Nurse Bennett Heritage House

   Myra Bennett worked as a nurse in England for ten years before agreeing to serve in Newfoundland for two years. She was sent to a small fishing village on the west coast and soon found herself caught up in the lives of the people in the villages up and down the coast. She stayed for 68 years, marrying and raising a family, all the while dispensing medicine, mending injuries and delivering babies, even though sometimes she didn’t receive a salary or the patients couldn’t afford to pay.

    A covered kiosk features interpretation panels with photographs. The house which served as a office and home for Bennett and her family still has the original furnishings and is opened to tour.

   Small RVs will fit in the parking lot.   House
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Arches Provincial Park

  This mound of conglomerate rock gets pounded by ocean waves which have carved arches along the base.

  A paved path leads to a viewpoint and a boardwalk goes to another viewpoint with picnic tables. Able bodied visitors can walk through the arches and wade in the ocean.

The parking lot is big enough for any RV.  Park
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Dr. Henry N. Payne Museum and Craft Shop

  This little museum consists of small house furnished as it would have been in the 1940s with one room serving as a gift shop.

  The first floor is accessible.

   Small RVs will fit in the lot  Museum
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Trout River Boardwalk

  Trout River is a small fishing community at the end of the road in Gros Morne Park. A short boardwalk follows the shoreline through town. It’s a little rough in places but wheelchair accessible.

  RVs without towed cars can park at  the parking areas next to the boardwalk.  Boardwalk
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Gros Morne National Park

   Gros Morne was established in 1973 to protect a unique geologic environment produced by the the collision of tectonic plates several hundred million years ago. The interior  of the park is wilderness that can only be accessed by backpacking, cross country skiing or snowmobiling so most visitors see the park is by driving the two access roads and taking short hikes.  One road travels through the Tablelands, a range of flat topped mountains with little vegetation due to the composition of the rock which is very low in calcium, very high in magnesium, and has toxic amounts of heavy metals. The other road follows along the coast.        
  While there are many trails suitable for short day treks none are really accessible. A short section of the Berry Head Pond Trail is boardwalk and accessible.  The parking lot is large enough for RVs but may be tight if you need to turn around.

  The Discovery Center with geology and natural history exhibits is accessible. The parking lot is small but there’s an addition gravel lot where RVs will fit.
   Broom Point Fishing Premises  has a small handicapped parking lot but getting to the site involves traveling over a rocky road. The bottom floor of the shed is accessible. The house has steps and no ramp.

  A short paved path at Lobster Cove leads to the base of the lighthouse. Several interpretive signs are located along the path. There’s a small, covered exhibit area with photographs but the entrance has a high step. The parking lot gets crowded so RVs may not fit.

  The visitor center has few exhibits but it’s a good place to stop for maps and information. The second lot has spaces where RVs will fit. Park
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Roy Whalen Heritage Museum

  Deer Lake was founded in 1922, as a company run logging town, but now it’s main functions are to supply hydroelectric power to the paper mill located downstream at Corner Brook and provide services for tourists and local communities. The little museum is filled with donated historic items including three life sized carvings. The gift shops sells crafts and handmade quilts, mittens, sweaters and placemats.

  The museum and shop are accessible but a little metal ramp bridging the threshold that makes entering a bit difficult.

The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  Museum
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Railroad Society of Newfoundland

  For 90 years, beginning in 1898, a narrow gauge railroad ran from  Port aux Basques to St. John providing the only means of traveling across the interior of Newfoundland.  When the Trans-Canada Highway was completed in 1965 rail traffic dropped significantly and by 1988 the railway was abandoned. There isn’t a lot at this museum other than the rolling stock located outside - a steam locomotive, a huge snow plow train, a diesel electric locomotive and some passenger cars.

  The train cars are not accessible.

   The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  Museum
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Newfoundland & Labrador Heritage Tree

   In 1999, as part of a celebration for the Canada Winter Games which were being held in Newfoundland that year, a 417 year old, 65 foot cedar tree was cut in British Columbia and shipped to Steady Brook where artists Bernard Benoit, Scott Butt, Colin Mahoney, and Norman Young carved 50 figures and scenes depicting Newfoundland and Labrador history.

  The tree is in a small park at the edge of the Marble Mountain ski resort parking lot. Wheelchair users may not be able to get a close look because there isn’t a good path across the grass.

  The lot is large enough for any RV.   Tree 
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Newfoundland!

 We finally made it to Newfoundland! The scenery is gorgeous and the weather is perfect but we've been disconnected from any type of communication since Friday - no phone, no internet, not even television!  We finally found a little restaurant with WiFi so I figured that I better do an update before we go back to the wonderful but WiFi less Newfoundland countryside. City living and good WiFi in a few days. ;-)

Beach Boondocking

  Most of Nova Scotia is rural but there’s not a lot of public land that’s easily accessible plus we don’t know the rules so we haven’t been attempting to boondock. However I spotted this little strip of land on Google satellite view and when we went to check it out we found a beautiful, rocky, lakeside beach with four long pull in spaces. The first one was taken by a couple camping in a VW van, the next two had picnickers, and we got the last one. We had a very quiet night because hardly anyone drives along these small country roads.45.9827, -60.81243