NL Road Trip May 2023
Trip stats
Day 1 – May 24, 2023 – We decided to drive to NL for Ethan’s convocation since I wanted to have my vehicle there versus a rental. The first few days of the trip are fairly long with lots of driving. We drove from Woodstock, NB to North Sydney NS which is about 731 Km’s. The road is twinned most of the way but slow driving when you get on Cape Breton Island. This leg of the trip took about 8 hours behind the wheel. When you get to North Sydney there are two options for the Marine Atlantic Ferry, the shorter route North Sydney to Port Aux Basque, is about 8 hours and the longer route to Argentia is about 15 hours. Normally our preference would be Argentia but that route does not start until mid-June during the busy tourist season. The Argentia route is much better if you do not want or need to do the 10 hours’ drive across the island. Our ferry was leaving at about 11:30 pm and you need to be at the ferry about 2 hours before departure. We left Woodstock at about 10 am and arrived is North Sydney at about 7 pm which gave us loads of time to get checked in and park our car in the lineup. After that it is just a waiting game.
After some reading and relaxation, we decided to leave the Terminal area and head over to the Town of North Sydney for dinner. We just needed something light to sleep on. The Terminal area is like an airport, you need your boarding pass and identification to get back to the Terminal. We walked around a bit and settled on Pizza Bianchini’s Pizzeria which was a very good meal. One works pizza later we were full. After the pizza back to the car and waiting to board. The boarding started as planned at about 9:30 pm and we were settled in our cabin by 10:30 pm. The cabins are small but comfortable, they all have their own bathroom and shower. For anyone travelling on the ferry a cabin is a necessity! They are very comfortable and allows you to get a good night’s rest before the long drive the next day.
Day 2 – May 25, 2023 – The 2nd day was really just a travel day. Driving from Port Aux Basque, NL to St John’s, NL which is about 900 KM’s and 10 hours. Just a few stops for fuel and lunch and we arrived in St John’s for about 6 PM. Had supper and spend the rest of the evening relaxing with a few glasses of wine with family.
Day 3- May 26, 2023 – This was a wet, rainy, and cold day. We really did not get much opportunity to go outside. This was our first non-travel day of the vacation. First thing on the agenda was to visit my mom at her location in CBS, Admiral Coast Retirement home just a beautiful location ocean views great staff. Wonderful spot to spend your retirement. Visted with Mom for a few hours and then decided to go have some lunch at Jungle Jim’s on Torbay Road. Light lunch and back to the house. In the evening we spend visiting with our friends Lynn and Mike in Mount Pearl. Very nice evening with lots of wine and awesome chateurie board. Returned for the evening at about 11:00 pm.
Photo Shoot - Downtown Walk About
Day 4 – May 27, 2023 – This day started with a trip to the Bagel Cafe in downtown St. Johns for a breakfast to get our day started. After the Bagel Cafe we decided to visit Bowring Park, this is a great spot for a walk and to enjoy the local scenery. Lots of clothing needed because the temperature where only about 4 degrees Celius. We spent about an hour exploring the park and taking some pictures. I took about 469 shots and ending up after processing with 68 shots saved to my albums. Very relaxing, interesting, and enjoyable walk. After the Bowring Park walk, we went to a Farmers Market in the old Metro Bus station om Freshwater Road. We each got a few odds and ends there. Some great food stands there but the Bagel Cafe breakfast had not worn of. After that we went back to the house for a few hours before heading to meet my friend Brace downtown for drinks and dinner.
Photo Shoot - Downtown St John's
Day 5 – May 28, 2023 – We started the day picking up Ethan and heading to Quidi Vida for a nice walk around the lake. This is about 5 Km walk. Great hiking path, nice and level, just a great spot to get in some exercise. After the walk we build up our appetite and headed to Rustlers on Torbay for a hearty breakfast with Ethan. Very leisurely and enjoyable.
After breakfast I wanted to go back and visit Mom in CBS and Ethan decided join us. It was a very nice visit. We stayed for a couple of hours at least. We then spend the rest of the afternoon looking at cars with Ethan. He wanted to get his first car and we decided to help while we were there. After the visit with Mom, we wanted to get Ethan some essentials at Costco. Thankfully the membership is good at any Costco. We got him a bunch of staples that do not spoil. The location was crazy busy on the way back. While leaving CBS we stopped at Taylors Fish Market to plan a Fish fry for Thursday. I really wanted to get some fresh crab legs because usually in NB we only get frozen. There were none available that day but indicated they would later in the week, so I planned a return trip. What was really interesting is my dad was a lobster fisherman and he sold lobsters to this market. They came around the bay in collector trucks and purchased the lobsters for cash. The lady I spoke to at the market indicated it was her dad that purchased my dad’s lobsters. This was a great story. We still had some time to kill before supper, so we went to Coffee Matters and had some coffee and scones and then back to the girls for Sunday dinner.
Sunday dinner is something very special that Eileen and her sisters have been hosting for close to 50 years. As young adults in the twenties Eileen’s sisters started hosting Sunday dinner for a group of friends. Many different people were invited over the years, but some have been coming for 50 years and the Girls have hosted for 50 years. At this Sunday dinner there were Ethan, Eileen, Tony, Cathy, Karen Tom, Joyce, Paul and Lynn. Great to see and chat with old friends. The meal was a nice lasagna and a couple of glasses or merlot. I nice vacation evening.
