The icebergs are here! The icebergs are here, at least that’s what the Iceberg Finder App says – we are still on our way. It looks to be a good season on the alley. – That’s Iceberg Alley – they break off from Greenland and then float down being carried by currents and wind and then get aground, melt a bit, and then are on the move down the coast of Newfoundland. It is an annual phenomenon and we wanted to waste no time getting there.

Found Friday’s Bay Cottage and Zodiac Boat Tour and booked for the next day. The cutest cottage enclave around, complete with fresh lobster and snow crab that are gathered before the first morning 10am tour. They will even cook them for you ! Super service, I’d say, and they said we are welcome to boondock along the bayfront.

Iceberg by Sea

The bucket list item – up close and personal. The 4 guest consensus was to go out to the big one rather than around several of the smaller ones that we bypassed. It was a 20 minute ride out on the Zodiac that was zooming out. Slowed down for some smaller, but also awe striking bergs.

Slowed down for a teaser iceberg which was our first up close.

But nothing prepared us for the incredible ice castle that we approached at top speed.

The great 100 ft tower rises up from water level and then up the stairs to the castle.

We were sure that the Ice Princess would step out of the castle any minute.

We heard small bits breaking and crashing into the sea but no major calving. Dave said one year there were so many large ones that will actually thunder when they break apart and the booming went on all night.

Our guide said that if it should split and significant chunks become separated that he would be making a fast exit behind the wave that could form.

He said that there is a story of an iceberg generated wave that washed lobster up on the roads, that being said there are many roads that are super close to the water, so it was no Tsunami, or anything.

The ice castle lay in over 300 feet of water and it was aground. The locals were looking forward to a long season of icebergs and tourists. Evidently Twillingate had a record number in 2023 and many tourists showed up for the hype the next year and there were so very few. You just never know with those icebergs – the reason we made the beeline here

Our guide also said that one year, there was a berg as big as the island of Manhattan, New York. Our bucket list item is complete and it’s only 1pm – that’s so early for us, and it is our first full day in Twillingate. John needed to meditate and I developed the afternoon plan.

Iceberg by Road

Bayview Drive was the ticket to see Icebergs from the Road.

After stopping to admire, a friendly local on an ATV told us to go along further and another one would be even closer. The guy told us to ask anyone anything and people are really friendly in these parts.

Met another local who said that when he was a teenager (50 years ago I would guess), they used to swim out to the icebergs, and that was cold.

But first onto another Iceberg that was even closer than the first. Evidently, they blow in and crack open, calf, and can be gone quite quickly. Just another reason we hurried here to Twillingate where there was lots of Iceberg Action. The Iceberg Facebook page even indicated that Netflix had visited to film a documentary.

Crow Head / Long Point Lighthouse

Crow Head, the end of the peninsula, was our destination for a bit of a hike.

Newfoundland is known as the Rock, and from the Crow Head / Long Point Lighthouse one can see why.

The jagged rocky cliffs with dramatic drop offs were jaw dropping, to say the least.

We did part of the Lower Head Trail to Sleepy Cove before turning around and getting back on Nanny’s Loop. Seems like there is a new Twillingate Trail Czar in town called the Rockcut Twillingate Trails (rockcuttrails.com) for a complete guide, Seems like the old trail names like Nanny’s Loop is not on the trail map, but we did see a sign post on the trail indicating Nanny was still a thing.

A perfect day to hike along the rugged Newfoundland Rock !

Again, too many beautiful viewpoints !

The emerald colored water was so intriguing.

Always several Icebergs in the distance. It was so nice to work up a bit of a sweat after so much driving.My preconceived expectation of being cold and damp in Newfoundland was just not coming true.

Long Point Lighthouse Visitors center to cool off was next. A climb up to the top for another view and to support the local treasure was welcomed.

Seabreeze Boondock – Iceberg Surprise

Boondocking for night was Seabreeze Park that was only several hundred yards up from the Crows Nest Restaurant up a gravel road. We had seen half a dozen camping rigs during our Sleepy Cove hike and wondered if overnighting was allowed. There was a sign saying “No overnight parking” at the Lighthouse parking lot.

The lighthouse docent indicated that it was at fine to boondock at Seabreeze, and that if some random guy came around asking for a payment we should politely ask him for his name because camping here was free even though there were picnic tables and stone fire rings in many places around the park. The Rockcut Trail Map called this area Spencer Park seems like a lot of renaming was going on here.

A great big surprise the next morning as a huge iceberg had snuck up in the middle of the night and was making its way toward land right in front of our camp spot. What a way to start the day.

This had not even been far off in the distance when I took my sunset photos the prior evening.

We hiked a few miles, admiring the motorboat of ice from various outlooks along the trail. So glad to have had our poles for a few spots but generally the trail was very moderate.

It just appeared overnight.

The “Rock” is living up to its namesake, as well as the intrinsic rugged beauty that people had described.

The wind had picked up and we were so glad to have done our zodiac tour yesterday. But the sun was warm and we built up a bit of a sweat on this beautiful hike. My preconception of bugs and dampness was nowhere to be found.

Screeching In as Newfoundlanders – Captain’s Pub

We were told that the Captain’s Pub had a phenomenal singer – songwriter – storyteller, and was not to be missed. So we decided to charge up, and camp at Peyton Woods RV park which is a 20 minute easy walk to the wharf area and to see the Captain. Mike Sixonate commanded the small stage with all of those talents and we were glad to have pushed ourselves to walk down because he was really, really good. He is the sole summer entertainment from May thru September 6 nights a week. Telling stories and Singing songs about sailing around this very wharf.

