10:15am
I felt like I had checked everything about a hundred times. This is normal for me. Passport, money, camera, tickets....I always feel the need to check I have tickets and documentation. For everything. Even after checking everything already. Twice. (!)
We got up early and at 9am had half an hour to wait before leaving the house to get to the Bus Station. That was a VERY long half hour. I doubted it, but I just hoped the holiday would seem like five weeks. I didn't want it to go by very fast at all - I wanted to enjoy every moment, every hour, every second.
We boarded the National Express coach to Heathrow - which was at first incredibly hot!!! The warmth outside had leached into the coach while it was standing and everyone was boarding. But eventually we were heading down the motorway and after the "sunroofs" had been opened the coach cooled right down. But WHY the heating was on I did now know.....outside it was 20 C, comfortable, sunny, blue skies, no clouds. Why have the heating on? I hoped my crocs wouldn't melt.....
After Milton Keynes I realised how I was still thinking "Money..Passport...Tickets..." and I was starting to think the usual thing before flying : "What if I get through the scanners and discover all my photos have been erased off my card?". This happened once, a long time ago with a normal camera film when I first went to America when I was 11. Even though I have been to America and Italy and therefore through airports since, and had NO trouble with digital cameras or my photos....I can never help but have that thought in my head. Wouldn't it be awful to get home after having spent 5 weeks in another country and have no photos to show for it? I never actually think its going to happen of course. . . but the thought is always there. I'm always comforted by a friend of mine telling me she puts her camera in her hand luggage every time and she's never had any trouble with it. Thank you Liv! :o)
While we were in the coach I had an urge to shout out the window to everyone else "I'm on holiday! And you are not! Muhahaha!". Of course I didn't. . well, I couldn't, with coach windows not opening....but I did have to remind myself I was on holiday and I was going to Canada.
2:30pm
We arrived a little later at the airport than planned. When we got to the check-in desk, we discovered that check-in would CLOSE 60 MINUTES before the flight departed, at 3pm. It was 1:30pm.
ARGH! We did not remember read anything about that on the website. . . !!
Anyway, a nice man appeared and asked if we wanted to "self-check in" on a kiosk - so we did. And that nice man was the only member of staff who seemed human until we reached the check-in desk at the departure lounge.
Now, this is the only part I hate about flying (well with the exception of the fear of losing photos and luggage). I don't care about queuing up, walking through scanners etc - Its the staff who work there.
I swear they are not told anything about customer service. They don't smile, they never appear friendly, their faces are blank, expressionless, and they may as well be robots. They look at everyone with the sternest face as if you had called them out personally and you just end up feeling guilty for wanting to have a holiday. I know they have a job to do but seriously - do they have to look so unhappy and unapproachable all the time? Or is it just me?
Anyway, it all seemed such a crazy rush to get on the plane - as we had no prior knowledge of the check-in desk closure time. We grabbed a sandwich (even though all my snacks had been eaten), and we had to eat standing up because the
Question: how do you book two tickets under one name and end up not getting them next to each other??? Hmmm.
Anyhoo, suddenly we were on the plane waiting to take off. It was all so fast paced and rushed. How did we get here??
4:27pm Canadian Time
It was surreal when we looked at the map following out flight and "local time" was 2:15pm, after having departed Heathrow at 3pm...!
Now we were flying over Canada, towards Labrador City. We had already bade farewell to the English coast, the Isle of Man and Ireland - then we had some food; fish in a garlic sauce with rice which was really tasty!! And so was the apricot and coconut cookie... ;oD
We were flying past Greenland and just before we reached the Canadian coastline, we saw fragmented pack ice. I have to say that, from 36,000 feet above its very pretty...but I was amazed at exactly how much there was! It stretched on and on for what seemed like ages until we actually reached the coast. I don't know if Polar Bears live out this far East in Canada but seeing all the fragmented ice just made me think - those poor bears. I know the ice thaws sooner than it used to and the bears depend on it. I do wonder if they might become extinct in my lifetime and its sad to say that I really think they might. All this just made me want to see some of these bears in their natu
ral habitat before this happens.
