For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
Back in September last year, you may recall us reporting that Ryanair were proposing to make in-flight entertainment available on its flights. Passengers were to be charged £5 ($9.48) to access films, cartoons and tv shows on portable lap top type units. Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary who said in September the units would become “as common as the in-flight magazine”. These have been on trial since November and are about to be abandoned. “It was lack of demand. They decided not to follow it any further,” a Ryanair spokeswoman said. Ryanair said it had not lost any money on the system, which was on trial in only five planes before making a significant investment. The latest money making wheeze is to have in-flight gambling. Watch this space!
News comes of Ryanair selling a brand of water called Blue Rock water, which costs £1.85 for a 500 ml. Reports state that this special Ryanair water isn't from a pure mountain stream or highland spring – it is just carbonated tap water. To purchase the same water from Thames Water i.e. turn on the tap costs 0.06p per litre. The only difference between turning on the tap in any London home and Ryanair's Blue Rock is that the sparkling version has been carbonated at a water treatment works in Beckton, East London, before being bottled and labelled. While the label does not claim to be genuine spring water, neither does it make it clear that it is tap water. Britvic, which 'makes' Blue Rock, made exclusively for Ryanair, claimed the brand was about to be replaced by a new product called Pennine Spring, sourced from a natural spring in Huddersfield.
Two new bus services linking Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir for Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. The new service has been hailed as a major boost to India and Pakistan’s developing peace process. The inaugural service on 7 April was the first in nearly 60 years. Before you get too excited, it is still dangerous to visit this region and there is heavy security all along the route including decoy buses, escorted by the police and parafamilies forces. The historic bus services has been welcomed by most Kashmiris, many of whom have been divided by the decades-long conflict. Many of them have defied the militants’ call to avoid boarding the bus. “The desire to meet separated relatives is proving stronger than the fear of death,” a trader in Srinagar, Zaffar Ahmed, told the BBC News.
Which countries are represented by these flags? For the answers, see at the end of the eNews.
Another TV production company, one who made the film Touching the Void is looking for an original tale from a different terrain i.e. – not a mountaineering story. If you think you could help, please contact Claire on claire.forsyth@darlowsmithson.com
Luckily there are many ways to go hiking over the weekend and most of them are accessible by train or bus from New York City. Possibly the most famous trail of all is the Appalachian Trail, which starts in Georgia and goes all the way up to Maine. But for day trips or a hike of a few hours, you can take a bus or train from the city.
The most popular way to get there is by train from Grand Central Station. There are two early morning trains that run on weekends only. The train will drop you off at a tiny station (Appalachian Trail station) that runs right through the trail. The walks North or South along the trail are both picturesque, but the South walk is possibly less strenuous and better for beginners. You first walk along planks through a swampy area. Then you enter a lovely forest area. Suddenly the forest ends and you are out in the open, in the middle of fields and farms. Walk along the sides of farms and you can wave hello to the cows and horses that inhabit them. The backdrop to these fields and farms are gorgeous mountains, which are especially picturesque in the autumn months when the colours of leaves change. Bring a camera as there are some lovely photo opportunities. Then cross the road and enter another forest area; but this one feels different to the last. You will see new types of plants and trees in this area. So the walk is a real feast for the senses and the trail keeps taking you through different terrain and landscapes. You can hike for either 3 hours or 5 hours before you have to get back to the tiny station for your return train to the city.
It is also possible to take the Metro North train to Cold Spring train station. There are many trails within walking distance of the train station but for the Appalachian Trail you have to go into the sports store near the station. It is one of the first stores you will see along Main Street when you leave the end of the platform. For a small fee, they provide shuttle service to the trail. It would be wise to book ahead but on weekends they have regular service for the many hikers that enjoy the area, especially in the warmer months. You are dropped off at the trail head and they pick you up at a specified time later in the day. The trains back to New York City run every hour.
Another route would be to take the bus to the Appalachian trail from Port Authority Bus Terminal (there is a bus that goes to Bear Mountain as well as to the Military Academy across the Hudson River). It is a 2-3 hour ride, but the bus leaves you right at the trail and then you have a few hours to hike before getting the bus back to New York. There are toilet facilities in Bear Mountain State Park, and also places to buy drinks or snacks. The Appalachian Trail runs directly through the park and there are also several other enjoyable trails in the area, including one around a large lake that is very picturesque.
