This is the English version of our travelreport on our holiday in Canada.
This holiday, in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, was from June 9th till July
1st 1997. In that time we drove round both isles. We saw a lot of wildlife
and had wonderful weather for a holiday where
you intend to do a lot of walking and visit the many places of interest.
On this page I tell you about the things we did and the places we visited,
together with a lot of links to interesting sites. The last time I checked these links was July 31st 2001 .
This page was visited
times since 1st september 1997.
Last and final update 28th June 1998. Enjoy and let me know how you like this travelreport by mail to
General information
We booked our holiday with Askja Reizen.
This tourorganisation specialises in holidays to Iceland,
but has also an interesting program for Canada and Alaska. We booked a fly-and-drive including bookings
for all the hotels and guesthouses during our tour. Because it was the Cabot Year on Newfoundland,
this was a good option, else we would have had trouble finding accommodation near St.Johns.
Now everyting was arranged and we had good accommodation everywhere. The people of Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland are friendly and the food is fine, especially when you like seafood.
DAY 1 (June 09) - Arrival
Flying with Iceland Air to Halifax
(Nova Scotia), car hired at Hertz
and stay in Holiday Inn Select.
DAY 2 (June 10) - Peggy's Cove / Lunenburg
Visiting Peggy's Cove with its nice lighthouse, Mahone
Bay, with the three churches along the lake and Lunenburg, with its nice old wooden houses and churches.
Stay at Lunenburg Inn. Perfect meal (seafood) at the Old Fishfactory.
DAY 3 (June 11) - Kejimkujik
Traveling to "Keji" (Kejimkujik
National Park). Walks in the forest and along the lakes. It was not as wild there as we had expected.
Stay at Kempt, the Whitman Inn.
DAY 4 (June 12) - Keji and Annapolis Royal
A last nice walk in Keji, then to Annapolis
Royal. See the high and low tides along the boardwalk, visiting Fort
Anne and a nice meal at Newman's. Stay at Wandlyn Annapolis Royal a very simple motel.
DAY 5 (June 13) - Brier Island
Breakfast at Tim Horton (coffee, bagel, muffin). Drive to Brier Island
including 2 ferries ($2 each). Fog, rain and wind. Stay at Brier
Island Lodge. In spite of the bad weather we made a walk along the coast and entered a colony of gulls who didn't like
seeing us. We missed the whalewatch tour because of the bad weather.
DAY 6 (June 14) - Truro
Long drive to Truro. Stops on our way at The Ballancing rock (nice walk down to the sea), Tim
Horton (lunch), Pizza Hut (diner). Walk in Victoria
Park at Truro, an amazing piece of nature in the middle of the town and we saw the Tidal Bore.
Stay at Best Western.
DAY 7 (June 15) - Cape Breton Island
Again a long, but nice drive. Detour to Little Narrows with the ferry. We saw
Bald-eagels
and a Kingfisher. We have diner at Coastal Waters, Ingonish and stay at
the Island Inn. From our room we have
a wonderful view across the sea.
DAY 8 (June 16) - Cabottrail
Several short walks in Cape Breton National
Park: beaverdam, Kingfisher, Loons,
Pitcher plant,
bogs. At Cheticamp
the hooked rugs from Elizabeth LeFort and an early "diner" at Tim Horton's. We had this early meal because we went
whalewatching with Whaletours. We see gannets, a Minke whale and 8 Pilot whales.
DAY 9 (June 17) - Chetticamp
We visit the Visitor Centre of the park and make a nice long walk were we see our first
moose. On our way to North Sidney we visit the Bell Museum at Baddeck (worthwhile).
Stay at Best Western and have a fine diner there in the North Star Inn (seafoodpasta).
DAY 10 (June 18) - Sailing to Newfoundland
Leaving North Sidney at 11:30 am, arriving at Port aux Basques 18:15 (NFLD time). Along the TCH, at an Ultramar station, diner (near Stephenville).
Stay at Holiday Inn, Cornerbrook.
DAY 11 (June 19) - Gros Morne National Park
Drive to Visitor Centre Gros Morne and we have lunch at Rocky Harbour. Here we also subscribe for a boattour the next day. Today we make walks in forests
with lots of lichens and mosses. Stay and diner, a wonderful lobster, in Shallow Bay Motel at Cowshead. We have a simple room with a wonderful view across the sea. In fact the sea is just 5 meters away(!)
