We're back

Here's a picture of our journey, with the markers showing the places where (since last Wednesday) we have pressed our Spot device to reassure our next-of-kin that "PTN is OK." Click on the picture to see it enlarged. From Rockcliffe to Rockcliffe, via Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon in the far east, we have altogether flown 1726.3 Nautical Miles, i.e. 1985 statute miles, or 3176 km.

Thanks to Chris' good decision-making, our last leg of all was as exciting and pleasurable as any of the others. We took off after the storms had gone through, walking across the apron through puddles of rainwater to climb back into our 'plane and then watching the Strikefinder light up with little dots from the clouds still storming away between us and Quebec and over Montreal. As we bypassed other dangerous clouds on our way over the Laurentians, near St Sauveur, we could hear from the pilots' radio chat that Air Canada flights were being diverted on their approach to Trudeau International to "avoid the weather". Meanwhile we were sailing along between 3000 and 4500 in easy VFR conditions under the bases of much smaller clouds; it wasn't even choppy over the hills; the sky was bright and benevolent and the forest lakes and rivers (our old friends the River Rouge and Petite Nation River) glinted up at us. Rockcliffe Airport and the fountain at the Gatineau Casino could be seen from miles away. Too bad that I'd run out of space on my camera's memory card so did not capture any visual record of this.

We're at the house now after a burger from Tony's barbeque, the traditional way to relax after a long flight to Rockcliffe Airport, and at last I can start to post a few photos from the rest of our wonderful holiday.

More tomorrow!