Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:18:18 -0400
Reply-To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject: FW: [WetWesties] FW: trip through Quebec to Labrador
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
David meant to send this to the wetwesties list, so I'm passing it on, with
his permission. And also to the Vanagon list, for those interested in more
experiences with travel between Quebec and Labrador.
Joy
****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
now living in a real house in northern Virginia
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years
lugging Joy and her stuff around...
For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net
****************************************************************
_____
From: David Etter [mailto:detter@mail.auracom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 2:54 AM
To: jhecht@alum.mit.edu
Subject: Re: [WetWesties] FW: trip through Quebec to Labrador
In July of 03, my wife to be and our 82 Diesel Westy made that exact
same trip. Halifax N.S.- Campbelton N.B.; straight North to The St Lawrence
then up the the coast (down the river) to Baie Comeau then North to Labrador
- to Nfld. to Nova Scotia- Halifax once again.
If you wish any details or pictures I can help. There are both unforgetable
places and forgetable places.
In the middle there were 1500 km. of very dusty roads. The dust got
into absolutely everything. Unfortunately the road being new in many places
contained many sharp rocks, so drive carefully and take note.
We said afterwards that were the road paved all the way, the Province could
not handle all the tourists. The road, as it was then, was sporatically
under construction and slow driving was in order in those places. Nearer the
end of the trip, down the East coast of Labrador the drivers were spraying
lots of rocks. We were told that the hotrodders were actually older
fisherman. You see it was only recently that the road was completed in many
of the outports and the fisherman not having driven all their lives found
this to be a new source of entertainment.
The locals, once they buy the car, are not required to get their
windshields fixed because they all get broken... period.
The government was planning in '03 to create a new road from Happy
Valley/Goose Bay to Cartright to by-pass the Ferry trip but were tied up in
native lands claims; I don't know if they ever worked out a deal.
Another thing is the temperature; when we were there it was 90 deg +
in July (unusal maybe, maybe not) and the heat plus the mosquitos darn near
drove us crazy. Forget about stopping for an hour to go fishing, in fact if
you can last 5 minutes, I'll eat my head net. Mind you I caught a little
brook trout in that time but let him go.
There are several stops you really must make, Churchill Falls power
station, Battle Harbour Island, and any chance you get to poke down a gravel
road leading to a new dam site. Each fishing village is a treat and the
people would honestly give you the shirt off their back.
It is best to fuel up often as the stations are generally 300 + km
apart Gas is horribly expensive and was about $3.40 U.S. for a U.S. gallon 3
years ago. For fuel you should budget $500.00 U.S. from the time you hit
Montreal until you leave Nova Scotia. This is extrapolated from our trip
based on our cost of $400.00 Cdn 3 years ago with 30 mpg on diesel, mind you
we jigged and poked around every back road along the way and I believe our
vacation covered 4000 miles that year and we never left the East.
Obviously, the painless way to travel the route would be to use a
car and stay at the one hotel available in each town at the end of a day's
drive, but since we all belong to the "Brotherhood of Pain" as my wife calls
it; we insist on traveling in our Westy. Again the towns are conveniently
placed 300+ km apart,
Having said all that, I would recommend the trip as a once in a
lifetime endeavour as the scenery is at times, breathtaking in it's
isolation and panorama.
Take a porta-pottie and extra gas and good tires and take your time
and you will have no problems. Camping along the route is wherever you want
to. I recommend GoWesties back door lock/spacer bar and re-cover those
butterfly screens with a finer mesh netting. Bathing is free at any one of
the thousands of ponds and brooks along the way.
Watch out for moose and caribou on the roads, groceries and water
are available in every town if you just ask. For a treat take the dead-end
road at the bottom of Labrador heading back (West) into Quebec; taking it to
the end we discovered the difference between the French and the Newfies. The
Newfies, whether in Nfld. or working in Quebec were friendly... nuff said..
When you get to Newfoundland (please pronounce it "noof-und-lnd")
Gros Morne park is a must (with Norris Point and Woody Point towns), as is
L'anse aux Meadows, and St.Anthony at the very top of Nfld. You can forget
about finding an open B&B anywhere near the ferry landing in Nfld, they are
all booked up at that time of year. However, we asked one, not knowing this
and the lady upon finding out we really only needed a shower, insisted we
come in and use their shower. Unbelievable.
