Possible Canada trip 2022 - Nova Scotia and Newfoundland - thoughts and ideas

[Bmonck]

Hi all
We are thinking about a Canada trip this summer for about 8 weeks- so far just thinking about Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. So I wanted to start a thread and see what others know.

Our idea would be to ship the car to Halifax and then do two loops of NS and then Newfie. At a later point we will decide whether to ship car back to UK or carry on towards Western CAnada, which is the eventual goal just dont know if we can do it this year.

The two big costs and obstacles historically have been shipping and insurance.
Shipping - it seems that the price has gone up quite a lot post covid. It is also pretty volatile and timetables are "fluid". Anyway it is doable but a little unpredictable. So from my various calls/research I think this is about £2k for one way in a container. It can be a little less for RORO but not sure that makes sense with a car full of kit.
Insurance: it has got increasingly hard to find a Canadian/US/Mexican insurer to get coverage for a European vehicle in recent years. It is easier for a full on camper van/RV than a Toyota. So tricky but doable also - around US$1,000 for 6 months, but with low pay out amounts. Or a much higher premium for a policy that will pay you more if you need to claim.

So I was wondering if anyone on here has done that trip and if there are any lessons learned you could share? Of course also helpful to know what we should definitely see, and especially what to avoid, etc etc

Also practical questions:
1 what is the gas bottle system they use? I have googled around but not much the wiser. I have checked that neither Calor gas nor Campinggaz are available. Plus I suspect they use different connectors which I assume I can buy on arrival.
2. What are the wild camping rules? I know there are a bunch national park and private campsites. But we often prefer to wild camp. If rules dont encourage wild camping has anyone done it anyway without problem?

Cheers

 

[Gr8Yota]

From personal experience I would suggest that it would be much better value to have longer and travel more of the country. If you are tied to a short window and can spare the car for longer during shipping I would ship to Vancouver or Tacoma and tour BC instead. I found the Eastern provinces were very much more limited in choice of roads and even more so of trails.

For reference I travelled from Vancouver, via Yukon to Halifax in 4 weeks so 8 would allow a bigger area but I’d still recommend BC and Alberta

I would also suggest you are way off on shipping, currently a 20’ container is about $5k USD plus agent fees, port costs etc. RORO is cheaper but factor in you risk all your gear being stolen or you won’t be able to ship the car loaded. I’ve done both methods to USA and Canada.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

My Bro lived in Vancouver now in Kamloops (400 km inland) I could put you in touch if it helps.

 

[Gr8Yota]

would also recommend contacting the TLCA chapters in the regions you wish to visit. You’ll find members offering help from places to stay to trail runs

 

[Jvertigo]

Hi, I’m a newbie on the site & was looking for other info when I saw your thread.…..
We are shipping our J80 to the States for the start of a 15 month global excursion. If you are on Facebook, I strongly recommend you look up Overland Sphere. It’s a goldmine of overlanding info. One of the moderators, Martin McGowan, is an experienced overlander & runs his own shipping company IVSS ivss.com. He can help you ship to the US (easier than Canada), so you can then drive north to Canada more easily under a reciprocal agreement. He has current advice on good insurance companies to use & the intricacies of getting the insurance you require.
Another good place for trip info & advice is horizonsunlimited.com.
If Facebook is your thing, there is also an overland Canada group.

By all means, get in touch, send me a message & I will offload as much info that I can to help you. I’m researching it day in & day out as D-day for shipping out gets ever closer.

Now, back to the business of finding the headlight upgrades I was hunting for….

Jude

 

[Jvertigo]

Bmonck, any chance of seeing some pictures of your water tank set up?
Sorry all, if it’s off topic, but I am genuinely rubbish with IT (was looking for a way to DM) & I haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet…..

 

[Bodie]

the moderators, Martin McGowan, is an experienced overlander & runs his own shipping company IVSS ivss.com. He can help you ship to the US (easier than Canada), so you
Jude

@Jvertigo Hi Jude, I always try to note down potential overlanding info, so was interested in the IVSS.COM recommendation..... but can't find ivss.com. is that the correct web address?

 

[Tel Boy]

@Bodie Try this for IVSS

ivssuk.com

 

[Bodie]

That'll be the one!
Cheers Tel Boy.

