Final morning in Montreal before departing back to Sydney via Toronto with a short transit at Vancouver Airport.
I have not been to either Montreal or Toronto airports therefore negotiating them may be a problem. I would prefer a direct flight back to Sydney but there is no such thing. It is either via Toronto connection with a transit in Vancouver or via Vancouver with a connection.
I am really hoping I don't miss my connecting flight in Toronto. I have left a few hours for the connecting flight.
Just waiting for my friend to drive me to the airport around 11.30 am. So tired! Could fall asleep right now as I only had around 3 hours sleep this morning.
Going to Nuit Blanche was not only cold but getting lost is no fun either. Not knowing what time the Metro stopped running and having to walk all the way back to the hostel in the cold in the early hours of the morning (3.30 am) is definitely no fun.
Many of the activities I had planned to attend were abandoned because I just could not find them! "Je suis perdu"
I think I must have travelled on the same Metro routes on the Orange and Green subway lines more then 5 times that night!
The Nuit Blanche events and activities I ended up doing were :
1. FANTAISIES PATISSERIE MARIUS ET FANNY - Inscription chocolatee sur glace 19 h a 1 h 3$CAN.
Creating chocolate creations on ice slabs. Our very first activity from the Nuit Blanche program. My German roomate and I both really wanted to do this as we both love chocolate and made this a priority activity. Unfortunately it was outside of the downtown core where a majority of the activities were so we had to take the Metro (subway) to "Station Mont Royal"
Lots of fun though we also checked out their range of cakes , pastries, chocolates, breads, savoury dishes and macaroons.
Unfortunate name for the Patisserie though.
"Fanny" is not exactly an appropriate name.
My German roommate and I both purchased a ticket for the chocolate activity and a sweet treat. I ordered in English and purchased a chocolate cannale with my activity ticket. I sit down at a table and waited for my German roommate to place her order which she insisted on ordering in French. She purchased about half a dozen assorted macaroons - flavours of which she selected from numerous ones. These were placed in a plastic container and she went to the cash register to pay for her macaroons and activity ticket.
After sitting down at the table she had a second look at her receipt and couldn't work out why she had been overcharged CAN$10 - she thought it was for the plastic container to hold the macaroons - not possible it was just a piece of plastic and it is usually free particularly if you buy that many macaroons.
We begin eating our sweet treats whilst waiting for a spot to begin our chocolate activity. I thought my chocolate cannale was a bit burnt and decided to ask about it as they are not usually burnt in Sydney when I buy them from Zumbo. When I inquired I was advised that they are always that way and that some people like it others do not. I ate the rest of it but didn't think much of the chocolate cannale - Zumbos are difinitely much better and they aren't even chocolate! I didn't really care if chocolate cannales were rare, special, seasonal or a limited edition as advised by the server behind the counter - you "eat with your eyes"! and my eyes definitely tasted BURNT, DARK but not CHOCOLATE
As we ate our sweet treats, an onion soup suddenly appears at our table - I give my German roomate a strange "Did you order an onion soup?" look and she realises what had happened - the CAN$10 charge on her receipt was for the onion soup she had not actually ordered - lost in translation - strike 2!
She advises the server and fortunately was given a refund. I told her next time she uses her French ie strike 3 , I won't be there to see the consequences!
We then went outside to start our chocolate on ice activity. I had an idea that I wanted to draw something Australian but before I even started, the activity person had already ruined the clean slab of ice and dripped chocolate all over it so I just drew solid flowers after attempting to draw Australia.
My German roomate made the above amazing chocolate flower with her chocolate but you had to work fast as the chocolate in the cones solidified very quickly in the cold temperatures - I don't think the ice slabs were really that necessary as it was so cold that night!
We got to take home our pieces of chocolate artwork and any leftover chocolate in the cone in a paper bag. It was really good couventure chocolate by the way. Not to be wasted!
Rating for Nuit Blanche Activity : 8/10
Visit to a "Geek Boutique" . My German roommate is a big Dr Who fan so we had to go to this and it was near our first activity.
Uh oh stairs - a set of very narrow steep ones too which only allowed single file of people traffic.
When we arrived at the top of the stairs we were given a free limited edition tv pin - one of only 500 produced I think and a discount voucher.
So many intetesting things to see and buy. I didn't end up purchasing anything as it was quite expensive but it was an interesting visit with The Thunderbirds playing on a screen and so much paraphernalia - Wonder Woman, Dr Who, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Star Wars, Hello Kitty, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, various Marvel Heros etc just to name a few and all this Japanese Animae - characters I have never heard of but my German roommate knew about.
My German roommate ended up purchasing a few things for her family and friends then we left to get to our next Nuit Blanche activity.
Rating for Nuit Blanche Activity : 7/10
3. ARTS VISUELS - Atelier de cahier a colorier 19 h 30 a 1h grauit FREE ARPRIM, CENTRE D'ESSAI EN ART IMPRIME espace 426 arprim.org
We had quite a bit of trouble finding this venue and activity. When we arrived I had a feeling that this activity was on the 4th floor in room 426. Yes I was correct and because it was an old building it was unlikely an elavator or lift existed therefore we climbed the several steep sets of stairs until we reached the 4th floor - ouch my legs !
This was suppose to be an adult and kids activity but there were no kids present - it was late therefore they were probably already in bed eventhough Nuit Blanche was a weekend event.
Creating your own colouring in book was fun and my German roommate and I spent about an hour at this activity. I don't think my German roommate wanted to leave being the creative person she was. We were limited to selecting 10 pages of original drawings by contemporary artists inspired by the year 1967. The drawings we selected were then hand bound with paper clips and a rubber band in the colours we selected - Vola! Your own personalised colouring book to take home and colour or colour in on site (colour pencils at tables and chairs provided).
