Hey all.
We got back last evening after taking some holidays following our few days spent at the Powwow. We got up bright and early on Saturday and geared up for a 4 day camping trip. We spent the first two night at Notre Dame Provincial Park and the last two nights at Jonathan’s Pond Park.
We got to Notre Dame Provincial park at around 5 PM. My sister had managed to snag us a site next to theirs ($13 a night plus you can buy a provincial park pass for $20 a year). They had already spent 2 or 3 nights in there with their friends and we decided to crash the party for a night. They had a huge Jigg’s Dinner cooked which we took advantage of. automatic translations After that we had a campfire and me and Sio gave everyone glow sticks to play with.
The park was beautiful. The sites were semi-private and private but none were serviced. We had wonderful weather and there were few flies to bother us. The outhouses (Pit Privies is the ‘proper’ term) were nice and clean throughout the park and the comfort station (we only used one so I can’t comment on all of them) was excellent with huge showers.
The beach area was also nice with paddle boat and rubber dingy rentals ($6 for 30 minutes). There were lots of people enjoying the sun and water.
After two nights at Notre Dame Park (on the TCH near Lewisport Junction) we headed a little further west and then north to Musgrave Harbour’s Banting Memorial Park. We were told that it was a beautiful place with a wonderful beach. As we got closer the sky grew dark and we had to turn off the A/C. Not a good sign. When we got to the park we paid for our site for two nights ($15 per night for serviced), paid a deposit on a key to the gate into the park ($2) as they left at 11pm and locked the gate (!!), and went in to look for a site. At this point we were kind of weary and the temperature had to be around the 10 degree celsius mark.
It was pretty much three or four big sites with markers partitioning off the sites. There were serviced sites which was a plus but there was absolutely no privacy and the only trees there were around 5 feet tall (at least that’s how they looked, we never stuck around to measure!). We weren’t at all pleased and the girl there politely gave us a refund.
From there we turned around and headed back south to find sun and Jonathan’s Pond Park. We were greeted by a guy who was very stern and insisted on guiding us to our site. We later found out from some locals in Gander that he’s a nice guy . He is also the owner of the park (from what we were told).
We had a fully serviced site ($16.50 I believe) which had no privacy whatsoever. But the area was beautiful. Tall birch everywhere and most, if not all, of the people camping there were very quiet. We discovered the bathrooms to be a bit of a walk (nothing major, they were pretty much centralized on each of the loops) when compared to Notre Dame Park which seemed to have outhouses every 2 campsites. These bathrooms were quite nice however, with flushing toilets and running water in the sinks. This wasn’t even a comfort station! WOW! On the other hand the outhouses should be avoided in my opinion. I went into two and both felt like time had forgotten them. One had a hole the size of a basketball in the roof and was full of dead leaves. Both were without toilet seats and toilet paper. From talking to people this park is constantly improving its facilities so I expect those outhouses to be gone before too long.
The beach area is beautiful. It was scorching and we were dying to jump into the water. However we were quite upset to find a sign telling us about Swimmers Itch (never heard of it before myself, but it doesn’t sound good!). We just stayed there for a bit watching some butterflies mate or something and looking at the glasslike water. They had canoe rentals for $20 for a day or $10 for an hour.
Sio met up with another couple with a Viking camper and they told us about their experience with the Banting Memorial Park in Musgrave Harbour. Apparently while they were staying there some thieves were lurking around after 11 (when the warden left and the gates were locked). They tripped over a bag of recyclables and woke the couple up. This scared them away but they (the thieves) just went on to the next camper and stole a Barbeque and something else. No wardens, no security = not a nice place to stay in my opinion!
We also hooked up with our neighbours and their two boys and had a campfire on our second night. We chatted about everything there was to chat about I think. It was quite nice. Then the rain started. We went to bed and the next morning packed up and headed home.
I give Notre Dame Provincial Park a 9 out of 10 mainly due to the lack of serviced sites.
I give Jonathan’s Pond an 8 out of 10. The outhouses were just nasty. Not dirty as such, just not in good condition and not meant to be used. Privacy on the serviced sites was non-existant (semi-serviced sites were quite private on the other hand!). And this whole swimmer’s itch and not being able to go into the water kinda sucked.
Enjoy the pictures in the gallery!