Maggie in Newfoundland Again 2016: Day 10 Gros Morne

Today we travelled into Gros Morne National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage Site for its impressive geographical features, and the location for many of the TV ads you see promoting tourism in Newfoundland, it certainly lives up to its hype!

The trip here was OK. I mean we arrived safely and that’s the main thing, right? The highways here could use a bit of work in places. They are certainly passable and we have seen worse, but you want to watch what you’re doing!

The route here took only about three hours. Much of the way had a fresh coat of centre line paint. The crew who completed the task did an outstanding job, considering they painted right through the many potholes! David and I laughed throughout the drive when we would have a long ribbon of highway and could see clearly that somehow the lines were mostly straight! The paint followed a straight line down and across large and small potholes. We marveled because that could not have been an easy thing to do! The bigger problem was the large sections at the side of the highway that were completely washed away. Sometimes these were marked with a construction cone, sometimes not! You really need to pay attention to what you’re doing here. Occasionally you see people drifting out of their lane – here that would be a recipe for potential disaster! Another bit of an issue if you have a 9,000 pound brick tied to your hind end, is that bridges tend to be marked by significant entry and exit bumps! Just slow down you say? Unfortunately, bridges often navigate over water which you tend to find at the bottom of rather large hills! Remember that 9,000 pound brick? Hauling that up some of these hills from an almost stopped speed, well just say we were always thankful when we made it! Those mountains and rivers may make driving interesting but they also make the views spectacular! At one point today we actually watched salmon jumping in the river below as we drove along the highway!

We actually chatted at one point about whether a toll on Newfoundland highways might help with the much needed repairs. We figured locals wouldn’t tolerate it, and while come-from-aways may be accustomed to toll roads, the cost to get on to the island to begin with, and the $1.29/litre cost of fuel may be as much as the tourists will bear as well. I’m not sure of the solution, but I’m sure one is needed!

The good news is that tourism is certainly doing well. The campgrounds are full! We have been warned if we are counting on any of the tours or theatre in Gros Morne, we had better have reservations or risk disappointment!

We had a lovely hike along Moose Track Trail, directly from our site when we arrived. The National Park boasts 20 different marked trails spread throughout the 1800 sq km park. We would be happy doing just that for the next few days but the weather is not supposed to be great. While cold and rain wouldn’t necessarily stop us, lightning will! Now just because it’s in the forecast certainly doesn’t mean it will happen but we figure it’s a good idea to have a backup plan. Tomorrow St. Matthew’s Church is offering a jiggs dinner, Anchors Aweigh Pub has live music on Friday, The Gros Morne Theatre Festival has a new show opening on Saturday, and we are booking the Western Brook Pond Boat Tour for Sunday since that is supposed to be a great day! Not a bad plan B! Oh and while we sit here in our trailer making plans we are nestled between ancient mountains at the water’s edge! Not half bad b’y, not half bad!