Our View From The Road

Today we begin our trek southwards down the Western Arm of Newfoundland, as such we will be driving The Viking Trail again, but in reverse.

We awoke early and the foghorn let us know before we opened the blinds that the sea fog was still enveloping the van. The propane-powered furnace had kept us nice and warm throughout the night and we were keen to start our day. As such we pulled out of the parking lot at 7:30am on our way to top off our fuel tank and make a breakfast stop at Tim Horton’s.

Here is an updated list of items we wanted to see on this trip.

• Caribou – 1
• Moose – 5
• Icebergs – 9+ (Not updating anymore)
• Puffins – 0
• Whales – 2+

Yep, within 30minutes of driving out of St Anthony we saw 2 more moose (meese?) The first was simply eating in the roadside ditch. The second came out of the ditch and crossed the road in front of us (Firm brake pressure was applied but there was really lots of room). Here’s a picture of that 2nd moose.

Shortly thereafter it began to rain. The rain built in intensity and the roads become challenging to drive as all the potholes were now filled with rainwater along with the heavily rutted asphalt road now looking like dual rivers in each lane. Hydroplaning is a real risk as is loosing a wheel in a hidden flooded pothole so weaving between hazards became a sport for all drivers today. Luckily no damage was done and we ended the day in one piece.

Below are a few pictures ‘from the road’.

We made a short detour into Port au Choix to visit the Parks Canada site where they have unearthed evidence of human settlement going back over 4,500 years. We were really hoping to see Caribou as they are known to frequent the site, but alas no luck. We did however see our first whales (2) far out in the Strait of Belle Isle. No pictures due to distance.

Our day ended just North of Cow Head at the Parks Canada ‘Shallow Bay Campground’. A nice quiet & again grassy site for the night.

Tomorrow we re-provision and head eastward.

A cool start to the day at only 2°C and lots of sea fog. Icebergs that were visible last night are not this morning. The parking area was quiet and we both slept very well.

Today we start by heading to the Parks Canada National Historic site in L’Anse-aux-Meadows. It is the only authenticated location of a Viking Norse settlement in North America and dates from around 1000AD and quite possibly founded by Leif Eiriksson (son of Eirik the Red).

“Not all Norsemen are Vikings, but all Vikings are Norsemen.” – Our tour guide

As you approach the historic site it becomes very evident very quickly how remote this part of the island is. Our tour guide told us that this past Winter (2025/26) they had 16feet (4.88m) of snow. Now try to imagine yourself living in Norse village in a sod building in this climate. These Norse settlers had to have been incredibly tough individuals.

L’Anse-aux-Meadows is thought to have been a trade port from which goods would have been collected from further expeditions southwards before being sent back to Greenland, Iceland & Scandinavia. The thought is; however, that the settlement only lasted for a few decades before it was decided to shut it down and all settlers returned to their homelands.

We are both very glad we came to visit this wonderful place and hear about how it was discovered in 1960 and what the archeologists have found over the years that allows us to have an insight into how it came to be, how it functioned and probably why it was abandoned. It was a long drive to the Northern tip of Newfoundland, but one that we feel was very worthwhile and educational. The scenery ain’t half bad either.

From L’Anse-aux-Meadows we drove South to St Anthony where we spent a quiet afternoon relaxing in our fog enshrouded van at Fishing Point Park. We had heard that there were a couple of smaller icebergs near the entrance to the harbour and were hoping to see them.

Our patience paid off! After a couple of hours the fog lifted enough that we could see the ‘bergs clearly. A few photos are below.

At 7:00pm we attended The Great Viking Feast dinner theater that is held in a unique sod roofed restaurant. We were well fed and thoroughly entertained.

After dinner we retired to our van and stayed in the parking lot of the restaurant having previously obtained approval to do so. However, given the sea fog we were lulled to sleep by the soft bass tones of a foghorn from the lighthouse that is just the other side of the restaurant.

Tomorrow we head back toward the South.

• Caribou – 1
• Moose – 3
• Icebergs – 9+
• Puffins- 0
• Whales – 0

Travel day. Today we’re headed to the North of the West Arm to spend the night near St Anthony. It will be a long drive so we’re up early to cook an egg breakfast on the now functional Blackstone griddle, Yeah! Yummy. Then off to the showers before packing up and heading out at around 9:00am.

Out of the campground we turn North on Route 430 and the drive is expected to take about 4 1/2hrs. Our first stop was Arches Provincial Park where we walked down on the pebble beach admiring the stone arches formed over thousands of years from wave & weather.

