Off the Beaten Path in Maritime Canada

I’ve created this post as a kind of home page to make it easier to navigate all of our posts about the Maritime Canada trip which took place August 1 to 21, 2018. You can just scroll down to see all the posts or click the links below to see the various posts directly. The most recent are at the bottom.

If you click/tap the images they will expand and allow you to click through them on your computer or swipe on your mobile device. On your computer hit <F11> to expand the browser to full screen to see them as big as possible and hit <F11> again to return it back to normal. To exit the images and return to reading hit the “X” if you see it or click / tap outside the images. Sometimes you might see a smaller gallery of pictures and clicking them will scroll through only those pictures. Don’t hit your browser back button to exit pictures or it will take you back too far.

I hope you enjoy reading about our journey. Please feel free to leave questions and comments at the end of a post.

Intro: Maritime Canada Trip – Prologue

Day 1: Maine

Day 2: New Brunswick

Day 3: St. Martins & Bay of Fundy

Day 4: PEI to Nova Scotia

Day 5: Cape Breton & MV Apollo

Day 6: Newfoundland & St. Johns

Day 7: Crossing Newfoundland

Day 8: Along the Newfoundland Northern Peninsula

Day 9: Labrador to Mary’s Harbour

Days 10 to 11: Battle Harbour

Day 12 to 14: Goose Bay and up the Labrador Coast

Days 15 to 17: Nain, South to Goose Bay, and Road to Churchill

Days 18 to 21: Labrador City to St. Lawrence River, and back to Albany

Reflections: Road Trips & the Maritime Canada Trip

Maritime Canada Trip – Reflections

Genesis of the Maritime Canada Trip

The idea for this trip started with Debbie suggesting a trip to Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island and really just getting to seeing some of the Canadian Maritime provinces. So I studied maps of the area and got the idea that it should include Newfoundland. I like the idea of getting further off the beaten path or doing something different. Research about Newfoundland led to Labrador and its rugged secluded coasts and vast untouched forests. Battle Harbour, hanging on the end of the continent, seemed like a great place to unwind in comfort and seclusion. Finally, reading about the Northern Ranger trip up the northern Labrador coast seemed like an adventure that suited me. Debbie would like almost anything involving the ocean, so she quickly warmed to the idea. The Trans-Labrador Highway meant the trip could be done as a loop so driving through the wilderness was going to be part of it. Throughout the planning the trip got focused on the more remote parts of the trip.

That was the idea, and now some thoughts of how it played out. The numbers are that we spent 22 days traveling and drove 3763 miles which took 75 hours. Additionally, we traveled 1473 miles by sea over 90 hours of sailing.

Maritime Canada Trip – Days 18 to 21 – Churchill Falls to Home

Churchill Falls Generating Station switch yard

Day 18 – Friday August 18, 2018

Churchill Falls to Labrador City

The reason that town of Churchill Falls exists is because of water. Visionaries had the idea to use that water to create a gigantic electric power plant. That vision sprung to life starting in 1967 when they broke ground in the wilderness to create the Churchill Falls Generating Station. It is jointly by owned by Newfoundland and Labrador’s Nalcor Energy with minority partner Hydro Quebec. It generates 5.4 gigawatts of power and a total 35,000 GWh throughout the year which is almost 1% of the world’s hydroelectric generation. At the time it was built it was the the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in North America and the largest underground generating facility in the world. Now it’s number 2. It has a lopsided financial arrangement as Nalcor currently earns $63 million per year with Hydro Quebec earning $1.6 billion! If you have any interest in the politics and challenges of a large public works project like Churchill Falls, you can find some interesting reading online.

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 15 to 17 – Nain, South to Goose Bay, and the road to Churchill Falls

Day 15 – Wednesday – August 15, 2018

Path for August 15, 2018 – Natuashish,north to Nain, south to Natuashish, & Sea at Night

We woke to get some breakfast and as we finished, the Northern Ranger started its last leg of our northward journey. The skies were grey as we left Natuashish but that didn’t stop us from returning to the bow for the rest of the morning with Dave, Anne, and Pastor Andrews. As morning wore on, the weather began to improve and we occasionally saw the sun as we moved through the many islands and rocky points of land. We were on the way to Nain. During this part of the trip we rounded Paul Island and got the furthest north of our trip at N56°33’44”. The lighting conditions were not great for photos but I have included a couple here so you can see what it looked like. Better ones are coming later during the return trip.

