Please help

As you may know, Australia holds a special place in my heart, and right now it is deeply saddened by the horrific wildfires that are devestating whole towns, killing people and destroying wildlife.

Especially after seeing stories like this, about this poor koala. I love koalas…

I know times are tough all over, but if you can help out… please do

If you would prefer to help the people who have been hurt by these fires, please donate here:

Dining with the Spirits aboard the Queen Mary

Sad to say, one of the stories I had heard somewhere about the Queen Mary is untrue.

I had read somewhere, and I cannot for the life of me remember where, that some of the Queen Mary’s most famous spooks were the ghosts of servicemen who had died there during World War 2. No, I am not saying that there aren’t ghosts of servicemen, just that the story I had read was wrong: I had heard that they had died because they were sleeping in the first class pool, which is situated right over the engines (true and true), and that when the boat sailed through the Panama Canal, the heat from the engines combined with the heat of being close to the Equator resulting in overly cooked servicemen.

The Queen Mary is too big to go through the Panama Canal. Ergo, that last part isn’t true.

It is true, however, that the Queen Mary was used as a troop ship in the Second World War, however it operated in the North Atlantic, and I get the feeling that those troops who got assigned bunks in the pool area were probably happy about the extra warmth they would have gotten from the engines.

One of the highlights of my return from my trip Down Under was doing the “Dining with Spirits” tour on the Queen Mary, in Long Beach California. It was a last minute sign-up; I would have booked ahead of time but had been sure I would still be suffering from jet lag. Fortunately I had slept most of the day so I was fine and raring to go by the time I got to the ship.

I was also very excited because the Queen Mary has quite the reputation in ghost tour circles. I’ve seen a few ghost hunt shows about the ship, and was eager to try my own hunt.

Arriving at the ship is almost daunting… dark, overcast night, empty streets and then suddenly there she is: this huge behemoth ocean liner rising before you. I’ve been on cruise ships in the Caribbean before, but somehow the Queen Mary just seems more overwhelming.

There are a couple paranormal tours offered on board, but the one available that night was Dining with the Spirits, which included “upscale dining at the award-winning Sir Winston’s, followed by an intimate tour of the ship’s paranormal host spots.” Well, I was going to have to eat dinner anyway…

We were a small group that night (under 20), which I understand is quite the rarity. We all gathered in the bar area of Sir Winston’s, the ships ‘most elegant restaurant’. The bar is decorated with many pictures from the ship’s heyday, including some of its celebrity passengers. I met a couple who were not only doing the dinner/tour but also staying on board at the ship’s hotel. They were not the only couple doing so, I later discovered; most of the folks on the tour were staying there. Our paranormal guide says the ship is most ‘active’ around 4 a.m., so staying over is definitely something I’ll want to try next time.

Sir Winston’s definitely lived up to its elegant promise. The food was excellent and wonderfully presented. The group at my table spent most of dinner telling each other stories about strange encounters they had experienced or other ghost tours they had been on. Needless to say, we were primed.

Halfway through dinner we were joined by Andrew, who is one of the ship historians. He dashed the story I had heard, but confirmed another – yes, despite being unarmed the Queen Mary has sunk a boat. Sadly, it was an escort ship during WWII (a so-called ‘friendly fire’ type incident), and may account for some of the paranormal experiences. The ship also carried my POWs, which could also account for other ‘things that go bump in the night.’

Erika Frost, our paranormal tour guide joined us for dessert. She gave us an overview of where we were going and what to expect. She also gave us this directive: if taking pictures, take a few in rapid succession: If you get an orb on one and not on another, that is to be ‘trusted’ more than if you only take one picture. That one could just be of dust; a couple pics will clarify that. She also warned us that many folks did experience unexplained camera problems on the tour.

Another thing she mentioned is that the boat is completely stationary. While still surrounded by water, it was wedged pretty hard in, and so it just simply didn’t move. Any rocking feeling we might experience would be due to electromagnetic waves, something she says occur a lot in such a highly charged paranormal area. Indeed, some folks had mentioned it during dinner, though not all of us felt it.

