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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-05-17, Page 23GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, MAY 17, 1{173--PAO* aB the first of 'a travel ries by Signal -Star mallet Ron Shaw. is based on f th s year January9 nd his wife Peg spent in the Caribbean s of Antigua, Mont - Puerto Rico. From flew to Los Angeles, ked to Vancouver Mumble and. returned ch via Stratford, by National Railways tinental. st story of the series h the theland`'tc�f r Aal n- nd. d of Montserrat. ramped around the Montserrat, under pounds of cameras photographic equip - again now as 1 sit at iter faced with the of describing that rner of the world, one thought keeps my, mind. How, the media of a , can one possibly e color of the place? tiall� impossible to n when the took at .sal are lines of type int and even at best white photographs, he initial shock of ff an airplane at An. - rt, into 80 degree, ures while still or the sub freezing _,,..., Canada, the first im- emed to he "Look at 's its the sudden om the bleak land- anadian January, -to ring Caribbean (its seven hours. flying • perhaps colors are at bright in intense but what ever, its -its beautiful. ribbean Islands are not perfect. A fact I well reminded of at n of Antigua airport. Canada flight was nnect with a L.I.A.T. than an hour after 1, for the finarlWIP: ," our trip to Montse "L.I.A.T. reportedly static "Leeward Islands Air Tran- sport" but local rumor has it - that the abbreviation actually stands for "Leave Islands Any Time." Whatever the truth about its initials my wife_arid I are cer- tainly inclined to believe the latter. The ups of the whole matter however was a full days layover on the island of An- tigua at a cost of would you believe $48 per night. After about 30 minutes of useless threatening at the L.I.A.T. counter, as to what I'd do to their line in the travel feature I was writing, a representative of Air Canada arrived on the scene and produced vouchers to r nv fur our hotel room, dinner a breakfast, and taxi fare to • and from our hotel. The Air Canada employee pointed out 'however that his airline was not accepting any responsibility for our problems, that L.I.A.T. was the company at fault, but would pay for Our accommodation anyway. , Even' now I'm not sure whether he interceded to avert bad publicity or an assault, • but needless to say Peg and I were both very appreciative. Off to the hotel we went with a very entertaining cab driver, checked into a room that was clean and comfortable but could have been rented in Canada for $15 and enjoyed a very delicious dinner of local dishes. don't end here however. After dinner we asked room service to wake us at 5:00 a.m. so we could get to the airport in time to catch the first flight out at 6:00 a.m. Room service stept in and so did we. • We did manage to get to the airport 10 minutes before the 8:00 a.m. flight but even though the plane .was still on the tar- mac, with steps down, L.I.A.T. said we were too late to get aboard and we'd have to wait until 3:00 that afternoon for the last flight of the day. After another ten to twenty, minutes of fruitless arguing the plane took ,off and we settled in for the day in Antigua. Not being one to waste the situation I decided to rent a car and see the island in hopes of The setting sun of a Caribbean evening throws a halo of light around a resting donkey on the island of Montserrat. Although there are serviceable roads and many cars on the island, animal power 'remains the most common mode of transportation for most villagers on the Island. Life by North American standards Is Indeed backward but for a holiday who wants everything to be just like home? (photo by Ron Shaw) HOLIDAY YOU'D BETTER GO SUNTOURS EKS - BARBADOS 'FROM $302.00 EK - BAHAMAS FROM $179.00 EKS - ACAPULCO FROM $319.00 LIGHT INCLUDES: Air, Transportation from to your destination and Conditioned Accomrnoda- ith bath and full use of re- cilities. sfers between Airport and and return including the ng and tipping for one of baggage. ight Beach Rag. SCSELIGNTS PART -WEEKLY Special New w CHARTER. FLIGHTS ... WITH A DIFFERENCE S FROM 189• FR TORONTO -LONDON TORONTO You fly the newest and quietest giant on the route.._ . the magnificent i)('-10. Gentle Giant comfort.. big windows, room to stretch. walk around... a .rnarvelouk, roomy feeling. - Free in-flight movies and stereo... superb - free first class bar. - . duty free shopping privileges. Departures for two, three and four weeks from Toronto every weekend. For more exact departure dates call us toll free at ROCKIES & PACIFIC 15 DAYS $695 ;1 fully escorted itinerary from Toronto visiting Calgary, •Banff, Columbia icefields. Jasper, Vic- toria and Vancouver. Includes Economy ('lass Air Fare, deluxe private motorcoach while tour- ing, four breakfasts and six din- ners, {First ('lass Accomodations and handling and tipping for one piece of baggage per person. GRAND PACIFIC CIRCLE - 15 DAYS X738.00 