a store that is a co-op and sells sweaters at a great price. I bought one there that I can't wear inside unless I turn the heat off and open the windows. I got another one in St. John's, just as warm and priced well. Right now the Canadian dollar is worth about 85¢ US, so just going there is a bargain if it lasts.

The Shipping News will help you understand the Newfoundland culture. The first part is pretty hard to watch, but once you get to the Rock, it is accurate. The book is better, but we like the movie too. We foj d one of the small towns where the movie was filmed. The people are really friendly, but in a lot of places the food is not so good. Bologna is found on the mixed grill and seems to be the provincial food.

There is a ferry from Ste. Barbie (or a name like that) on the Northern Peninsula over to Quebec and it is a short drive to Labrador. We didn't take it, but it must be cheaper than the 2 ferries discussed above. So another way to go is to take a ferry from N. Sydney and leave via Ste. Barbie.

We had our Sequoia's oil pump pressure sensor go out while on the Northern Peninsula and you can imagine how I felt when I looked at the gauge and it was zero. That is not a good feeling, but it wasn't the pump itself as I figured out (otherwise the engine would have stopped by then). We went to several Toyota dealers trying to figure out what to do and all were very friendly and helpful. A dealer in Gander arranged for the dealer in St. John's to have a sending unit air freighted from Halifax and they replaced it fast when we got there. I've not seen many dealers in the US so helpful.

Note that St. John's is in Newfoundland and St. John is in NB. Also that Newfoundland is pronounced with the accent on "land", not "found". While it is sometimes said that residents do not like to be called "newfies", I heard them refer to themselves as "newfies". Maybe only they can say that.

It is 3,500 miles to North Sydney from where we live. By the time you get to the ferry, you may already need a rest. We didn't need reservations in late May or returning in June and the ferry was pretty empty. But later in the year, I would get reservations.

Our next trip (2016?) will be longer than the 10 days we spent in Newfoundland. It wasn't enough and we didn't get to explore many of the peninsulas. You drive through the middle of the province on the Transcanada Hwy, but most of the people live on the peninsulas. These are drives out to the end and back the same way, or a similar way. This takes time. The side roads we did take were slow. Check out what's along the way beforehand—fuel, food, campgrounds.

There are many small towns on the peninsulas. They are filled with small houses not particularly situated in what looks like an orderly fashion. Their orientation is toward the water. I understand they used to be painted bright colors, but when we were there they had switched to vinyl siding. The weather can be bad and vinyl lasts a lot longer than wood and paint, so I understand the change, but i felt we missed something. The small houses reflect low income. The fisheries are in bad shape and there are few industries. There are no farms as the soil is poor. What you see inland are bogs, lakes, rivers and trees. There are also half a million moose and they blend in at night and can be very hard to see at dawn and dusk. With long legs, when you hit one, the body goes through the windshield instead of hitting the grille. Moose are a great danger on the highways and you have to pay attention because a moose in the cab means a dead moose and often the occupants of the truck or car. The money is in St. John's and it looks like a thriving city. The government employs lots of people and subsidies keep the province going. There's oil offshore, but few benefit from it.

We also toured all the other Atlantic Provinces and the entire trip was wonderful. We went directly to NS, then to Halifax and environs, toured Cape Bretton Is. and then to Newfoundland. We went to all the well know destinations in too short a time. Returning we drove around PEI—took the ferry there and the bridge back. Charlottetown, the capital, is a very pleasant small city. It is where the movement started to bring all the colonies together and create the Dominion of Canada. On the way to the ferry we stopped in Pictou, NS. There's a knife store there with a giant knife stuck in the roof. We bought an excellent chef knife there and still use it every day.

We came back through NB, drove around the Gaspé Pen., down the St. Lawrence and spent a couple of days in Quebec City (sorry, I forget which e has an accent). Then through Montreal quickly, to Ottawa, then across Manitoba and back to the states. it was a 6 week trip and too short.

