Riding the line and gawking at planes – 13 October 2023

 

Riding the line
 

Ottawa has, amongst other museums, the National Aviation and Space Museum.  I had been to it many years ago but figured it must have some new exhibits.  Graham kindly transported me there.  I had a wonderful two and a half hours looking at the various aircraft.  One had even been reconstructed by Peter Jackson’s firm.  It was nice to see that New Zealand had a little bit to do with the exhibits.  The aircraft were all planes that had been part of Canada’s aviation history.  Like New Zealand, the government of Canada has been a small spender on the military. Thus, any military aircraft have to last a long time. 

Dragon Moth - descendent of the Tiger Moth

 

In the afternoon we went for a bike ride.  It is the first one I have done for a while.  The route took us mostly on a disused rail corridor, so it was very flat and very straight.  Canada is relatively flat especially the prairies and eastern Canada which are part of the Canadian Shield which was formed when the glaciers retreated and scraped the land flat.  It was rather pretty with a carpet of autumn leaves.  We veered off the path into a little place called Navan where we had a coffee and tasty home cooking, in the cutest little place.  The coffee was interesting to say the least. Bev rode a Fat Boy bike which has very fat low pressure tyres that was bought for riding in the snow.  She rather enjoyed riding it, choosing to go cross country at times!


Our cafe in Navan

 

It was our last day in Ottawa and Bev’s nephew and family came around in the evening to share a pork roast with us and to say farewell. 

 

It has been a jam-packed week spent with family and friends.  I like Ottawa.  While it is much larger than Wellington it seems to retain the feel of a large town.  There is plenty to do and there is a lot of cultural activities around.  They have done a lot of pedestrianisation of the CBD area and there are lots of bike paths, some are just lines painted on the tarmac and others are properly separated from the traffic.  During the weekend a number of streets are closed off for the sole use of the cyclists.  I am sure that drivers fume about the cyclists but they treat them with respect.  Gatineau Park is major destination for cyclists as it is interesting with some serious climbing to stretch the legs and lungs.  

 

Riding the Fat Boy

Beaver lodge in part of the Bleu Mer which we rode past

A rather cute cottage in Navan

Bev about to transfer allegiance

Note my white legs

Brother and sister

 

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