Canada - the final EPIC blog entry!!

Friday 14th August 2009

11.30am
Well our flight was delayed this end but only by 15 minutes and there was no hassle at all from check-in right through to takes-off.

I got up at 6.30am so that I would have time for a relaxed shower and breakfast before we had to go out. As I expected, when I went down pat was the only other person awake. I had my breakfast of raisin bran with banana as I intended and shortly after that my mum got up. My mum only had a yoghurt for breakfast and even that she gave the end of it to me! I then remembered that I had my own yoghurt in the fridge but when I went in search of it I couldn’t find it. Pat was looking as well and then she suddenly realised “oh I had kids here yesterday”. She asked Patty but she didn’t know if anyone had had it. Pat said in her house the grandchildren know usually if the see something and want it they are allowed to just take it – she forgot to tell them to stay away from the yoghurts, oh well.

Lesley dropped off some clean clothes for Patty at about 8am and by 8.30 we were all ready to leave. As we were driving to the airport somehow the conversation got onto church and serving on the altar etc. Pat asked Patty if Michey was still serving on the altar and said she felt sorry for the priest. Patty said Michey is actually well-behaved on the altar and then said “Maybe she should stay on the altar for the rest of her life and then she’d be good!”

When we got to the airport the Air Canada drop-off point was right at the end. We had a very brief goodbye – Pat says she doesn’t like goodbyes cos she cries and I think I might’ve done too if we lingered – in fact I can feel myself welling up as I write this (17,000 ft above ground level)

We joined the (very short) line near the desk for Air Canada and when we were at the front one staff member told us to come forward to the screen. We didn’t even need tickets, it was an automated system where you scan the picture page of your passport and all the information pops up on the screen. Once we’d done both passports the person on the desk had to issue boarding passes and stapled the little green visa waiver slip onto them. Then there was a place in the middle of the hallway where you drop your checked luggage before going through security.

When you do go through security they don’t have just a normal metal detector for you to go through, it’s a funny machine where you have to stand with your hands above your head with fingertips touching and you have to look up. A vertical bar then goes round and scans you.

After security we headed to our gate and the previous flight going from our gate hadn’t even boarded yet!!:-o we just found a couple of seats and parked ourselves there to sit for the next 90 minutes :-o It had taken us just half an hour to clear everything and arrive at our boarding gate :-o :-)

We’d been sitting about 10-15 minutes before they started boarding the Chicago flight which was the one going before us. We were watching them board and there was an old bishop (or someone equally important in the church) sitting in a wheelchair waiting to be boarded, he looked pretty relaxed, I’m not sure if there was anyone with him. Also on that flight was an unaccompanied minor, (presumably) his mum was with him in the gate area and she seemed a lot more nervous than he did. I heard the mum telling one of the staff he’s flown with them many times but it was the first time he’d flown on his own.

Because we were sitting in the gate area and not making any moves to get on the plane one of the staff asked us where we were going. When I told her we were on the next flight to Toronto and we were early, she and I both laughed and she said “we like early”.

Obviously there wasn’t a lot for us to do so we basically sat and chatted, and I filled our water bottles from the drinking fountain. We also ate some of the food we had with us. We had a banana and half a packet of cookies each.

When the plane landed that we would be getting on I went to the window to try and get a picture but it was round the other side and I couldn’t even see it! As we went through the tunnel to get to the plane I got my photos then.

As on the way out, the lady came round with drinks and snacks – lemon chilli corn sticks again *rolleyes*

Well we’re now on the way down – an hour, perfect time to write up today’s events so far!!


Saturday 15th August 2009

1.40pm
I was intending being in the pool right now but the lifeguard hasn’t turned up so the pool isn’t open at the moment :-(

Anyway back to yesterday’s update.

When we got off the plane I decided to get another photo of the front of it and when I did a staff member asked me did I want my photo taken coming off the plane so of course I accepted his offer :-) We then had to get a bus back to the main arrivals hall, obviously the little planes take off and arrive at the far end of the airport.

