I bought my Nikon D7100 on Boxing Day. The following Summer I was planning a grand adventure to a new province in Canada, and I wanted to bring a nice DSLR to capture the experience. It was my first DSLR. I had dreamed of one day being able to own one so that I might learn how to navigate the manual settings and gain control over the images I wanted to create. What better place to start my photography journey than in Newfoundland. When packing for my trip, I stuffed a bright red 70L backpack full of essentials, and proudly attached my pelican case full of photography gear with the biggest carabiner I had ever seen. The extra weight was worth the chance to snap shots across the beautiful province.

Newfoundland was a place that I had dreamed of visiting for a very long time. Some of my favourite people were from the island and I had heard many stories of the beautiful landscapes and friendly characters. I remember reading an article online one day, with some clickbait headline that had sucked me right in. It was something like, “Top 10 Canadian Hikes You Need to Experience Before You Die”. On the list was one of the most gorgeous landscape photos I have ever seen. It was there that I learned of a magical place called Western Brook Pond in Gros Morne National Park. I dreamed of one day standing in that spot and taking in the view for myself. When I showed my roommate (Heather) the photo, and told her about my dreams of visiting Newfoundland she simply asked me, “Why not? Why don’t we go?”. I thought about it for a moment. Why did it seem so easy all of a sudden? What were my reasons for not going on this trip? Money? (I had just enough in my savings for a little trip). Time off work? (I had two weeks worth of vacation time that I hadn’t taken yet). All of a sudden Heather had made the trip seem so easy. That day I ordered a copy of “Hiking the East Coast Trail” and I started planning our adventure.

When Heather and I landed in Deer Lake, NL, I was very aware of the heart pumping in my chest. Everything felt surreal. I was so excited to set foot in a new province, but I was also terrified. We had little planned. I was usually the person who had everything booked and planned out meticulously… but it had been a busy last few months. We knew we wanted to spend time camping and hiking in Gros Morne. Our flight home was out of St. John’s, so we wanted to eventually make our way East and visit small towns along the way. But how would we get from Deer Lake to Gros Morne? How would we get from Gros Morne to St. John’s? Where would we stay? We had the huge backpacks, the sleeping bags, the tent… but no concrete plans—and that scared the heck out of me. I booked a stupidly expensive rental car, but I didn’t even care because it meant that we had a car for 4 days. A car that could take us anywhere that we wanted to go. We could stop anywhere that we wanted to. The car was our freedom on the island. Plus, it would have a Newfoundland and Labrador license plate, and I happen to have a thing for license plates…

The reality of being in Newfoundland didn’t truly hit me until we were in our rental car, and all of the surrounding cars had the same familiar license plate. We set our GPS to Gros Morne, rolled down the windows, and made our way to the national park. With the windows down and wind in our hair, we drove along the winding roads, in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. There were mountains that made us feel so small. There were lakes and rivers and ocean waves. There were rocks and trees and a perfect summer breeze. It was 29 degrees and we were as happy as could be.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Centre and talked to a really kind and good-looking guy about where we should set up our tent. He told us that his favourite spot was the Green Point Campground. We drove there and it was a gorgeous site (sight) right beside the ocean. We set up our tent and walked around for a bit. The smile on my face would not falter. After our fish n’ chips supper, we resolved to go for a nice long walk to help us digest our meal. So we packed our bags with Newfoundland beer and walked along the beach to a beautiful spot with two red chairs on a cliff. The sun was starting to set and it was a magical experience, drinking our Newfoundland beer on a cliff with the colourful sunset and crashing waves. It was a perfect first night.

The next day, we woke up early to drive to Western Brook Pond, where we had a 45 minute hike to a boat tour that took us along the pond to look at the huge fjords. It was the location that I had been dreaming of. I made it! I still cannot imagine a more beautiful place. It was absolutely breathtaking. The water was clear and still. The mountains were enormous. The colours were vivid. There were waterfalls everywhere. It was perfection. After the boat ride, Heather and I decided that we would hike to Snug Harbour, which was an 8km hike, rated difficult. We had to ford across a flowing river in order to start the hike. This was my first hike of this nature, and I have been hooked ever since!

Western Brook Pond was incredible. I vow that I will return soon, and next time I hope to stay longer and hike the Long Range Traverse. We spent a couple more days in Gros Morne before heading East to St. John’s, and every hike blew me away as I marvelled at how diverse and beautiful the Canadian landscape could be.

We hiked the Tablelands:

Green Gardens:

Baker’s Brook:

Leaving Gros Morne was difficult. There was so much more that we wanted to see! Sad as we were to go, we took comfort in the idea of returning to the West Coast of Newfoundland again soon.

Highlights of our drive to St. John’s include: The Skerwink hostel jam session; the Skerwink Trail hike; the BEST pizza with a view at Bonnavista Social Club; puffins and root cellars in Elliston; small-town dialects; meeting fellow travellers; meeting kind locals; driving the rental car down an atv trail by accident and NOT damaging the vehicle; blasting tunes along the highway; keeping an eye out for moose; listening to Tim Baker on CBC…

We arrived in St. John’s and I was in a state of pure joy. For years, I had spent countless hours navigating downtown St. John’s on Google Maps, dreaming of one day being able to walk down the streets myself! We drove past Fred’s Records and my heart skipped a beat. We drove up to the top of Signal Hill and watched the sunset.

We stayed in the most beautiful home with the most generous, selfless, kind, funny, interesting, and genuine people and had the time of our life. It was a trip that I will never forget.

This is a love letter to Newfoundland. I left tiny pieces of my heart across the province, and I hope to return again soon.

This is also a love letter to my best friend, Heather, who never held me back from my dreams, but who taught me the value of seizing the moment and how to go with the flow. Thank you.

See ya real soon, Newfoundland. Until then, much love. xo

Newfoundland

British Columbia