Gene

[SilverEagle6]

Just received my first of four provincial travel guide packets --- Novascotia. Looks to be around 1,700 miles if you drive the entire perimeter. We likely we do all of it except the southern 1/4 along Yarmouth and the Arcadia shores. We will probably stay longer than I had initially thought in the Digby Bay of Fundy area and camp along the peninsula that HWY 217 runs down to Westport...anyone taken their trailer on that highway?

[Farmer Dan]

I don't remember seeing it mentioned here yet, but an oddity to me was the time zone for Newfoundland. It is a half hour ahead of the Maritime provinces. It doesn't cause any problems that I can remember. It is just unusual - to me , anyhow!

Dan

[66kicks]

Originally Posted by aswbe

We are planning to go on the early caravan 2015 May-June. We have bikes and I generally take them with us unless there is little possibility they can be used. Would it be worth while to haul them up there?

No.....not many opportunities to bike....

[Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Farmer Dan

I don't remember seeing it mentioned here yet, but an oddity to me was the time zone for Newfoundland. It is a half hour ahead of the Maritime provinces. It doesn't cause any problems that I can remember. It is just unusual - to me , anyhow!

Dan

Don't worry, it's unusual to the rest of Canadians as well.

[Gene]

Newfoundland time is 3 1/2 hours later than in Colorado. You lose time going there and gain it coming back. Your birthday will come sooner in Newfoundland and if you leave that day, you can have a longer birthday if you drive really, really fast. When in St. John's, you will be roughly 2,000 miles from Europe and we would be 4,000 miles from home. The furthest east you can go in Newfoundland is south east of St. John's. There are some WW II concrete bunkers there, never actually needed. I could not see Ireland from there, but it was cloudy. I don't recommend driving further east as Airstreams really don't float for long. You could try to snag an iceberg, but it will take you south and not east and will get smaller and smaller. Sometimes you'll see a small one ("bergybits" locally) and they may come to shore, but the big ones—as large as a good sized building—seemed to stay out to sea.

The weather in Newfoundland can be quite nasty. Rainy and windy and late snows are not unusual. Bring warm clothes and rain gear. It is like coastal New England, but worse. When we were there, they had a big storm in the east and by the time we got there, most had melted, but a highway worker strike meant supervisors did the plowing and it was not as good as normally. The telephone workers and some fishermen were also on strike, fairly normal for Canada. But the phones worked and the roads did get cleared well enough.

We didn't have a bug problem, but we were there pretty early. I imagine that like Alaska and northern Canada, some days you get them and other days you don't. I understand black flies can drive people nuts. We have them in the Colorado mountains too and they never have bothered me much. They will buzz in your ear and then you learn just how fast you can run (same for mosquitoes, but you just run into more of them). Neither of us have been bit by them, but others have.

Unlike the US, 4 lane highways are uncommon. You'll find them near large cities like Quebec and Montreal, but most of the TransCanada Hwy is 2- and sometimes 3-lanes. When we were there we experienced very little traffic, so it is not a big deal.

We took a ferry named after a famous Newfoundland premier, the guy who guided Newfoundland into Canada after WW II. I can't remember his name and the ferry appears to have been retired. It was an enormous ship and I think it held 2,500 passengers. It was pretty empty although the vehicle deck seemed packed. There were ice flows on the Bay of St. Lawrence—they were melting fast, so they posed no danger. We had a peaceful crossing both ways, but storms can come up and make the crossing nasty. They can also cause vehicles to dance around and cause damage to them. This doesn't happen often and Dramamine won't help them but a patch may help you. By the time we got off the ship, it was dark and we missed the exit for all the motels and drove and drove until we stopped at Stephensville late that evening and found a room. I have no idea where CG's are, but they must be somewhere. Traditionally people have camped in provincial gravel pits, but I don't know if that is still permitted.

After Stephenville, the next big town is Corner Brook. It is a good place to get provisions. There's an old hotel in town that is interesting to see and you can drive to the top of a big hill and see the entire area. One of things you will see on the harbor is a paper mill and the nasty stuff they dump in the water. I don't think pulling a trailer to the hotel or hill is a particularly good idea. After Corner Brook, the next big town is Gander and then St. John's. There are also a lot of trees and water. As said before, you have to drive off the TransCanada Hwy to see much of the province.

Gene