Meet
People, products and things.
Long introductions, one at a time. Who they are, what they do, and what it costs.
Everyone else
PeopleInnkeeper
Zita Cobb · Fogo Island, Newfoundland
Her father burned his boat. She built an inn.
Zita Cobb left Fogo Island at sixteen, made a fortune in fibre optics and came home to build an inn that belongs to a charity. Rooms start at about $2,500 a night, and the surplus goes back into the island.
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ProductsHeadwear
The Tilley hat · Toronto, Ontario
The hat an elephant ate three times
The Tilley hat was invented in Toronto in 1980 by a sailor who kept losing his overboard. It floats, it has a pocket in the crown, and it starts at $99.
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ThingsSteam
Paddle Steamer Waverley · The Firth of Clyde, Scotland
Sold for a pound. Still in steam.
Waverley is the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world. She was launched in Glasgow in 1946, sold for £1 in 1974, and still carries passengers round the British coast from May to October.
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ProductsFurniture
The Muskoka chair · Docks, lawns and national parks
Canada’s favourite chair is from New York
The Muskoka chair was designed in Westport, New York, in 1903 and patented by somebody else. Canada renamed it in the 1980s. A plastic one costs about $160 and an original costs thousands.
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ThingsWorking ships
Hurtigruten · Bergen to Kirkenes, Norway
The fast route takes twelve days
Hurtigruten is the coastal ferry that has linked Bergen to the far north of Norway since 1893. It calls at 34 ports, carries freight and locals as well as tourists, and the round trip takes twelve days.
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ThingsOn location
Glen Etive · The Scottish Highlands
The road to Skyfall is a dead end
Glen Etive is the valley in Skyfall where Bond and M stop beside the Aston Martin. The road is about 20 km of single track that ends at a sea loch, and Ian Fleming’s family owned the lodge halfway down it.
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ThingsWhitewater
Kumsheen Rafting Resort · Lytton, British Columbia
The man who named the Jaws of Death
Kumsheen Rafting Resort has been taking people down the Thompson River since 1973. The family that started it still runs it, and the founder named the rapids.
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