After several sleepless nights and last-minute arrangements, we are on our way at last. Jacqueline's brother Kevin was kind enough to drive us both to the airport. Have we both packed everything? Who knows! I feel my carry-on is pretty darn heavy, so I swap my laptop for Jacq's pillow. (Yes, she travels with a pillow. Not one of those u-shaped neck support things, but a sitting-on-your-couch size of pillow). Whatever. At least it's light! It is crammed into the luggage pretty good, though. I debate warning the security guys - "don't open that, there is an explosive pillow" (or, more accurately, a pillow that will pop out with explosive force once the luggage is unzipped), but decide that statement is open to serious misinterpretation.
Once we (successfully!) pass through security, we experience the most typical hallmark of all air travel... the delayed flight. Sadly, our plane to Vancouver is a full hour behind. Oh well. We're not too worried, as we have several hours in Vancouver before our Sydney flight, so we settle in to the comfy chairs to watch the other planes coming and going.
Since we have nothing better to do than inspect the airfield below, we spy what appears to be a lost forlorn pieces of luggage on the ground. The workers come and go without picking it up. We are judgmental. Dude, what if that was your mom's luggage? She needs that stuff - are you just going to leave it there to be run over by planes?!? But they do. It's a sad looking little blue duffel bag, looks like it's already seen a lot of actions, has some woeful tales to tell - it's scuffed and one of the handles seems to have ripped away.
Finally, a worker ambles over - he's going to pick up the bag, thank goodness! As he reaches down and grabs the handles of the bag, it becomes apparent that it is not a poor lost piece of luggage, but is in fact two of those triangular wheel-bracer doohickies that they set against the plane wheels when it parks. The way they were lying together with the ropes draped, it only looked like a bag (and even then, perhaps only to dunderheads). We are morons who were unfairly besmirching the work ethic of airport workers. Sorry, guys. I am glad that you didn't use your momma's luggage as a plane doorstop. And yes, I will get my eyes checked. 😎
Our plane finally arrives - time for a last minute Snapchat!
Although I have the window seat for this leg of the trip, it is full dark when we get underway, so the viewing opportunities are somewhat limited. We're on a Bombardier Dash, which is a smaller plane, narrow aisle, two sets of seats on either side. The Saskatoon city lights quickly disappear, and then the dots of lights are few and far between.
Eventually, there is a blaze of light, which must be Calgary. Hello, family members! I do not see any burning cars, so I guess George isn't driving right now. After we pass over Calgary (goodbye, family members), there are smaller clusters which may be Canmore and Banff, and then as we approach the mountains, there is just swirling patches of cloud or fog in the darkness.
Vancouver is another blaze of lights, and as we swing out and approach the airport from the water, we can also see several big boats heading into the harbour.
After landing, all passengers going to Australia have to stop for a security check. We pass! (No idea what they're looking for, but we still passed.) With about two and a half hours to kill before the flight to Sydney, we stop for a slightly expensive supper at Monks - although I must admit it was delicious - and then wander around the terminal for a while, looking at various art displays.
When we do get to our gate, we are dismayed to find that there is an absolute dearth of charging stations. As in, one power pole per GATE, so that only four people sitting huddled around the pole in that whole area are able to charge up their devices. This is in comparison to the 1 million and 2 charging stations in the Saskatoon airport. I am amazed (and annoyed, because I have to charge my stuff). Do better, Vancouver. 😒
We walk two gates over before we finally find one spare spot next to some teenagers. Since we still have some time to spare before our plane arrives, we shove ourselves in and plug in our devices. Gotta power up before the big flight!
Once we (successfully!) pass through security, we experience the most typical hallmark of all air travel... the delayed flight. Sadly, our plane to Vancouver is a full hour behind. Oh well. We're not too worried, as we have several hours in Vancouver before our Sydney flight, so we settle in to the comfy chairs to watch the other planes coming and going.
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| Waiting for our plane. |
Finally, a worker ambles over - he's going to pick up the bag, thank goodness! As he reaches down and grabs the handles of the bag, it becomes apparent that it is not a poor lost piece of luggage, but is in fact two of those triangular wheel-bracer doohickies that they set against the plane wheels when it parks. The way they were lying together with the ropes draped, it only looked like a bag (and even then, perhaps only to dunderheads). We are morons who were unfairly besmirching the work ethic of airport workers. Sorry, guys. I am glad that you didn't use your momma's luggage as a plane doorstop. And yes, I will get my eyes checked. 😎
Although I have the window seat for this leg of the trip, it is full dark when we get underway, so the viewing opportunities are somewhat limited. We're on a Bombardier Dash, which is a smaller plane, narrow aisle, two sets of seats on either side. The Saskatoon city lights quickly disappear, and then the dots of lights are few and far between.
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| Flying into Vancouver |
Vancouver is another blaze of lights, and as we swing out and approach the airport from the water, we can also see several big boats heading into the harbour.
After landing, all passengers going to Australia have to stop for a security check. We pass! (No idea what they're looking for, but we still passed.) With about two and a half hours to kill before the flight to Sydney, we stop for a slightly expensive supper at Monks - although I must admit it was delicious - and then wander around the terminal for a while, looking at various art displays.
 |
 |
When we do get to our gate, we are dismayed to find that there is an absolute dearth of charging stations. As in, one power pole per GATE, so that only four people sitting huddled around the pole in that whole area are able to charge up their devices. This is in comparison to the 1 million and 2 charging stations in the Saskatoon airport. I am amazed (and annoyed, because I have to charge my stuff). Do better, Vancouver. 😒
We walk two gates over before we finally find one spare spot next to some teenagers. Since we still have some time to spare before our plane arrives, we shove ourselves in and plug in our devices. Gotta power up before the big flight!
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| Sudoku-girl passes the time |
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