I have dreamt of driving through Labrador since before the highway was built. I romanticize the North and I love the idea of visiting somewhere so remote. When, a few years ago, I heard that the highway was completed, I swore that I would drive the length of the road as soon as I retired! 

If you have spent any time in a tent, you know the challenges. I have enjoyed tenting for decades. As a 57 year old, comfort is becoming increasingly more important to me and I am always seeking solutions.

Before traveling to Newfoundland and Labrador last summer, Marjorie and I had ordered a rooftop tent. It was to arrive late in July. Our trip was planned for August. As you may have guessed, the supplier was late and we were forced to leave on our adventure with one of our many ground tents. To complicate matters more, my sister Rebecca and husband Nikhil had agreed to travel with us; all four of us in our Telluride. 

Needless to say, we were packed up with clothing, air mattresses, two tents, sleeping bags, cooler, stove, food baskets, tables and chairs etc.. The incredible amount of gear needed for such a trip.

Because we were intending to occasionally drive off of the main track, we also took a power inverter/battery pack, solar panels, recovery gear (to use if we got stuck) and wood cutting/chopping gear.

This trip crossed the province of Quebec and took us along the Labrador highway. We wild camped and we carried extra gas in Jerry cans. We drove off-road to sites along lake shores and we camped using driftwood as fire fuel. 

The incredible part of this trip was not just our ability to carry four people, all of the gear, and still be viable off road. This trip took us along boulder strewn paths to places other lesser vehicles could not have managed. What was more significant was the comfort with which we were afforded. 

Our Telluride has captains chairs in the second row. This allowed us to put gear between the rear seats and also meant that both back seats had plenty of space. In fact, the back row has air conditioned seats which kept our passengers in total comfort during the surprisingly super hot summer days across parts of this trip.

As the son of a Jamaican dad,  you would think, theoretically, that I should be sensitive to cold. As it turns out, my father has Scottish heritage too. I have a mother of Scottish and nordic descent and I am afraid that I have inherited the “hot” gene. I can’t be comfortable in extreme heat. The eastern coast of Labrador and Newfoundland is cool and often breezy. It is the perfect destination for a summer vacation if, like me, you run hot!  I will always believe in the idea, that I first heard in Norway, that “there is no such thing as bad weather, just poor gear!”.

I have pondered the idea of overlanding and car camping, and the travel requirements for each within North America. Most of our travel in this country consists of long highway miles. I spent hours on this trip, driving along gravel or paved roads with occasional sojourns on rock and boulder strewn side roads. Mostly, the roads were maintained and when they were not, it was obvious that we should drive slowly and carefully.

Maybe I am not a “true overlander” yet but our vehicle has allowed us to arrive at camp sites feeling comfortable, rested and confident. The excellent gas mileage we experienced didn’t hurt either. I can’t help but feel like our adventures are more sustainable than with a serious boulder crawling vehicle!

I admit that I look for stimulation through these trips. I retired early from teaching and miss the energy and enthusiasm that young people bring. I feel a need for a replacement and car travel seems to fit my requirements.

If you know anything about teachers, you should recognize that we are all planners. I like lists. I like the idea of being prepared for all eventualities. I am good at anticipating and recognizing patterns. I see order in mayhem and love problem solving. Car camping like overlanding requires all of these skills and it also requires some creativity. 

For this adventure, I had fashioned a spare tire carrier out of a hitch mounted carrier and a swing out hitch mount. The end result was that a full sized tire was available if we needed it. It gave peace of mind and made it possible for us to get out of any ‘situation’ in the remote northern parts of the journey. It also changed this trip into an overlanding expedition and not “merely” a car camping trip! 

On one occasion, as we drove deliberately and carefully along the gravel section of the Labrador highway, we cross referenced a note on a map with a sign indicating a boat launch. We slowly drove down a boulder strewn, unmaintained path to an abandoned lake shore. Here we chose to wild camp, pitching our tents, high on the shore, overlooking the lake. We ate a delicious lamb stew, prepared by my gourmet sister and her gourmet husband while sitting around a warm and romantic fire. The sun set cast beautiful colours across the beach and we enjoyed the cool weather and a warm and peaceful sunset. 

