How I fell in love with Newfoundland, Canada!!!
National Geographic magazine , that's where I first heard about Gros Morne National park. That one pic on Long mountains peak stole my heart. This is a 5 day itinerary in June 2023 that me and my husband spent on this beautiful province. We loved it so much that we are in serious thought of buying a summer cottage here.
Fjords at Gros Morne National Park
Looking at the weather we were a bit reluctant but as they say there is no bad weather just bad clothes. We took a seasonal flight from Toronto to Deer Lake via Swoop Airlines early Sunday morning. On reaching Deer lake, we did the long drive along highway NL-1 all the way to Twillingate. The highway for the most part is boring but the Road of the Isles on Highway 340 does open up to beautiful fishing villages and harbor views.
Our first hike was the Summerford hiking trail. This is a short hike with an awesome view, If you are in the right season you can see icebergs from the view point here. After this , we grabbed dinner at Annie's harbor restaurant. Their pilaf rice and mussels were top notch.
The next day we had booked tour with Iceberg Quest Tours for some iceberg viewing. We spent the night at Toulinguet Inn & Suites where we you can get a 360 view of Twillingate and also see icebergs floating , but we wanted to see them up close.
View from Toulinguet Inn and Suites.
I would highly recommend the tour. It was safe, fun and very informative. Some other notable spots near Twillingate would be French beach, Crow head and the lighthouse.
After the tour, we drove back straight to deer lake. On our way we stopped to at Falls View lookout near Grand Falls Windsor. We so wanted to the Kings point trail but that's something we left it the next time we visit newfoundland. As soon as we reached deer lake , we took the short hike to the Humber valley walking trail. This trail winds the Humber river and is calm, peaceful walk.
Humber Valley Trail
We got a good night sleep and next day were headed to the famous tablelands trail. This particular day it was 26 KMPH wind, so the 4km trail felt a but hard, in normal circumstances, this is a the most rewarding and easiest trail that you could do. The western brook canyon at the end of the trail is gorgeous. This goes without saying that you get to walk on the earth's mantle. How does it get an better !
From there we did the eastern point trail hike. If you are looking for a shorter hike that green gardens trail, this is it .It starts at the base of a small village called Trout river and then lines up the gorgeous coastal views of the bay. A must visit is the seaside restaurant in Trout river because I bet you will be hungry by now for some lip smacking seafood. Before leaving this area , take sometime smelling the fresh air at bonne bay and it you are up from some more view , I would recommend the lookout trail here.
Our third day was a big day we were going to visit the fjords with BonTours. This is the number one attraction of Gros Morne. You start with a 3km trail to go to dock where BonTours pick you up for a 2 hour boat ride to view the fjords of long range mountains. This tour was worth the bucks. You can also do the hike where they leave you and your guide to the trail head and then pick up in a later tour on the same day. We plan to do this the next time we visit Gros morne.
After walking back to parking lot for another 3 km, we went straight to Shallow bay beach. This was nice secluded beach, we did some beach combing here. Be very careful of moose and caribou crossings after all we are just tourists in their world. We encountered 3 caribous and 2 moose on our entire trip.
From there our next stop was at Lobster Cove Lighthouse. I am not a fan of museum but this historical museum is quite fascinating. The hardships that the people of Newfoundland have gone through due to climatic conditions were very difficult.
Lobster Cove Lighthouse
From there my husband tried the moose burger at Treasure Box, but it was quite dry for him. But do visit homemade ice-cream parlor at Sweet Rock in Rocky Harbour for some delicious ice cream.
Our next stop was at Southern brook falls, a short hike with gushing waterfall from the top of the hill. It’s so huge it visible from the highway itself.
This was the end of our day. Next day before flying out , we did a quick tour to Steady Brook falls near Corner brook. Also I am coming back for those bagels at Robins which was our lunch before boarding our flight back to Toronto.
Steady Brook Waterfall
Last but most important one is that New Foundland folks are the most kindest, warmest people I have met. Their smiles are as big as their hearts. This is definitely one of the places, given a chance I would like to call it my home.
