NKK Caravan Report

[DonnaB]

For any of you who have considered signing up for a Newmar Kountry Klub caravan and hesitated because you wondered if it is worth the money? This is our report on our just completed NKK Canadian Maritimes tour as it did meet our expectations and has made a favorable impression on taking a group trip like this in the future. The NKK may be subsidized by Newmar, but the caravans are self sustaining and we were told they will continue as long as people sign up for them. It was also a great opportunity to see Dutch Stars, Kountry Stars, Essex and Mountain Aires in addition to towables of all ages (no King Aires on this trip, but maybe the next one). You get a chance to visit with other owners about their experiences and often see what they have done to make life easier in their coach.

This trip was a 23 day tour beginning in Quebec (pronounced kebek as we found out) City and ending in Halifax. Quebec City had a wonderful taste of 18th century architecture. Many buildings originally built in the 1700s are restored and in use as apartments, shops, etc. It was a great place to start the tour and aside from the driving in the city (yikes) was a great experience. From there we moved to New Brunswick after a brief overnight stop, where we got to tour a sawmill. On the way to Fredericton we saw the world's longest covered bridge and once there went on a river cruise, toured the city, city hall, saw the changing of the guard and visited historic King's Landing.

The next stopover was Shediac, NB, the lobster capital of the world. There we ate fresh lobster, With some of our free time we drove to Hopewell Rocks near the top of the Bay of Fundy where the tides are some of the largest in the world. At low tide you can walk on the sea floor. From Shediac we drove across a 9 mile bridge to Prince Edward Island. In this smallest province of Canada and the home of "Anne of Green Gables"� we walked, shopped, were entertained at the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts and saw the play/musical Anne of Green Gables.

Leaving PEI we boarded a ferry to Cape Breton, NS, home of the Cabot Trail, the Graham Bell Museum and Louisbourg Fort along with a lot more. Cape Breton was so beautiful, we think we will come back and spend a month in a future summer. We drove from Cape Breton to Halifax, NS. While there we toured Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, the Fisheries Museum and Peggy's Cove. Halifax is an old port city with lots of old buildings and a boardwalk that runs along the water's edge all the way thru town. It is also the home of Keith's Brewery (a Canadian staple to be sure).

Our hosts were from Ontario and co-hosts from New Brunswick, so we had people knowledgeable of the area leading the way. There were a number of guided tours with local tour guides providing historical facts and anecdotes, and entrance to various museums or other places included. In addition to all the planned activities and group meals there was a lot of free time interspersed thru the 23 days so you could go do things that might be of interest to you but not the entire group. As an example we used one of the free days in Quebec City to take a Zodiac boat out on a whale watching excursion in the Bay of St. Lawrence (we saw & got pics of whales). There was lots of information provided to us about extra activities available.

There were so many scrumptious meals provided as part of the caravan. Some in very nice hotels, some at local eateries and several potluck meals with the group. There was a social get together late afternoon most days, giving you a chance to get to know your fellow travelers. We met lots of great people on this trip and hope to meet up with them at other times.

So for those of you who might wonder at the value of a trip like this (we did), I just wanted to assure you that we felt we certainly got our money's worth and then some. We had not previously been into Canada and really didn't know where to start, so this was a good beginning for us. There are several places we will go back to and explore further as we can schedule it in our future travels. It has also made us start looking at other NKK caravans/functions that might interest us.

I'm cross posting this so you may see it in more than one place.

[DonnaB]

For any of you who have considered signing up for a Newmar Kountry Klub caravan and hesitated because you wondered if it is worth the money? This is our report on our just completed NKK Canadian Maritimes tour as it did meet our expectations and has made a favorable impression on taking a group trip like this in the future. The NKK may be subsidized by Newmar, but the caravans are self sustaining and we were told they will continue as long as people sign up for them. It was also a great opportunity to see Dutch Stars, Kountry Stars, Essex and Mountain Aires in addition to towables of all ages (no King Aires on this trip, but maybe the next one). You get a chance to visit with other owners about their experiences and often see what they have done to make life easier in their coach.

