Monday, Dec. 20th
We heard Mike and Jen leaving the house this morning in Sydney. We were up around 08.30 and made ourselves a simple breakfast. The dog walker came to pick up Salish and take her for a stroll. Salish knew who was coming and charged to the front door to offer greetings. They were gone in a flash.
Breakfast done, we went shopping to see if we could find a Christmas Cactus for the Evans household. However, not too many florists were in evidence as we hiked the entire length of Oxford St. Eventually we found a lovely grocery store which also sold flowers and bought a super bunch of roses for Jen and Mike. Along with a Christmas card and a note of thanks, we had it all done. It was cooler and very windy as we made our way home. We got the flowers in a container and headed up to make preparations for off.
The shower felt great but in my excitement when getting out of the high-sided tub, I pulled down the shower rail with it crashing down on me in all my glory in the tub. Cynthia and I made an attempt to get it back up but in the end we left it for Mike to do, and apologised.
The taxi came right at noon and we were in motion to the airport. Our Indonesian born driver was delightful. He chattered all the way. He’d moved to Oz about 20 years ago and was very proud to be an Oz citizen. We paid him off and headed in to check our bags. Why is that the line you join always seems to be the slowest one? Quantas moved us through fairly well and we went to get a bite of lunch. Pizza and fries sounded good and it was close, so all attempts at healthy eating went out the window.
Long lines at security greeted us, but in all fairness they were fast moving and in moments we were through security and on to our gate. Due to high winds at the airport, even though the day was bright, air traffic on the ground was moving very gingerly and incoming flights were being delayed. Our flight lost an hour as we waited for flights ahead of us to clear from the runways. Eventually we got off the ground about an hour late. The flight was shorter than the outbound flight at 12 hours and 45 minutes. We watched movie after movie and with the meals and great Qantas service we did well, though we slept not a wink.
The plane crashed on to the very wet runway at LAX. According to my pilot friend Chris, that’s a good sign when you feel the landing, for it means the 747 pilot has “stuck” the plane down on the tarmac with no chance of it lifting again. Bearing those words in mind, the Qantas pilot made a superb landing!
Soon we were off the plane and into the chaos that is LAX. I’ve never been in an airport with such poor signeage and with so few people who really seem to care about the traveler. Eventually we had retrieved our bags (LAX security wouldn’t allow them to go on to the final destination even though they had been screened in Oz) We went through another secure area and eventually got the bags back into the luggage system in the airport and on to their meeting with Alaska Airways, our carrier to Vancouver. Now we had to get our bodies there too. We trudged up steps and over skyways asking the way from various people. We did not see Mahalia Jackson, the black lady who blasted us on the outgoing flight, so we were spared her wrath. Once again we hit more security and had the four digits on the right hand, followed by the right thumb, then the four digits on the left hand followed by the left thumb all fingerprinted electronically. Our mug shots completed the rundown and we were out of the starting gate and into the final section in getting to our gate. We had a bite to eat and then boarded the aircraft.
The flight to YVR was good and we landed early. For one fleeting moment of excitement, we thought we might even make the early flight to Comox, but when we checked it out, we missed the last two seats. However, there was no harm done as we could now relax and have a meal in a leisurely fashion. Sweet Lord wouldn’t you know it…the Canucks were playing hockey on the big screen in the restaurant we chose. Cynthia and I cheered them on through the last period of play and through mouthfuls of ‘burger. They won the game against St. Louis by 3-1 and well deserved it was. I think our cheers made all the difference.
We tottered along the long hallways of YVR (Vancouver Airport) to the desk at CMA (Central Mountain Air). When we got there four other people were there so we checked emails and waited. It was such a sweet feeling of anticipation waiting for the clock to roll around to take-off time at 21.30. Remind me never to let myself feel those feelings again. At 21.25 came the first real glitch of the whole trip, on this our last leg. An announcement told us that due to poor weather conditions on the north end of Vancouver Island, the area our plane was leaving to get to us, it would be delayed ’til 22.50, which in turn meant we would not be home ’til 23.30…..ugh! Still, we sucked it up and thanked the Lord we would be getting home sometime tonight, rather than having to come back tomorrow after a night in an hotel. Cynthia stretched our on the seating and got some zzzzs for an hour. I banged out the last post with everything I could up to the minute.
Tuesday Dec 21
Well folks, I’m pleased to say that I am writing these last few lines from the comfort of home. We got to bed about 02.00 this morning and slept ’til 10.45. It’s grey and drizzling outside, far from the blue skies of Bondi beach, but still a welcome sight.
We are off to visit Tim and Andi, to see our grandchildren Charlotte and Oliver and to re-hash the trip…not! Thanks for your company along the way. I appreciated the feedback and encouragement from many of you. Until we lift off again, good bye and God bless. I leave you with slideshow of all the pics taken on the tour. It’s below the picture. When you click on the hotel picture, then look for the slideshow option and click it.
Cheers for now, and love to all of you.
Martin, for Cynthia too.
Here's to all of you. God bless.
