Jack
Senior Member
(Tried to create an album for pictures, but was blocked. I’ll post pictures when I get the album figured out).
We are on our 5th day in Labrador. We crossed over at Blanc Sabon from Newfoundland after spending a week on the west coast of Newfoundland. While Newfoundland is out of the way, Labrador is even more so. As one of the Labrador tourism posters says "... about as far away from Disneyland as you can get."
Our noon arrival in Blanc Sabon was traditional - coastal fog. But there were enough breaks in it to marvel on the rough, barren rocky coast. The road climbs each headland then drops down to a valley, often with a spur of to a fishing village of 5 to 15 houses
A few klicks down the road, we stopped at the Northern Lights Inn and picked up a Sat phone which we will drop off in Labrador City (there are about 6 pick-up/drop-off locations). No charge! We also have a S.P.O.T, but the Sat phone is far more flexible -if you get into trouble or find someone in trouble, you are connected directly with the RCMP and can explain the details, be it road service or a serious medical situation.
We stopped at a small local museum, the Women’s Institute, outside of Pinware. To some extent, the local attic collection, but also very good at telling the story of life over the past 300 years of the people who made their living in the harsh environment. Purchased locally canned cloudberry and squash berry jam. Yum!
We travelled on to Red Bay, the site of what was the world’s largest whaling station - upwards of 2000 Basque whalers, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The Basques, it turns out, were the elite shipbuilders in Europe at the time. The also had a long history of whale hunting in the eastern Atlantic. Their ship building and whaling experience allowed them to successfully hunt wales in Labrador. The Provincial historic site is very well done and crock full of information.
There is a "campground" in Red bay. It's four very tight spots next to the convenience store and gas station. But we happened to ask at the Provincial museum about where we could camp, and they said just to park in the museum’s overflow lot, which has a beautiful view of the harbor. In fact there are very few campgrounds in all of Labrador, but this not a problem. Just ask at the local convenience store or museum about where you might camp, and you are almost sure to be told of a spot where no one will mind.
There's also the "gravel pits". On the Trans Labrador Highway, from Port Hope Simpson to Goose Bay, it's 410km of nothing but northern boreal forest and bogs. The road just opened this year and it is an excellent gravel road; just an incredible journey. To build a road in Labrador, you have to give it a 5' to 10' base of rock. This means a gravel pit every kilometer or so. Many are blocked off, but you are sure to come on to a gravel pit or a wide expanse (where the road crews were housed during construction) where you can pull far enough off the road to not be bothered but the occasional passing vehicle. At night, it's just you and the stars; there is no light pollution.
In general, as long as you are not in someone’s driveway or other personal area, you are fine to pull off and camp overnight.
Labrador is on a continuing process of road improvement. The road from Red Bay to Port Hope Simpson is in serious need of grading, with some serious pot holes here and there, but the graders are out. The road from Goose bay to Churchill Falls has a dozen spots of construction, but is otherwise a very good gravel road.
We are stopped in Churchill Falls now, site of a major hydro electric operation. We are camped beside the Arena – another impromptu campground (free, with electricity from the bull bar – the winter time plug in for your engine block heater). We will take the free 2.5 hour tour shortly
Chruchill Falls is a company town - but that means it has some amenities. It has a modest grocery store (far more selection than the typical convenience store that serves most Labrador villages). It has free high speed WiFi connected to the telco, which means you can make Skype calls. The Wifi at may places here is satellite WiFi, which means high latency. Good enough for email and getting weather reports, but not for Skype. Free WiFi is generally available in most villages and towns at the local town hall or library. Most of the campgrounds (usually, camp sites, RV sites and cottages or motel combined) have WiFi.
We have yet do drive the road from Labrador City to Baie Comeau, but we are told that the 180km section that is gravel, is rough, and very dusty due to the big trucks. The truckers are paid by the load and to them you, the traveler, are just in their way. The paved part is also not so great.
We are on our 5th day in Labrador. We crossed over at Blanc Sabon from Newfoundland after spending a week on the west coast of Newfoundland. While Newfoundland is out of the way, Labrador is even more so. As one of the Labrador tourism posters says "... about as far away from Disneyland as you can get."
Our noon arrival in Blanc Sabon was traditional - coastal fog. But there were enough breaks in it to marvel on the rough, barren rocky coast. The road climbs each headland then drops down to a valley, often with a spur of to a fishing village of 5 to 15 houses
A few klicks down the road, we stopped at the Northern Lights Inn and picked up a Sat phone which we will drop off in Labrador City (there are about 6 pick-up/drop-off locations). No charge! We also have a S.P.O.T, but the Sat phone is far more flexible -if you get into trouble or find someone in trouble, you are connected directly with the RCMP and can explain the details, be it road service or a serious medical situation.
We stopped at a small local museum, the Women’s Institute, outside of Pinware. To some extent, the local attic collection, but also very good at telling the story of life over the past 300 years of the people who made their living in the harsh environment. Purchased locally canned cloudberry and squash berry jam. Yum!
We travelled on to Red Bay, the site of what was the world’s largest whaling station - upwards of 2000 Basque whalers, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The Basques, it turns out, were the elite shipbuilders in Europe at the time. The also had a long history of whale hunting in the eastern Atlantic. Their ship building and whaling experience allowed them to successfully hunt wales in Labrador. The Provincial historic site is very well done and crock full of information.
There is a "campground" in Red bay. It's four very tight spots next to the convenience store and gas station. But we happened to ask at the Provincial museum about where we could camp, and they said just to park in the museum’s overflow lot, which has a beautiful view of the harbor. In fact there are very few campgrounds in all of Labrador, but this not a problem. Just ask at the local convenience store or museum about where you might camp, and you are almost sure to be told of a spot where no one will mind.
There's also the "gravel pits". On the Trans Labrador Highway, from Port Hope Simpson to Goose Bay, it's 410km of nothing but northern boreal forest and bogs. The road just opened this year and it is an excellent gravel road; just an incredible journey. To build a road in Labrador, you have to give it a 5' to 10' base of rock. This means a gravel pit every kilometer or so. Many are blocked off, but you are sure to come on to a gravel pit or a wide expanse (where the road crews were housed during construction) where you can pull far enough off the road to not be bothered but the occasional passing vehicle. At night, it's just you and the stars; there is no light pollution.
In general, as long as you are not in someone’s driveway or other personal area, you are fine to pull off and camp overnight.
Labrador is on a continuing process of road improvement. The road from Red Bay to Port Hope Simpson is in serious need of grading, with some serious pot holes here and there, but the graders are out. The road from Goose bay to Churchill Falls has a dozen spots of construction, but is otherwise a very good gravel road.
We are stopped in Churchill Falls now, site of a major hydro electric operation. We are camped beside the Arena – another impromptu campground (free, with electricity from the bull bar – the winter time plug in for your engine block heater). We will take the free 2.5 hour tour shortly
Chruchill Falls is a company town - but that means it has some amenities. It has a modest grocery store (far more selection than the typical convenience store that serves most Labrador villages). It has free high speed WiFi connected to the telco, which means you can make Skype calls. The Wifi at may places here is satellite WiFi, which means high latency. Good enough for email and getting weather reports, but not for Skype. Free WiFi is generally available in most villages and towns at the local town hall or library. Most of the campgrounds (usually, camp sites, RV sites and cottages or motel combined) have WiFi.
We have yet do drive the road from Labrador City to Baie Comeau, but we are told that the 180km section that is gravel, is rough, and very dusty due to the big trucks. The truckers are paid by the load and to them you, the traveler, are just in their way. The paved part is also not so great.
