2003 WHEELCHAIR NOMAD DIARY SEE http://donpugh.dyndns.org/

We arrived at the interpretative site, with a hundred-metre Canadian five-cent coin called a nickel, which was created in the 1950’s.

I was stunned at the modern interactive quality of the displays which outlined how this area was hit by a ten kilometre asteroid about 1.8 billion years ago, causing a nickel formation. Human history was traced out in a unique, exciting AV show for thirty minutes, involving a projected movie of a barber looking almost real telling stories he had heard from his customers about the railway, timber trade, and prospectors of the area. Copper had been discovered in 1883 with the CPR construction, but only with the roasting process in the early 1900’s could nickel be separated from “devil’s copper.” Roasting or burning the ore released huge amounts of sulphur, which combined with rain to make acid rain, which killed all vegetation around Sudbury creating a lunar landscape. Sudbury produced ninety percent of the world’s nickel until after the Second World War. Nickel as an alloy created stainless steel, which became popular from the 1930’s for kitchen sinks and other domestic appliances. The 375 meter smoke stack, highest in the world, has diluted the pollution, making possible the reforestation of Sudbury today.

Finally, at 1.00 am we joined a one-hour under-ground tour through the Sudbury chasm, a series of twelve degree, dripping wet tunnels illustrating mining in 1900, 1970 and today. By 2.30 pm, we have had enough and were glad to move on. I was sad not to have seen information on the refining of nickel.

We then visited the Science Centre located overlooking Austin Airways and a beautiful northern lake and yacht club. We ate lunch at “Landings,” a restaurant celebrating the north with a northern float equipped plane, admiring the view and returned to the hotel at 4.30 pm. Jorge started work at the City Centre nearby, talking to irate cable customers in New York State and organising technicians.