When we got to customs we had a bit of explaining to do – we live in England, are arriving in Canada from the usa and only staying 2 days ;-D There wasn’t a problem, it just felt a bit silly. Once we’d come through customs we had to go and find our suitcase. The carousels were at the bottom of an escalator and there was a set of seats where my mum parked herself while I went to get the case. As I approached the right carousel I saw our case coming round so I sprinted the last little bit so that I didn’t need to hang around while it did another circuit.

My mum was really surprised at how quick I was back with the case and then we had to go and find a taxi. We followed the signs and it was really easy, there was a man at the rank, asked us if we wanted a taxi so he got on his radio and got a car sent round to us.

While we were on the way to the apartment I wondered when I would start recognising places and we actually went past the hotel, I initially saw the Canada TD building and then knew where I was :-) My mum had reckoned on the taxi fare being about $30-$35 and it was actually $29 – she was extremely close :-) When we got to the apartment I was on key / door duty cos my mum said she thought she remembered it being a bit awkward – she was right, I had to jiggle and push and pull the door before the key actually turned.

We decided to just dump the luggage and then go over to Rockwood Mall opposite. The first thing we did was change our American money into Canadian, we actually got a little bit more Canadian than American :-) We then went in search of a new suitcase / holdall cos we’ve got far too much stuff to take home to fit into the cases we’ve got. We bought a nice bright blue and black holdall for $30. they had the same one all in black but we decided we wanted the blue one cos it was brighter and would be easier to see on the luggage carousel. We also bought a few groceries and luggage straps / tags before going back over to the apartment.

When we got back into the apartment we put the stuff away and then got our lunch ready. It was 3.20pm when we actually got round to eating our lunch :-o

We were just sitting watching telly for a while and then I decided to get the bags out although I can’t remember exactly why I’d done that :-/ While I was sitting on the floor with stuff all around me there was a knock on the door, I guessed it might be Connie and Doug and I was right :-) We exchanged gifts cos they’d been to a butterfly place and brought us a magnet and me a badge – we also gave them all the bits and pieces we’d bought them from America.

It seems that AB had had to work until her proper time of 4.45 rather than the summer hours of 3pm cos it was about 5.30 when she got home. She sat and relaxed for a short while and during that time we were telling tales from America and doing a bit of a photo show too. I was showing Connie pictures of our cats as well and then we got onto Lambananas ;-D I’d forgotten just how many photos of Lambananas I actually had :-o

AB had arranged that we were having barbecued steaks with potatoes and salad for ‘supper’ so she began preparing that before she handed over to Doug to cook the steaks. When the steaks were cooked we saw how big they were – they were enormous :-o :-o I only took a little bit of salad and potatoes cos I wanted to make sure I finished my steak!!! My mum said straight away she wouldn’t be able to eat a whole steak so she cut a section off and Connie decided she wanted the other part of my mum’s steak. Doug had 2v steaks to himself :-o

After ‘supper’ we just sat round chatting for a while, mainly about the various pets that the 3 families had had. Once Connie and Doug had gone home we still stayed chatting for a while. At one point I realised I had no clothes out for the next day so went rummaging in the case. I found some clothes but couldn’t find any underwear so I went digging. I ended up putting practically the entire contents of both cases onto the floor before I found any underwear *rolleyes*

2.50pm
I’ve just been down to the pool again to see if the lifeguard had arrived – the door was locked so presumably there isn’t a lifeguard and therefore no swimming :-(

Once I’d found my underwear last night I tidied everything away and cleared enough space to get the fold-up bed out when bedtime came.

I was lying on the floor in the living room and at one point either I commented or AB noticed that my feet were filthy black and she said “are my floors really that dirty? :-o I felt like saying “well actually yes they are” but we managed to skirt past it somehow. While I was lying on the floor the time was getting later and later and I was falling asleep while my mum and AB were reminiscing about their past – grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles etc. Eventually at about 11.20 AB suggested we get the beds sorted for bed – hooray!

I didn’t sleep *too* badly although I did wake up at least twice – once cos I needed to go to the toilet and another time cos I felt Ash (the big black male cat) jump on the arm of the couch by my head – he was going up onto the windowsill. I woke up at around 7.30 and decided I might as well get up. Once I got back from the bathroom my mum was also awake. We didn’t really do very much for a while until AB had got up.

