The Loop is the drive from Gander around the coast through communities like Gander Bay, Carmenville and more. The bonus on the Loop are the many little communities such as Aspen Cove and Ladle Cove pictured above.
The TransCanada Highway joins point A to point B in Canada and in Newfoundland, that’s the Avalon Peninsula joined to Port aux Basques. The TCH is a very new system that has gradually replaced the marine links between Newfoundland outports. The Loop provides a view of the ocean and the way things were, and now are, in rural Newfoundland.

Don’t let the beat up gas pumps fool you. Many of these communities are seeing new house construction and renovations as oil money trickles through the local economy. The local store has beer, food and a tanning bed! Even the older homes boast new windows or recreational rigs in the paved driveways in many cases. Former residents are maintaining family homes as retirement properties in Greenspond, Lumsden and Newtown. Fishing boats are becoming pleasure and hobby craft.

Atlantic Drive in Lumsden is a gravel road that leads past summer cabins, a festival site and down to the most majestic view and wild sea. It’s also where the community pasture is located so we caught a bit of wildlife on the way down.
We were chasing icebergs on this day, and using the GPS knew where they were by seeing them in the distance, but the existing roads didn’t get us very close on this trip. A poorly placed island blocked the site of a substantial berg behind it. That didn’t prevent us from appreciating the amazing coast carved by the waves and wind.

And even more wildlife on the way out 🙂

GPS technology provides much amusement in our travels. It can be helpful in some areas but we mainly like to use it to judge our distance from the water and to predict where lanes and sideroads might lead us. We drive a Honda Civic now so a hovercraft was not needed to get to Greenspond, no matter what the GPS was calculating so accurately!

Greenpond had icebergs but I didn’t have great luck in finding any close. The berg centered in this picture gives an idea of size but does nothing to demonstrate the majesty, due to the distance.

Newtown’s Barbour Premises are a series of buildings, including two family homes, that demonstrate the wealth of this former merchant dynasty. One home, complete with turning staircase was modelled after Winterholme, at St. John’s mansion as a gift for a greiving wife after she lost a child. In addition to the historical artifacts and properties, newer buildings offer interpretation about the seal fishery and even have a two story model of a fishing boat from that era. These people lived by the sea when the Titanic sank. That was local news.
One local vessel went missing and ended up in Scotland as recounted the the book “48 Days Adrift” written by the Captain Job Barbour.
Barbour Historical Site

From the “museum” we watched fishermen come into the community after a morning at sea. The
Loop is a full day, no matter how you do it. We didn’t stop at the museum in Wesleyville this time, Banting Park in Musgrave Harbour or any of the sites in Gambo. Don’t hestitate to find a spot in Greenspond or Newtown and turn it into a weekend.