We had planned to camp all the way across Labrador and on to Newfoundland but we also had a friend who owns a cabin in Churchill Falls, Labrador. This is a very small town that is home for the people who are dedicated to the maintenance of hydroelectric dams in the region. 

Our amazing friends gave us permission to stay at their spectacular hand built cabin in the remote Northern forest. The site overlooks a large river and despite the mosquitoes was a sanctuary of calmness and solitude. (Just this week we received news that this cabin was threatened by this year’s Labrador forest fires - we are anxiously awaiting good news!). The visit was wonderful and the vista was priceless. 

After this overnight stay, we made our way north through Labrador City and onwards to Happy Valley Goose Bay. The owner of the cabin, Ros, met us here and took us further north to North West River and to their very comfortable and well equipped home. 

This was the end of the road. In Northern terms, it was the furthest you can go. We hadn’t realized how far we had traveled until our hosts pointed out exactly where we were!  We enjoyed a fun-filled couple of days with our super hosts. We visited museums and cultural centres and we enjoyed good food and drink. Eventually we continued the trip feeling energized and fulfilled and incredibly fortunate, grateful and sad to be leaving our wonderful friends. 

From here we drove east, to the Labrador coast. We decided that we would not just drive through but instead, we would visit some of the small fishing towns along the coast. These places had all the amenities that a southern town would have, on a much smaller scale. Some were extremely picturesque and cute. The rugged coast line made some of these town’s romantic and beautiful. 

We continued down the coast to the nicest and best known town on the coast, Red Bay, Labrador. Here we had a delightful fish and chips meal at the only open restaurant. We asked where we could camp and the employees laughed at us. They told us that we could camp anywhere where there was space. This town had many buildings but they were spread apart and had large, overgrown green spaces between. There didn’t seem to be anywhere that was appropriate for camping.

We left town and drove to an area that was a designated camping spot. Here we found other travelers playing music loudly and having a great time. We were tired and knew that we would never sleep if we stayed here and so our search continued.

Ultimately we returned to town and found some flat spaces around a newly built community centre. We nervously pitched our tents and prepped our meal in the grass and in the parking area. It was perfect but it also felt like we were in town and being presumptuous. After dinner, we cleaned up and headed to our tents feeling like we were going to be told at some time during the night that we had to move. Despite this we slept well to the sounds of the ocean on the shore.

In the morning, we were awakened by the loud rumble of a large pick up truck next to our tent. I climbed quickly and nervously out of the tent to see that it was an official vehicle, representing Labrador parks. 

I approached, expecting a reprimand but was instead greeted warmly by a kind, bearded gentleman who joked about whether we had enjoyed the cold night! It was a perfect meeting in Labrador- kind people, beautiful surroundings and awesome nature. We offered coffee, and he declined. We ate a quick breakfast and went for a wonderful hike along a boardwalk across the bay and then to the site of old Portuguese whaling bones. Then we headed down the coast to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. This was to be the end of our Labrador adventure and the beginning of the long road home. 

Upon landing, we drove slowly into powerful rain storms through the vast expanses of Nova Scotia, hoping to make some ground but the rain forced us to find a small hotel for the night. The next day we drove home.

In the end, these trips sometimes make me feel like I am rushing. The time spent with my sister and husband was priceless and made me realize that I had to convince them to retire soon in order to slow down a bit and to enjoy more. The best part of the trip was the down time in North West River with my great friend Ros and her husband Thomas.

Retirement is wonderful. Travel is an excellent muse. Photography, hiking, tenting, and cooking are the little extra perks that make it all worthwhile. For these reasons, car camping or simple overlanding seems, at least for us, an affordable and sustainable option.