Long distance air travel

Following my visit to the Canadian Aviation Museum I came across the following information  which I thought I would share with you.

The R100 duly departed Cardington for Canada on the 29th July, 1930.   The ship took what was called the Great Circle route, which covered 3,300 miles, and arrived at St. Hubert airport, Montreal, seventy-eight hours later, having shown an average speed of 42 mph  She docked on to the mooring mast, which had been specially erected for her, and for twelve days was the toast of Quebec, attracting huge attention, a hundred thousand visitors, numerous press and magazine articles, and even a specially written song.  She made short passenger flights to Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls, and could have sold the tickets for them ten times over.  She finally left Canada on the 13th August and arrived home at Cardington after a flight of just fifty-seven and a half hours.

It was assumed airships would. be the long-distance carriers of the future.  It would never be possible to carry enough passengers and cargo in aeroplanes over those long distances to cover the expense.  Aeroplanes must remain fast, short-hop carriers, like the 'Silver Wing' service to Paris.  For the first time, meals and drinks were served to the passengers on board the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, but that was about the limit of the comforts that could be offered.  On an airship, of course, there could be separate restaurants, viewing decks, promenades and even sleeping cabins, necessary to such long journeys.  But until the airships were ready, they had to do the best they could.  The new Imperial Airways service to Karachi which began on Saturday, 30th March, 1929.

The whole journey was to take seven days - a marked improvement on the weeks it took to journey to India by ship.  The first leg was a flight from Croydon via Paris to Basle on the AW Argosy City of Glasgow.  Passengers then took the overnight train - the Alps were in the way, and aeroplanes could not fly over mountains - from Basle to Genoa, where on Sunday, the 31st, they boarded the Short Calcutta flying-boat City of Athens to fly via Rome to Naples.  On Monday they hopped from Naples to Corfu to Athens.  On Tuesday they flew from Athens via Suda Bay in Crete to the seaport of Tobruk, where on Wednesday they transferred to a DH66 Hercules, City of Jerusalem, to fly to Alexandria.  Then followed the most intriguing part of the flight.  To get to Basra on the Persian Gulf, the Hercules had to cross hundreds of miles of desert.  There was no way for a pilot to navigate   except from landmark to landmark, and in the desert there were no roads, rivers or buildings, just trackless wastes of sand.  So to guide them, a gigantic furrow had been ploughed all the way from Palestine to Baghdad, hundreds of miles long, probably the longest furrow that had ever been ploughed anywhere in history.  Following this, the DH66 reached Baghdad on Thursday, but there was delayed by a sandstorm before taking off again for Basra.  On the Friday it followed the coast of the Gulf via Bushire, Lingeh and Jask, and on the Saturday completed the coastwise journey via Gwadar to Karachi.

Remarkable, what a feat. 

Phil has just left for a trip to India - hopefully it will take just eight hours!!

     

              

Canadian hospitality with an added 'je ne sais quoi'

Our son is currently working in Canada so off we went for a visit.

If you enlarge you will see the registration is MME  (Mimi)  - what Chloe calls Emmie.

 It was so lovely to be met by Emmie holding up a sign.  Welcome to Canada - Nanna and Granddad.  Gemma was so kind to collect us and drive us to their home in Ottawa.

Ottawa,  Canada's charming capital city chosen by Queen Victoria in 1857, is steeped in history and tradition.

It had recently snowed in Ottawa so our first visit of the holiday was to Gatineau Park.  Located just 15 minutes from Ottawa there are 6 miles of compacted snow trails.  We had wonderful fun tobogganing with Emmie.  The place was amazing.  What a jewel, so beautiful and peaceful.

Then lunch in a local pub at Old Chelsea, which is very pretty, and our first introduction to Canadian cuisine.  Poutine which consists of French fries, topped with cheese curds and smothered in gravy!!!!

We then visited the Houses of Parliament, built during World War 1, after the first one burnt down, so the architecture is quite new but made to look old.  The buildings are beautiful, interesting and a must see for anyone visiting Ottawa, with gorgeous surroundings.  The Parliamentary complex is on a 170ft bluff overlooking the Ottawa River.

  There are great statues in the grounds, including one of the Queen on horseback, tucked away because it was not viewed favourably by Her Majesty.  Also a lovely view of Gatineau and tons of photographic architecture.  The tours inside had finished for the day but we were allowed to see the Senate room and sit in on the House of Commons.  Emmie was well behaved.  The Peace Tower was also closed but we will return.

On Tuesday we took Emmie to see Maman.  Outside the National Gallery of Canada is Maman a 30 ft high and 33ft wide gargantuan bronze spider by Louis Bourgeois and carries a sac of 20 pure
white marble eggs.  Maman is French for Mother.  I remember seeing this spider in the Turbine Hall at London's Tate Modern years ago.

We then crossed over the bridge to Gatineau and the tone and surroundings changed drastically.  Storefronts and street signs were all in French.  The main tourist attraction in Gatineau is the Canadian Museum of Civilization with exhibits focusing on Canada's indigenous people.  The totem poles are magnificent and displayed in a very large room that gives the feel of wide open spaces.  This is a   world class museum where no cost was spared on the amazing displays.  The life size mini village is very realistic.

Emmie had an amazing time at the attached Children's Museum where she was given a passport to "travel" to various locations.  She loved a Pakistani bus that she could drive and  a play café where she was a chef making pizzas.  It was extremely cute.  There were lots of costumes to try on.  Her favourite was a stage to act out starring roles, and a control booth with lighting and sound effects.  I also got in touch   with my inner child here.  Then we sat in a child-sized Bedouin tent, shopped in the Greek's farmer's market.  Watched a shadow play in Thailand then painted walls in the Building section.  Learning the fun way.