My mum went for a shower at about 9.15 and once she was out we started sorting out the laundry for washing. AB gave us her keys cos you need the electric fob to get into the laundry. We ended up with 3 loads for the washer and 2 for the driers. At the time when the laundry would be ready to come out I went down to check the hours and how to get in the pool. The sign said summer hours were 12-5 and 6-8, well this was after 12 so I tried to get in but none of the keys on AB’s keyring worked so when I got back to the apartment I told her. She then rang the superintendent of the building who told her you don’t need any keys at all to get into the pool BUT the lifeguard hadn’t turned up so they weren’t allowed to open the pool. Apparently she was ringing the contractors for the lifeguard to see what was happening and as soon as a lifeguard turned up they’d open the pool.

I sorted out all of the dry laundry for packing into the case, I figured (and I hope it works) that if we fold the washing in the right way it should hopefully iron itself in the case, especially as the clothes were still warm from the drier. I folded all the clothes very carefully and have packed them into the case – I’ll find out when we get home whether or not my theory has worked!!!

AB said she rang Robin to remind him about tonight’s meal and he asked would Doug pick him up cos Agatha’s at work and has the car, I got quite excited about this and said could *I* pick him up with Doug. Obviously I’ll have to ask Doug but I can’t see it being a problem – Doug was more than happy for me to drive when we went out :-)

Now we’re sitting doing not an awful lot – I’m blogging (and have Abbamania playing on the computer) and mum’s playing word games on the DS.

Right now my diary for this entire holiday stands at just over 30,000 words and obviously it’s not finished yet!!!

AB’s just been on the phone to Renee and apparently she’s bring her 2 dogs – they’re huge :-o

Sunday 16th August 2009

10.25am
Well this is the last time I’ll actually be updating from Canada at 2pm today Doug and Connie will be coming to pick us up to take us to the airport to go home.

Yesterday Doug came down with the dogs at about 4.10pm, they had their haircuts and Duke gets a Mohawk so I wanted to see the new hairdo and take photos. After I’d taken my photos Doug took the dogs back to their apartment. Connie came down and said that Doug was going to get the car ready to go and pick up Robin so AB tried to ring Robin to say we were on our way – no answer. She tried twice with no luck – she said almost certainly Robin had fallen asleep and then nothing will wake him up. Connie went out to tell Doug and when she came back she said was all ready for me – he was sitting in the passenger seat ready for me to drive. I really wanted to go and pick up Robin :-( AB tried again a couple of times within the next hour but still with no luck so she gave up then :-(

We were also waiting for Renee to arrive with the dogs and she’d said she was on her way. I think we must’ve waited about an hour before AB decided we weren’t waiting any longer and we ate our tea. There was salad, corn on the cob and seasoned potatoes. The corn was very nice, it was really fresh cos Connie and Doug had brought it from St Jacob’s a few days previously. I actually ended up having 2 cobs of corn, I’d had my first course and was looking at the table trying to decided if and what I wanted next – Doug decided for me, he plonked a corn cob on my plate LOL

Renee arrived with the dogs at about 8.30 – she’d stopped off somewhere on the way here. Her dogs are lovely – she’s got a husky called Shy and a Doberman called Terra. Doberman’s are supposed to be scary dogs but Terra is a big softy – the worst she would do is lick you to death haha.

Renee stayed a couple of hours with the dogs and she had food that she warmed up in the microwave. While we were all here AB rang Robin again and actually got an answer from him this time so we just chatted to him on the phone. Aww I just realised – if Robin had actually come down last night I might’ve got a chance to drive in the night over here, that’s the only thing I haven’t done now – all my driving has been during daylight hours.

When Renée was leaving with the dogs we had to stop Ash going out with them – Ash and Sky spent the first 2 years of their lives together and Ash still remembers. When they’d actually left Ash sat by the door for ages as if he wanted them to come back – it was quite a sad sight to see, I’ve never seen that in animals before.

