Date:         Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:48:39 -0500
Reply-To:     Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Trip Report: Newfoundland (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

This was the most interesting trip we've taken in the van for some time, so
I guess I should write it up.

   Every summer my wife and I get together with two other couples who were
once our neighbors in Chicago; they now live in State College, PA and Long
Island, NY.  We try to gather at a scenic or otherwise interesting location
for a time ranging from a long weekend to up to a week.  This year it was
Newfoundland.  Joan and I drove our '91 GL with Carat table and jump seats
and Subie EJ22.  We picked up one of the other couples at the Halifax, NS
airport and the other couple flew to St. Johns, NF and met us there.
   We left Chicago around noon on May 26 and stopped in western Michigan to
see some of my family.  The next day we crossed into Canada at Port
Huron/Sarnia and came back into the States at Niagra, stopping at a motel
near Utica.  Our goal the next day was Houlton, ME.  Not wanting to get
involved with Boston area traffic, we took a more northerly route thru
Vermont and New Hampshire and hit I-95 a little south of Portsmouth.  Saw
our first moose of the trip in the area where Mt. Katahdin can be seen to
the west, one end of the Appalachian Trail.  At Houlton that nite list
member Mike Collum provided camping space and use of facilities.  Many
thanks to Mike and Mary for their hospitality!
   The next day we pushed hard across N.B. and N.S. to pick up our friends
at the airport in Halifax.  After making that connection successfully, we
drove on to a B&B near Baddeck.  Friday, May 30, we drove the scenic Cabot
Trail around the northern part of Cape Breton Island and also spent a few
hours at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.  I was surprised to learn about
Bell's time in Baddeck and the work he did in aeronautics and marine
engineering and other fields.
   We had a reservation on the 9 am Saturday ferry out of North Sydney, so
we stayed at a B&B near there Friday nite.  Marine-Atlantic called that
evening to tell us that the Saturday morning ferry was not going to sail
because of mechanical difficulties and we could take the next one at 11:30
pm Saturday.  We were also able to book a "stateroom" with four bunks and a
bath w/shower.
   Since we had an extra day in N.S., we saw some scenery around Glace Bay
and visited the historic Fort Louisbourg.  It was a little too early for
them to be fully open with people in costume, etc., but we could do sort of
a self guided walking tour of the fort and some of the grounds.  Our ferry
crossing to N.F. that nite was uneventful and the room was quite cozy.
  Upon arrival in early morning at Port-aux-Basques, however, the rain and
wind were becoming significant.  When we stopped at a tourist info place
just outside of town and my friend got out of the passengers seat, the wind
jerked the door out of his hand hard enough to break the steel strap that
normally stops the door and bend the hinges a little.  We were strongly
advised not to continue just then because the wind gusts up ahead had been
reported to be around 120 kph.  So we retreated to a Tim Horton's for
breakfast and waited for the wind to abate a little.  Eventually we pressed
on thru the rain and drove up to Gros Morne National Park, very impressive
as the weather cleared.  We stayed at a B&B in Cowhead on the north edge of
the park for two nites.  The day we got there we found we could walk to the
Gros Morne Theatre Festival for an evening of traditional Newfoundland music
and recitations, etc.  While in the area we learned a lot about the geology
and wildlife of the park and of course the scenic sights were great.  The
most spectacular and unusual perhaps was a boat cruise on Western Brook
"Pond", a land-locked fjord with sheer, towering rock walls, melting snow,
and waterfalls.
   The morning we left Cowhead and drove out of the area thru Gros Morne we
started seeing moose, the first we had seen in Canada.  We had seen five by
the time we got near the south edge of the park and right about then the van
seemed to suddenly lose power.  It seems that in all the excitement I had
not been watching the gas gauge and for a change my wife had not been
checking either.  Almost immediately a man and his wife stopped and gave me
a ride to a gas station about 10 km away and another couple gave me a ride
back.  Throughout our trip, we found the people of Newfoundland to be very
friendly and helpful.
   Once we got under way again, we drove across to the St. John's area where
the third couple of our group was arriving; we had rented a three bedroom
house for four nights at Witless Bay, about 30 km south of the city.  Our
view from the living room included three icebergs, one of them quite huge.
The East Coast Trail crossed the road about 200 m from our house; we had a
great hike along there one afternoon.  We enjoyed the O'Brien's Boat cruise
out of Bay Bulls.  The bird fans in our group were very excited about the
many puffins and other interesting seabirds.  We circumnavigated the big
iceberg and then stumbled upon the first whales of the season.  Followed
three humpbacks along for about 45 minute, staying out longer than
scheduled.
   Up toward St. John's we visited Signal Hill where Marconi received his
first transatlantic signal and Cape Spear where we had a photo taken showing
us and Vinnie, the Easternmost Vanagon in North America at that moment.  We
spent most of a day driving the Irish Loop around the southeast part of the
Avalon Peninsula.  The parts away from the coast are strikingly desolate.
We failed to see any caribou; they apparently have not done well lately.
   We had not seen a single vanagon on the whole trip until we were going
toward St. John's from Witless Bay on route 30 and suddenly saw an auto
repair type place with four vanagons around it in various conditions.  With
5 passengers in the van and a schedule I couldn't stop then.  We exchanged
waves with the guys standing in front and I planned to stop later.  It was
closed however, when we came by twice later.  Looking in thru the window I
could see a bay that had just been painted and the white late model vanagon
Westy outside also had the appearance of a fresh paint job.  At home now in
catching up on my vanagon list emails I find a post from Andrew G. about
that place, Schinagl's.  In 1990 it may have been a yard full of bays, but
now it's a yard full of vanagons (and a few Jettas and Golfs).
   The other two couples flew home from St. John's.  Joan and I took the
daytime ferry across to North Sydney and drove across N.S. to near
Antigonish where we converted the van to sleeper mode and camped for the
night.  We also camped the next night in a small town east of Quebec City,
having taken a more northern route on the return trip so that we could go
thru Toronto.  We stopped there for two nights and one day to visit our
daughter and her boyfriend.  From Toronto it was a day's drive back to
Chicago, with a stop in western Michigan.

   Overall the van performed quite well.  The extra power from the Subaru
engine was very welcome when hauling six adults up down the winding hilly
roads.  The oil consumption of this EJ22 is too high, but that's a question
for another forum.  Put on a little more than 6000 miles.  I am trying not
to think about how much we spent on gas.  The mileage averaged around 20 mpg
(US), better when on the slower roads all day, less when driving 70 on
expressways.

Sorry this got so long, even tho I feel like I've left out a lot of things.
N.F. deserves more time than we could give it and I hope to return.

Larry A.