Indian Harbor, Nova Scotia (Peggy’s Cove)

I stayed at King Neptune Campground in Indian Harbor, Nova Scotia August 23 – 29.  The RV park was less than 10 minutes from Peggy’s Cove, so I visited that area several times.  The first time I went it was very crowded and I didn’t spend too much time there.

I went back a few more times in the early morning and late afternoon and enjoyed it much more.

The RV park I stayed at was on the water.  The first spot I had I could see the cove.

I watched 2 gulls fighting over some lobster.  Even the birds eat well around here!

After my first day, I changed sites so I could see more of the ocean.  Next to me was a Sun Deck RVs by Airstream.  This RV has a deck on the roof of the RV. They only made 20 – 30 of these RVs.

Sunset from my campsite -

While there I biked part of the Rails to Trails St Margaret’s Bay Trail twice.

I drove into Halifax a couple of times and on one trip, I visited the Fairview Lawn Cemetery.  This cemetery is known for having some of the Titanic victims buried here.

The Titanic plot is in the shape of a ship and contains many graves, some known only by a number and some identified. The smaller tombstones were bought by the cruise line, White Star Line. 

There were several touching quotes on the tombstones as in the one above “He remained at his post of duty, seeking to save others regardless of his own life and went down with the ship.”.

The grave above was originally an unknown child, but much later identified.

The grave below had many visitors in 1997 after the movie Titanic came out.

But Jack Dawson from the movie is a fictional character.  The J. Dawson above is a Joseph Dawson and was part of the crew.  James Cameron, the movie director, claimed he had no idea there was a Dawson on the ship.

From Indian Harbor I headed north to Parkers Cove, Nova Scotia.

Little Bras D’or (second visit) –Nova Scotia

Before getting to my blog on Little Bras D’or, I wanted to add a couple more things to my Newfoundland thoughts blog.  I will post it here and also add it to the other blog.

Sherry asked about RV size.  While my RV is 27 feet long, I saw many large class A’s in Newfoundland.  As long as you have a tow car I think any size would work.  As in the U.S the larger RV’s may not fit in provincial or national parks, but in the provincial park I stayed at (Lockston Path Provincial Park) there were larger class A’s and many of the spots would fit a larger RV.  If you do not have a tow car, there are some places you would not fit well especially the fishing villages that I enjoyed visiting. 

I also wanted to mention that propane is not as available as in the U.S.  I had heard about that before going to NL, so I planned ahead and found out that there was a place in Grand Falls/Windsor.  So on my second time passing through I got propane there.  

After getting off the Newfoundland ferry I drove maybe 10 minutes to the Arm of Gold Campground.  I was there August 20 – 22.  I had wanted to revisit Cape Breton Highlands National Park, so while staying in Little Bras D’or I took the drive over and enjoyed several hikes and a great scenic drive.

Part of the drive the road is cut into the mountains, just beside the coast.

My first hike was the Skyline Trail.  This trail started off on a dirt road and not too promising, but as this is the most popular of the park I knew it would get better.  One of the first things I saw was a warning sign --

I had never really worried about Coyotes before, but now I do think about it.  In 2009 a hiker was killed by a couple of coyotes on this trail.  The hiker was hiking by himself and since I do the same thing, it definitely made me think about things and worry about noises on the trails!

Scenery from the end of trail -

The last picture was taken of me resting after coming back up the steps.  What a great rest stop!

My second day here I visited several arts and craft shops.  While I am not much of a shopper there are a good many nice arts n crafts stores in the area.

From here, I head to the Peggy’s Cove area.

Post - Newfoundland trip thoughts and comments

There are several things that I did not post that I wanted to mention and some thoughts about Newfoundland that I had during or after my trip there. 

First off, they have an interesting time zone.  They have their own time zone and it is 1.5 hours ahead of eastern time.  Yep, that is one hour and 30 minutes ahead. 

I went in June and had been warned that might be too early as it could be very cold.  As it turned out June and July were cold.  In many areas it was one of the coldest Julys on record.  I would probably go in June again as I really enjoyed the icebergs and I would rather be cold than hot.  There are icebergs around in July, but not as abundant. 

One of my favorites --

Did you know there are Polar Bears in Newfoundland?  Not many, but enough to cause some places to put warning signs up.  The year before I was there one was spotted several times around the campground I stayed at in St. Anthony.  The Polar Bears come in on floating ice in the winter.  There are not many, but this is one bear you do not want to  run into while hiking!!

I have mentioned the roads are really bad in Newfoundland, but the people there go much faster than the speed limit regardless of the roads.  I try to drive around the limit, but the people here seem to ignore the limit.   If you visit plan on going much slower on some of the roads to avoid damage to your vehicle and just ignore those who fly around you. 

As far as RV parks and camping – In Newfoundland there are many places where you can just pull over and camp.  I had read about gravel pit camping while researching Newfoundland, but did not do it.  I typically prefer parks.  I only stayed at one provincial park and might stay at others when I go back.  I also visited the campgrounds in 2 national parks and both would work for me on a return visit.    In researching NL, others had commented about the high prices of private campgrounds.  I did not find this to be the case.  Of course the great exchange rate while I was there did not hurt.  For most of my visit I was getting CA$1.00 for US$0.75.  That’s like a 25% discount everywhere.  But keep in mind they have a high sales tax on most things (not groceries), around 13%. 

