In June 2023 we took the Avion truck camper on our longest trip ever from our home in the Buffalo, NY area to Newfoundland. We drove over 5,000 miles of driving in total, which is even more miles than when we towed our vintage Shasta to Utah and back in 2013. We spent a total of 24 nights in the Avion on this trip, and best of all we only stayed in paid for campsites on 4 of those nights. We also didn't plug into electricity for most of this trip, making use of our trucks alternator and DC to DC charger to charge our battery and we used propane for heat and cooking.
Being relatively small and self-contained we were able to boondock most nights within feet of the ocean. We easily found spots using various boondocking apps or just keeping our eyes open. Many of the small towns in Newfoundland welcome small C-Class RV's, Vans, and Truck Campers for overnight stays in town owned lots, but also the province is so laid back that as long as you don't cause trouble it seems that you would be welcome to park almost anywhere for the night. Many of the places we stayed would also accommodate a small trailer, but the roads are pretty rough so I wouldn't recommend a towing much in Newfoundland unless you plan to drop it in campgrounds during the day while you are out exploring with your vehicle.
On the way to "The Rock" we took a ferry from North Sydney Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques that took 7 hours. For the return trip we took a ferry from Placenta back to North Sydney that took a long 16 hours. For both passages we chose overnight trips so we wouldn't loose a day and slept in chairs in the ships lounge area instead of spending money to rent a cabin. Unfortunately you can't sleep in your camper.
Our first day on the island we were able to get tickets for the Western Brook Pond boat tour that had just started running for the season a few days before. This pond is a former fiord and is located in Gross Morne National Park. The boat was was great and a great way to solidify the fact that we really were in a special place. Besides the pond we didn't see a lot Gross Morne saw enough to know that we will return with a plan to spend more time there hiking trails and seeing more of the park.
We timed this trip to catch iceberg season and saw some amazing icebergs near St. Anthony and Twillingate. You can see a log of icebergs from shore but we also took a boat tour out of Saint Lunaire-Griquet to see some of icebergs up close- it was definitely worth it. Note that it's still pretty cold in Newfoundland in June and we found ourselves wearing winter coats and running the heater before bed and first thing in the morning almost every day.
We hiked quite of a few coastal trails, these are well maintained and have spectacular views. Most of these were 3 to 6 miles round trip and not one left us disappointed. Some of our favorites included the Skerwink Trail, Chance Cove Trail, Rockcut Spiller's Cove, and a small portion of the East Coast Trail.
Near Bonavista we boondocked at the most epic campsite we've ever encountered. Our spot for the night was at the edge cliff on the ocean with small icebergs bobbing around and larger icebergs off-shore. It was cold, wet, and super foggy (as was often the case on this trip) and there were free ranging horses roaming around, some coming right up to the camper. In addition we had bought some lobsters from a fisherman earlier in the day and enjoyed a great lobster dinner in our camper at this amazing site.
Towards the end of time in Newfoundland we stopped at Cape Spear new St. Johns. Cape Spear is the most eastern most point in North America and the day we were there it was particularly cold, windy, and rainy and it certainly felt it like the edge of the earth.
In addition to buying lobster right off the boats a few times and cooking it ourselves (be sure to take a large pot with you!) we got Fish & Chips from local restaurants several times it was always delicious. The local take on fish & chips is usually Cod which is softer and fluffier than the Haddock we typically have in western New York state. We also checked out a cople of the local breweries, Dildo (made famous by Jimmy Kimmel), and Port Rexton which was a great stop after hiking the Skerwink Trail.
Overall we had an amazing time and will definitely return for another trip sometime. It's a big place and while we are very happy with how much of it we saw, there's still a lot to check out. Newfoundland has been part of Canada since 1949, and the residents are very friendly, and are proud to be Canadians - but it's also still a bit like it's it own country. We found it pretty amazing that a place this special was someplace that we could drive to - along with a ferry ride. Originally we had been thinking about a trip to Nova Scotia and some "well travelled" vintage camper friends from the Tin Can Tourists club told us flat-out, "go to Newfoundland" you won't be disappointed. They were right, a good reminder to spend some time hanging out with other like minded travelers!
There's some photo's from this trip in my Instagram feed here @dwsdws12
