Beaches, Burgs, and Bugs

After leaving St. John's and heading back west, we didn't make it too far the first night. We thought we may camp along the water (as seen in the last photo of my last post), but despite it's beauty, I wasn't sold on that spot. It probably had something to do with possibly needing the bathroom. I'm still working on the whole "back country" or non-campground spots. 

So we headed back to the main road and stumbled onto our next campground...  Bellevue Beach.

View from our campsite

View from the beach

 

We opted for a campground spot for a little more privacy, and so Tesla could wander off leash. However, it's worth noting they do offer sites on part of the beach as seen above. The view was stunning and it may be worth it if you don't mind your neighbours being RIGHT there. 

Tesla, after chasing a rock into the water

Since we rolled in here a little later than normal, we opted to dig into one of our dehydrated dinners. In a pinch these have worked for us, but I don't recommend them if you like being, ahem, regular ;) We took a short walk to the beach, had a small fire, and headed to bed. 

The next morning we headed for Terra Nova National Park. This is another huge park (covering 400 square kilometers) and is quite spread out. We stopped in at the main visitor centre, went on a short hike and found some more red chairs. 

Terra Nova views with Tesla

Thinking ahead, we knew we wanted to maximize our time in Gros Morne, so we did not spend much time in Terra Nova. Based on what we did see it's definitely worth it's own visit and much more time. Someday. 

Something that wasn't on our original rough itinerary was Twillingate. But I had heard that it was a bumper year for icebergs and joined a group on Facebook. I checked out the posts for that day and someone noted a berg was just outside the town. We knew it was a bit of a detour and would mean less time in Gros Morne, but seeing an iceberg would be so worth it. 

We arrived in Twillingate, and initially could not find the berg. I consulted the Facebook group again and got a better description of where it was. Once we saw the parked cars, it was obvious we were in the right place. We climbed a pretty steep hill and were treated to a large group of people taking in the view. 

Without further adieu...

July 29,2017- Twillingate, NL

It was quite a warm day, not to mention it was quite neat to see an iceberg this late into the summer. #worththedetour 

We toured around Twillingate a bit where Justin caught these photos of a family who had just caught these fish. It was fascinating to see how differently people live in different parts of the country. We would for sure only eat fish if we lived on the east coast. 

We then headed back south, ending up in Grand-Falls Windsor, basically the middle of Newfoundland. Basically the middle of nowhere. We found a decent campground with much-needed showers and a pretty good campsite. The bugs were already out in full force so we headed to a restaurant in town for dinner. Let's just say it filled our bellies, which is what we needed. 

The next morning, the mosquitoes were just as bad so we packed up and headed down the highway for a little less woodsy spot. There's nothing like making oatmeal and coffee on the side of the road outside an abandoned store. After we fueled up ourselves and the van, we were on our way to Gros Morne. Obviously this trip was about our wedding, but beyond that, we couldn't wait for Gros Morne. 

Going back across Newfoundland was much more enjoyable than when we powered our way through on our way to St. John's. I guess this was the start of our roadtrip/honeymoon. We saw so much and again met the friendliest of people, but didn't get any invites for a kitchen party. Stick around to read about our adventures on the west side of Newfoundland and the rest of the East Coast- I promise it won't take 8 months to write about this time! 

S & J