I didn’t sleep particularly well last night, it didn’t help that at about 5.15am Ash was wandering round yowling *rolleyes*

I finally got up at about 8.20 and we’ve sat round doing not very much since then. I’ve decided I’m going to have a shower at about 12 o’clock and then after that it’s serious packing time – there’s just a few bits left to pack and obviously we then have to do a scour round the apartment to check we’ve not left anything and we also need to make packed lunch for munching in the airport. AB is making us a cooked breakfast right now, as we speak. She’s doing bacon, toast, potatoes, tomatoes and eggs – sounds yummy :-)

Right I’ll update next and finish off the holiday diary probably tomorrow when I’m back in England and trying desperately to stay awake so that I can go to bed at a normal time.

5.25pm
At about 11.15am AB had got the breakfast ready

12am (English time)
The pilot came on the tannoy a minute ago and told us the UK time was 12am so now we’re working on UK time although my body doesn’t think so! It’s dark outside now, they said they’re coming round with duty free soon and after that they’re going to dim the cabin lights to enable rest – I reckon at that point I’ll be putting on the light above my head.

Anyway, back to earlier today!

After breakfast I went for my shower and got dressed. Once I was dressed I got all the bags together to pack everything in.

I had the bags packed by about 1pm so we just sat and chatted until Doug and Connie came down at about 1.45, we weren’t quite ready but it was fine cos they were early anyway. We gave AB and Doug & Connie their thank you cards and gift cards – both sets of people shouted at us and said we shouldn’t have done it ;-D

We let Doug pack the cases into the car and when we got out we were amazed at how well he’d get everything in! on the way here we’d had one fewer bag and had had trouble getting everything in, I was convinced we’d end up having something on our knees.

As we got in the car I took up my position in the middle as official seat buckler-upper ;-D AB commented it would be the last time I could do it for quite a while!!

When we got to the airport we had to find a place to park and Doug ended up going the wrong way round a one-way system LOL

We then had to find our way into the terminal which was a bit of a maze of elevators. While we were wandering round we realised that AB looked really silly cos she was wearing my hat and my mum’s hat together so I had to take photos of her ;-D

AB, Doug and Connie joined us in the check-in queue so it looked like there were 5 of us travelling rather than just the 2, we commented that if it had been all 5 of us we’d be underweight with our luggage ;-D When we put our bags on the scales the lady asked us were we aware of our weight limit and the fact that we were overweight. It turned out we were 17kg over and at $20 per kilo we had to pay $340! :-o As it happened we had already calculated that we’d probably have to pay around that much anyway. The lady at the desk on this end wasn’t as nice s the one at our end – not only did we not get any money off but her actual manner was less amiable too. We had to go to another desk a little bit further down to pay for our excess baggage and there was a man in front of us who seemed to be taking forever to pay – how long dors it take to hand over some money?!

Once we were sorted we had a brief look round the shops, there were shops at the front so Connie was able to wander round with us although she didn’t actually buy anything. I just bought a magnet and my mum bought a cuddly mounty raccoon and a magnet.

After we’d looked round the shops we figured we had to bite the bullet and actually separate – mum and I through security and our entourage to go home. We had hugs all round obviously and I had to try very hard not to cry, I wonder if everyone else felt the same? In fact, as I’m writing this I’m welling up again :’-(

AB, Doug and Connie stayed for as long as they could see us in the queue for security and every so often we’d turn round and wave.

Once we were through security obviously we were on our own. There were more shops on the other side of security – the duty-free shops. We bought a t-shirt each and then headed for the gate.

We didn’t have far to go to the gate so we found ourselves a couple of seats to park ourselves on again. While we were sitting in the gate area there was a child having a tantrum and we were hoping he wouldn’t be near us on the plane!! I also did my normal task of filling the water bottles from the drinking fountain.

We boarded the plane and it was all very efficient. When we got to our seat there was a lady in the aisle seat who seemed to be pretty miserable, she was half-asleep and seemed as though she was just going to sit and get in our way.

Once we’d taken off we had the bar service and we also bought headsets on board this time. The on-board movie was “17 Again” so we watched that but there were a couple of times I couldn’t keep up with the plot. We saw in the in-flight magazine that the movie going from England – Canada was “Night at the Museum 2” and we were sorry we hadn’t been able to see that.

