Exploring Newfoundland’s Humber Valley #MurphysDoNFLD

We visited Newfoundland this past August and as many may know, July/August is pretty much the best month to visit the Island. Having been to St. John’s in the middle of winter, I was very excited to head back during the summer months and best of all, the hubs’ entire extended family was there to keep us entertained. We were all there for a family wedding and for many, despite living in St. Johns or Cape Breton, it was our first time on the west end of the Island.

The two ends of the island are absolutely different and months later, I’m still marveling at the fact that many Canadians do not even know about the western part of Newfoundland. We had taken the ferry over from Cape Breton but just 20 minutes from the Deer Lake Airport, is the Humber Valley area. This valley is such a lush spot and is surrounded by crystal clear water. It stretches 70 km along the banks of the Humber River from Deer Lake to the Bay of Islands and I was thrilled to hear that the family wedding was taking place at the Humber Valley Resort. The hubs’ dad took care of most of the arrangements and we were all pleased when he told us that he had rented a 5 bedroom chalet for the entire family to stay at. Knowing that there were over 50 family members nearby on the resort made for an extremely fun time and we had kitchen parties nearly every night where the instruments would come out.. The Resort features an 18-Hole Championship Golf Course, Wellness Spa and a variety of cottages and chalets. What really stole the show (other than the bride of course!) was the Eagles Perch Clubhouse which sits 400 feet above the Humber River offering a panoramic view of Deer Lake and The Appalachian Mountains. Once we came home we found out that the resort we stayed at did indeed have a beach and a kids’ playground but no one knew that when we were there! Instead ,the kids spent their time looking for frogs (there were an insane many of them!) and I’ll tell you this, you’ll want to spend most of the night looking up at the sky. I’ve never seen a sky like that before! The stars shine bright in Humber Valley, that’s fosure! 

My guess is that most visitors to the area stay at the Marble Mountain Resort because they offer a variety of activities there as well. In fact we popped by on our last day to try out the rafting experience and it was one of the highlights of the trip! There’s plenty to do in Humber Valley if you love the outdoors; zip-lining, canoeing, hiking, fishing, boating, golfing (one of the best in the world!!)…you get the idea! I hear they’re big on winter sports too, though I really don’t plan to visit in the winter, if I can help it.

Below are a couple things we managed to do around the wedding celebrations!

• Pasadena Beach visit : We swung by one afternoon and chilled at the beach. There’s a very shallow entry which makes it great for kids and  the wide sandy area means large groups (like ours!) can easily find a spot. ENSURE you order the Newfoundland fries from the Oasis Grillhouse because it was THE BEST!
• Boat Tour : Explore Newfoundland offers many tours out of Marble Mountain Resort and our group of 15 had booked a private rafting tour. Kids of all ages were allowed and they had life vests for all (though we brought our own for Baby Boy and Little Monkey). Watch the video to see us rafting through mini rapids and getting close to the caves. Our guide was informative which made the trip fun but the scenery was definitely the showstopper. Just cruising between the mountains in fresh water gives you quite the natural high. I highly recommend wearing a bathing suit and going barefoot or with water shoes because we did get a bit wet despite being told we’d be fine in regular clothes! They offer you a dry bag to store your valuables in but keeping things in the car would be even easier.

If you’re considering exploring Newfoundland, don’t forget about the western part of the island. Not only did we explore the Humber Valley area, we also made it to Gros Morne and will share more on that soon!