turning the unwanted layover into a side benefit. At this point we meet Lapp's hent -a -Car. If the inefficiency. of L.I A.T. seems a little ,t3ur- prising you ain't seen notiin' yet. For $30 Antiguan currency (that's $15 Canadian), plus 85.00 Antiguan to have your Canadian drivers licence changed over to drive on the island, you get this little English Hillman. It doesn't look, like too bad a car con- sidering what we've seen of island automobiles so far so its a Ileal. Off we go, get $2.00 worth of gas, and start our island tour. Its worth mentioning here that Antigua is the first place on earth I've ever been required to drive on the left side of the road since I'm not that much of a traveller but af- ter the initial disorientation. -its not hard to master. I made a fool of myself at a few intersec- tions but nothing serious. •" About 15 miles from the air- . port, where we rented the car, the radiator starts to boil. We pull over to let it cool and find its only about half full of water, but decide if we let it cool down and then drive slow we could likely find a service station somewhere. Then, sitting on the side of the road in some out of the way village, waiting for the rad to cool, we helplessly watch a back tire go flat. Still .-no serious problem you say. Not true no spare. After a few , language problems we rounded up a youngster who spoke pidgin English and found a telephone. Lapp.s brought us a new car and of course their apologies. What can happen next'? How about a back door that keeps flying open in the lane of on- coming traffic. . Rack to the station we go and waste about an hour of our $15 time while some part time grease monkey;,, tries to figure out how to fix it. Finally, after what by now is xt least half our cy wasted. we get a look at Antigua. In contrast to Montserrat, where we later spent two weeks and about which this story is really supposed to he written, Antigua is a flat and unin- spiring i land. That is not to say it does not possess any of the colorful beauty described earlier, indeed it does. The hills are low and rolling, covered mostly with sugar cane or cotton. Cattle goats and sheep roam the roads at will, as they do in most of the islands, and • industry seems limited to agriculture. The United States has an air force tracking station there but excepting their buildings most of the structures are either rural shacks or of stone ar- chitecture which betray the British colonial background of the place. Antigua is now a self gover- ning unit, which likely explains their problems of late with unemployment and low living standards as well as their inef- ficient business operations like the ones we disco` red. Back at the airport things continued `:°slung their hopelessly confused routine. We arrived more than an hour before our flight tinge to make sure we'd get on the plane and, amazing as it may seem, did just that. The twin engine turbo -prop wasn't very' impressive but the stewardesses were gorgeous and it seemed it could hold together long enough to cross the 27 miles of ocean. We taxied onto, the runway and the engines rev up but are immediately cut. Over the public address • system, which had that most annoying habit of feeding back in a; high pit- ched scream, we were informed the plane had been called back by the customs and im- migration officials. Back on the tarmac the of- ficials decide they had called the wrong plane back and let us go after all. Back to the runway, gun the engines, the plane stumbles down the strip and we're air- borne headed for Montserrat. , The British colony of Mon- serrat is located 27 miles south- west of the island of Antigua, which is in full view from the eastlerta side and some elevated parts of Montserrat. Montserrat has a land area of only 39 and one half square miles. As the crow flies it is 11 miles long and seven miles across its widest section. Generally speaking the land- scape rises from the sea level beaches thr1pugh rolling hills and up to more than 3,000 feet in the central mountains before -dropping back to the sea. The lush green of the country's 5,000 acres of forest has earned its recognition as the "Emerald Isle of the Caribbean." About 13,000'i people live in the small country, ap- proximately 8,000 to 9,000 of them being native blacks. The island,is directly cooled by the north east trade winds and the mean maximum tem- perature is 76 'to 84 degrees with an average rainfall of 62 inches. Most people speak English on the island but the actual native tongue could be described' only as pidgin. The natives call it "Montserratian" but listening closely it becomes obvious the- language is a corruption of several dialects with English as its base. Montserrat was discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. He named it af- ter the Mountain Monastery of Montserrat in Spain with "Montserrat" translating from the Spanish to roughly "Saw Tooth Mountain." The island was colonized in 1632 when a number of Irish- men,' who formed