Some strange nostalgia for me today. After breakfast, we visited the small but well-done Aviation Museum of the North Atlantic in Gander. We learned some of the fascinating history about the city's role in transatlantic air travel. The short story is that aircraft used this location to attempt the crossing from the earliest days of air travel. Gander's site was selected for an airfield because of its eastern location and the fact that it has relatively few foggy days, a rarity for Newfoundland. From its humble beginnings, it took on a huge role during World War II and was, for a time, the largest airport in the world. It's importance lasted well into the jet age and even now, despite no longer being a refueling stop, it is a major air traffic control centre for the western Atlantic region. Of course, on a personal note, it is the place where my Mom and I first landed in North America when we emigrated in 1957. So, in a sense, I came full circle today.
The rest of the day was another fairly lengthy push to St. John's. More beautiful scenery, particularly near the coastal areas which, we've concluded, take on a treeless tundra quality which we first saw in Port aux Basques.
St. John's is a colourful, sprawling city perched precariously on rocky hillsides spilling downward sharply to one of the most spectacular natural harbours anywhere. Once settled in, we did a quick walk down to the old downtown, past colourful clapboard houses for a quick dinner on George Street. The was back up was strenuous and took 3 times as long, but we handled it well.
 |
| Canso ( Catalina ) water bomber |
 |
Voodoo fighter-interceptor
|
No comments:
Post a Comment