I did also want to mention one slightly weird thing that happened during dinner. At one point I went to the washroom, walking through the restaurant’s lobby and bar. As I approached the lobby there was an overwhelming smell of cigar. Even the maître mentioned that someone in the bar must be smoking and he hoped the bartender would tell them to stop. When I went down the stairs to the bar, the smell was fainter, but more importantly – the place was empty.

Our first stop was one of the engine rooms, where a spirit called Johnny resides. He had been crushed in an accident many years ago, and is considered one of the ship’s most famous residents. Erika said she felt his presence, which I did not, though myself and a couple others felt there was someone else, hiding in the back area. Erika confirmed that there is another man whose spirit has been felt in that area but little is known about him; he’s shy and not that talkative. We stopped and some of us were given a chance to try dowsing. While the metal rods did do a lot of moving around, I am still not sure I felt a presence. One woman though, felt someone brushing against her a lot, and Erika did say that ‘Johnny’ really seemed to like her.

One of the next stops was in the very bowels of the ship, right at the front, where the POWs had been kept. Haunted or not, this area was downright creepy. We turned off our flashlights, sat in a circle and just tried to commune with whoever might be there. For a while it was pitch-black, but then you could see shadows of people walking by the hatch door. Something you thought nothing of until you realized we were in an area that was locked to other people – we had to have a security guard let us in – and there were no lights on upstairs in order to cast shadows. We also heard several knocks and muttering voices.

It was here that I took some rapid succession pics that actually showed some orb shaped things.





And one of the other women who had ‘seen’ the other man down in the engine room confirmed my feeling that there was someone in the far right corner; a woman. Probably a nurse.

We all got out of that area quite quickly.

The last area we went to was the first class pool area. This is considered another one of the ship’s hot spots, and one of our tour participants had told a story about an experience he’d had there a few decades before; something that had scared him enough that this was his first time back.

Almost as soon as we arrived one man started asking about the little girl in the corner.

Erika supplied her name, which I am afraid I have forgotten. She is also one of the more famous ghosts aboard, believed to have been a young girl who drowned in the second class pool area, but when it was closed and turned into more cabin space, had moved to this pool area.

Frankly I was more unnerved by the person I felt watching from the upstairs balcony.

After a wander around the area we were asked if we wanted to enter the change room area, where there was supposed to be a ‘vortex’ – portal to the other side. The man who’d told his story had said his experience had happened right at the end of the hall of change rooms…. so guess where I went? Yep. I didn’t taunt the ghosts, as he said he’d done, I just went down to the end, turned off my flashlight (as all the others did) and waited. Let me also say, the nearest person to me was three rooms down. No one close to me at all.

So who the heck as rubbing my feet?

First the right then the left, then a pause, then left then right. And my skirt was lifting a little at the bottom.

There was also a feeling that something else was in the room with me. So I stepped out into the hallway… just as Erika said, “Whoever is down at the end, there is a strong presence down there with you.” “Yes,” I replied. “Which is why I moved out to the hall.”

When I mentioned the feet thing to her later, she laughed and said, “Oh, you probably got one of the cats then.” The Queen Mary had, in its heyday, a bit of a rodent problem. So cats were brought on board to take care of it. And many had never left… As soon as she said it, it made total sense: it had felt exactly like a cat brushing back and forth around my feet. And it wasn’t the first time I’d had cats show up for me on a ghost tour. It would seem that, despite not having a real cat at present, I am still a cat person.

All in all, an interesting experience. I am not sure how much of it was my imagination or if I did encounter something paranormal, but I did enjoy the evening. And I definitely would like to return for a night in the hotel and another tour. Maybe that one that starts at midnight…

How Air New Zealand ruined Christmas

I started on my trip Down Under with high hopes and in good spirits. My stop in San Francisco was wonderful; I love that town. So much to see and do… and the food! YUM! What a great start to my trip (the only ‘bad’ spot being the man in the next hotel room who liked to be called “the King” during sex… I kid you not!).

Unfortunately, Air New Zealand decided that my bags needed to stay in San Francisco even though I had left. I arrived in Sydney, after a long 13 hour flight to Auckland, an hour rest and then a 3 hour bump over to Australia, to discover that my bags had been left in the US. Actually, that was discovered about 6 hours after my arrival – until then no one knew where they were.

