Fording the Cabot Strait - Car Camping in Newfoundland

[scarysharkface]

Knowing there was much more to see, we back-tracked to run the loop..

Back on the gravel road, it's obvious that Long Point is impressively narrow. This was taken from the roof of the Jeep, looking back toward land, as it were..

Water to the left of us..

Water to the right of us..

After we got back on pavement, I noticed this through the rear-view mirror. In Newfoundland, even the flat roads are great motorcycle roads..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

As one drives along the coast, it's impossible not to notice the vibrant colors of water. The sky and the rocks just below the surface create neat patterns..

Even with this choppy water, the birds make it easy to spot the fishing boats..

Paying attention to the road is important as well..

Soon enough, we're at Cape St. George..

The views are impressive..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

A short walk brings this into view..

We fool around and put a few more miles (kilometers?) on the shutters..

Take a little drive up the hill..

To see even more spectacular views..

I guess the "diet" is not working so well for me..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Beautiful..

I love the EOS 50D and Tamron 18-270mm combo. From this:

To this:

And this:

John

 

[scarysharkface]

We had another friend to meet in Grand Falls, so we booted that direction..

Somewhere along the way we happened across a traveller with a flat battery. We gave 'em a jump so they could back-track a bit and get a new one. Great, friendly folks who'd been in Alberta and had just returned to The Rock..

We hookup with Steve in Grand Falls, down some excellent fish & chips and visit for not long enough..

My goal for the evening, since we were so close, was to camp somewhere around Twillingate and enjoy some icebergs in the morning.. Alas, when we got there there were none!

It was getting dark, and we hadn't picked a camp site yet..

After my EPIC FAIL at finding icebergs, I threw in the towel and checked us into a motel for the night. Tomorrow would be better (although today was pretty darn good!)..

John

 

[AZchris]

Do you have a lift on your Jeep? With that loaded rack and 4 people how did it handle?

 

[scarysharkface]

~2-1/2 or 3 inches of lift (I don't recall exactly), and yes it's a little soft all loaded-up like that. I think next time my preference would be to install airbag helpers in the rear coils to stiffen it up just a little bit. All-in-all, though, it wasn't bad. Sure, 70-75 mph on the interstate wasn't as painless as it could have been, but handling-wise there's really nothing I can honestly complain about at this time.

The rack creates a lot of wind noise and drag when it's empty. Loaded, it's significantly quieter but the drag is still there. It's not too bad at 55 mph, but mileage really suffers at speeds higher than that or if driving into a strong headwind. I may fab some sort of deflector for it eventually.

It sure was nice to not carry tent, sleeping bags, pads, chairs and such in the passenger compartment.

John

 

[grahamfitter]

:lurk: Great stuff!

Cheers,
Graham

 

[njjeepthing]

What type of waterproof bags did you use on your rack to keep the sleeping bags and such dry? I am looking for some for use on my rack.

 

[scarysharkface]

Sleeping bags went in a big industrial trash bag inside the Thule soft carrier. Other stuff went inside SeaLine dry bags. The tent and its trappings went in a big trash bag, and that went inside the big red duffle. Some miscellaneous kid stuff went in cheap dry bags in the big brown duffle. Camp chairs were only inside the bags they came with.

I would do it differently in some ways next time, although just how I don't know at this point. I had lots of unused rack available.

More pics and such coming this evening, when I have time to look at pics..

John

 

[CruiseControl]

John thanks for sharing your photography abilities with us. Looks like another great trip. I always enjoy reading, or even just looking at your posts.

 

[scarysharkface]

John thanks for sharing your photography abilities with us. Looks like another great trip. I always enjoy reading, or even just looking at your posts.

You are too kind. Thank you.

 

[scarysharkface]

We slept well in real beds, and had good coffee, toast and a wide variety of local jams and jellies for breakfast. Recharged, we forged our path for the day under the watchful, burning eye of the evil daystar..

A kayaker's paradise..

It's funny to arrive at a place such as this, only to hear the distant cry of a 2-stroke weed-whacker..

A short hike from nearly anywhere yields an exquisite view..

So cool..

And proud..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Smiles..

Down the way just a bit..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

So we snap a pic or two and suddenly three kids on bikes ride up and climb on..

They have no fear, no inhibition and are completely open to us..

They climb around the Jeep as though it were a jungle-gym on a school playground..

The girl's brakes aren't working on her bike, so I fix them (it's simple, luckily) and off they go..

John