- Getting here , Travel & Customs, Getting home and
FAQ's
- Flying here
Driving here
How is my meat handled ?
Our policy on deposits and cancellations
When is my final payment due?
Things that bite!
Flying
here:
You should fly in to Gander, NL (CYQX) in travel agent lingo, on or before
the Saturday before you will go to camp. We usually leave for our camp on the afternoon of the Sunday your week
starts. Combo hunters will be taken in to Trophy Hunts camp by float aircraft
on Sunday Morning.
You will finish at our camp and be transported back to Gander approx 5 PM
on the Saturday your week finishes. If you need hotel reservations in Gander, we usually use the
"Albatross Hotel" they give our clients a good rate and good
service. We can make a reservation for you, or you can do it direct yourself, toll free in Canada
1-800-563-4900 or 1-709-256-3956 will get them. Tell them you are with us.
(Remember NFLD is in its own time zone 1 1/2 hrs. from Eastern, 2 1/2 from
Central. 5:30PM in Texas is 8:00PM here) There are a couple of other hotels in Gander, but we find the
Albatross folks are looking after our clients very well.
Let them know you are hunting and they will put you handy to the elevator or
on a lower floor, so you don't have to drag a lot of gear around.
The Albatross is right across the street from the North Atlantic Aviation
museum.
Driving here:
Driving to Newfoundland can be a very pleasant experience. We have made
the trip many times from the USA, crossing the border in Maine and
continuing on to North Sydney, Nova Scotia where you get the ferry.
The Newfoundland ferry to Port-Aux-Basques leaves N. Sydney several times a day
and usually takes about 5 1/2 hours to cross the 100 miles.
Some crossings are day and some are night. You should make reservations as
soon as you know your travel dates.
It takes 2 days to reach us from Calais,ME or Holton,ME. One day to drive to the ferry in North Sydney,NS. Then you get the ferry.
Reserve a cabin and spend overnight on the boat. Go to the Marine Atlantic site The Newfoundland ferry and you will see the schedule. You should make your return trip and cabin reservations at the same time, you can always change them to a later crossing, if necessary.
If you take the 2359 sailing on Saturday Night. You will get to Gander Bay about 2-3 PM on the next day. We usually go in with new guests on the Sunday about 2-4PM so you will be right on schedule. Book it early and reserve the cabin when you book as there are more spaces for cars than they have cabins and you do not want to sit up all night. Watch the weather forecasts and be prepared to arrive a bit earlier, if the crossing you intend to make appears to be in a stormy weather situation. September is tropical storm/ hurricane season, but these are not all that common and there is usually a few days warning.
When you get off in Port aux Basques, NL, Gander is 350 miles and Gander Bay another 26. It is good road, Paved all the way, mostly single lane opposing traffic with some hill climbing /passing lanes. 60 MPH road from the ferry to Gander and 50 MPH the last 26 miles.
If you do the overnight on the ferry, you will save 1-2 nights in hotels. If you don't and take a day ferry, you will have to stay the night before and the next night somewhere. You should NOT drive in Newfoundland at night. The risk of car/moose collision is very high and you do not want to get your moose this way.
You will want to book a cabin for the night crossings and you should do this as
soon as you can, cabin space is limited. Be sure to allow enough time to
reach us on the other side after you cross, as the drive from the ferry to us is
some 350 miles. It is all paved road and a 2 wheel drive auto or pick-up is
fine, you DO NOT need a 4WD to reach us.
There is just one road, the Trans Canada
Highway. Stay on this until you reach Gander. At Gander take a
left turn on Route 330 and drive to Gander Bay (26 miles/41
KM). The first community you come to is George's Point. As you get
there, you cross a short concrete bridge about 150 feet long. Slow
down and about 500 -600 feet past the bridge, you turn left down a
short gravel road and drive to the Gander Bay boat basin and
wharf. Our guides will meet you there and transport you to the
lodge by riverboat. You can park your vehicle in the parking lot
at the wharf.
How is my meat handled?:
Long ago we realized that there was one way to do this, the right way. We
actually went to the airlines and said "what do you want this in, how do you
want it packed etc: etc:?", as there were many horror stories of problems in
the industry. This is what they said and this is what we do.
We buy proper airline approved styro boxes. The meat gets cut, wrapped and
frozen. We pack it in big 4 mil plastic bags which are inside the stryo box.
This is all taped shut, The styro box is then put in a second 4 mil bag and
taped shut. The meat is now in wrapping, in a big bag, in a styro box, in a big
bag, which we then put in a waxed cardboard box, tape this shut and put your
name and address , with phone number on it. It stays frozen until air cargo
says they can take it, then we deliver it to Air Canada air cargo.
The airline will then hold it in their cold storage send it to you. It will usually
go to St. John's, then Toronto, then probably direct to your closest entry
airport. You will be responsible for the meat cutting, packaging and shipping fees. It goes AIR CARGO pre-paid
by your credit card and you must clear it through customs on arrival.
Long gone are the days when they would let you take any amount of meat as
baggage, and even then, it was both risky and always a problem as they would
bump it off, if at an intermediate stop, there happened to be extra luggage,
freight or passengers to board. Now days, airplanes are just about always full and a Dash 8 can take 40
hunters, but it can not take 40 moose in the baggage hold. Also when it went
as baggage, sometimes it was not always kept cold and if it was poorly packed
and ever leaked any blood, they would pull it off anywhere enroute period.
Not something you want to have happen. Not something we want to have
happen. So we do as they say, we use proper packaging and it
usually gets there just fine. You are happy, we are happy.
We can have our butcher de-bone most of it to help keep the weight down, still
you are looking at 4-6 50lb boxes of meat in an average de-boned moose. As far as
when it goes to you, it will follow a few days later. All meat handling and packaging is done at cost, we do not mark it up. The actual cost of doing a whole moose including butcher, cutting, wrapping, packaging and delivery to Air cargo runs about $210 US. They can do sausage too for an additional fee.
We ship early
during the week so it has a chance to go all the way during normal business
hours, you don't want it held up in somebody's cargo shed en route because
they don't work weekends.
Air Canada ships to most destinations in North America and Europe.
Our policy on
deposits and cancellations:
You will notice that our deposit and booking policy is spelled out and that it is
a very liberal policy compared with many other operators. If you have any
doubts about your ability to make a trip for any reason, we recommend that
you take out trip cancellation insurance when you book. We also recommend that you consider our MED-JET travel assistance plan. It
covers you for a full year, not just on our trip. Med-JET Assistance Plan is
renewable, offers individual or family coverage and we consider it to be a very
good value for the price.
When is my
final payment due?:
Deposits are due on booking and final payments are due 30 days prior to your
trip,(60 days outside North America). We prefer that you use a bank check or
personal check for payment of deposits and trip balances. We will accept
credit cards to hold a booking until your payment arrives.
Things that
bite!:
NFLD does NOT have any of the following critters:
No ticks, No Snakes( except in politics) No Skunks( except as before) no
raccoons or chipmunks, also NO Poison IVY, poison Oak or poison
Sumack. No poison spiders either. |
