Day 2 (September 21, 2024): Lake Winnipeg and nibbling at all Winnipeg has to offer!
We awoke to our first full day in Manitoba with a sense of urgency: there is much to see today! The heavens opened while we ate breakfast, so what was supposed to be a 40% chance of rain seemed to be quickly ramping up to a rainy morning. And rain was definitely the name of the game until early afternoon. But that didn't stop us.
Armed with amazing information provided by our friends, Brigitte and Adrian, the plan was as follows: drive north to see some Lake Winnipeg sights as far as Gimli, then return to the city, to take in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, The Forks, Saint-Boniface, and the Legislature. Let's see how we made out with that plan....
A view of some of Winnipeg's downtown towers at the start of what was a smorgasbord of weather on summer's last day!
A wall of shoes in honour of residential school children, in downtown Winnipeg.
As we started off for the day, our jaws were constantly dropping, as every gas station we passed made us realize why everything is so expensive out east! We saw gas as low as $1.229 per litre. Compare that with $1.529 in Halifax right now! That differential, along with Manitoba's 12% HST, compared to our 15%, leaves no doubt as to why Atlantic Canada stings price-wise.
As we left Winnipeg, the sky seemed to hold some promise that the downpour that happened as we were eating breakfast might be behind us!
But, oh no, a few minutes further down the highway, the storm clouds were a-brewin'!
Until early afternoon, the sky was like a faucet: on, off, on, off... Through our wet windshield, we at least got to enjoy this momentary rainbow.
Selkirk
Selkirk's drop bridge, across the Red River.
Peace monument in Queen's Park, Selkirk.
This exemplifies the typical old hotel in a prairie town.
The Selkirk Docks, along the Selkirk Waterfront.
Selkirk Waterfront
This sculpture along the Selkirk Waterfront is well done. It depicts fisherman on the Red River.
Selkirk has a wonderful municipal park, for a town its size. Near the entrance to the park, you can find the Marine Museum of Manitoba - Selkirk. Coming from the East, it's mind-boggling to process that one is seeing a lighthouse and large ships in the middle of the prairie! The museum was closed for the season, but it was amazing to see these ships up close.
The largest ship on display is the S.S. Keenora, built in 1897 for service on the Lake of the Woods. It transported lumber (could hold up to 60 cords of wood) and passengers. It was in service until 1966.
A large mural in Selkirk.
This historic ad (early 20th c.) promoted day trips via train between Selkirk and Winnipeg.
A wee bit of passé Indigenous stereotyping going on here, but alas, this sculpture sits in the Selkirk Municipal Park.
Lake Winnipeg, between Selkirk and Gimli
Our first view of impressive Lake Winnipeg, which is 436km long and 111km across at its widest point, was in Dunnottar. This is prime Lake Winnipeg cottage country. These wooden piers are typical of what one sees all along the beach, north of Selkirk.
Winnipeg Beach has a popular provincial park and a wonderful cement walking path along the lake. See those black tiles on the walkway? Each of those has been donated and is inscribed with a commemorative or memorial message.
The wind and rain created some good whitecaps on Lake Winnipeg today.
The water tower at Winnipeg Beach is an icon of the town.
Gimli and area is home to a large Icelandic community. This monument shares the history of the Icelandic and Ukrainian pioneer communities in the area. The Icelandic settlers started to arrive in 1875 from Ontario. The Republic of New Iceland was actually formed and was administered until 1887, when the Municipality of Gimli was created. The Ukrainian pioneers arrived in 1898. Both communities survived on farming and fishing.
Gimli
Gimli is a bustling town on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, just an hour north of Winnipeg. Viking Park is à propos, given the large Icelandic population.
This air force jet is mounted on Gimli's main drag, testament to the importance of the long-since-decommissioned air force base.
On the wide sandy beach in Gimli.
The Gimli Glider Exhibit
The fact that the Gimli Glider Exhibit gets its own bolded banner title in this blog entry shows how important this stop on our tour was!
In case you don't know about the Gimli Glider, this summary from the museum's website may be useful:
On July 23rd, 1983, at 8:30 a perfect prairie summer evening was underway along the shores of Lake Winnipeg. The day’s events at the race car strip alongside the Gimli airport were winding down. Families sitting alongside their campers and trailers after the final race was held. Barbeques had finished with the hot dogs and burgers on the grills. Cottagers were on their decks relaxing and visiting after a summer’s day. One by one groups of people spotted a very large, very silent aircraft coming along the water. Too silent, noticeably dropping too quickly it did not take long to realize something was wrong, really wrong. Still it did not make sense so, bewildered, they just watched the passenger plane descend. At the decommissioned runway no one was looking skyward, not even the three young boys riding their BMX bikes on the asphalt surface. There the story begins, the story that would consume world headlines for the next weeks. Unheard of, a large commercial passenger airliner….what no fuel? How does one land a powerless 115 ton metal behemoth without any controls?
The Gimli Glider Exhibit has accumulated, purchased and received much of relevant pieces, memorabilia and aircraft parts from C-GAUN 604, possibly the most famous FIN number in aviation history.
Spoiler alert: The Air Canada Boeing 767, operating as AC143 from Montreal to Edmonton, was landed without injury or death to the 60+ souls on board, thanks to the skill of the pilot and co-pilot. The aircraft continued to fly for 25 more years and was eventually put into storage in the Mojave Desert. After being sold at auction in 2008, it was broken up, and the museum bought the tail.
The actual tail of the Gimli Glider, FIN # 604 in the Air Canada inventory.
These former Air Canada seats (much more comfortable than today's airplane seats) provide the seating for a documentary on the Gimli Glider.
