Wow - I thought of lots of ideas, just don't know if they'd work for you in October - i.e. whale-watching, festivals. Cape St. Marys is pretty neat, with what seems like zillions of birds lined up on the cliffs, and you might see whales and sheep. I would think that St. Johns offers the best array of activities in October - music, museums, etc. - that might keep your 6 yr. olds interest. Hopefully, someone with youngsters will respond with some more concrete help. Have fun!

The drive down Hwy #10 to Cape Race is what I think you are referring to. That drive is called the Irish Loop and takes you down the coast and then back up to the Trans Canada, which you can follow back to St. John's. The drive can take anywhere from 3-6 hours round trip depending on what you stop at.

Cape Spear is the most easterly point of N. America, but is a bit off the Irish Loop, but not too far. It is a great site with lots of history, it is also a National Historic SIte with NF's oldest surviving lighthouse and gun bunkers and artillery guns reliced from WWII. Make sure to return to the Loop from Cape Spear by going through Petty Harbour and Maddox Cove then back up to The Goulds, they are small towns on the coast.

Mid-October is not exactly tourist season so things may be closed. But the Colony of the Avalon at Ferryland is an archealogical dig at the site where Lord Baltimore had a settlement that ultimately failed. Most of the whale tours operate out of Bay Bulls and Witless Bay, do an internet search for tour operators and get in touch with them to see when their season close. Gatherall's is the operator with the largest boat and it is the least rocky too, jsut in case your are prone to sea sickness. I think it may be too late to see any whales though.

When you get south around Cape Race the landscape turns to kind of a sub-arctic tundra where very tame Caribou can usually be easily spotted grazing by the roadway. The gravel road to Cape Race can be rough but its a nice view there. There is a lighthouse there and it was the site of the first received distress transmission from the Titanic.

Cape St. Mary's is one peninsula over and is an Ecological Reserve with thousands of birds clammoring to the cliffs. Its quite the site, but is a bout a 2-3 hour drive from St. John's.

Like Molly said around that time of the year most of the action is in St. John's. Check out Signal Hill, Fort Amherst, the lower Battery and the newly constructed Geo-Centre (an interactive interpretive centre dedicated to the Geology of Newfoundland and eart science in general).

Hope this is a start.