This trip was a 23 day tour beginning in Quebec (pronounced kebek as we found out) City and ending in Halifax. Quebec City had a wonderful taste of 18th century architecture. Many buildings originally built in the 1700s are restored and in use as apartments, shops, etc. It was a great place to start the tour and aside from the driving in the city (yikes) was a great experience. From there we moved to New Brunswick after a brief overnight stop, where we got to tour a sawmill. On the way to Fredericton we saw the world's longest covered bridge and once there went on a river cruise, toured the city, city hall, saw the changing of the guard and visited historic King's Landing.

The next stopover was Shediac, NB, the lobster capital of the world. There we ate fresh lobster, With some of our free time we drove to Hopewell Rocks near the top of the Bay of Fundy where the tides are some of the largest in the world. At low tide you can walk on the sea floor. From Shediac we drove across a 9 mile bridge to Prince Edward Island. In this smallest province of Canada and the home of "Anne of Green Gables"� we walked, shopped, were entertained at the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts and saw the play/musical Anne of Green Gables.

Leaving PEI we boarded a ferry to Cape Breton, NS, home of the Cabot Trail, the Graham Bell Museum and Louisbourg Fort along with a lot more. Cape Breton was so beautiful, we think we will come back and spend a month in a future summer. We drove from Cape Breton to Halifax, NS. While there we toured Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, the Fisheries Museum and Peggy's Cove. Halifax is an old port city with lots of old buildings and a boardwalk that runs along the water's edge all the way thru town. It is also the home of Keith's Brewery (a Canadian staple to be sure).

Our hosts were from Ontario and co-hosts from New Brunswick, so we had people knowledgeable of the area leading the way. There were a number of guided tours with local tour guides providing historical facts and anecdotes, and entrance to various museums or other places included. In addition to all the planned activities and group meals there was a lot of free time interspersed thru the 23 days so you could go do things that might be of interest to you but not the entire group. As an example we used one of the free days in Quebec City to take a Zodiac boat out on a whale watching excursion in the Bay of St. Lawrence (we saw & got pics of whales). There was lots of information provided to us about extra activities available.

There were so many scrumptious meals provided as part of the caravan. Some in very nice hotels, some at local eateries and several potluck meals with the group. There was a social get together late afternoon most days, giving you a chance to get to know your fellow travelers. We met lots of great people on this trip and hope to meet up with them at other times.

So for those of you who might wonder at the value of a trip like this (we did), I just wanted to assure you that we felt we certainly got our money's worth and then some. We had not previously been into Canada and really didn't know where to start, so this was a good beginning for us. There are several places we will go back to and explore further as we can schedule it in our future travels. It has also made us start looking at other NKK caravans/functions that might interest us.

I'm cross posting this so you may see it in more than one place.

[Lug_Nut]

Being a Canadian, and one that has been to these areas on several occassions, I can say, they are all that Donna says they are and more. The walled City of Quebec is filled with old world charm and offers photo buffs a treat. Likewise the beauty of New Brunswick, Prince Edward and Nova Scotia each offer unbelievable scenic opportunities. The Cabot Trail and Peggy's Cove are perhaps some of the most photographed attactions in Canada.
For those wishing to add a little more after or before travelling with the group, I would high recommend driving the Gaspe penninsula. The highway follows the shoreline nearly the entire trip. This takes about four days or so, depending on your tourist stops.
Enjoy.

Peter

[Jetsmania]

Hi Donna! Sounds like you had a great trip. We will have to try one of those. We are going to the NKK Balloon Fiesta in Oct. The NKK does a great job at their functions. Paul

[saydiver]

Great report Donna! One of these days maybe Joe and I will sign up for one of the NKK caravans. For now we're traveling the same area, but at a much, much slower pace. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes not on purpose. So far we've spent two weeks at Hopewell Cape, because Joe was not up to par and I can't drive the coach yet, then another week on PEI and another week here on Cape Breton Island. We need to head south to take care of some major coach issues so we're debating if we have time to go to the Halifax area.

We're currently on Cape Breton Island and agree it's o beautiful. We really enjoyed traveling the Cabot Trail yesterday in spite of the weather. We also loved PEI and hope to return someday to spend several weeks there. I now understand why some of our friends go there every summer.

Sue