Welcome to the rock

Newfoundland … a province we have been very interested in visiting. Last year, we worked out a two week trip with Dave, Cathy, Michael and Liam. But when we started looking at rental cars and accommodations, we were having a very hard time finding anything. In fact, there were no rental cars available anywhere on the island. This trip would have to wait for another time.

In February, we started planning on where we would go for my birthday trip this year. We looked at Newfoundland again and lucky for us, we could get a rental car. Since we were only going for a week, we decided to scale back our initial trip and strictly focus on the west side of the province. After talking with the local Newfoundlanders Darlene (friend from work) and Dennis and Pauline (neighbors from across the street), we came up with a tentative plan. We decided to use our Aeroplan points and fly with Air Canada into Gander instead of St. John’s (27,800 Aeroplan points + $103.95 CAD for taxes and fees / person). Gander would get us closer to Twillingate which is the start of our journey.

Six months is a very long time between vacations therefore I did not mind when Karen picked me up at 5:30am this morning. We did look at staying at a hotel near the airport but the prices are ridiculous. We said our goodbyes to Maui and Nana and made the quick drive to Toronto. Karen’s brother Ross and his wife Susie are only about ten minutes from Toronto Pearson Airport. They were kind enough to let us leave the car at their home and give us a ride to the airport.

After Ross dropped us off at Terminal 1, we headed straight over to Air Canada’s priority check-in counters. Using these counters is one of the perks of being an Aeroplan Elite 25K Status member. This means shorter lines and a big red priority sticker on your suitcase. In theory, our bags should be the first ones off of the plane. Security was next which was a breeze thanks to us being able to access the Priority Security Lane eGate. And finally, it was off to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. Between the comfy chairs with ottomans, the quiet and the varied breakfast options, we had a very relaxing hour or so before we had to leave for our 9:25am flight.

We headed down to Gate D7 and found it odd that we had not started boarding yet at 8:55am. Within a few minutes, the gate agent informs us that our flight is delayed and that we are now leaving at 9:50am. Had we known, we would have stayed longer in the lounge. The time passed quickly and soon enough we were out on the tarmac walking to our plane and getting settled in our seats 20D and 20F. We were in the exit row. I am not sure how this happened since we did not even have to pay extra for these seats. I think all of this extra leg room made for a very enjoyable flight.

Three hours later, we arrived in Gander to rain. We knew there was going to be rain but did not realize that we would have to walk on the tarmac to get to the terminal. And where were our rain jackets, in our checked baggage of course. Gander International Airport is a very small airport. There are only two runways and one baggage carousel. It is hard to imagine how this tiny airport was able to accommodate the thirty-eight airplanes, 6122 passengers and 473 crew members on September 11, 2001.

While waiting for our bags, we decided to pick up our rental car. Back in February, we initially booked a car through Budget using Costco Travel. The price was $1182.80 CAD. We kept checking back to see if prices dropped and on April 16, we saw that the price went down with Enterprise to $986.03 CAD. The problem was that our flight originally was to arrive at 1:45pm but Enterprise closes at 2:00pm. We decided to book anyways after getting confirmation that they would stay open until the last Air Canada flight arrives. Sure enough after Lacey got us situated with our Hyundai Venue, she closed up shop for the day. So much for those priority tags on our suitcases. Ours were the last ones off of the plane. Before leaving Gander, we stopped in at Walmart to get some umbrellas and at Dominion to pick up some groceries and a late lunch.

Our first real stop in Newfoundland was in Appleton at the Peace Monument. There is a steel beam from the World Trade Center. It was a gift from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to thank the Appleton residents who hosted stranded passengers after the attacks.

We decided to have our first lobster dinner at Samsome’s Dockside Dining in Hillgrade. Each of us had the Lobster Kaiser Roll and it was the freshest lobster I have ever had. I think it has to do with the fact that next door to the restaurant is Doyle W Samsome and Sons Ltd. Super Lobster Pool.

Just as we were finishing up dinner, Karen checked the Iceberg Finder website and saw that recently there were icebergs not too far from the restaurant. About five minutes later just past Indian Cove, we spotted our first icebergs. Yippee. Day one and we have already seen them.

As we got into Twillingate, we saw more icebergs in the harbor. One of them is huge. Another one has been here since March 18. The driving rain did not make it ideal for taking pictures but we are here until Tuesday. I am sure there will be many more chances to get decent pictures.

We finally arrived at our accommodations in Crow Head at around 7:00pm. We are staying at The Moose and Pixee which we booked with AirBnB ($905.22 CAD including taxes and fees). What a beautiful place we are staying at. I can not wait to see the view of the water in the morning. We finished up our day with a great visit by our host Amy. She is a sea kayak guide with Rock Adventures and hopefully if the weather cooperates on Monday, we will be out on the water with her.