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Camping at 40 years old brings back the same summer rush I had for adventure in my earlier days exploring Gros Morne National Park. Last July’s excursion to a 90-km stretch of beach in Labrador called the Wonderstrands proved I was still able to hike 100 km of wilderness and camp for seven days – and call it vacation! It was so much fun.

The Wonderstrands is located in what is now the Mealy Mountain National Park Reserve. At 11,000 square km, it’s the largest protected area in eastern Canada. Best of all, it’s just a day’s ride from other fantastic adventures in the Labrador Straits region, including Gros Morne, Iceberg Alley and Battle Harbour National Historic Site. For my wife Rufina and I, it was only a kayak trip from Cartwright.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are known worldwide for their hospitality. Making your own way to (and through) Newfoundland and Labrador is sometimes exactly what’s called for, but if you’re interested in travelling here without having to worry about the details, there are many package tour operators that take care of arrangements for you.

CapeRace Cultural Adventures and Ocean Quest Adventures are just two of many tour operators that let you truly experience and explore the majestic beauty of our province, our rich culture and heritage and, maybe even, our ocean floors.

Ocean Quest Adventure Resort offers a 7-night multi-adventure vacation package on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula. CapeRace Cultural Adventures is a self-guided eco-cultural tour that features exclusive-use, serve-yourself accommodations at heritage houses in St. John’s, Heart’s Delight and Bonavista

We’ve travelled to the Twillingate area on several occasions to see icebergs, go whale watching and explore with our sea kayaks.

But recently we got a phone call from Fred Bridger, who has been helping to develop hiking trails in the Twillingate area for the past few years.

“If you like coastal hiking you can’t do much better than these trails,” he said over the phone.

“The trails pass by sea stacks, sea cliffs and we even have some osprey and eagles that nest in the area. At this time of year you won’t see any icebergs but you can nibble on blueberries if you like, since the trails go through some fine berry patches.”

This was all we needed, and Fred offered to act as our guide for a couple of days.

It was really just another business day – a Tuesday – and I had the usual workplan. Go to a location, shoot videos, take photos and return home. Okay, maybe not as usual as I am letting on. I was about to travel abroad...to McCallum, a unique little isolated community on the south coast of Newfoundland that's only accessible by ferry. What makes this community so unique? Other than the ferry being your only means of getting to the town, travel within the community is essentially by foot on a series of boardwalks!

It was 11:30 a.m. when my friend and I caught the small passenger ferry from Hermitage bound for a place neither of us had ever been, but had always hoped to someday visit. After filling two seats with luggage and getting settled away in the lounge, the ferry began to move away from the dock. I was out on deck with my camera faster than you can say "Adventure Central Newfoundland"! After taking numerous pictures and videos of the passing scenery and the billowing waves crashing against the side of the vessel, I put away the camera, leaned against the side railings and peacefully watched the water for the rest of the trip.

“Five days of hiking the East Coast Trail transformed us into proselytizing zealots. Now we're the ones eagerly asking, ‘Have you hiked the East Coast Trail?’ hoping for an opportunity to tell all about it.” Forget the West Coast Trail, travel writers Craig and Kathy Copeland discover that when it comes to big Canadian hiking adventures, Newfoundland’s east coast is the place to go.

The five editors from Trailpeak.com who were exploring NL recently have completed their coast-to-coast 10-day adventure. Trailpeak.com is a website highlighting the best hiking, mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, canoeing, skiing, and snowshoeing trails in North America. Read all about their NL escapades, complete with links to trail info and maps.

Read what Maclean’s Magazine says about Newfoundland and Labrador in its Summer Getaways travel series. The article gives an overview of some of the best attractions and important events happening across the province, from hiking the International Appalachian Trail to catching an arthouse film at the new Fogo Island Film House. Also, find out Seamus O'Regan's favourite NL places to visit.

TripAtlas has named a Newfoundland and Labrador beach as one of the best in Canada. The website calls Sandbanks Provincial Park in the Burgeo Islands one of the best kept secrets in the country with “uncrowded beaches as well as fantastic hiking, kayaking, herds of caribou, and sand dunes with Anniopsquotch Mountains in the background.”

Walkable St. John’s. Westjet’s Up! magazine has ranked St John’s, NL as one of the Top Ten Most Walkable Cities in Canada thanks to its historic streets, winding staircases and brightly coloured buildings. Not to mention a great trail system.

“Newfoundland and Labrador may lie in the Atlantic a time zone ahead of the rest of North America, but visiting Canada's easternmost province is like taking a step back in time…” Read about the province’s Viking heritage in this NY Daily News article.

Dark clouds unleashed a fury of rain that pelted our bodies and swelled the volume of water cascading down the precipitous cliffs. We were on the deck of a tour boat with some 40 other passengers taking in the scenery of Western Brook Pond.