Steady Brook, just north of Corner Brook, is only 30 scenic minutes or so from Deer Lake, which is really the gateway to Gros Morne National Park and the Great Northern Peninsula. This is unquestionably Newfoundland's most popular and best-known tourism attribute, and we can never resist, but our focus on this trip is on the less iconic places off the beaten track.

So by afternoon we were heading across the island for the north coast.

The key visual impression greeting the first time visitor to Newfoundland is the sense of space - very wide, very open spaces. Highway driving is more akin to Alberta than the Maritimes - and, even moreso than New Brunswick, drivers must be alert for moose crossing at all times. We've only encountered one so far, a mature cow hurrying across a long strait stretch, looking both ways seemingly aware of traffic and the danger she was in. We only had to slow down a trifle as a precaution.

Weather is superb and the short term forecast calls for more of the same.

It's a big island, so we pushed it a bit making for Windsor-grand Falls to give us a head start in the morning. We (luckily) chose a superb campground very ably operated by the local municipality and situated right on the banks of the wide lower Exploits River where we were able to give the adult dogs a welcome swim (and a less welcome, but badly-needed, shampoo and scrub).

We're off to Fogo Island first thing in the morning. Linda visited last year with a group of women friends and was keen to make it part of this trip. For all his travels in Newfoundland over the years, Jim has never been.

There's something rather exciting going on in this far flung corner of the province, and we want to get a closer look.