Gadling Audio Slideshow: Newfoundland Part III

by Erik Olsen on

Took a few days to pull this together, but here is the third and final installment of my Newfoundland audio slide shows. This last one takes us out sea kayaking once again in the lovely waters of Newfoundland, and in particular near the town of Trinity. The first trip out, with the good folks at Stan Cook’s, was delightful, but alas we saw no whales. This time out, however, things were different, and we not only spied a few humpbacks on the horizon, the leviathans came right up to us. Now THAT’s what sea kayaking is all about my friends.

So, I hope you take a look and once again excuse the cheesy music. And if you couldn’t tell, I am a big advocate of Newfoundland…at least in the summer. It is a lovely, culturally rich place. The perfect mix of adventuresome getaway and enriching cultural experience very close to home.

See the other audio Slide shows:
Part I
Part II
Part III

Top Ten Scenic Routes from the Sky

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m not a window guy. At 6’4″ I find it horribly uncomfortable to cram myself into the window seat. When I do get stuck there, however, I spend most of the flight with my face pressed against the window like a ten-year old on his first flight.

Naturally some flights are better than others for sightseeing. The Telegraph (UK) interviewed ten pilots to find out which routes were their favorites for exceptional views from high altitudes. The pilots were also asked (less interestingly) to name their favorite hotels and restaurants they frequent after arriving at the destination.

Naturally, the results covered the globe. One of the most fascinating was the journey from London to South Africa where window sitters can marvel over the Nice Riviera, Atlas Mountains, oil refinery fires in Nigeria, and sand dunes in Namibia.

New Delhi to Bagdogra also sounds appealing; the route passes through the Himalayas and offers passengers on the left side of the plane a view of Mt. Everest.

I’d like to add my own favorite to the list as well: Los Angeles to Seattle. This route passes over Yosemite Valley and a handful of volcanoes in the state of Oregon.

New Airlines Concept: Profit

by Erik Olsen on

You may find this extremely hard to believe, but according to this piece over at the Christian Science Monitor, some of the major airlines might actually be turning a profit this year? As Jon Stewart might say: Wha?! Yes, the piece here cites a number of factors including various fforged alliances, cutting back on flights, and skimping on freebies like peanuts and drinks. On a larger scale, they’ve cut back on benefits for unionized workers and added a few feet to their wingspan with fuel-conserving “winglets.” This has been enough, it seems, that the airlines have posted a collective profit of about $1.5 billion, pretax, for the months from April to June, according to the investment firm Merrill Lynch in New York.

Here are a few of the numbers: United Airlines, which a year ago was in bankruptcy proceedings, announced quarterly earnings of $119 million this week, following even larger gains at US Airways ($305 million), American ($291 million), and Continental ($198 million).

Exactly what “collectively” means and how long this can last is an open question, but I have to say it gives me a little dose of satisfaction to know that all the airlines aren’t going out of business. granted some of them have been ridiculously inefficient and their service has been lacking ,but I didn’t want them to die, you know? I mean, Jet Blue can’t be everywhere.

Anyway, it is a bit of good news for an embattled industry.

New Flights and Deals

by Erik Olsen on

The good folks over at TravelPost are doing a regular post these days on new flights and flight deals from many of the major airlines. It’s a nice little compendium of opportunities to help you decide which places are opening up to new airline traffic and where you can go for the least number of dollars. For example, we learn that JetBlue (one my of favorite airlines) will soon be offering flights from Dulles to West Palm Beach. These flights commence on October 3 of this year.

There are Motherf*ng Mice on This Plane

by Erik Olsen on

I couldn’t resist posting about this story given the current to-do over the new Sam Jackson film about Snakes on a Plane. In this case, the unwelcome co-travelers were mice rather than snakes. But isn’t that just as scary in a way? I mean, what happens when a bunch of mice on-board a plane start nibbling through the cables in the fuselage or cockpit? That’s bad, right? In this video report, we learn that there were dead mice in oxygen masks as well as live mice under the seats. People searching for left items beneath their seats found tasty little mice feces (no, those aren’t raisins). We learn from the story that there were maybe 900 to 1,000 mice onboard. And apparently, the American Airlines flight kept on going even after the first mice were discovered. What wold I have done? I’d have brought on 100 or so cats to get rid of the mice. Then, of course, I’d bring on 50 dogs to get rid of the cats, and 25 lions to get rid of the dogs. But that’s just me. Mr. problem solver.