Day 6 – May 29, 2023 – It was an overcast and cloudy day that started with a few hours of work meetings. Did that early in the morning to have it out of the way for the rest of my vacation. Next on the agenda some morning exercise. This time we decided to try a different trail and went to Kent Pond, next to the Confederation Building. This is about 2 KM trail and only took about 20 minutes. This is much shorter than what we normally do but it worked and felt good. It was very cold. After the hike we did a quick tour of Signal Hill. After Signal Hill we did a shoot downtown St. John’s. That trip is very nostalgic but frankly too cold to do anything. After that short trip we decided to go to Jumping Bean coffee in Elizabeth Avenue for some coffee and a warmup. We buy their grind in NB and love it and wanted to try at their actual location. We were impressed and loved the coffee even more and had a few sweets to boot. After the coffee we decided to go back downtown for some walking and shopping. It was a nice afternoon; we visited some old antiques shops and a few other locations. After some walking, we had worked up an appetite. Time to find a lunch location.
After Gingergrass we went to the Tickle Trunk and I got gloves and a hat, just tells you how cold it was. This was on the low side of temperatures even for NL in May. We then collected Ethan and went car shooting once again with no great luck. After the car shopping we went back to the house rested for a bit and got ready to go out to dinner with my brother Keith and his wife Charmaine at the St. John’s Fish Exchange which is an awesome fish restaurant overlooking the St John’s waterfront.
Photo Shoot - Bowring Park
Day 7 – May 30, 2023 – I picked up my mom early morning and drove to my childhood home in NL a community called Fair Haven. When Mom moved to St John’s the house was shut down. We visited with one on my aunts and visited the grave site of my Dad before heading back to St John’s. We had dinner at the girls and then Caleb was arriving for Ethan’s convocation, and we had to get him at the airport at 9 pm. Overall a relaxing and quiet day.
Photo Shoot - Fair Haven
Photo Shoot - Signal Hill
Day 8 – May 31, 2023 – Ethans convocation was at 10:00 am at the Arts and Culture Center. For Caleb’s delayed convocation we attended at the Mile One Stadium in St John’s. For Ethan’s we arrived early and waited in the lot for the start. It was a very proud moment watching our youngest walk across the stage and get his under-grad degree in Computer Science from Memorial University. That now meant my entire family had been educated in my home province at MUN. Ethan is working for a startup and living in St John’s. After the convocation, we decided to do our, once a vacation Fish and Chips at Ches’s Fish and Chips. It was very good, and we enjoyed every bite. We then decided to get some exercise and went back to Kent Pond to do the 2 km loop. We all wanted to go out to dinner and we initially tried the Keg but could not get the time we wanted so we ended up at Moxie’s on Kenmount Road. We had a very enjoyable meal with our sons and chatted about the future.
Day 9 – June 1, 2023 – The car hunt continued, and we finally found a good used car dealer that we trusted in Capital Auto. These are certified cars with good warranties. Ethan finally settled on and Elantra. In the end the Elantra did not work out and he settled on a CRV which he is very happy with. The insurance shopping was crazy and landed at about $7,000 for one year. After the car shopping, we dropped Ethan off and decided to go to Manna Bakery. This location is an absolute gem and great local bakery. They make the best sandwiches, and they are for the strong appetite. Eileen and on split one and we just love their homemade bread! Another trip out to visit Mom because we were heading back to NB the next day. It was an emotional visit but as always so much fun. Afte the visit with Mom we headed back to St. John’s and visited the Fish Depot on Duckworth. We had decided to get fish for a fry and treat everyone that afternoon. So, 5 lbs. of snow crab, 2 lbs. scallops, and 2 lbs. of shrimp later we had the making of an awesome fish fry that we had at Cathy’s and Karen’s house.
Day 10 – June 2
Photo Shoot - Twillingate loop
Day 11 – June 3, 2023 – Today we had to do the 2nd part of the island drive back to the ferry in Port aux Basque. The ferry departed at 11:30 pm so we had plenty of time. We got on the road found a Tim’s and got a large regular and started the drive. This allowed us to drive as far a Deer Lake before stopping the Deer Lake Hotel for breakfast we then decided to head up the Northern Peninsula for a bit to get some more photos and kill some time. We took our time with the drive and stopped many times for picture opportunities as we make our way to Rocky Harbour and Norris Point. This killed and few hours and was a lot of fun, this truly allows you to explore the beautiful Island of NL. After that we then finished the drive to the Marine Atlantic Ferry in Port aux Basque. Since we got in early, I had lots of time for a photo shoot in that area and explore the town extensively.
Photo Shoot - Rocky Harbour
Photo Shoot - Port au Basque
Restaurant Review - Deer Lake Motel
Photo Shoot - Wreck House
Day 11 – June 4, 2023 – Pretty uneventful day just driving back to Woodstock. Just one stop along the Way at the Masstowm Market for some cabbage soup and nice sandwich with some homemade bread. Weather was great and we were back in Woodstock by 6 PM. The awesome trip to Nl comes to a close. Until next time!
Road Trip - Photo Shoot Archive
Port Aux Basque Photo Shoot
Killin time waiting for the ferry. 35 shots.
Rocky Harbour Area Photo Shoot
Very scenic and deserves more time to explore. 43 shots.
Twillingate Loop Shoot
Rural shots and the Iceberg search. 58 shots.
Downtown Water Street Walk About
Exploring the colors and history of St Johns.
Downtown St John’s Photo Shoot
Interesting walk lots of history and things to see. 54 shots
Bowring Park Photo Shoot
Beautiful walk wooded park with gurgling brook. Lots to enjoy. 24 shots
Wreck House Photo Shoot
Crazy winds dangerous driving at times. 8 shots
Road Trip - Restaurant Review Archive
Ches’s Fish & Chips
The best Fish and chips. A must visit a local favourite.
Fish Exchange
Amazing restaurant stunning views and the freshest fish.