The first day I was more concerned about getting clean clothes, but as days pass that quickly fades when you have trucked around the world to spend Christmas with your nephew – his first Christmas – and with your somewhat estranged side of the family, and have arrived empty-handed. Literally. Definitely not the way to make a good impression.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported, while I was in Australia, that several thousand travellers had had their bags go missing, and I also heard from several Aussies that both Qantas and Air NZ have a ‘propensity’ for losing bags around the holidays. I am not sure if there was any truth in the rumour that one Qantas flight from London Heathrow has arrived filled with travellers, but sans all luggage, but I can certainly believe it.

It took almost four days for my bags to show up. After Christmas. After having to sit there like a beggar at the table, feeling like crap whenever anyone handed me a present to open, knowing that the best part of Christmas is the giving of gifts – and I had nothing to give (yet).

Four days. A day and a half of which they had sat in Auckland waiting for someone to notice that they belonged in Australia not New Zealand. During that time I had called Baggage Services about six times, sitting on hold for on average an hour each time. Air New Zealand graciously compensated me $100AUD for my troubles… but I had to come to them and get it.

They failed to compensate me for having to replace one suitcase – when my bags did finally show up one of them wouldn’t roll properly. I opened up the back to see why the handle wouldn’t work and discover that the entire infrastructure was bent inward in a reverse V. I am afraid to think of how it was thrown in order to have created such a deep bend.

I said ‘ruined’ didn’t I? Well, perhaps not entirely, I did get to spend time with my family and to play with my nephew, but the first few days of my trip were marred by a preoccupation with the bags. Christmas Day was unenjoyable because I was unable to give the presents I had spend months selecting. By the time they did show up it was very anticlimatic, and I still felt like the beggar child. So no, not entirely ruined.

Taking a weekend trip

I have to head over to Southwestern Ontario for a concert, so I thought I’d make a weekend of it and do something I love doing: going to Farmers Markets. I’d heard about the St. Jacobs Market before and so I looked it up and lo and behold: the town of St. Jacobs is having a “special holiday shopping Open House” November 7-9.

I am looking forward to it because I’ve heard St Jacobs is a beautiful old country town, full of Mennonite heritage. Living in Winnipeg for several years I had gotten used to seeing the Mennonite and Hutterite visitors and enjoying the wonderful crafts they would bring to various craft fairs in the area. So this weekend is a great opportunity to take a look around, enjoy wonderful food and maybe find that perfect crafty holiday present.

Depending on if I wake up early enough (always a chore) I may even get to hop the Waterloo Central Railway to get to the Market and the town. An old steam train! How cool is that?

Yeah, I know… I am looking to be amused. But seriously, after all the drama that usually surround concerts of the ilk I am going to… a relaxing old country day will be just what I need.

BOO!

I like ghost tours.

I’m a bit of a history buff, and it is a great way to get a good taste of the area’s history. After all – to know the ghost, you have to know why the ghost came about, right? A good guide explains the history of not only the buildings visited, but also about the people and living conditions of that era. Or many eras. And with ghost tours popping up everywhere (sort to like Starbucks stores), it is a cool, and creepy way to learn a little.

If you ever find yourself in St. Augustine, Florida (and who hasn’t?), I highly recommend the Ghost Tours of St. Augustine’s ‘A Ghostly Experience’. Just about every old building there is haunted; everything from Flagler College, the Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine Lighthouse, even the building which houses Ripley’s Believe It or Not. There is even a haunted tree!

My last trip to Florida I was all about the lying on the beach and doing anything that required more work that putting on sunscreen… well, you get the picture. But the brain can only atrophy for so long and I took the ghost tour offered in New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona Beach. I was the only one of the tour so I got two, count ‘em – two, guides. Susan is a local medium and she brought along Charlie Carlson, a well-known author of the strange and weird (penning books like “Weird Florida” and “Strange Florida”). With a reminder that Florida was one point of the Bermuda Triangle, the two spooked me with all sorts of strange stories. Like the one about a former mayor who still wanders the streets, sometimes as a cat (and we saw a cat doing pretty weird things… like running across the street in front of cars. Coincidence?), or about a cheerleader who, murdered by a serial killer, came back to visit her family and frightened them so much they abandoned their home – just walking out and not coming back. The house lies empty to this day. Freaky!