One of many small islands near Nain
Rocky Shores of Paul Island

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 12 to 14 – Battle Harbour, Goose Bay & the MV Northern Ranger

Debbie watching Lake Melville from *Northern Ranger*

Day 12 – Sunday – August 12, 2018

Path for August 12, 2018 – Battle Harbour, Mary’s Harbor and Goose Bay

Trans-Labrador Highway to Goose Bay

We left Battle Harbour after a thoroughly enjoyable stay there. We headed back on Trinity Pride to Mary’s Harbour. The weather was overcast but the seas were smooth. The 13 mile trip was an opportunity to say our goodbyes to our fellow guests and dinner companions.

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 10 to 11 – Battle Harbour

The rugged rocks and sea at Battle Harbour

Friday – August 10, 2018

Path for August 10, 2018 – Mary’s Harbour to Battle Harbor

Battle Harbour

Getting There – Trinity Pride

We woke to some rain but that didn’t dampen our desire to head back on the water to travel to the Battle Harbour National Historic Site. We headed out in the rain on Trinity Pride which is a small vessel that provides the 75 minute journey to the island. Battle Harbour is a small island that is close to being the eastern most point of continental North America although that honor really belongs to nearby Cape St. Charles.

*Trinity Pride* – boat to Battle Harbour

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 9 – Labrador – The Big Land

Thursday – August 9, 2018

Across to Labrador – MV Apollo – Boat #3

Labrador is the northern continental part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has a very contoured coastline and a vast amount of inland forested land getting sub-artic to the north. We traveled across the Strait of Belle Isle in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from St. Barbe to Blanc Sablon on the MV Apollo. It takes about 90 minutes to travel across. The Apollo started its life with Viking Cruises in Sweden but now it is almost 50 years old. It looked a little rough around the edges but did the job and we arrived in Blanc Sablon after a pleasant sunny trip, eating our breakfast by the window along the way. This was the last year for Apollo and in 2019 passengers get a shiny new ferry.

Canada Trip – Day 8 – Along the Newfoundland Northern Peninsula

Wednesday – August 8, 2018

Gros Morne National Park

We woke to a pouring rain pelting down upon the Humber River visible outside our window. We had a nice breakfast and conversation with our hosts at the B&B. The rain persisted, and we decided to take advantage of the washer available to guests which would save a laundromat later in the trip. I managed to get two days of blog written but of course was still behind. With the laundry finished and the rain less of a downpour we headed out for our destination the day Gros Morne National Park.

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 7 – Across Newfoundland

St. Johns Harbor entrance looking south.

Tuesday – August 7, 2018

St. Johns

We left the Gower Guest House and headed to the Bagel Cafe which is a popular breakfast destination in St. John’s.

Big Hardy Breakfast - Cabot Tower Version — Big Hardy Breakfast – Cabot Tower Version

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 5 – Cape Breton & MV Atlantic Vision

Sunday – August 5, 2018

Route for August 5, 2018 – The ferry path is kind of wrong.

Drive Through Cape Breton Island

We started our day with a shared breakfast at the guest house. We chatted over coffee with a German couple also on a road trip and a Canadian family who had traveled from Vancouver and Edmonton to see their family member run in the Special Olympics. I enjoy talking with people we encounter on a trip and a shared breakfast table is good way to do it. We had a ferry ride to Newfoundland later in the day so that conversation couldn’t be too long if we wanted to see anything.

We had to head to North Sydney for our ferry and decided to travel along the northern shore of the island and circle around via the Cabot Trail until we got there. Cape Brenton Island gets more rugged and mountainous as you travel eastward. The center part of the northern arm is a national park. The road hugs the coast and is very scenic. Unfortunately we still had the rain on and off that was dogging us.

Along the Cabot Trail - Cape Breton Island — Along the Cabot Trail – Cape Breton Island