Saturday night, while up in Canada, our crew drove to Smiths Falls to an old family friend’s house. Wentworth has lived in the same digs on the Poonamalie Lockstation for as long as I have been alive. We used to keep our boat, the PyeSeas docked nearby, and I spent a good portion of my childhood annoying people in the general vicinity. I’ll mention this evening in greater detail when I get around to processing all the accompanying photos. For now – let’s just say you haven’t lived until you’ve heard 3 hours of Newfie jokes told by the drunken Newfies themselves.
“Did you hear about the Newfie 2-seater airplane that crashed near a cemetery? They’ve recovered 136 bodies and they’re still counting.”
The Rideau Canal System, was built by the British from 1824 – 1832: Back then, the Rideau was a wilderness of lakes, rivers and swamps. In the middle of this wilderness, with many men dying from malaria, an engineering marvel was created. Over 1,000 workers, the vast majority of whom were Irish or French-Canadian, died during construction. Considering the era and technology available, building the canal makes the Big Dig look like a half-assed sandcastle.
There are 23 locks on the system, and I’ve been through every last one of them. I carry many great summer memories of the community that surrounds boating up and down the waterway. As a child I was often bored – it can take hours to get through one station – but overall they were great times. I have to get crackin’ on the long day ahead, but if you’re interested read some more of the truly amazing history here.
A little more notice would have been nice… you think that’s a canal system?
In the words of the great half man half retarded owl, “come to Wellend sometime”.
– Collange
I didn’t call you once we were up there because the weather was so bad. We’ll be back up in force for labor day if you and the much better half are interested.
Interesting stuff Pyeman. We had a similar engineering marvel in upstate NY as well, little canal called the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal has seen better days but at the time it was, just as your Newfie canal, was an engineering marvel.
Seriously, after spending over 18 billion dollars, you would think the Big Dig would link us to England by now.
Good post Pyeman, now lets see more Newfie jokes.