While 17 Again was on they came round with the meal, the normal meal was chicken potatoes, peas and carrots with gravy. We also had our side box with bread roll, butter, cheese & crackers, a packet of crisps and a chocolate brownie. When they brought the food to us my mum asked about her diabetic meal and at first the light attendant said she didn’t think there was one on board cos she’d done the special meals and hadn’t seen a diabetic one. She went off to have a look anyway and she found it and came back with it. Mum’s meal was stew and the main difference in her box was that she had a yoghurt rather than a chocolate brownie. We did the same as last time and saved the cheese and crackers for later.

Around the time of the meal the lady sitting with us became a bit more chatty, she was telling my mum that her father is dying so she’s been getting phone calls from the UK at around about 3am Canadian time so she’s sleep-deprived. Since then she’s been ok although she keeps moaning about the screaming kids – I can’t blame her but I wish she wouldn’t go on about it.

After our meal the duty-free service came round, mum and I both bought a set of 6 pairs of earrings in a little fold-up presentation box. They were actually bigger than we expected :-)

Earlier on an announcement came over the tannoy that 2 of the toilets were now blocked because people had been putting paper towels down them so there’s only 2 toilets working now. At this point there seemed to be a herding mentality – it seemed that half of the population of the plane (including us) joined the queue so the line went halfway down the plane!

2.20am (10.20pm Canada time)
We’ve just had breakfast – the normal meal was potatoes, (rubbery) omelette and beans, my mum just got a tangerine and kiwi fruit. We saved some food from our earlier meal so mum had my beans, her own tangerine and her yoghurt from lunch / tea – what a strange combination of foods!!!!

We’ve just got into a bit of turbulence so the seatbelt sign has come on and we’re all confined to our seats – except the cabin crew who are wandering round doing their duties. We’ve just watched a boring thing about a hidden city underneath Edinburgh and now we’re watching Fr Ted :-)

Thankfully the turbulence didn’t last very long – we’re free to roam again :-) The cabin crew have been round with landing cards for people who don’t have UK passports and also comment cards for everyone.




Monday 17th August 2009

11am (English time)

Shortly after the comment cards were brought round the pilot announced that we would soon be preparing to land so we were to put our stuff away, put the seats upright and seatbelts on. The lady next to my mum really seemed to wake up and become more chatty as we began coming down to land *rolleyes*

After a while the pilot announced that for landing all of the cabin lights would be turned off but we could keep our reading lights on if we wanted. As it happened I’d already turned my reading light off cos I wanted to watch all the lights on the ground as we were coming down. I *think* I saw Liverpool on the way down cos it looked like the outline of the docks and stuff.

Once we’d landed there seemed to be a long way before we actually got to a gate. Then, once we’d got off the plane there was a great long walk before we got to customs / immigration. We joined the customs / immigration queue and there didn’t seem to be *that* many people but while we were in the queue we turned round and the line went for ages :-o We then went round to find the baggage carousel, I left my mum sitting on a seat and I went to get our cases. I collected myself a trolley and then actually sat on it until the bags started coming. I parked my trolley against a wall so that I could get the cases on it without it rolling away and when I’d stood up to get the bags a man was nearly going to take it. When the bags began coming through ours came round really quickly :-) We then went to find our way out and our taxi driver was waiting for us right by the door – everything went really smoothly :-)

On the way home we were chatting about general travel and other stuff. Some of the things he was telling us we were glad we were already in the ground! The driver said he was ex-forces and he was telling us the easiest way for a terrorist to blow up an airport if they wanted to :-o

My mum had rung Paul before we left Canada to tell him not to lock up – guess what had happened when we got home – yes, he’d locked up *rolleyes* I kept ringing the bell and my mum was ringing on the phone to get him up. Once we were in I had some toast and then went to bed for a few hours seeing as I hadn’t slept at all on the plane.

Ok I’ve just done my last save and word count for this diary and I’m on nearly 33,000 words – an average of 11,000 words per week :-o And I’ve taken a grand total of 812 photos over the last 3 weeks ! :-o