part of Sir Thomas Warners Company, came across from the neigh -boring island of St. Christopher's ( known today as St. Kitts) and made thctir homes on Montserrat. The island was captured by the French in 1644, -restored to England in 1688, capitulated to France again in 1783 and was finally ceded to Britain in 1783. For all but a few years ...during .the last decade, when Montserrat joined the- Carib- bean Federation (which fell apart soon after its organization), the island has remained a British colony as it is today. The present form of Govern- ment provides for a Ministerial system with a Chief Minister. A Governor, appointed by the Crown, is Head of Government. Montserrat is the smallest, semi -self ,governing territory, in the British West Indies, CRAFT SUPPLIES by Lewiscraft ARTISTS MATERIALS by Grumbacher STORE HOURS: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. PHONE 524-6815 Enjoy a 2 Night Special in TORONTO The Lord Simcoe has something extra for you. It's J night stieclal for two at a cost of only 559.90, It includes deluxe accommodation tot two nights, dinner in the laminas Captain's 1 able o0nlplete with a champagne cocktail, h'reakfast each morning and a sightseeing tour of 1 urunt0'5 many c vtitin;' attractions all for only. 559.110, suhiect to ads,tn.e registration. The Lord Slrncuc is i 1 the heart 01 downtown I uronto, close to sh, ppmr. theatres .111(1 L`llle'rtalllllll'tlt- 1 Ul.l get sulncthlnr cIsc th, t s special at the Lord Slnlcoe will enjoy through- out j , 111 stay with us. Colour TV in every room. fully air ronditio,ned. See ,uur trawl aecnt ur-contact 11 at 15(1 Kung Street West, loroutir. telephone_ 302-1845. TRAVELLIHGA'S 1973 Community Friendship Tour to the p British Isles and Southern Ireland "You are invited to attend a SPECIAL PRE -TOUR FAMILIARIZATION COFFEE PARTY to be held on THURSDAY JUNE 7th, at the ONTARIO .STREET UNITED CHURCH HALL, CLINTON beginning at 8:00 p.m. At this party we wilt be featuring a film on Southern Ireland pnd The British isles, go over the itinerary of the Tour, meet the Tour Hosts Walter and Grace Forbes and answer any questions you may have. If you wish to attend please call Walter Forbes at 482-7858 in Clinton." 22 DAYS DEPARTING FROM TORONTO SEPTEMBER 9, 1 973 This outstanding tour has been especially arranged for you. and your fellow Canadians. You'll visit an Irish Castle where you'll enjoy a magnificent Mediaeval Banquet; "kiss" the famous Blarney Stone; mix with the rollicking Irish and hear their merry ballads in one of their friendly; traditionPI pubs: Dublih, with a history stretching back to pre-viking days. In Edinburgh you'll visit the magnificent Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House; visit the walled city of Chester; Stratford-upon-Avon and the Shakespeare 'Memorial Theatre; you'll spend four days in Europe's largest capital, •London, where you'll visit Buckingham Palace; the Changing - of the Guard, an evening at the.Jheatre. All this and much, much more. ^You'll fly with Air Canada Jet Service; stay at first class Hotels; all land travel by luxury modern motorcoach. .We are happy to announce that this Tour will be personally escor- ted throughout by Walter Forbes former Warden for the County of Huron. In 1971 Walter led our most successful Community Friendship Tour to Europe and extends a cor- dial invitation to you to join him and Mrs. Forbes on)this outstap- ding Tour. Experienced travellers, they are most qualified and congenial hosts. Membership on this Tour is limited to 32 persons. Reservations are being accepted on a first-come, first -serve basis. For further information and Brochure call TOLL FREE 1-800-265-5254 OR WRITE: VELLINGA'S WORLD-WIDE TRAVEL SERVICE_ LTD. 244 QUEEN STREET CHATHAM, ONT. 352-5150 A fully escorted itinerary from Toronto visiting San Francisco and environs, Portland, Seattle and a ferryboat cruise across Juan de Fuca Strait to Victoria, Vancoiever, Fraser Canyon, Jas- per, Banff and Calgary. DEPARTS WEEKLY JUNE - SEPT. �re:AUSE "— * You get a holiday that takes you there... and brings,you back! * You get the best possible values! * You get all the benefits of Suntours and the Royal Bank -of Canada! * Last, but not least, you get the professional services and free advice of 3200 Galt Ocean Drive, Fort Lauderdale 33308 Chatham; Ontario . Travelphone 519-352-5150 CaII Toll Free 1-800-265-5254 P.S.—We look after -all your Travel Documents! would like to call on you with "housewarming gifts" and in- formation about your new location. The Hostess will be glad tor -arrange your subscrip- tion to the Signal -Star CaII her at 524-7854 woorrowerie."104, ••• Acres of private ocean beach • heated pool, sun decks • Itlxuri0us accommodation • golf pr"viledges on 3 ch implonsh"p courses • free tennis on premises • Shoe! 0 dining • nightly dancing ,1"1tl enter 1.linn)rnt • visits to Walt Disney World available. See your travel agent or contact: Innkeeper, 212 King St. W., Toronto, Tel. (416) 362-7537