Part 1 & Part 2 & Part 3 & Part 4 & Part 5
We left Happy Valley Goose Bay after stocking up on fresh groceries and gas to look for a spot to camp for the night, we drove for quite sometime trying to find a somewhere, checked the Ioverlander app and drove to a potential spot. As we arrived there we came across a pow wow with many glares and stares in be-wonderment at what on earth we were doing there, so we hastily made a quick retreat!
It was starting to get late and we finally found a gravel pit to call home for the night!
The evening was beautiful our best yet I think the stars bright in a very dark sky!
The next morning, we woke up to ice on our rtt cover and yes you got it, it started to rain just as we started to pack up, another wet start to the day.
We headed out towards Churchill Falls another long drive with more vast untouched scenery however still no moose or caribou! Chatting, snacking, clicking shots, cut off from society was the order of the day, my new favourite snack ‘blue monkey coconut chips’
Arrived in Churchill Falls filled up with gas and had lunch at a community building which housed hotel school, gift shop, grocery store and a diner! In Churchill Falls you can only live there if you work there,so as soon as you retire you have to leave, one couple just retiring had lived there for 41 years and now have to move out of Churchill falls , pretty sad really to have to leave their home and friend after spending a good part of their lives there. Interesting place!
We were not able to see the power plant as we were there on a Sunday and everything was closed! After filling our bellies with bacon and eggs for lunch we left for Labrador City, we drove for a few hours again the scenery still amazing me and so indescribable.
Reaching Labrador city we tried to find Campground for the night to shower and do laundry but to no avail! So we went to the local community centre to shower! Yay clean hair!
Labrador city is a big mining town so very industrial with trains running round the clock, we decided to press on to find a camping spot.
We drove for sometime looking for a suitable area, left the province of Labrador and entered into Quebec, once more landing at a gravel pit for the night, unfortunately not much in the way of options!
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The air was cold it was about 5 degrees but wind chilll must have been about 2 degrees so we setup quickly made our dinner and sat around the fire pit trying to warm up with a bit of fireball, but the evening kept getting cooler so we headed to bed! The night was horrendous howling wind snow and rain pelting our tents, the trailer dancing to the gusts of wind, little to no sleep!
The morning couldn’t have come sooner and coffee was a godsend! Packed up in flurries and turned our noses towards the impact crater. Dust turned to mud and more mud! Trees and shrubbery dusted in snow. Absolutely beautiful but cold. We traveled on, the trees now bowed their heads to the first snowfall, the snow persisted as did the mud, the road snaked up around the hills as we headed higher, visibility decreased , the grey clouds hung low over the hills. finally we hit a paved but snowy road with a resounding ‘yahoo’ from Peter!. Perhaps we have lost all our faculties to be camping in this weather! Temperature 0 windchill much less 😊
Back on the dirt, mud is the name of the game! Stopped at the only gas stop we had seen since leaving Labrador city, note to anyone travelling through here fill up in Labrador city, at a $1.779 a litre a little pricey to say the least note the date 😊 a little update might be in order!
The impact Crater “An asteroid that hit the Earth 214 million years ago created the immense crater that is now Manicouagan reservoir.”
This crater it is so large it took us at least an hour and half to drive past it and no signs of info so perhaps it is too remote for any interest for tourists. Also looks as though they are desecrating the land for power lines soon all this untouched land will be carved by man
Trees, mountains, rain dirt and mud one stray little mouse hopping over the road other than that devoid of any seen life.
Manic 5 incredible dam!
Herewith a few dam facts for you 🤣
1.Daniel-Johnson dam, the highest multiple-arch-and-buttress dam in the world.
2.If you took all the concrete used to build Daniel-Johnson dam, you could make a sidewalk from the North Pole to the South.
As the wipers continued to work overtime and the clouds reached down to touch the pavement we pushed on through to Baie Comeau, the kilometres trickled by and it was very late when we arrived, with no signs for a dry evening, a soaking rain persisted and the thought of setting up a tent in the rain left us feeling uninspired.
We had been driving since 9 am and felt pretty travel weary, so decided to grab a motel in Baie Comeau for the night, have a decent shower, catch up on work emails since we hadn’t had service for ages, book the ferry and sort out our gear!
Ah a night without wind and rain beating relentlessly on the fly suddenly sounded awfully appealing… we are back in civilization, way too many people 😊
Barb overlanding with her suitcase in tow 😂….. let’s see what tomorrow brings!