When heading down the Western coast of Nfld to the Port aux Basque
Ferry to Cape Breton(Nova Scotia), take the time to explore to the East(
village of Rose Blanche, and enjoy a great family restaurant) and West (the
cliffs at Cape St.George) of the port. Go to the ends of the roads and I
guarantee you will not regret it.
When you get to Cape Breton island (Nova Scotia) go see the fortress
at Louisburg and the Coal Miners Museum, then back and counterclockwise
around the Cabot Trail stopping at Meat cove at the top of Cape Breton.
Hitting the mainland of Nova Scotia if you have the time head North
to Cape George point; if time is short, then head down the 104 hwy to Truro
and instead of going straight to New Brunswick take the # 2 hwy to Cape d'Or
and Cape Chignecto up that way.
I am from Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia and will be back there by July and
would be only to glad to lead anyone in and around Nova Scotia and Cape
Breton.
As far as a time frame is concerned allow 30 days from start to
finish, anything faster and you'll miss the flavour altogether.
They have a different speed of life in the Maritimes and it's one I
miss being here in Alberta (the Texas of Canada).
http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/wetwesties/photos/browse/1858
The first five pictures were taken along the route and I have many more to
share for those interested.
Here's a multimap of the area.
To get a bigger picture, back out (view wise) of any location
http://uk.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&GridE=-56.88015&GridN=49
.77096&lon=-56.88015&lat=49.77096&search_result=Newfoundland&lang=&db=CA&kee
picon=true&place=Newfoundland&pc=&advanced=&state=NL&addr2=&client=public&ov
erviewmap=&addr3=&scale=4000000
Good Luck and perhaps we can all travel together
David (82dslwesty)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apologies again to those on the vanagon list - but in addition to them
plotting campouts in your neck of the woods, I'm trying to foment a grand
excursion on the opposite side of the continent from you. So please see the
forwarded email below. And if you're up for a long trip next summer, do
consider it!!!! There are some people interested from the Vanagon list -
though of course it's a long way away (in time, I mean), so nothing goes
beyond conceptual interest at this point.
But think about starting at BusFusion, heading east from there, working our
way more or less clockwise - down the St. Lawrence, then south to Baie
Comeau. Then image a whole caravanagon going up the gravel road through
these remote towns in Quebec and Labrador, and arriving in Happy
Valley/Goose Bay. Then piling onto the ferry through Goose Bay to
Cartwright and continuing down the (more gravel) road to Red Bay, where the
pavement starts. Then after sixty miles of beautiful and empty road (I've
actually driven this bit) we reach Quebec again, the town of Blanc Sablon,
and the ferry to Newfoundland. Or for Canadians who maybe don't have enough
time, they can continue along that paved road another 40 miles, and pick up
the coastal ferry along the Quebec shore back to somewhere - maybe Baie
Comeau again? - and then pick up the road again to drive back to Montreal or
Toronto or Almonte. But me, I want to go back to Newfoundland - I'll head
east and make it to St. John's in time for the Newfoundland and Labrador
folk festival in early August. I was there this summer, and it was great.
Don't worry about your A/C in the summer, come to Labrador instead! It's
never too hot in Labrador!
Joy
****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
now living in a real house in northern Virginia
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years
lugging Joy and her stuff around...
For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net
****************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Joy Hecht
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 2:29 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: trip through Quebec to Labrador
Hi guys,
Five days back in a house, and I'm speculating about great trips for next
summer...
I'd love to drive the road that runs from Baie Comeau in Quebec north and
east to Happy Valley/Goose Bay in Labrador, then take the ferry to
Cartwright, then drive down to Red Bay where the pavement starts, then take
the ferry back to Newfoundland.
But not alone! Not with my mechanical skills.
I've met various other people who've said they are interested in that route,
and got to wondering whether it might conceivably be possible to organize a
group to do it together - next summer, for instance. Hopefully with some
good mechanics in the group.
Also got to wondering whether folks from the Quebec VW Club get together to
do that. And whether they have a listserv.
Is anyone interested? Does anyone know if the Quebec VW Club has a
listserv?
Okay, now back to work, no more daydreaming!
Joy