It was surreal when we looked at the map following out flight and "local time" was 2:15pm, after having departed Heathrow at 3pm...!
Now we were flying over Canada, towards Labrador City. We had already bade farewell to the English coast, the Isle of Man and Ireland - then we had some food; fish in a garlic sauce with rice which was really tasty!! And so was the apricot and coconut cookie
We were flying past Greenland and just before we reached the Canadian coastline, we saw fragmented pack ice. I have to say that, from 36,000 feet above its very pretty...but I was amazed at exactly how much there was! It stretched on and on for what seemed like ages until we actually reached the coast. I don't know if Polar Bears live out this far East in Canada but seeing all the fragmented ice just made me think - those poor bears. I know the ice thaws sooner than it used to and the bears depend on it. I do wonder if they might become extinct in my lifetime and its sad to say that I really think they might. All this just made me want to see some of these bears in their natu
ral habitat before this happens. 8:50pm
We arrived safely at 6pm ish, and I called home to let Mum and Dad know. We got our luggage (yay!), went through passport control and customs, and met Janet - our friend who we were staying with - on the other side. Oh and the staff at passport control....well they weren't much better than the ones in Heathrow. Although they looked bored rather than robotic cross headmasters. Do they enjoy their jobs, I wonder? They ever look like they do!
Anyway, we had a 1 hour car journey (or thereabouts) to Cambridge where Janet lives. She rustled up a quick meal for us which was greatly appreciated as I was starving, although Mathew didn't feel quite so hungry until he smelled the chicken grilling....! I had made sure I had taken my antihistamines as Janet has a cat, which I am sadly allergic to. I just get sniffly around cats unless I stroke them and then touch my face without washing my hands. If that happens, my face swells into a pumpkin.
On the way to Janet's house, she was telling us that she lives in an "Ontario Cottage" which is around 100 years old. And in Canada, 100 years is old, 150 years is VERY old, and 200 years plus . . . well, apparently you would either be in Quebec or in a First Nations settlement..! Isn't it strange how a couple of hundred years is so different between Canada and England? When I saw the house, I noticed the ceilings were very high. Houses here seem to have two levels - a cellar or basement, and the actual living area on top which is why most houses have steps up to the front door. It was a very nice house, and I found it easy to imagine someone living there in around 1900.
Pie (the cat) is a very nice black cat, although I had no idea how my allergies would be around her. We slept on the sofa bed in the lounge, so I was hoping the cat wouldn't nuzzle me while I slept. Or at least, not my face anyway! I would only know if I woke up with a pumpkin face....!
We arrived safely at 6pm ish, and I called home to let Mum and Dad know. We got our luggage (yay!), went through passport control and customs, and met Janet - our friend who we were staying with - on the other side. Oh and the staff at passport control....well they weren't much better than the ones in Heathrow. Although they looked bored rather than robotic cross headmasters. Do they enjoy their jobs, I wonder? They ever look like they do!
Anyway, we had a 1 hour car journey (or thereabouts) to Cambridge where Janet lives. She rustled up a quick meal for us which was greatly appreciated as I was starving, although Mathew didn't feel quite so hungry until he smelled the chicken grilling....! I had made sure I had taken my antihistamines as Janet has a cat, which I am sadly allergic to. I just get sniffly around cats unless I stroke them and then touch my face without washing my hands. If that happens, my face swells into a pumpkin.
On the way to Janet's house, she was telling us that she lives in an "Ontario Cottage" which is around 100 years old. And in Canada, 100 years is old, 150 years is VERY old, and 200 years plus . . . well, apparently you would either be in Quebec or in a First Nations settlement..! Isn't it strange how a couple of hundred years is so different between Canada and England? When I saw the house, I noticed the ceilings were very high. Houses here seem to have two levels - a cellar or basement, and the actual living area on top which is why most houses have steps up to the front door. It was a very nice house, and I found it easy to imagine someone living there in around 1900.
Pie (the cat) is a very nice black cat, although I had no idea how my allergies would be around her. We slept on the sofa bed in the lounge, so I was hoping the cat wouldn't nuzzle me while I slept. Or at least, not my face anyway! I would only know if I woke up with a pumpkin face....!
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