I did make reservations at most places.  Sometimes months in advance and in a few cases just days in advance.  From what I saw, reservations probably were not needed in June.  But several of the RV parks I stayed at in July and August were full for all or part of my stay so I would think reservations should be made during those months. 

If you go to NL, be aware that in many places they have a boil water advisory.  In some places locals say they don’t worry about it and use the water without boiling.  While in others the locals said they boiled their water.   Since I use bottled water anyway, drinking the water was not a problem.  If I knew they had a water advisory, I did not put the water in my RV.  There are some RV parks that use well water and has been tested good.  In those cases, I filled my water tank up.  I learned to ask about the status of their water as they didn’t always tell you about it.  There were typically signs posted somewhere. 

For a long time it has bothered me when seeing a “right lane ends” sign after having just passed a sign that says “stay right, except to pass”.  This is quite common in the US, especially on a hill with a passing lane.    To me “stay right, except to pass”  means the right lane is the main lane, but then there is a sign that says the right lane ends.  WHAT!!  Why doesn’t the lane that they want you to be in continue and the temporary passing lane end.  Well, Newfoundland does it right !!!   

 

Except in rare cases they have signs that say the left lane ends and must yield to the right lane. Finally!!!  Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine that I wanted to share since Newfoundland does it right, in my opinion!

Sherry asked about RV size.  While my RV is 27 feet long, I saw many large class A’s in Newfoundland.  As long as you have a tow car I think any size would work.  As in the U.S the larger RV’s may not fit in provincial or national parks, but in the provincial park I stayed at (Lockston Path Provincial Park) there were larger class A’s and many of the spots would fit a larger RV. 

I also wanted to mention that propane is not as available to get as in the U.S.  I had heard about that before going to NL, so I planned ahead and found out that there was a place in Grand Falls/Windsor.  So on my second time passing through I got propane there.   (last 2 paragraphs were added 10-25-2015)

I really enjoyed NL, the scenery, the friendly people, the birds and the whales!!!!  What a great trip that I would recommend to anyone.  But keep in mind this is a huge province.  While some people go to NL for a week or two and claim they have seen everything, you really need at least a month or more to see most of it.  When I go again I will stay 2 – 3 months like I did on this trip.

From Newfoundland, I made some short stops in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick before heading back to the US.  I will try to post these soon as I attempt to catch up with my blogs. 

Doyles, NL (part 2) and last day in Newfoundland

Since it was foggy on my first visit to Rose Blanche lighthouse, I decided to go back.  It is in a beautiful area.

On my last day in Newfoundland as I was headed to the ferry it was foggy.  I loved the way the fog seemed to roll down the mountains.

While in Newfoundland I did not see another Lazy Daze RV until my last week there.  I knew of one other Lazy Daze in NL (a couple who are members of the SouthEast Lazy Daze group that I belong to).  The same day I saw their RV at a rv park, I saw another Lazy Daze.   When I got to my last campground I saw the other Lazy Daze again.

They were leaving Newfoundland the same day that I was and we ended up being parked next to each other on the ferry.  This was very strange since there are so many vehicles on the ferry.  We had a mini Lazy Daze get together. 

Doyles, Newfoundland (second visit)–part 1

My last stop in Newfoundland was at the Grand Codroy RV park  (august 15 – 19).  The park used to be a Provincial Park but is now private.  This is the same park that I started my tour of Newfoundland in early June. 

My plans for this stop were to tour the area to the east of Port Aux Basques.  My first drive to the area, along 470 was fantastic, even with the fog!

Some people may not find this area beautiful, but I did.  Hills, rocks, bogs, coast….  Wonderful!!

Other than some quick scenic stops along the road, my first stop was Barachois Falls.  This has a short trail (mostly boardwalk) leading to a nice waterfall. 

I

There were a lot of wildflowers blooming, including the white fringed orchid above. 

That same day, I headed to the Rose Blanche Lighthouse.  Unfortunately the fog had started to roll in, but seeing a lighthouse in fog can be interesting as that is when they are needed the most!

This lighthouse was originally built in 1872 and fully reconstructed in 1999.  It was built from granite from a local quarry.  In the first picture above the lighthouse is at the end of the trail, but is very hard to see due to the fog. 

I headed back to the same area on another day to do a bit of hiking.  My first stop was in Isle aux Morts (Island of the Dead).  There have been many shipwrecks in this area and one of the local trails is called the Harvey trail in memory of the Harvey family who rescued many people from several wrecks.  The Harvey trail is another great coastal trail.

The town of Isle aux Morts was another interesting seaside town --

Corner Brook, Newfoundland–part 2

On one of my day trips I enjoyed a great scenic drive and a couple of great hikes.

The first hike I went on is called The Gravels.  This area is the sand isthumus that connects the island of Newfoundland to the Port-au-Port Peninsula.  The trail starts on the isthumus and then continues along the coast.  It is known for it’s great scenery and fossils.

 

The trail ends at some type of quarry, so I turned around and enjoyed the trail for a second time on the way back!

Another great coastal trail!!

I also went to Sheaves Cove, which has a short trail to a waterfall and more scenic, rocky coast.  I had read that this is privately owned and they just enjoy letting others visit.

A view from the parking lot looking over the valley and in the distance the waterfall.

 

 

A creek (or river) runs down the rocks and into the ocean.  

From Corner Brook, I headed to Doyles, NL which will be my last stop in Newfoundland.  It was also the first place I stopped when I got here in June.