The Little Blue Door

This is a long overdue post. I have one post started documenting our whole vacation to Nfld (via NS, which deserves a post all of its own) in August, but I only got as far as the first day in Nfld before I ran out of time. I'll stick to the condensed photographic version this time.

Sunset on the Ferry just before coming into port at Argentia, Nfld.

Not bad looking for a family of three who spent the evening before looking for the drive-in movie in Sydney (not the Drive-thru). This is a message to the guy who was standing in the line up in McDonald's; "seriously" we may be from out of town but I think we could have figured out how to find the drive-thru window of McDonald's without your help.

Malcolm's friend Schooner the Newfoundland dog at the top of Signal Hill.

Ashley bought Malcolm his own little stuffed animal version in the gift shop to bring home as a souvenir.

Top of Signal Hill by Marconi's Tower.

We tried to be cute and make a wireless phone call from the site of the first wireless transmission, but no one was home.

View of St. John's harbour from Signal Hill

Pippy Park Campground in St. John's on our second morning on the island.

We have no pictures from our first morning as the night we got off the ferry, not only did we get misplaced in the dark, then the lights went out on the van. We spent the first night in a friendly Newfoundlander's drive-way in Conception Bay South. What a way to experience true Newfoundland hospitality first hand.

Ashley at the Terry Fox memorial in the St. John's Port Authority parking lot.

We drove around looking for this very modest memorial at the place where Terry Fox started his Marathon of Hope. When Ashley and I traveled West a few summers ago we stopped at the memorial where Terry Fox had to end his journey. I'll have to dig out the picture to compare the size of the memorials.

The only public access to the St. John's Harbour

"Huck Finn"

I really do need to share this story. I'll start with the fact/defence that the bench seat in the Westfalia is very far back from the driver and passenger seats. This caused some challenges during the drives, but we managed. On our way from St. John's to Terra Nova National park Malcolm was making some fussy noises for a bit before quieting down. I figured he found a toy to entertain himself which wasn't abnormal. Ashley rolled down his window at one point and I thought to myself, there must be a farm in the area as it smells like manure. A few minutes later I turn around to check on Malcolm and I notice something all over his hands that he was happily waving in the air. My first though was somehow he got a hold of the package of blue berries and has smooshed them all up, then it hit me and I spoke aloud "He's playing with his poop!" Oh yes, we had a very explosive diaper while wearing shorts. Poop was everywhere, clothing, the car seat, shoes, toys.... We pulled over and cleaned Malcolm up the best we could on the side of the highway with wipes, dressed him in the pants he started the day out in and put him back in the seat. That night we did our first load of laundry in Nfld.

Entrance to Boyd's Cove

Lunch stop at an Airplane Museum in Gander (not the one that I was looking for but it worked)

At the top of Berry Hill in Gros Morne Park

'Hanging around' the Tablelands in Gros Morne

We planned to spend two nights in Gros Morne which was a good thing as it rained the whole first day we were there. We still managed to do one small hike up Berry Hill, and the views were still impressive in the misty weather. The next morning the clouds lifted and we saw more views and did the Tablelands Hike. It was amazing. I'd love to hike the Gros Morne peak but we were not prepared for it and would not have had the time, perhaps next time.

In the line up for the Ferry at Port-Au-Basques

Back in NS after a night crossing

I don't know why he's so happy. Ashley and I were the ones eating ice cream, Malcolm had a pear.

All in all it was a great vacation. Tiring but fun. There are a few more things I want to remember about the trip that I'll just jot down in closing. If you ever get the chance to travel through Newfoundland in a Westfalia van with your family, do it. You'll never get another experience like it.

• The accordion player at his campfire, amongst the provincial park filled with huge trailers running generators continuously.
• Malcolm hanging off the picnic table.
  
• The Fish & Chip dinner in the van while Malcolm slept (we saved some for him).
• Ordering Malcolm his own meals in restaurants.
• The hornets in Gros Morne