Still another possibility is to take a bus from Port Authority to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania. The Gap is right on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and the Appalachian Trail runs right through the town there too. It is a 2-3 hour ride and a short walk from the bus station through the middle of town to the trail itself. The town has a few shops and places to eat, and even trolley tours of the area (during the warm months only). Again, you can spend several hours exploring the area and hiking the trail before returning to New York City.
There is little excuse not to hike the famous trail and enjoy all the benefits of a walk in the woods. A tranquil break from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple is always welcome.
A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?
Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?
Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!
Sun at Midnight is a book by Rosie Thomas, due to be published in July 2005 by Harper Collins. The book is based around her stay on a research station in Antarctica. We wanted to include a brief account of Rosie and her forthcoming book to give inspiration to other aspiring authors. It is only in recent years following a divorce and her children finding their own way in the world has Rosie had her life to herself. Travelling across deserts, partaking in international car rallies and scaling high mountains are so much easier without the family baggage. Once she was established as a successful writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, and spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica to research this novel. Woman and Home magazine said this of Praise for SUN AT MIDNIGHT: 'This is an epic love story set against breathtaking descriptions of Antarctic waste.' Look out for it!
Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/
A baggage handler wearing a camel suit taken from a passenger's luggage has lead to Qantas Airways installing cameras in the baggage handling areas.
Passenger David Cox complained after he saw a baggage handler driving across the Sydney airport tarmac on Wednesday wearing the camel suit that had been packed into the baggage he had checked in only minutes earlier. Mr Cox, a marketing manager, had checked the camel suit and a crocodile costume onto Qantas flight 425 from Sydney to Melbourne in a large bag marked saying it was carrying animal costumes.
He said he was standing near his boarding gate and at first thought nothing when a child said “there's a guy with a moose head”. But then he looked up and saw his camel costume. Mr Cox later told ABC radio: “I obviously was flabbergasted.
The Whale shark (Rhincodon Typus) is the largest fish in the world, growing up to 12m (40 feet) in length. Though massive in size, whale sharks are completely harmless and feed on plankton and small fish which are filtered from the water as they cruise the world's oceans. Despite their size, whale sharks are remarkably gentle and curious. They have a slow growth rate, only reaching maturity at around 30 years old and living as long as 60 – 100 years. Their reproduction rate is also very slow – long intervals between pregnancies and producing around a few hundred pups at one time.
Whale Sharks are located near the Equator around coast lines and open seas. They swim mostly along the top of the surface. Whale sharks can be found in the following areas:
Unfortunately, in some countries such as India and the Philippines, the whale shark is often hunted for meat which is sold to feed the rich in SE Asia, where whale shark meat is an expensive delicacy. Numbers have certainly been reduced, but with the migratory habits of the sharks, it is very difficult to track and count them.
February to May: The time of year to see a whale shark in Thailand is between February and May.
April to June: Whale shark sightings are extremely common on the Ningaloo Reef in the months of mid April-June. A spotter plane communicates with boats as it spots the large shadow of a whale shark near the surface. Interactions are regulated by CALM (Conservation and Land Management), which limits the number of snorkellers in the water with a shark to a maximum of 10 and does not allow the use of flash photography. There are also strictly regulated guidelines including the distance a snorkeller should stay from the animal and how long a single interaction with a whale shark may last. These measures are mainly to reduce stress to the sharks, another unknown factor for scientists, even though people have been interacting with whale sharks on the Ningaloo for many years.
April to June: southern Belize offers whale shark spotting opportunities. The best time to do so during these months are three days before the full moon to three days after the last quarter moon. It's during these times that the Cubera Snappers spawn, attracting the Whale Sharks.
July to September: Rarely seen in shallow coastal waters, whale sharks have been regular visitors to the Sea of Cortez near Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico are closest to the US and are a good place to encounter whale sharks at this time of year.
November to April: whale sharks can be seen around Richelieu Rock in the North Andaman Sea.
If you have had a whale shark encounter, the Beetle would love to hear from you!