Would definitely do a repeat down the road as he said he never has a set list and even played more classic style guitar instrumentals between the yarns he spun.

On Top of it all we got screeched by Mike who says he’s screeched thousands of people ! Screeching is a Newfoundland thing where guests need to kiss a Cod Fish and shoot down the Rum called Screech because it is so bad screeching is what you needed to do, to get it down. We got certificates and screech glasses and everything! What a wonderful night!

Twillingate Dinner Theater

They had just started for the season and onTuesday night there was room at the Show so we did supper. John had cod and I had lobster which I must say was on the chewy side, mussels were included too which were definitely more tender.

The entertainment was fine, but lacked a bit of enthusiasm I thought. Unfortunately, the sound system was a bit loud for my taste making lyrics a bit hard to understand for that reason, but they did some traditional tunes that we knew and could sing too. They were quite a talented bunch and the ugly stick was pounding.

Leaving Twillingate

A bit more driving around to see what else had appeared in the morning.

The giant cube of Tuesday afternoon was no more after only two days. More iceberg in and out of the cute town of Twillingate.

A bit further down the shoreline, its remnants were holding on, but the sea around and shoreline were loaded with ice chunks from this iceberg demise. Twillingate is a picturesque little wharf town where there are a lot of big surprises to be enjoyed throughout the iceberg season.

Getting to Twillingate

Corner Brook – First stop

A quick visitor center stop for a paper map, and we were off to Corner Brook to grocery up, drink some beer and spend the night. Boomstick not broomstick Brewery was the plan. This was by no means one of those bare-bones start-up Breweries. The facility was modern and spacious and attached to the Hew and Draw Hotel which seem equally as sleek.

Cod and Fiddleheads with a side of brussel sprouts, just in case the fiddleheads were cilantro like. This was the antithesis of a Canadian Bar food with lots of veggies on the menu and not just deep fried everything that was the usual. And fiddleheads – they are the coiled fronds that sprout up on certain ferns and are forage from April to June in Newfoundland.

They had a crunch yet tender and unique taste, and when sauteed in butter with bacon, they were delicious. Loved this brewery – maybe not so much for the beer but the wait staff was super friendly and had good suggestions for places to visit in Gros Morne as well as local libations. One of which was the Newfoundland Distillery Whiskey which we night capped on with a spherical ice cube no less.

There is a back parking lot to the hotel/brewery along a ridge that provided a very quiet night even though it was directly behind a car wash/gas station. Definitely liked the vibe and the Wi-Fi was screaming hot. It was not a Harvest Host, but Vinny tucked away nicely in a regular parking just fine.

Getting to Newfoundland

North Sydney, Marine Atlantic Ferry

Arm of Gold Campground – time to charge up our new lithium batteries before hitting the ferry to Newfoundland in the morning. Brand new facilities and they are planning to pack quite a few in on the beautiful grassy sites that overlook the Bras D’or Lake. But on our very windy overcast day the field was almost empty and we enjoyed a hometown breakfast at the Clansman with bacon! It was a charming motel and dining area.

We were relieved to find that the ferry was on as scheduled because there was so much rocking and rolling during the night. But the morning proved calm and we cued up with no incident. It was nice having reclining seats in a quieter area on the ninth deck. These were an additional charge, but really allowed some relaxing. It was quite bright for actual sleeping but the seats were spacious and each had a separate foot stool. The very gentle roll of this vessel was conducive to napping – no vomit bags to be seen. It was nice to stroll around and to top it off it was a beautiful sunny day, but cool. That’s good because we don’t want those icebergs to melt.

Canadian Border Here We Come

The following points are just a bit of the logistic journey to the Ferry to Newfoundland.

Task at hand is getting there! Harvest Hosts to the rescue in New Hampshire. Northwoods Brewery and Bakery too with a beautiful lavendar ale. Darn we just bought bread, but then there were their famous crullers – and not to mention the $10 pizza Tuesday night special. Paved flat parking with woods yet off the major road very convenient to arrive a bit late after our 10-hour drive from Drawl Lakehouse in Pennsylvania.

Took the New Hampshire backroads to stop at the Lilac Fest in South Paris, Maine. Well technically it was over the day before, but they would not just turn off the lilacs in the McGlaughlin Gardens, would they? Well it seemed like the season was a bit over for the fest because we did find a few blooms, but not the bush upon bush of hefty pink and purple that I had conjured up in my mind. It was lovely to walk through the garden, and we did find one really nice bloom, but we’ll leave it at that.

Decided to hope back on the highway and get into Maine for our stay at the Harvest Host, Hidden Spring Winery in Hodgdon. The owners messaged that they wouldn’t be home, but we were welcome to park on the property which was a beautiful peaceful location, close to the Canadian border, and we even got bug splattered Vinny a good soap down there in town. Border Crossing was the quickest ever and I didn’t have to get rid of a banana and apple – only asked about potatoes and eggs and fresh meat.

Parlee Beach Provincial Park, Nova Scotia.

We really needed a bike ride after our long days in a seat. It went along the coast, but then went along roadways and into town where we found the Pump House. Here we played Singo which is basically Bingo, but they play song clips and you find the song on your card. Rescued by Shazam because we were only familiar with about two songs on the card. The Parlee Beach Provincial Park had good access to the beach park and town on bike trail so that is always a plus in Van Go Adventures.

St Peter’s, Cape Breton Nova Scotia

We can’t go through Cape Breton without stopping at our friend’s we made last year-Ann Marie and Gordon. Dinner and Music at Bras D’Or Inn followed by Open Mic Night at Macbouch Pub. So good to reconnect with them again.

Twillingate NL Iceberging June 2025