Anyway, I love ghost tours… and am hoping to do some more on future trips.

New amusement park in Orlando…

So apparently there is a new amusement park in Orlando. Right on International Drive. It’s called… Walgreen’s. 

Seriously! I got into Orlando late on the Friday night, after a very scary-licious ghost tour in New Smyrna Beach. Headed to my hotel and immediately regretted my decision to stay on I Drive (instead of going for the bed and breakfast downtown that I’ve always promised myself I will stay in).. I got off the highway and only had to drive 3 and a half blocks to the hotels… which took me about 15 minutes – nothing like Friday night traffic on I Drive. Sigh. I dodged the drunken tourists blocking the door, managed to get my keys from the check-in dude who was busier ogling the hottie in the lobby than paying any attention to me and finally managed to track down my room.  

I swung by Walgreen’s around 11 p.m. to get some water and aspirin and saw the most ridiculous thing – parents were actually dropping their kids off there and then, I guess, going to the bars nearby and drinking.  

WTF!? 

Yo! It’s a DRUG STORE! Sure, they have toys and magazines and candy and crap, but come on…  Parents. It’s them I just don’t understand.

Travellin’

I love to travel (and have the depleted bank account to show for it).

I am told that my first travel experience was at about 6 months, when my parents flew my across the country to meet the extended family. While I can’t say I remember that journey… airplanes and me have been very close for many years.

Recently most of my trips are in Canada and US (see earlier note about depleted funds). I did regularly go on a fundraising cruise every December but not sure that is in the cards for this year. Still, I have travelled a lot in North America and have I got stories! And guess what? Going to sharing them.

Hmmm… where to start? Well, seeing as I am about to go on a trip to Florida in a few weeks, I’ll start with a tale of a trip there.

A few years back, post-9/11, I was heading to Orlando – I can’t recall why, but I am certain it was for something related to a charity I do work for (their offices are based there, while I do fundraising for them up here in Canada). Anyway, the Air Canada flight had touched down and myself and all the other passengers were all looking forward to the plane taxiing up to the terminal and letting us off.

Ah, it is good to have dreams, hunh? Okay, it wasn’t that bad…

We are almost there… it seemed like only a few hundred feet… but the plane ground to a halt and we were not moving forward. The captain came on and said that our plane had been asked by the tower to hold for a few minutes for security reasons and that he would let us know when we would be moving again soon.

As he was telling us this another plane came thundering down on the runway next to us and then taxiied over to the terminal.

Now, the thing about Air Canada flights to Orlando is that they are codeshares with United Airlines. We Canadians don’t care much about that but one American on the plane sure as hell did.

He started going on, loudly, about how this would never have happened if we were on a UNITED Airlines plane (codeshare yes, plane was ‘labelled’ Air Canada though). If it had been an American-based plane, he said, we wouldn’t have been held up. He went on about how the U.S. of A. had to be careful about foreign planes, even Canadian ones. He thought it was really unfair that he had thought he was getting on an United plane and now that he was going to be late for his whatever because he was stuck with ‘foreigners.’ His President, he said, wouldn’t stand for this. He was sure that if he knew United was doing this to their American customers he’d put a stop to it.  His President was working on keeping terrorists out of the US and the plane companies need to work with him. That way people like him (the passenger) wouldn’t have to be stopped because being on a Canadian plane was a security threat.

Anyway, eventually he captain came on again. He thanked us for our patience and said that the security concerns were now taken care of. And, if we were interested, we could look out the window to understand why we were held up and also to see one of the most famous planes in the world – Air Force One.

And Mr. Spouts-alot immediately shut up. (tee hee)

Yep, George W. was coming into town to meet up with his brother Jeb at some event… and his plane was coming in at the same time as ours. So we got stopped. As would any plane have been (and several others were… when you looked out at Air Force One you could see other planes that had been held where they were suddenly starting to rev up again).

Okay… silly story, I know, but I thought it was amusing.