GTW,
I don't think we've heard about your Mt. Doom escapade - do tell.
Float planes - all the fun of flying combined with "messing about in boats".
I did my float plane rating in a Bellanca Scout at Vancouver International many years ago. Landing on the Fraser River just to the south of the airport.
All of the circuits were done on the Fraser adjacent to Pitt Meadows and then on Harrison and Alouette Lakes and a mountain lake checkout at Widgeon Lake (49°26'47"N 122°39'49"W).
Even though it was only at 2800', in May the lake was still frozen, so I couldn't land. However, the go-around involved a low-speed, half-flap 180 inside the lake margins in order to climb out the way we approached. Probably more training value than actually landing.
I've been practising that approach recently in X-Plane and it is just as exciting as I remember.
Two highlights of my course were an "I learned about flying from that" moment" and a demonstration of the utility of floatplanes.
1. I landed on the wake of a barge near Pitt Meadows. The waves were only about one foot high, but it felt like the floats were going to be flattened. "Never do that again!"
2. Flying back to YVR from some solo circuits at Harrison Lake, I was desperate for a pee. So I landed on the Pitt River, shut-down, stepped out on the float and then a minute later, feeling much more comfortable
, I started up and took off.
Years later, a friend of mine, with a newly-minted float rating, took me for a ride in a Super Cub at Lake Windemere (BC, not Cumbria). I got the bug again and went to talk to the FBO. After a one-hour checkout, I was solo again.
Later that summer, I was in the area for a week and asked about doing some more flying. The owner said he wasn't busy during the week and handed me the logbooks and the keys and said "Pay me when you're done." A wonderful week of flying and not too expensive - $100 per hour wet!