First Day in Newfoundland

Happily it was only 30 minutes from the ferry to our first campground in Newfoundland, since neither of us had slept more than a few minutes at a time on the ferry trip over.

I was not the least bit sleepy on that short ride. We were in Newfoundland!

Grand Codroy RV/Tent Camping Park was spacious…

and very well made. I was not surprised that it had been a small provincial park. In 1966 Jean and Bert Downey donated 10 acres of land to the provincial government for $1. The province developed the campground. In 1997 Newfoundland decided to privatize a number of parks and gave the family first refusal on reacquiring the land. Alice Downey Keeping and her husband Dennis bought back the campground and they continue to operate it. Their pride shows.

After a late breakfast (made later because Newfoundland is on its own time, a half hour ahead of Atlantic Time, so an hour and a half ahead of Eastern Time) Matey and I took a long amble. I let him stop and smell as much as he wanted. After that ferry ride he deserved it.

The park sits along the Grand Codroy River.

Off to the southeast you can see some pretty dramatic cliffs. After our walk I joined Bud in a nap.

Once we were a bit rested we took a short circle tour recommended by Dennis at the RV park; he even provided a map. We headed west on route 407 which crossed the mouth of the Grand Codroy River on this long, wooden, one lane bridge.

We went past Holy Trinity Anglican Church…

and its cemetery which is right on the coast.

We stopped and took a walk at Cape Anguille, the westernmost point in Newfoundland.

We admired the lighthouse…

and the nearby inn. I wondered if that had been the keeper’s house; it didn’t look open.

There was no worry about the fog horn sounding on this day.

We walked a short way along the coast admiring the views.

This looked like a huge winch and it was situated so that it appeared to be a way to winch boats up onto the shore.

Driving on about another quarter mile we came to the end of the highway. Beyond this was just driveways and ATV trails.

We drove back along route 406 on the other side of the river.

Bud stopped at a little grocery store to replenish our ice cream. We hadn’t trusted ice cream to the 8 or 9 hours with our freezer shut off. I looked out at the view from the parking lot and wondered if you stopped seeing the beauty all around you if you lived here.