Further North we stop at Plum Point for a lunch in the van overlooking a lovely quiet bay in the sunshine. From here we headed to Flowers Cove where we stopped to hike a short trail and look at the Thrombolites. These are really rare rock formations from millions of years ago. A plaque tells us that they can also be found in a location in Western Australia.

A little North of Flowers Cove we spotted our first iceberg of the day!

It was a long way out in the Strait of Belle Isle and really just a blip on the horizon, but Barb got to tick something else off of her list.

We finish the day driving to Saint Lunaire-Griquet where after seeing more icebergs in the harbour, we stopped at The Daily Catch restaurant. We are staying in their parking lot as they are a Harvest Hosts location. We reserved the spot earlier today and we stay for free but are expected to frequent the establishment. A seafood dinner is in order and was delicious!

Tomorrow we spend a day amongst the Vikings!

Green Point campground showers rate 9/10. They’d get a 10 if they were not operated by a timed pushbutton, a very short (30 second) times pushbutton. Ok, not the world’s biggest problem, but given everything else is perfect, having to repeatedly push a button to keep the water flowing is an annoyance.

Today we will be taking the Western Brook Pond boat tour into a world famous ‘Fiord’… Yep, the one used in every advertisement for Newfoundland.

We leave the campground shortly before 10:00am and arrive at Western Brook Pond a few minutes later. Barb chose to ride a golf cart while I choose to walk the 2.7km trail to the ticketing center & café. We enjoyed a coffee and scone while we waited for our tour to begin.

I’m gonna keep this short. The tour was amazing. If you ever get the chance come and see this place and ogle at the beauty. Enjoy the following photos as a glimpse into what awaits you.

Enjoy the photos? As ‘they’ say, you cannot capture the true beauty of a place in a photograph. So, if you enjoyed the pictures imagine how much you will enjoy a visit in-person!

We both walked the 2.7km trail back to the parking lot and then drove to Cow Head where we stopped for our dinner. We are hoping for a lobster dinner but the entire town had no power because a truck had taken out an electrical pole 24 hours earlier and so the available menu consisted of salads, cold sandwiches or Seafood Chowder. We both chose the chowder and Barb had a sandwich while I had a Caesar salad. Very good but not quite up to the Lobster dinner that we came expecting.

We left having enjoyed our food and returned to Green Point Campground for a second night.

Tomorrow, we drive the remainder of The Viking Trail.

Parking lot camping (part deux) worked well. We both slept peacefully and no local ‘boy racers’ spoiled the tranquility of the place. However, it got cold. 1°C at 5:30am this morning. Propane furnace to the rescue!

We managed to get ready and be on our way before 9:00am which was nice as today will include some driving. First we headed East towards Deer Lake where we stopped for fuel and to clean the windshield of dead bugs.

Leaving Deer Lake we headed North on Hwy 430 along the ‘Viking Trail’ toward Gros Morne National Park. We turned West onto Hwy 431 towards Woody Point. This road used to be the primary road North to St Anthony, and users were required to take a ferry across Bonne Bay from Woody Point to Norris Point. Today, Hwy 430 bypasses these towns and removes the need for the ferry.

Lovely communities along the West Arm of Bonne Bay and a fishery still operates in Woody Point.

It is at Woody Point that the road turns sharply inland towards the Tablelands mountains. These are massive flattop igneous rock mountains made of some of the oldest rocks known to exist on the planet. There is still some snow clinging to the sides near the tops; however, that is all that adorns these mountains as they appear completely devoid of any plant life. Quite a sight to behold.

We stopped to walk part of the Green Garden Trail up to the top of a rise allowing us a wonderful vista out towards the Gulf of St Lawrence. In all we hiked for about an hour before returning to the van and driving to the Tablelands Trailhead.

After a light lunch we hiked along the Tablelands trail learning more about these mountains and the various rock types. We completed our walk just as a large busload of Ontarian retiree tourists arrived.

From Tablelands we headed East again back to Woody Point and then back to Hwy 430 and here we turned North to drive deeper into Gros Morne Park.

We took a short detour into Norris Point and looked back across the West Arm of Bonne Bay at Woody Point from earlier. Barb found an ice cream shop and we each enjoyed a small cone before heading back onto Hwy 430 for a short drive to our stop for the night at Green Point Campground.

The campground is operated by Parks Canada but is relatively small and as such quiet. Sheltered amongst the Spruce and Birch trees from the West wind we have a nice grassy site where there seem to be no bugs! We enjoyed a drink outdoors in the late afternoon sunshine before the clouds arrived and we retreated into the van for dinner and a quiet evening.

Tomorrow we ride in a boat!