On Wednesday we set off for two days ski-ing at Mt. Tremblant and en route we stopped at Omega Park for a wildlife adventure.  The Parc offers a very close encounter with wild animals living in their natural habitat.  It was great fun feeding the elk, deer and boars with the carrots we had bought on entry (the only approved food).  Most of the animals came up to the car looking for carrot handouts.  The carnivores, wolves, etc. are obviously kept behind a fence but you can still get very close to them.

I finally saw Moose after looking for years on trips to New England and Alaska.

We also stopped at the sugar shack at the top of the Parc.  Emmie enjoyed a treat of maple taffee on snow.  Alun and Phil were very interested in the working sugarbush.  Shame they didn't cook pancakes because there was an adorable wooden cabin with log stove for picnics.

And  we were so so lucky to see a black bear emerge from his winter's hibernation in a cave.  He had fearsome claws and teeth and a thick and shiny fur coat.  On average a male weighs 170 kg and is the most common bear in Canada.

We then continued on to Mt. Tremblant - the Disneyland of Winter Ski.

Alun had organised  lovely accommodation at the Marriott in a one bedroom condo with loft.  We were in the loft.  The lounge even had a log fire.

Dinner that evening was upstairs in La Forge.  A top quality restaurant with an amazing wine cellar and where we feasted on fabuous steaks and salmon cooked over maple wood coals in a stylish setting with beautiful views of the ski slopes.  The staff were so friendly and the ambience excellent.  Bravo again to the staff and chef!!  Emmie also did an amazing drawing of the Black Bear

Skiers have flocked to Mt. Tremblant since  its first chairlift and lodge opened in 1939.  Now though its just as popular with snowboarders.  Don't worry, though, because despite it's name this mountain doesn't actually tremble.....unless you've had one too many in the village bars!!!

We spent two days in Tremblant and had a great time skiing on it's well groomed runs.  Conditions and coverage were great.  Unfortunately, management had closed half of the mountain some say to save money but the  lift pass didn't have a reduction.  Shame.  However, a local riding with us in the Gondola expressed the opinion that they closed the north side because that is where the difficult runs are and ice and moguls do not mix.  Totally different from Europe but so much fun.  The resort closes at 4 p.m. which makes the day seem short especially in March when it gets dark later.  Also, given the size of the mountain Alun and Gemma think the resort could really use more Gondolas or at least chair lifts that are faster and with covers to protect you from the bitter, bitter wind of a cold quebec winter.

However, we were so lucky to have cloudless blue skies and really had a wonderful time, as did Emmie who had an excellent instructor, Alexandria, for her very first ski lesson.

We returned to Ottawa and Saturday was our first rainy day but no worries lots of things to do in Ottawa on a rainy day. After a very large breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup  we chose the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and were not disappointed.  The CASM is a delightful place to lose yourself in the mystery, lore and wonder of the history of flight.  This museum is spacious and the visitor is greeted by an inverted Snowbird jet suspended in the lobby.

Right  from the beginning of aviation history there are aircraft on display through to more recent fast jets of the common military style aircraft to commercial airliners and Canadian small aircraft servicing the out of reach regions by vehicular traffic.

The collection is well laid out and there are some vintage aircraft in tip top shape.  There were cockpits set up so Emmie and Grandad could climb in and fly them.  Also an old Link trainer which Alun and Dad found very interesting because Phil was trained in one.

For Emmie there were aeroplane shaped go carts for her to pedal around the museum in, not to mention the Space Shuttle.

Then back home for a wonderful roast dinner cooked by Gemma with excellent wine and company.

Sadly, our last day in Ottawa so we had to return to the Peace tower for a visit.  It was a beautiful clear day and fortunately there were no queues.  The Peace tower is modelled after Big Ben in London and the tour of the clock tower was excellent with great views of the city.  We also visited the Memorial room, very moving.

Our next stop was Rideau Falls.  These were certainly worth a visit.  Like a mini Niagara with blocks of iceburgs crashing through.  Just down the road from the Prime Minister and French ambassadors residences.

Then on to Hog's Back Falls.  Beautiful 60 foot waterfall where the Rideau River and Rideau Canal part.  This is a lovely little place that shows the fault line under Ottawa.  The twisted rocks remind visitors of the geological history.  Great spot to watch canoeists who were mad enough to negotiate the falls whilst we were there.  Took a long time to leave the car park though and Phil ended up trying to push a car out of the ice slush so we could pass.

Our last night in Ottawa so we pushed the boat out and went to Fairmont Chateau Laurier for cocktails.  An elegant place that's steeped in history.  The architecture of this old lady is truly impressive and the cocktails were pretty good too.  A special experience.

We then walked back through Byward Market, close to the apartment, for dinner in one of the many restaurants.  A great place.

We then stopped at a Beaver Tail Kiosk.  A beaver tail is a flat puffy deep fried pastry that can be topped with various desserts.  I suppose the best part of ordering a beaver tail is fitting into the whole "Ottawa nostalgia", that being said, it is something I will only ever do once!  Indigestion tablet please.

And so it is time for us to return to Montreal for our flight home.  Alun, Gemma and Emmie and a hundred bags came with us.  They stayed overnight in Montreal.  Montreal is a French city.  Most signs are in French only.  A stroll through the Old Montreal is still probably the most authentic way to experience Europe in Canada.

A big holiday thank you hug for making our time with you in Ottawa so special.  X

Sorry there are some more photographs to follow later, especially of the Bear, but they are on Alun's camera.