Travel with Art

A whole slew of school kids were exiting the arriving ferry… things would be slow to get us underway. Scheduled departure from Fortune Newfoundland to Saint Pierre was 15:00. We actually set off at 15:30. Then there is a time difference - so close but still another 1/2 hour…. The crossing was choppy, foggy, and chilly. The arrival … the same!  The Tourist Information Centre was closed but one of the Ferry staff spotted us and assisted in selecting an hotel for the evening. Our digs for the evening, Hotel Robert, was drab on the outside but had a great room for us to stay with a bathroom almost the size of our RV. From check in it was out to explore a bit of the town under overcast skies and slight drizzle. We then checked out the top two restaurants - they were both booked solid for the evening (the gal at Le Feu de Braise was welcoming and apologetic that she could not seat us, the guy at L’Atelier Gourmand was haughty and rude and could care less  as he turned us away).  Nex

The weather continued cold overnight and I needed to get my sarong out to provide exposed head protection! Next morning it had cleared up and warmed up and we headed out to Trinity East to do the Skerwink Coastal Trail. This 5.3 km trail is rated amongst the top 35 trails of North America and Europe.  It took us 2 hours but then we were stopping frequently for photo opportunities. Icebergs were on the horizon, a lighthouse settled next to a couple of out buildings on their own little island, the village nestled in the background. And then there was the fantastic craggy deep drop-off cliffs along which we hiked. Elevation changed, vegetation was mostly boggy with shrub trees and occasional more forested sections. Then at the end a moose calmly had its lunch with only a glance in our direction as we went on by. On and out along the Burin Peninsula to the town of Fortune. Fortune is where we catch the ferry to the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. We arrived after the

With an early morning start we headed out to catch the ferry to Fogo. But luck would not be with us. We arrived with an hour to spare before the 9:00am crossing but there were already in front of us a number of commercial large trucks that would occupy the centre boat capacity allocated to them and RVs. Further the annual safety inspection for the boat (the other 2 being out of commission) was to follow that crossing so our only hope would be on the 5:00pm crossing. We headed out! Along the drive further east we happened on an alley of icebergs all lined up in a row next to a rocky shore - only a single photo (taken through the window) as no pull over location for more.   On and on looking for a place to stop for brunch but restaurants were hard to come by. Finally in New-Wes-Valley we found an open kitchen and friendly staff. The waiter / chef mentioned that an open site was just off the highway around Greenspond turn off. We got there but the site was chock-o-block and in the middle

Just over 5 hours driving got us to Twillingate. We had planned at staying at the Dildo Run Provincial Park Campground but it seemed to be closed so we carried on. We also planned on stocking up on some groceries but the May long weekend seems to have closed the grocery stores as well (but liquor stores were open).  As we were driving up the chain of islands we spotted our first iceberg but carried on driving. We next passed what would be our campground and headed straight out to land’s end on Twillingate Island, Long Point Lighthouse. Icebergs were visible on the horizon and one fairly close in for viewing from below the lighthouse and out onto dangerous cliff areas.  Back at our campsite Donna and I explored the local shore with two bergs in fairly close. The village shorefront was home to picturesque fishing boats, sheds, wharfs and homes on a rather rocky and barren landscape. It was shorts weather until the sun started setting. Our next days walk was down into the vil

Ferry Crossing The lead time is 2 hours prior and we were there 45 minutes before that which gave us time for breakfast at Tim Hortons. Then on to a lightly occupied ferry for the crossing. Departure and arrival manoeuvrings take longer than expected so we actually arrived 7.5 hours later. Nothing but ocean in between. Snooze, eat, read and watching a bit of the IIHF World Championships (with Canada demolishing Sweden in one of the 2 games being played. departing North Sydney arriving Port aux Basques Newfoundland It was a long enough day that we choose to go only as far as the near by JT Cheeseman Provincial Park at Cape Ray. Loads of RV sites available on a nicely running river leading out to the nearby ocean. We did the 2 kilometre walk the following morning before pulling out and heading north. Onwards to Stephenville on the French Ancestors Trail. There we stocked up at Coleman’s Supermarket and carried on east out towards Cape St George where we parked on a side ro

We picked up the RV just after noon and after an hour signing papers and orientation we were on our way. A bit different driving a larger rig with the wind wanting to push us off the road. We stopped for lunch along the way and then once again to stock up on supplies and gas (we’ll be doing a lot of that).  Then we found a lovely end of road spot on the ocean near North Judique to spend our first night watching the surf crash the rocky shore. Nice blue skies in the morning with fishermen out in their boats and quite near into shore! The blue skies clouded over but the rain held off as we headed out. First stop was in Cheticamp for lunch and then continuing onto the Cabot Trail. Quite a bit of road construction happening before the tourist season begins. But with little traffic it was no problem and the RV was great in Tow mode climbing and descending the elevations. The surprising bit was still having snow / frozen ice along several sections of the trail. By 4:00pm we were in the Cap