June 18 - Blind Sports

This past week I have been thinking about sports activities for people who are blind or visually impaired. I think that I got on this track after a discussion with my friend, Sue.  Sue is quite visually impaired but at the same time, she is actively involved in outdoor sports. She is an enthusiastic member of a dragon boat team. In past winters, she has enjoyed snowshoeing and basically, she just likes the outdoors. In her last email to me sue talked about the possibility of taking up lawn bowling so that she could enjoy this activity with her husband.

I thought about Sue this past weekend as I followed the trail from the top of the Jasper Sky Tram along the trail to the summit behind it. As I gasped for breath with the high elevation, I wondered if lawn bowling wouldn’t be a better alternative – but this was only a passing thought.  In truth I felt energized by the exhilaration of the climb. It was likely the closest I will get to a feeling of being on top of the world.

It isn’t always easy for people who are blind or visually impaired to be involved in physical activity. Moving about carries with it an element of fear. When you can’t see what is ahead of you, it is easy to stumble. Games such as tennis, Frisbee or softball which involve returning flying objects are nearly impossible for most of us with limited sight.

Having said all that, I would maintain that there are lots of activities that a person with little or no sight can enjoy.  Personally I know a man who is completely blind and who is an experienced mountain climber. I know of another young man, also blind, who enjoys the physical contact of wrestling.  I have met people, both blind and visually impaired, who have been involved in a variety of sports – tandem bike riding, goalball, competitive swimming, rock climbing, five pin bowling, downhill skiing, and the list goes on. Certainly there are challenges associated with any of these sports but determination and a will to participate can take a person a long way.

The following pictures were all taken from the trail above the Jasper Sky Tram. Lyle took the first one looking down on the Jasper Town site. I can’t see this one myself but from where we stood, I knew that it was a long way down.

View of Jasper from Sky Tram

In the second picture I am sitting beside a rocky outcrop where we had our lunch. It was quite cold at the top of the mountain. Later on in the same day, the wind came up and the sky tram was temporarily closed down. Fortunately we had already made our descent to the parking lot but other tourists were stranded at the top for several hours.

Sue sitting on a rocky outcrop

The final picture is a view taken from our summit and looking down on the surrounding mountain peaks. Yes, I did feel on top of the world, but as a final note I must add that it was a little scary coming back down the trail again.

View from the summit

I suppose that the first consideration about any kind of physical activity is to choose one which sparks your interest. 

June 11 - Leaving Iceland

In reality, we have now been home from Iceland for a couple of weeks, but it has taken me this long to absorb the adventures of our trip and to write about them for you. I know that I often enjoy hearing about the travels of other people so I hope that my descriptions and the pictures on this blog have given you similar enjoyment.

Iceland was a fascinating place to visit and would you believe that it was the 2012 White Cane Connections that was the inspiration for the trip? When Lyle and I did the white cane walks across Canada we met Baldur. Baldur was originally from Iceland but at the time of the walks, he was working for CNIB on Prince Edward Island.  He walked with us in Charlottetown and as we strolled along the city streets Baldur told us more about his homeland.

We met up with Baldur again in Reykjavik. It was good to catch up and also to hear more about the city and the country, and not just from a tourist point of view. The picture below was taken by a passerby on the Reykjavik street where we had brunch. The church tower in the background is iconic and can be seen for miles distant.

Lyle, Sue, and Baldur in Reykjavik

In some ways, Reykjavik is a city like any other city with crowded streets, traffic jams and extensive suburbs. In other ways it is like no other city with its isolation, busy waterfront and eclectic history. It was not the easiest place to navigate with my white cane. Narrow sidewalks, bustling pedestrians, and cobblestone streets and pathways made mobility difficult. However, the end result was worth it all.

The second and last picture on this post is of Lyle and I standing beside a stuffed polar bear. I hope it is the closest I will ever come to one of these magnificent but fierce creatures. While polar bears aren’t native to Iceland they sometimes drift down from Greenland on floating ice. 

Sue and Lyle with polar bear

I hope that you have enjoyed this series of posts about Iceland.

June 6 - North of Reykjavik

After a week travelling in the small motor home along the south coast area of Iceland, it felt good to move to the larger space of an apartment style hotel in Reykjavik.  Finding the hotel was tricky. The main street was narrow but that was nothing compared to the streets and alleys on either side of it. There were also many one-way streets and others which were closed to traffic. Even with our GPS we had trouble finding the address. Finding a parking spot was an additional challenge.

We only had two full days in Reykjavik so we decided to use one of them to drive a little way up the west coast. From Reykjavik there are a number of fiords. Our destination was Akranes, a small town about an hour’s drive away. In the past, the drive used to be much longer but now there is a long tunnel under the water of the first fiord. When I say long, I do mean long. The tunnel is six kilometers in length and is the only toll road in Iceland. (Toll is approximately $10 US each way.)

We had come to Akranes to see if we could locate any descendants or records of the great grandfather of a friend back home. In the process of our search, we ventured out to the lighthouse, heard an impromptu organ recital in the Lutheran Church, indulged in coffee and pastries in the local bakery, and stomped around the wet grass of the local cemetery. Unfortunately we didn’t find a record of our friend’s great grandfather but we did have a lovely day exploring the town.

As a side note, we had a bite to eat at Subway. This was one of the two North American food chains we came across in Iceland. The other was Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Below are four pictures. The first is by the lighthouse. The lighthouse was on a windswept point and it was raining quite heavily when we were there.

Sue in front of a lighthouse

The second and third pictures are of typical older homes close to the town centre. Some of the older homes also had a corrugated iron covering over the original cement exterior wall.  You can see this on the outside wall of the first home.  I liked the bright colours of some of the homes. It reminded me of houses we had seen in Newfoundland.

Red house with corrugated iron covering

White and blue house

 

Lyle took the final picture looking over the headstones in the town cemetery.  

 

Cemetery