YOU know the scenery is impressive when even a boatload of Canadians find themselves lost for words.

But this part of the world has an uncanny habit of striking travellers dumb.

In a country of superlatives – of towering peaks, vast rivers, thunderous waterfalls and endless forests – you can forgive the locals for believing they’ve seen it all.

And, largely they have. Which made the silence on board the good ship West Brook II all the more striking.

Despite being packed to the gunnels, there was barely a murmur as we ploughed up the frigid waters of the Western Brook Pond fjord, surrounded by 2,000ft-high walls of rock, serrated into jagged pinnacles and punctuated by waterfalls – including the prosaically named P*****g Mare Falls, among the highest in North America.

The unfolding vistas, each more breathtaking than the last, were received with gasps, whispers and a surreal sense of calm, which belied the raw drama of our surroundings.

The fjord is the jewel in the crown of the Gros Morne National Park, a stretch of wilderness on the western coast of Newfoundland encompassing the northern-most section of the Appalachian Mountains – which begin 1,500 miles way down south in Georgia.

Beautiful it may be; and big – stretching for 10 snaking miles, and being well over 500ft deep. Yet, to Newfoundlanders it is still only ‘a pond’.

Such is the scale of this spectacular island – which locals refer to simply as ‘The Rock’.

Yet, Gros Morne (named after the Creole phrase for big isolated hill) is more than just a stunning stretch of scenery; it is a living textbook. For here are the clues to the creation of the face of the planet itself.

High above the forests and crags sits a forbidding desert plateau of barren rusty rock. It looks like the surface of Mars, but this eerie land has an incredible story, for this is where the earth has turned inside out.

The heavy red peridotite underfoot is actually part of the planet’s mantle, forced up from the infernal depths during a plate collision hundreds of millions of years ago. So important are these forbidding hills to geologists that they have earned the park World Heritage Site status.

The area, where elk easily outnumber people, is an adrenaline junkie’s paradise, where you can climb, cave, and, most exciting of all, fly over the forested Marble Mountain Gorge on a zip wire.

However, the best way to explore is, rather predictably, on foot – though locals will tell you that skis are a better idea in winter – and everyone, and I mean everyone, has a snowmobile. “It’s the only way to travel any distance in the winter,” says local girl Laura Walbourne, whose enviously easy job it is to promote the charms of Western Newfoundland.

“We have permanent trails through the forests that even have gas stations. Many of our communities are really isolated, so they’re really necessary. They’re also great fun, and even the kids have their own.”

To see the park in more sedate fashion, however – at least in the summer – take to the water.

Kayaking and canoeing are practically a religion in Canada, and nowhere is more rewarding than Newfoundland, for this natural treasure trove has a great card up its sleeve – one which few other places on earth can compete with. Whales.

The inlets of Gros Morne are the home of minke whales and dolphins, which surface practically beneath you, before blowing and sinking.

It’s a majestic sight. But for something even grander, head out to deeper water where the giants of the deep come to feed, following the shoals of capelin into the shoreline.

Every Newfoundlander has their tip on the best spots for whale watching, from St Anthony on the Northern Peninsula, to Twilingate on the Kittiwake Coast. But most blubber-lovers head for the rugged Avalon Peninsula in the east, where the world’s highest concentration of humpback whales duck and dive.

The hot destination here is Bay Bulls, where you are practically guaranteed a sighting of a majestic humpback ‘breaching’ – throwing itself out of the water – before crashing beneath the waves with a deft flick of the tail, in an explosion of foam.

And why do they do it? “Because they can!” laughs skipper Michael Gatherall, who takes whale and puffin watching tours out to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve on his catamaran.

“There are so many whales you can often see right down their blowholes,” he laughs.

“We always promise a shot of local rum to the first passenger to spot one blowing,” he adds. “But we know when they’re kidding, and if they are, they have to buy a drink for everyone else onboard!”

But while the whales are breathtaking spectacle, there’s a colossus of the seas that dwarves even those gentle giants: icebergs.

“We’re in a unique spot,” says Kathy Crotty, of the Newfoundland Department of Tourism, who, having lived in some of the remotest spots in the province, knows a thing or two about nature.

“As well as the whales, who migrate here with their babies to feed off the Grand Banks, we have the drift of icebergs cruising down ‘iceberg alley’ from the Arctic. And it is here that the giants cross paths.”

For an eye-level encounter with a humpback, hop into another kayak at Cape Broyle, where Stan Cook, and his son, Stan Jr, lead tours beneath waterfalls, through caves and out into the open sea.

The trip is also an insight into a still raw period of The Rock’s history – the collapse of cod fishing. All along the coast are deserted shacks, landings and ‘flakes’ – boards for drying fish.

But while the once-flourishing fisheries are a thing of the past, the crenulated coastline remains a rich tapestry of close-knit fishing villages. And in the excellent local restaurants, cod, and other great seafood, is still very much on the menu.

A great place to sit and take it all in is nearbyFerryland Head Lighthouse, at the Colony of Avalon – site of the first European colony in North America.

The bright red lighthouse is now a café, where aproned waitresses serve baskets of sandwiches, homemade cakes and lemonade to hungry picnickers, who gaze out at the crashing waves hundreds of feet below.

Up the coast is another lighthouse – Cape Spear, which stands sentinel on the most easterly point on the North American continent.

Even on a calm summer’s day the Atlantic breakers pound the rocks, churning the water into a milky froth.

They call this part of the island The Irish Loop, and for good reason. The accents are identical to those of Kerry and Cork, and it is good Catholic country.

That Irish tradition is best explored in the charmingly old-fashioned capital city of St John’s, the oldest port city in North America, and a riot of multicoloured clapboard houses, which tumble down to the harbour.

And at the heart of it all sits the riotous George Street – its nightlife district – which has more pubs and bars per square foot than anywhere else on the continent.

It’s here that the city best shows its Irish roots, with draft Guinness vying for attention alongside the local Quidi Vidi beer and appropriately named Screech rum, all to a live soundtrack of stomping folk-rock, which goes on all night long.

It all seems strangely familiar, but, like the rest of The Rock, has a gentle friendly charm all of its own. It will break your heart when you leave. And I promise you: you’ll be back!

FACTFILE

Getting there

Fly from London to St John’s or Deer Lake (Gros Morne) via Halfax, Nova Scotia

Staying there

St John’s: Leaside Manor. Log on to leasidemanor.com

Gros Morne:

Neddies Harbour Inn, Norris Point. Log on to theinn.ca

Red Mantle Lodge, Shoal Brook. Log on to redmantlelodge.ca

Humber Valley Chalets. Log on to visithumbervalley.com

What to do

Gatheralls Puffin and Whale Watch. Log on to gatheralls.com

Stan Cook Sea Kayaking. Log on to wildnfld.ca

Ferryland Lighthouse Picnics. log on to lighthousepicnics.ca

Gros Morne National Park Adventures (hiking and kayaking). Log on to grosmorneadventures.com

Western Brook Pond Fjord Cruise. log on to bontours.ca

Marble Zip Tours. log on to marbleziptours.com

Packages:

Ready-made packages featuring most of the locations mentioned, including flights, accommodation, excursions and 12 days’ car hire with tax and insurance, cost £1,573 per person, through Frontier Travel. Log on to frontier-travel.co.uk