DAY 12 (June 20) - Western Brook Pond
Early rise to catch the 10 o'clock boattour on Western Brook Pond. From
the parkinglot to the boat is a 45 minute walk through the bogs over a
good path. The tour on the inland fjord is wonderful. We see lots of waterfalls
coming down from 60m high cliffs. On our way back to the car we see 3 moose.
In the afternoon walks at Lobster Cove Head and Berry Hill. The "after-diner-walk"
is along The Old Mill Road a little north of Cowhead.
Here evrything is as "wild" as we had imagined. You can have the feeling you are the only one
there together with the moose, plants, birds etc. We like Newfoundland better as Nova Scotia, though
Cape Breton Island is very nice indeed.
DAY 13 (June 21) - Grant Falls Windsor
A long tour from Cowhead to Grant Falls Windsor including a 100 km detour
to Brighton where we saw our first iceberg. Stay at Mount Peyton Hotel. We also visit the
Salmon Centre and see a nice waterfall. A little piece of nature amidst an industrial estate.
DAY 14 (June 22) - Terra Nova
Walks in Terra Nova: Louil Hill, Buckley Cove and the Marine Interpretation
Centre (worthwhile). Lots of moose droppings and prints, lots of lichens and mosses,
red squirels, spotted sandpiper. Stay and very good diner at Terra Nova
Lodge. View over the sea where we saw an osprey fishing.
DAY 15 (June 23) - Bonavista
Tour to Bonavista: preparations for the next day (arrival of the Mattew,
visit of the queen). We see icebergs, puffins, black guillemots, moose.
Also visit to the Dungeons and Trinity a nice old town with lots of woorden houses.
Stay at The Lilac Inn.
I think Doug wouldn't mind receiving e-mail
from you for a reservation!
DAY 16 (June 24) - Terra Nova and St. Johns
Arrival of the Mattew, but we go for a last walk in Terra Nova and go on
to St. Johns. Diner at Rumpelstiltskins, a good place for breakfast and dinner, and stay in
the Comfort Inn.
DAY 17 (June 25) - Cape Spear and Witless Bay
Great day with visit to the most easterly point of North America, Cape
Spear. We see Minke and Humpbackwhales from the shore. Whale and birdwatchingtour
at Bay Bulls to Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. A great tour with hundreds
of seabirds (murres, kittiwakes, gulls, puffins) and about 5 Humpbackwhales.
DAY 18 (June 26) - St. Johns and Cape St. Mary's
Visit to Signal Hill and Battery Point. Then the Cape Shore Drive to go
to St. Mary's. At the cliff we have a lot of fog, but still see lots of
gannets, murres and kittywakes. For me one of the best places in the world to come very
close to all those wonderfull birds. Stay at Northeast Arms Hotel.
DAY 19 (June 27) - Castle Hill and Cape St. Mary's
Waiting for the boat to Nova Scotia with a visit to Castle Hill and another
visit to St. Mary's. This time without the fog it looks even better. Waterfall
Cattaracs along an unpaved road. Diner at Hotel Harold in Argentia. The boat leaves Argentia at 24:00 hours. We go quickly to our cabin and have a good night sleep.
DAY 20 (June 28) - Sailing to Nova Scotia and Louisbourg
Arrival at North Sydney at 14:00. Visit Louisburg but the site closes at
17:00 already. This place is certainly worthwhile visiting. You can stay at least half a day in
this place and have lunch as they served in 1740. Stay at Wandlynn Inn Cape Breton, Sydney.
DAY 21 (June 29) - Sydney - Halifax
Long drive back to Halifax (500km). A warm day (over 30 degrees Celcius), now we know how comfortable
a car with airconditioning is. We have a nice dip in the pool at the Holiday Inn Select. Fine diner.
DAY 22 (June 30) - Halifax
Sightseeing Halifax and Dartmouth: citadel, the old and the new city, boardwalks, ferry to Dartmouth.
We bring our car back at the airport at about 20:00. We drove 4716 km altogether.
At 23:00 our plane leaves for Iceland. We travel with Iceland Air again.
DAY 23 (July 1) - Keflavik and Blue Lagoon
Arrival at 6:15 am Iceland time at Keflavik airport. We have a stop-over
until 4:30 pm. We go for a swim at the Blue Lagoon where you can come by bus. Then our plane back to Schiphol has a 5 and a half ours delay. At 2:45
am (dutch time) we are landing in Amsterdam. At 6 o'clock we are back home.
© pjslim-1997
