Buh Bye Newfoundland

My Route in Newfoundland
My Route in Newfoundland
I’m currently in Guysborough, Nova Scotia as a guest of Authentic Seacoast Resorts. I wish I had more time to spend here because it is a beautiful little town and it would be an excellent place to just come for a short vacation.

My Newfoundland part of the trip is over and even though I still have a quite a lot of driving ahead of me, the stretches shouldn’t be as long as what I’ve had so far. The highlights of my time in Newfoundland would have to be L’anse aux Meadows and Gros Morne National Park. L’anse aux Meadows is the location of the first European presence by Vikings around the year 1,000 AD. Gros Morne is a vastly underrated park which in many ways reminded me of New Zealand, especially Milford Sound. I plan on doing separate posts on each location at a later date.

I spent last night on the ferry from Newfoundland. I took the 5 hour ferry to Port aux Basque to get the Newfoundland and the 15 hour ferry from Argentia to get back. In theory, the ferry had internet, but in reality is was far worse than dial up. I have a hard time complaining, however, about the quality of internet while I’m in the middle of the ocean and the bits are being bounced from geosynchronous orbit and back.

Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Despite my bad experience at the border, I’ve enjoyed my time in Canada so far. I’m surprised at how few tourists I’ve seen considering it is the middle of August. I’ve been told by some locals in Nova Scotia that the number of American tourists has dropped dramatically over the years. I can count the US license plates I’ve seen on one hand. This would be a natural and easy destination for people on the east coast to visit. I was told there was a ferry running from Bar Harbor, Main to Nova Scotia, but it stopped running this this year.

The next week will take me to Quebec City (Monday), Montreal (Tuesday), Ottawa (Wednesday) and Toronto (Thursday). I know people have contacted me on Twitter about meeting up. Just send me an email (gary@everything-everywhere.com) and we can try to arrange something.

12 thoughts on “Buh Bye Newfoundland”

  1. Hiya. I cannot believe you were here in Nova Scotia and then gone in a flash. Did you get to Halifax? I hope you come back. Lunenburg is a Unesco site you can add to your list. Would love to have a cup of coffee and chat when you do return:)
    Cheers, Shelagh

  2. 15 hour ferry from Argentina?! Wow! That is some trip! Now that I know it is possible, maybe I’ll brave it myself. I live in Buenos Aires at present. Woa!

  3. If you have an older style of camera and would like to take a photo of Gary when he passes through your Canadian town; be sure to use a fast ASA!

    • Yes, I’ve been driving a lot on this trip, and honestly, my plans were probably too ambitious for the time I had allotted. I’m not particularly fond of spending every day in my car, believe it or not.

      Nonetheless, this is where I am. I did a 3 month road trip late in 2009 and I think this is the last mega road trip I’m going to do like this again.

      In the future, I’m going to just pick one spot and go there.

      What I should have done for this trip in hindsight is fly to Newfoundland and rent a car. I would have been cheaper and allowed me to spend more time there.

      • Too ambitious, ya I guess; however I think you are on the right track now with renting and one day tours etc. I found northwest Ontario and eastern praries to be a boreing waste of gasoline on the transcanada hwy.

      • Hey Gary: Any chance for a photo of the Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger on offer in the machine tent of the Wisconsin State Fair this year? Good reports on it already! Pringles asside,this burger must be quite the beast!

  4. While I see the point about the passports, I think the larger issue is that the two currencies are now basically at par. Ten years ago, the CDN dollar was worth about 65 cents, USD. With our higher gas prices, visiting Canada is no longer the deal it used to be.

    This isn’t just affecting the tourism industry. Many Canadian exporters are having a much harder time selling their products to US companies because of tariffs and the dollar conversion.

  5. My theory on why you don’t see as many US citizens in Canada as I remember in the past is that the $400 to buy passports for a family of 4 is a deal breaker for a lot of people. When we were in Glacier last year I’m sure there were people who decided not to see the Canadian part of the park because of the cost and hassle of getting a passport

  6. Hey Gary —

    Yeah, the CAT ferry between Maine and NS was pretty awesome. It was this really fast hydrofoil. It was quite expensive to take, though. From the sounds of it, locals are unhappy with the closure and are trying to arrange an alternative ferry. Without the ferry, the drive to one of the border crossings in NB and then back down around to NS is a huge pain.

    to all those folks thinking about visiting the East coast, feel free to contact me with questions. I’ve been living here my whole life and love it.

  7. Very cool trip you are taking through Canada. I have only been to the West coast and thought Vancouver was beautiful. I’m srue these areas are equally gorgeous. I especially want to visit Quebec City. Look forward to reading more about traveling through Canada!

  8. I remember trying to use the Internet on the ferry from Newfoundland…I manged to get on, but couldn’t get it to settle down enough to even send a quick email.

    We loved Quebec City…beautiful in the Old City for photos. Have some poutine for me, will you?

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