Some kids on BMX bikes -- including this one -- were riding on the runway when the jet made its appearance out of nowhere!
I was fortunate enough to have Air Canada's former Boeing 767 fleet operations manager volunteering today. What a great chat with him about the B767, my all-time favourite aircraft. He helped me land the Gimli Glider on the Gimli runway using the museum's simulator. Fun fact: the landing gear collapsed upon landing in 1983, so the jet looked just like this when it came to a stop. Miraculously, all that belly scraping didn't cause a fire.
This is a RAT! That is, a Ram Air Turbine. The Gimli Glider only made it to Gimli because of one of these. When the jet ran out of fuel, all electricity was lost. Jets have a RAT for exactly such situations. Once lowered, it becomes a wind turbine which creates enough electricity to operate key components of the aircraft, including radio transmitter. There have been at least 17 verified aircraft “saves” with around 2600 lives saved due to this piece of safety equipment. Another Canadian example was an Air Transat flight into the Azores in the late 90's, which ran out of fuel but was able to land safely, also due to the RAT.
This is a rare large-scale model of the B767, showing the interior via a cutaway.
Our favourite pic of of the day was this mock-up of the side of the fuselage for FIN # 604, registered as C-GAUN.
The abandoned runway at Gimli, where the Gimli Glider landed in 1983.
After our wonderful time in Gimli, we treated ourselves to pickerel and fries in a local diner. We were tentative about pickerel, but thanks to the encouragement of my friend, Adrian, it turned out to be wonderful white fish.
The afternoon sky was still tentative as we headed back to Winnipeg. Here are two yet-to-be-harvested fields of barley (we think!), above, and corn, below.
The onion domes of a large Ukrainian church as we entered Winnipeg on the return trip.
A quiet downtown street on a Saturday afternoon.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Last fall, I did a quick one-day visit to Winnipeg, and my friends, Brigitte and Adrian, took me on a whirlwind city tour. I remember saying to them, as we stopped to view the museum from the outside, "I've got to bring Pam here to see this!" And today, it finally happened.
Founded in 2008, this is what the museum is all about.
"Trace", by Rebecca Belmore (2013-14) is a clay and steel installation, which honours the memory of the original inhabitants of the land on which the museum was built.
Each 'bead' carries the hand imprint of local children and adults.
This timeline shows key events along the road of human rights throughout history.
Despite a population of 2.365 billion Christians on the planet, the impact of Christianity on human rights was limited to this one line. Jesus Christ was also downgraded to "Jesus of Nazareth" - just another Joe who taught some good stuff. Not impressed with that, Canadian Museum of Human Rights! Your political correctness leaves a wee bit to be desired on this front.
A massive display recounts various stories of human rights struggles and violations in Canadian history. Here, the Acadian Deportation of 1755 is shown.
An aerial view of Auschwitz. Two thirds of Europe's Jewish population at the time of WWII were exterminated in camps, like Auschwitz.
The worst genocides of modern times are outlined in an exhibit. It is simply hard to try to process the extent of such atrocities. You may have heard of all of the above genocides. Most people know that six million Jews died in the Holocaust. But did you know that 3.9 million died in the Holodomor, or the Ukrainian Famine, of 1932-33, when Russia deliberately organized mass starvation in the Ukraine?
Basalt columns form the backbone of the Garden of Reflection.
The museum is comprised of eight floors. The visitor walks from exhibit to exhibit, up all floors using these stunning ramps, until they arrive at the peak, shown below.
The museum affords some amazing views of downtown Winnipeg and The Forks.
Upon leaving, one sees Ghandi, who was assassinated in 1948. Ghandi led a peaceful movement in India against the British, to secure state independence and the rights of the Indian people.
The Forks
The Forks is located at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. First Nations groups camped in this area, a seasonal stopping point on their annual migration, and an important trading location. In modern times, it was used as a large railway terminal for CN. Now beautifully gentrified, The Forks is filled with parkland and outdoor performance venues.
These nicely refurbished CN rail cars stand as testament to CN's former presence at The Forks.
This former CN warehouse is now filled with eateries and retail outlets.
My cousin, Kevin, and his wife, Kathie, offered to give us a tour of The Forks, which was wonderful!
Saint-Boniface
Looking across the Red River towards Saint-Boniface.
To get from The Forks to Saint-Boniface, one must take the Provencher Bridge, which has a beautiful cable bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.
Arriving in Saint-Boniface.
The St. Boniface Cathedral is an example of French Romanesque architecture. It was destroyed by fire in 1968. Its shell is a poignant reminder of the importance of Roman Catholicism to the franco-Manitoban community.
The grave of Louis Riel in Saint-Boniface. Riel was executed in 1885. He was a founder of the province of Manitoba, who led two resistance movements on behalf of the Métis people, against the Government of Canada and its then-Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald.
Université de Saint-Boniface
Manitoba Legislature
The Manitoba Legislature was founded in 1870. It is housed in this amazing building, construction of which was started in 1913. It officially opened in 1920. In our opinion, it is the finest architectural example of a legislature in Canada. The grounds surrounding it, and its location on the banks of the Assiniboine River, are nothing short of stunning. Its scale and grandeur are similar to what one would see for the parliament of a European nation.
Louis Riel's importance and reverence is now recognized by this large monument at the Manitoba Legislature.
Legislative geese?! I think that bird on the right is the Speaker of the House!
It was an 11-hour day of driving and sight-seeing. But, oh, what a day it was! Too exhausted to venture far at day's end, we dragged ourselves to the Elephant and Castle, located off the lobby of the Delta Hotel, where we found their beef roast dinner, complete with English Yorkshire pudding. 10/10!
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