Carol and Nancy were working in the garden this week, Carol weeding the flowers, and Nancy cutting cornstalks, when a pretty darn fancy plane came overhead. A Piper Navaho, it circled us once, then came back again, wing tilted, obviously having a good look. We waved, and wondered who was checking us out.
Brian was in the air at the same time, with his own Piper Cub PA-11, a much smaller plane -- but in true Bushpilot tradition, a plane on floats. His mission was to take some photos of the fall colours, from an eagle's perspective.
Later in the day, we received some photos by email, taken from the Navaho -- which turns out to belong to friends and long time resort guests Lyndsay and Ernie. Lyndsay's mom Pamela was in the plane, pointing out the window and locating all the things she remembered at Bondi from their visits here. She didn't see us waving back, sadly, but we probably looked like little ants from that height.
Brian, upon landing, added his own photos to the day's collection -- and in the little picture, on the top right hand side, you can just make out a tiny little airplane -- that would be Pamela and Co. -- Brian was MUCH higher (but then, he wasn't trying to see us on the ground!) and was circling above their plane while they were circling above us, and the chickens were running in circles on the ground!
Seeing north Muskoka from the air, especially at this time of year, is a magical experience, and a breathtaking one. You don't truly appreciate the shape of the Canadian Shield and its myriad lakes until you see it from above!
On September 29, 2008, my daughter, Lyndsay, treated me to a "surprise" day of sight-seeing.
ReplyDeleteWe took off from Buttonville and flew NNW up the Bruce Peninsula, landing at the Killarney Provincial Park.
Our return route took us south over to The Lake of Bays especially to locate Bondi. We circled several times, looking for and at familiar landmarks, Brian's green hangar, Nancy's stables, the old farm-house with the lodge, the dock and Cedars, of course, where we spent every summer from 1964 until 1977.
Everything seemed just as I remembered it. Tamara was lucky, always to have been welcomed like a sister by both Nancy and Brian. Tamara continued spending her summers at Bondi from 1978 until the middle of the 1980s where she lived as a true member of the Tapley family. It was her second home.
Rosemary spoilt her, as did Paul, who took on the task of taking her into Huntsville to pass her driving test.
Unknown to Lyndsay and I as we filmed all these memories, 2,000 feet above, Brian was flying his float-plane and wondering who was "buzzing" his home. He was now photographing "us and a jolly nice picture he took, too. Thanks Brian.
I have nothing but happy memories of Bondi.
Pamela E. J. O'Callaghan - October 2008