Gros Morne National Park - The Tablelands

EASTERN CANADA ROAD TRIP 2019

We were so excited to go see The Tablelands at Gros Morne National Park. This is an interesting place in geological terms - one of the few places where the Earth’s mantle protrudes above the crust. There is little vegetation, and glaciers carved beautiful curves into the landscape. It makes for a very unique sight when you can see green hills in every other direction.

There is a path that ends in a boardwalk at Winter Park Brook Canyon. You are allowed to hike, however, off the trail here, which we would have done had we more time. On the way back, we examined the pitcher plants that are easy to pick out of the landscape. My daughter had been given an eye dropper as part of her National Parks booklet, so that she could pull the liquid out of a pitcher plant, examine its contents, and then return the liquid to the plant. It was really neat to see the half-digested bug parts.

Bonne Bay

EASTERN CANADA ROAD TRIP 2019

We worked our way up the western coast of Newfoundland, stopping both on our way up and on our way down to spend several days at Gros Morne National Park. It was spectacular from from top to bottom. This is beautiful Bonne Bay.

Newfoundland Insectarium

EASTERN CANADA ROAD TRIP 2019

The Newfoundland Insectarium is one of those things you find in a guidebook and you think, “That sounds neat.”  Well, what an understatement.  This place is so much larger on the inside than we imagined, hosting 8,000 square feet of insects on display, both live and mounted.  We spent hours here and honestly, I could have spent even longer.

The vibrant beetles were my favorite.  My daughter most loved the live honeybee exhibit.  It was sandwiched between two plates of glass, so you could see the bees inside the hive.  The best part was that they could fly outside via a little tunnel.  One of the docents answered my daughter’s numerous questions and told me lots of things I didn’t know, too.

Another docent let my daughter hold this huge stickbug. 

There was even an enclosed garden where hundreds of butterflies were floating among the tropical plants.  This is the Great Yellow Mormon of the Philippines.  The Newfoundland Insectarium is only open seasonally, so check their website before you go.

A Newfoundland Welcome

EASTERN CANADA ROAD TRIP 2019

From Nova Scotia we took an overnight ferry to Newfoundland. That alone was an interesting experience. The ferry we had booked had been canceled, and so we were booked on the next one, but without the cabin. As we boarded, we found a row of seats to sit in, and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. It was tough - they reclined but there was no footrest and it felt awkward. Somehow less comfortable than a plane, but I am not sure how, haha. But we got lucky and they called us up to the desk - we were given a cabin that fit all four of us. It was tight but clean, and we were so thankful that we all dropped off to sleep right away, as it was after midnight. I don’t normally sleep well in unfamiliar places, but not that night. I slept like a log.

We woke the next morning in time to get breakfast in the restaurant and watch our approach to Port aux Basques. We were happy to go down to our camper and find that Lyle had done just fine overnight. We gave him some medication to ease his separation anxiety so we were not too worried. But that was our first time leaving our pup alone in the camper so long. We drove off the ferry and stopped at a nearby rest stop to let him potty. This - the image above - was the view. It pretty much summed it up: ‘Welcome to Newfoundland. It’s spectacularly gorgeous here.’

Cavendish Beach, PEI

Eastern Canada Road Trip 2019

We stayed at the Cavendish Campground at Prince Edward Island National Park, which had easy access to the beach. My daughter and I went during the day to play, and had a great time exploring the iron-rich rocks at low tide. They were soft and ground easily, and we had fun making ‘paint’ and drawing designs with it on our bodies. She even painted my nails with it. We had a unique wildlife sighting, too, when a fox came down out of the dunes and sat on the beach for about 30 minutes, oblivious to the people who were observing.

I went back to the beach again, with my camera, for sunset. What I got instead was an impressive show as these clouds rolled in. They were headed directly for me, and for the campground which was behind me. I waited as long as I could - I was the last on the beach - and when I thought I was just ahead of the rain I ran back to my camper, which was probably a quarter of a mile away. As I came off the beach and looked both ways to cross the road, I saw the fox, doing the same. I figured my timing must be good if the fox was taking cover, too.

Prince Edward Island National Park

Eastern Canada Road Trip 2019

The next stop on our trip was the idyllic Prince Edward Island. We drove the long Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to PEI, and as soon as we had crossed we found a place to buy some lobster for another over-the-fire lobster boil. The landscape is pastoral, with pretty farmland in every direction. We even got a bit turned around as we headed to Prince Edward Island National Park. Once we hit a dirt road we knew our navigation system had failed us. But we figured it out and eventually made it to the campground at Prince Edward Island National Park.

We walked some very nice gravel paths from our campground to the beach a few miles away, passing through some forest and along uncultivated fields. I had been reading the Anne of Green Gables series, which takes place on PEI, leading up to our trip and it was easy to imagine being a character in the book, enjoying the fresh air while walking between neighboring farms.

We kept walking until we got the the real-life Lake of the Shining Waters, a setting in the books. There is a boardwalk you can take over the lake, and we kept walking until we made it to the ocean shore, passing dunes and wildflowers, while a raven watched our progress and my daughter tried her best to walk Lyle, our dog.

We were staying at the Cavendish Campground, which was near the house that was the inspiration for the Anne of Green Gables home, but it was not accessible by trail so we drove there. It was far more bustling that we imagined, with ample parking, and a large new Visitor’s Center. The house is a short walk away, and you can go in and see the rooms decorated like they were described in the book, and you might even spot a little red-haired girl walking the grounds. You can walk the trail that was the inspiration for the ‘Haunted Wood,’ though, it was not so evocative when it crossed a golf course. Still, it was a delightful stop, even if I was the only one in our group to really appreciate it.

The Anne of Green Gables house.

Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick

Eastern Canada Road Trip 2019

We left the province of Quebec, with all its fromageries and boulangeries and patisseries (cheese shops, bread shops and bakeries) to enter New Brunswick, where all the signs were again in English and French. While we missed all the food shops, we were glad to not have to guess or translate everything again, though in truth we had rather enjoyed the constant challenge.

We drove through the forest near the coast to arrive at Kouchibouguac National Park on our way to Moncton where we were to drop off my husband’s sister, who had accompanied us since Quebec City. Sadly, we only stayed one night, but we made sure to get a kid’s booklet so my daughter could earn another dogtag (much like badges for kids at the American national parks). We drove around to a few spots within the park so she could do the activities, and you can see her carrying it as she walked along the shoreline looking for wildlife and enjoying the feel of the water after being in the camper all day.

I wish we could have explored this park a little more, but I feel pretty good about finally learning how to say the park’s name after asking the staff at the visitor’s center. (We had been butchering it since we made the reservation months ago). It’s a Mi’gmaq word that means “river of the long tides.” And, in case you want to know, it’s “koochie-boo-guac.” The park is in the Mi’gmaq’s traditional hunting and gathering area, and though the Europeans settled here and brought diseases that descimated their populations, their culture is still strong today and being shared through this park.