A week in Eastern Newfoundland
 

I decided to travel to Newfoundland, mostly in search of Puffins, and after some research, I asked my adult son if he wanted to go, too, and he decided to join me.

A number of sources helped my planning:
http://www.newfoundlandgeotourism.co...aphic-mapguide
Posters elizabeth_S, and others, from numerous posts here and on FB:
http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...-to-our-tr.cfm

<b>Lodging</b>
I don't like to spend much on lodging, but will spend for good food, so I decided on 4 nights in Trinity here:
http://trinityecotours.com
I enjoyed our stay here. I reserved the 2 smallest rooms, which were quite small, but fine for us, and each had a tiny but newish bathroom. Every surface in the lodge is covered with wood (shiplap?) Price included a cooked to order breakfast, and a 10% break on tours.

And 3 nights in St. John's here:
www.stjohnsqualityhotel.com
A good location with parking included. We got coffee and breakfast a few blocks away at:
http://fixedcoffee.com

<b>Food</b>
Finding food in Trinity after 6pm was a challenge!
We ate at (and enjoyed) the Twine Loft one night:
http://www.trinityvacations.com/dini...ner-twine-loft
and settled for the Dock the other 3 nights:
www.dockmarina.com/restaurant.html
which was fine, but pretty ordinary.

We ate well in St John's though--a late lunch the day we arrived after driving from Trinity here:
www.portobellosrestaurant.ca

and 3 good to VERY good dinners:
www.yellowbellybrewery.com
http://bacalaocuisine.ca
www.raymondsrestaurant.com

<b>Things we did</b>
I timed my trip in hopes of seeing puffins, whales, and icebergs, and was partially successful. The humpbacks arrived late, and after we left, this year, so we had short glimpses of minkies on an excursion from Trinity, and a Fin whale from Witless bay. We did see puffins from both, and other seabirds, including bald eagles.

Trinity has a fun little outdoor theater event that we enjoyed:
http://www.risingtidetheatre.com/cal...16/7/2/pageant

We drove to Elliston, about an hour north of Trinity, where there is a land puffin viewing area. Unfortunately, the puffins stayed on the island...close, but not as close as hoped.

The interactive iceberg map hadn't given me much hope, but a lunch stop after Elliston got us a lead on an iceberg that had moved into view overnight. Yay!
http://icebergfinder.com

We hiked the well-regarded Skerwink trail one afternoon:
www.theskerwinktrail.com
Great views and a very nice hike.

An interesting look at the early European settlements in Newfoundland at:
www.colonyofavalon.ca

Our T-mobile phones had no issues, and we were able to use Google maps for directions. The temps were pleasantly cool throughout our visit, and we only had one rainy day and night.

A great trip!

Thanks for the links! Maybe one day we will make it up there! How wonderful that you were so lucky with the weather!

Fond memories! We loved our trip there in July 2014.

Great trip Elberko. And I'm happy about your weather.

It sounds fun!

It sounds like a great trip. We would like to spend some time in the Atlantic provinces and Newfoundland is definitely appealing. Thanks for the report.

Enjoyed your report Elberko. My daughter had a stopover there for three days last week. Westjet now stops there on the way to London so we are looking forward to doing that too.

Thanks for the tip, John. I have always been active and enjoy exercise and consider myself to eat healthy, but now that I am 42 and I feel like my results are not the same, it was a little bummed about it. I have never used nutritional supplements or protein shakes, so I think that with age may be missing thing for me and I read that women lose muscle as they age. Do you have any recommendations for the scenario of an active and consistent practice of a woman of 42? Are hormones come into play here? I appreciate any input you may have.http://www.healthynutritionfacts.org/t90-xplode-canada/

My husband is reading Baltimore's mansions by wayne Johnston (memoir of growing up in the province) and getting more and more interested in a visit to Newfoundland. He is advocating for the purchase of a van we can use for longer road trips/camping once we have both retired.