Travel Blog » North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

Newfoundland & Labrador Travel Blogs

Background: A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada's paramount political problem is meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services after a decade of budget cuts. The issue of reconciling Quebec's francophone heritage with the majority anglophone Canadian population has moved to the back burner in recent years; support for separatism abated after the Quebec government's referendum on independence failed to pass in October of 1995.

Canada

Map of Canada

Canada's Flag

Recommended Books:

Hostels in Canada
Latest Newfoundland & Labrador Blog Entries
Newfoundland & Labrador Photos

By LeaJan
August 28th 2006

Rocked the Rock!

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's

red sand in PEI

So we made it! All done! Whew, it feels good to have accomplished something that I thought at first was insurmountable. So since I last wrote in Deer Lake we had some great adventures in NFL. In Grand Falls we discovered that if you want to have fun you have to make it yourself, so we did! Accompliced by a jolly traveller from Quebec, Guiome. From there we ventured off the Trans Canada into the great abyss of bog in central Newfoundland. For 2 days we rode through nothing but bog and fir trees, oh, and some stellar grades, but what [View Full Entry]

By Grey haired nomads
August 25th 2006

Motorhome News from North America 20

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Corner Brook

The Matthew
The local replica of John Cabot's ship

Motorhome News from North America 20. 10th August - 20th August 2006 NewfoundLAND - as it is properly pronounced here. John Cabot had been at sea for five weeks, his brave crew expecting to fall off the edge of the earth at any moment, when the shout came from the crow’s nest, “Land ahoy!” Cabot rubbed his weary eyes in disbelief and raised his eyeglass. “O buena vista!” (Oh beautiful sight!) he cried. The name, Cape Bonavista, has stuck since that historic day in 1497. Cabot’s boat, the 19 metre Matthew, was built in [View Full Entry]

By LeaJan
August 18th 2006

Dodgin' out like tthe rain

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Gros Morne National Park

So we are on the "Rock" finally! Actually, we have been here for a week or so, just got back from Gros morne National Park, Leanne's dream come true, which was quite incredible really. We climbed the Gros Morne mountain and took a boat tour through the Western Brook Pond (don't get confused though, the "pond" is actually 16 miles long! that's Newfoundland for you...) where we were surrounded by huge cliffs and trickling waterfalls, some that even dissipated before they reached the ground because they were so high. Wow, It was even more spectacular than the photos make it out [View Full Entry]

By Grey haired nomads
August 15th 2006

Motorhome News from North America 19

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Bonavista

Lovely Blueberries in Oxford
Truly scrumptious!

Motorhome News from North America 19 29th July - 9th August 2006 In search of Puffins and Remote Corners of Newfoundland It seems ages since we left PEI; across the long bridge in bright morning sunlight, out through the narrow edge of New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia, stopping briefly in Oxford, to check out the ‘wild blueberry’ capital of Canada and sample just a small slice of their rather special pie at the visitor centre. Nova Scotia, ‘New Scotland’ by any other Latin name, carries the flag of St Andrews; a blue cross on a white background - with a [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 13th 2006

Wild Cove and Francois

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

clouds

We got out of Grey River. Our plan was to wait for high tide and then go out the mouth of the fiord with it, but the sun was shining out on the ocean and we'd had enough. We didn't even wait for the ferry and ended up accompanying it to the narrows. We weren't a hundred percent on what the weather would do but as we cleared the mouth we were treated to incredible sunlight. Anything coming would be seen by us in advance. The winds were strongish but not unmanageable, the waves were big, but we'd dealt with that [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 12th 2006

Grey River--still

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

tidal flat

We mulled over whether to stay in town somewhere or try to find a campsite. We opted to sail up the Fiord (as beautiful as western brook in gros morne) to a spot called Frenchman's Cove that someone, we thought, had said was a sandy beach and a nice place to camp. Once again, our accent / language barrier led us astray. The cove, about two miles from Grey River, was a rocky beach, with really nowhere to camp. Maybe beach meant rocks to Grey River folk? We didn't know. More pressing was the rain, increasing now to a torrent. The [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 11th 2006

Grey River

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

bad weather

The sea out there was rough. Coming out of the quiet shelter of Fox Harbour we were met with steep, choppy waves. The swells were not only bigger than before but completely unpredictable, sometimes rising up beside us in slate grey walls, well over our heads, forcing us to turn the boat into the wave, and sometimes we fell hard off the back of a wave with an unavoidable violence. We could see the headland marking the entrance to Grey River only 9 miles away. The shore to our left was a cliff, essentially. We both were very silent, which was [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 10th 2006

Fox Island

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

rocky headlands

We left paradise and went to Burgeo. Burgeo is the one town on the south coast that is connected to the Transcanada by a long, empty road. So it has cars and a lot of people. Weird. We ate fish and chips in a cafe and used the telephone. Also... weird. Burgeo is beautiful, really. Long sand beaches, rocky islands with remnants of towns that once were. I had been reading Clare Mowat's 'outport people', which is about her and Farley Mowat's time living in an outport in the 60's. The placename is not stated, but its obviously Burgeo. It sure [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 9th 2006

Fog

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

an unsettled sea

We pedalled out of Culotte Cove into an uncertain, windless sea. The sky was dark and foreboding, but it was clear the gale had passed on, leaving calm seas in its wake. We drifted in and out of thick fog patches all day, at times unable to see anything but the swells around us, until the mist would lift and treat us to the sight of primeval rock islands rising unexpectedly from the water. We were able to navigate using GPS, so we were not lost, as this stylish picture of me would suggest, but it was eerie to be out [View Full Entry]

By tamara in newfoundland
August 8th 2006

Grand Bruit and Gales

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador

Grand Bruit

If you look on a map, you will see that Newfoundland sticks far out into the Atlantic. If we had been blown out to sea by a strong Northerly there is no landmass we would be blown into. Indeed, there is no land straight south until Antarctica, 10 000 miles away. And Newfoundland is a force to be reckoned with. All the literature we read before going told us that thick, impenetratable fog banks cling to the coast until late July, and cold weather and storms move in in late august. Early august, the time we headed out, was the best, [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador