In early June, we embarked on our latest Canadian road trip, this time to the furthest eastern part of North America: Newfoundland. This was our last province to tackle together, we’ve road tripped to and from every single province in this country and we think we left the best ’til last. However, this country is so large and vast in its beauty and ecosystems we say this after every Canadian adventure.
The one guarantee after every road trip taken in Canada is how many miles (ahem, milo-ketres) you will stack on your odometer as you try to see as many spots as possible. This time, we threw on 1,600 kms, and that didn’t even get us halfway through the province!
If being in a car with someone seems like a tedious chore, maybe road trips are not your thing. But if, like us, you love a long drive down even longer highways, chatting, laughing, snacking, wanderlusting and keeping an eye out for the absurd, then here are a few tips on how to make your drive a memorable one:
Do your research
Don’t ‘wing it’ on a road trip. That’s a bickering car fight waiting to happen. You don’t have to be fully planned out, but at least make sure you have a decent destination to spend a night or two, one that you want to spend more than a few hours in. And one that has more to offer than a Dollarama or a Subway.
It’s good to start out with a few resources. We usually order the free travel guides from a destination’s tourism website, spend a few hours looking at reviews on Trip Advisor and throw out a question on Facebook. All extremely helpful.
But my favourite road trip tool is Google Maps. I map out every possible stop and let the tool tell me how long our entire trip will be. Add your starting point, a possible end point, and every spot you want to drive near or spend the night in (you can add up to 10 destinations in one trip). Then let Google tell you if your plan is remotely feasible.
Do you see how many hours it takes to drive eastern (and a bit of central) Newfoundland? 19! We couldn’t even get close to Gros Morne National Park or L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in seven days. You need at least 12 days to do that province right. It was an additional 18 hours to drive to those places. Moral of the story… Newfoundland is big, yo!
Select iconic destinations
Pick out a few unique or interesting or historic or cool spots to explore in depth on your trip. Spend a few times during your day away from the vehicle, stretching, moving, exploring, learning, going to the bathroom.
All that moving and stopping on this road trip had me noticing the province’s opposites. It’s harsh, yet colourful, weathered, yet fresh. Newfoundland will surprise the heck out of you.
Cape Spear Lighthouse, National Historic Site of Canada
Jelly Bean Row, St. John’s
Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site
Pull over early and often
It doesn’t matter if there’s something interesting two minutes into your drive, pull over if you feel you need to see something. Let your schedule lapse to uncover a new spot or to snap a photo of a tiny harbour or to look out at an iceberg or to encounter your first ever moose in the wild! YASS! Finally I saw one, it was majestic. The best thing about travelling by car is the pure freedom to do what you want at any moment.
Let the roadsigns dictate your direction
I mean, obviously you have to obey the regulatory and warning signs, but I’m talking about the weird signs you see on the side of the road. The ones that just pop up and make you take a double take or intrigue you to the point you have to find out more.
Newfoundland runs rife with crazy-ass signs. We actually detoured just to get a photo of one: Dildo. Yes, there’s a town named Dildo. That had us howling, but then we saw a tiny sign that said there’s a restaurant called Dildo Dory’s. Oh, you bet we went further on our detour just to find this intriguing resto. I mean, it’s home to Capt. Dildo! 😲
The roadside signs became an obsession for Chuck. He couldn’t get over all the oddly named places. Like, there’s a Cobbs Arm-Toogood Arm, a Mistaken Point, a Placentia and a Virgin Arm. So much sign madness.
We also found the best lobster restaurant on the island from a roadside sign. At the tail-end of a long day of driving — hungry, tired, late to our ultimate destination of Twillingate — when Chuck saw a tiny sign that said “Fresh lobster ahead” with a little red arrow on it. That same tiny sign popped up two more times. WE HAD TO TURN.
Doyle Sansome & Sons Lobster Pool is an eclectic restaurant in the tiny village of Hillgrade. We wrote our names down on the foolscap waiting list and waited 30 minutes to get a table. Once seated, we ordered two lobster meals and shared a bowl of mussels and a bowl of seafood chowder. The lady told us this would be the best chowder we ever tasted. Oh boy, was she right. She also said we would be back again tomorrow. Again, she wasn’t wrong. And we each got our own bowl of chowder the second night. No sharesies!
Find unique stays
On a road trip, you’re usually at a destination for only one, two nights tops, so look for a unique one! If it’s too weird, or sucks, well, it was only a night, right? Newfoundland was good to us with the accommodations though. We stayed in a gorgeous old “Jelly Bean Row” house in St. John’s, a Swedish-style self-serve B & B in Twillingate, an old converted convent in Saint Bride’s, and a barn in Witless Bay. Yep, a barn. It once housed bovines, but now it’s divine.
The Barn, East Bauline
The Sunshine Inn, Twillingate
Capeway Motel & Efficiency Units, Saint Bride’s
At Wit’s Inn, St. John’s
Bring sufficient snacks, and grab some regional goodies too
Long hours in a car mean snacks and sandwiches are a necessity. Veggies and dip are always our go-to car snack. Then we look for regional snacks that we can’t find at home. This time, we discovered Caramel Logs and Purity Candy. Purity is definitely a Newfoundland-based factory. With names like Climax Mixture, Jam Jams and Peppermint Nobs, how could it not be? Their packaging had a total Nutty Club vibe though.
We met the nicest man at a tiny deli called Breen’s. Not only did this guy make the simplest, yet tastiest sandwiches ever, he was so keen for us to try a Caramel Log that he shared one with us at no charge, just a wee bit of conversation. Newfoundland definitely has the nicest people of any place we’ve been.
Absorb all the feels
Of course there will be emotions on a road trip. A variety of them! You’ll laugh so hard, you’ll piss each other off a bit too much, you’ll have deep conversations and then also talk about the dumbest things. It’s all good. You’ll most likely raise your eyebrows at each other way too much and you’ll also pop in a few epic eyerolls. But all these moments enhance a road trip.
The difference on this one is that I had more quiet moments to myself than usual. Lost in thought, I would stare out the window looking at the world barrelling towards me, thinking of my dear mom and how she would have loved this type of adventure. There’s something healing about letting the world fly by you silently as work out your emotions. Things start to look brighter, memories become more vivid, your heart begins to fill up again.
Wear matching outfits
Because why the heck not? Look at us trying to be hip in our eskyflavor hats! #oldpeople
Maybe keep the kids at home
Hey, they might be your best road trip friends. OR, they might be the “are we there yet, are we there yet, how long, why aren’t we there yet, are we there yet?,” echo from the backseat. We get those complaints just taking an hour drive out to the lake, so just imagine what a six-hour drive to see a bird sanctuary would sound like.
Oh, and don’t speed pass the park ranger
…even if your partner tells you to. “No, they can’t give out tickets, they only deal with wildlife.” Mmmhmm