 

[Jvertigo]

finger trouble ‍

 

[Dave_S]

Good thread on this subject in Lazz's Overland Trucks forum:

https://overlandingtrucks.com/forum/threads/truck-shipping.772/page-2

 

[Bmonck]

From personal experience I would suggest that it would be much better value to have longer and travel more of the country. If you are tied to a short window and can spare the car for longer during shipping I would ship to Vancouver or Tacoma and tour BC instead. I found the Eastern provinces were very much more limited in choice of roads and even more so of trails.

For reference I travelled from Vancouver, via Yukon to Halifax in 4 weeks so 8 would allow a bigger area but I’d still recommend BC and Alberta

I would also suggest you are way off on shipping, currently a 20’ container is about $5k USD plus agent fees, port costs etc. RORO is cheaper but factor in you risk all your gear being stolen or you won’t be able to ship the car loaded. I’ve done both methods to USA and Canada.

Thanks Gr8Yota - yes you are right that a longer trip would be better. This is subject to intense negotiations with the mrs. More on this later....
Yes you are right on container pricing. I had filled in some detailed on line quote forms and the prices came back quite reasonable. But when i called the company to talk it through they said their algorithms were not up to date. So prices are pretty varied on containers but definitely much higher than I had been quoted.
So at the moment I am considering the RORO alternative. this seems to come in at about £1,500 one way to either Halifax or Baltimore. Good price but obviously some issues around security of stuff sent RORO vs in a container. I am thinking about both how to secure the "back" of the truck (because we will need a bunch of stuff - cooking, some camping, etc- in the truck. and what we can just pack as excess luggage on the airline.
When you went to with RORO how did it pan out for you? Did you have a problem with things getting stolen? Where did you ship to?
Cheers

 

[Bmonck]

My Bro lived in Vancouver now in Kamloops (400 km inland) I could put you in touch if it helps.

Yes thanks Andy that would be useful info.

 

[Bmonck]

Hi, I’m a newbie on the site & was looking for other info when I saw your thread.…..
We are shipping our J80 to the States for the start of a 15 month global excursion. If you are on Facebook, I strongly recommend you look up Overland Sphere. It’s a goldmine of overlanding info. One of the moderators, Martin McGowan, is an experienced overlander & runs his own shipping company IVSS ivss.com. He can help you ship to the US (easier than Canada), so you can then drive north to Canada more easily under a reciprocal agreement. He has current advice on good insurance companies to use & the intricacies of getting the insurance you require.
Another good place for trip info & advice is horizonsunlimited.com.
If Facebook is your thing, there is also an overland Canada group.

By all means, get in touch, send me a message & I will offload as much info that I can to help you. I’m researching it day in & day out as D-day for shipping out gets ever closer.

Now, back to the business of finding the headlight upgrades I was hunting for….

Jude

hi Jude
yes it would be helpful to chat directly - probably most efficient by phone. I will pm you.
And yes I am in touch with Martin. He is very helpful and we are already considering switching to Baltimore (same cost even though it is further than Halifoax) in part to allow us to get quotes from US insurance companies. In this case we will probably add a month along the New England coast and catch a ferry from there to Nova Scotia.
I am not a great social media guy but will check out FB Canada group.....already on overlandsphere and Hor. Unltd.
thanks for all that.

 

[Bmonck]

Bmonck, any chance of seeing some pictures of your water tank set up?
Sorry all, if it’s off topic, but I am genuinely rubbish with IT (was looking for a way to DM) & I haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet…..

Here is the design plan - is this what you wanted or actual pictures of the set up?
I have a water tank of about 90L inside the vehicle. And in the end i didnt do the return circuit from the filter back to the tank.

 

[Gr8Yota]

I shipped RORO to Tacoma and returned from Halifax. Container went to Vancouver and return from Galveston Texas.
I had to get special permission to ship kit in the car RORO and they stole my seat covers and 4 point harness! So basically anything removable that wasn’t itemised on my shipping list. But even for the 2nd trip via container they obviously went through every box of kit before loading it and again stole items not listed (I.e. that I’d bought in the US.

I decided it was worth the risk as the cost of shipping kit separately was more than the cost of replacing it all… make the MEC your best friend, followed by Canadian Tire when you arrive!