After this activity we decided to climb another set of stairs to the fifth floor I think and then down to a room we passed that had the constellations set out using an original collection of pins each with stars or symbols embossed on them. A fabulous piece of artwork. Apologies for no photos - phone was low on battery power by this activity.
Rating for Nuit Blanch Activity : 8/10
4. I am unsure which and where this Nuit Blanch activity was therefore I am guessing it was somewhere near or in Old Montreal. "Je suis perdu" again!
Playing various family friendly games in French - photo below of my German roomate playing a game of balance. We started playing this game assuming we were playing it correctly but it seemed far too easy so ended up asking one of the game instructors and found out we were actually playing it incorrectly and set the game up for us which took it to another level making it far more challenging.
The second game we played my German roomate grew up playing yet I had never heard of it. It was a series of round playing cards with different pictures of things on each of them. There are countless variations of game rules making it challenging each time. It is a game that is a combination of switch snap memory and reflexes. Depending on which version of the rules you select to play with your aim is either to collect the most amount of cards you can or have the least amount of cards left. The more people playing the more challenging it gets because you have to try and reach across the table to stop your opponents taking or giving you cards. The games instructor only spoke French so I had to rely on my German roommate to interprete and translate each set of rules of the game. It was a lot of fun and a diverse group of people joined in to play each game. We spent so much time playing this game - far too much time!
The third game we played involved 3 tubes containing 2 sets of balls - the aim of this game was to select a card with a combination you had to organise your balls into each tube. You had to beat the time in which your opponent had to do the same thing except with the combination on their card they had selected. I did not like this game at all because it was too difficult to get the balls into the tubes. Gave up on this game almost immediately.
Time for a free hot chocolate on offer. Being lactose intolerant therefore I didnt actually have one.
Onto to the next Nuit Blanche activity.
This is where we became lost in Old Montreal and I left my Nuit Blanche program behind and we couldn't find the Shabori tie dying activity and only had 20 minutes to get to it as it finished at 1 am so abondoned it. I was so disappointed. Back on the Metro we go downtown to Place d 'Arts. It was now past 1 am in the morning on 5th March 2017.
Rating for Nuit Blanche Activity : 8/10
5. LUMIERE Experience lumineuse Bell
Midi a 3 h GRATUIT/FREE PLACE DES FESTIVALS
Our final Nuit Blanche activity before walking back to the hostel was the most disappointing.
Skiing in virtual reality in the Bell marquee. The 360 degree selfie interactive display was also out of order due to technical difficulties when we arrived.
My German roommate was not keen to do this virtual reality activity at all but she did do it with me in the end. We had a choice of skiing or ice hockey. I chose skiing which turned out to be a real disapointment as I thought I would be skking down slopes at one of the countless ski resorts in Canada but it was just a view of the scenery on the mountain. Very disappointing - maybe I would have been better off with the ice hockey!
In the Nuit Blanche program book it describes this activity as follows :
"The Boite Bell will offer you several experiences. Outside, it's a souvenir video - reinvented! Enter the circle of light, where a mobile camera shoots a glimmering 360-degree short film. Inside, experience the virtual reality of Le Massif de Charlevoix by enjoying a hot chocolate."
Where was the hot chocolate? Le Massif Charlevoix - what? Yes we entered "the circle of light" but there was only a circle but no light - extremely disappointed! No souvenir video. I have experienced countless indoor virtual reality experiences and this one was too short. Definitely a disappointment.
Rating for this Nuit Blanche activity : 3/10
I really wanted to create some Shabori tie dyes but I got lost with my roommate down in Old Montreal and had left my program book at the place where we played games in French as mentioned previously. I later found out when my friend took me to the airport that when she was in Old Montreal she had actually done the Shabori tie dying activity. I was very disappointed I didn't get to do it. Then again I was very disappointed I didn't get to do a lot of the more technological activities during Nuit Blanche that I planned to do.
We did not walk down to the port as people walking back advised us that there was actually nothing happening down there when there was suppose to be "hot chocolate & drinking"
After our final Nuit Blanche activity we decided to find the nearest Metei subway station to get back to the hostel but found every entrance to the Metro subways closed - we even walked to the next Metro subway station and it was closed therefore had to walk all the way in the cold back to the hostel on Rue Mckay - it was a very long walk and we were so tired. We arrived back at the hostel around 3.30 am and I went straight to bed as I had a flight to catch back to Sydney that afternoon.
The Metro subway was meant to be running all night , when I mentioned this to my friend she said something must have happened to shut it down. It could have been a partial shut down or full shut down. Accidents and suicides are usually the reasons although not publicised to prevent copycats. Earlier the previous evening I did witness parametics around someone shielded behind " Another Brick In The Wall" in the Place 'Arts wrapped in an emergency blanket and shaking uncontrollably. My friend mentioned it was probably due to the influence of drugs when I mentioned this to her although I thought it may have been hypothermia as it was -20 degrees outside at one stage.
I was suppose to meet up with my friend that night but without a mobile phone it would have been almost impossible. In the event I became lost I would have been in trouble with no way of contacting her. Unfortunately I did become lost several times throughout that night and morning.
When I got back to the hostel I sent my friend a quick email to apologise for not meeting up with her and that I did not need to be at the airport that early so 11.30 am pick up was fine before going straight to bed.
I woke up at 6.30 am in the morning ( yes I had 3 hours sleep) to shower, do a final pack and drag my suitcases downstairs as there is no lift before having breakfast and cleaning out my leftvover food in the fridge.
I left my German roomate any non perishable food such as tomato paste sachets, spaghetti etc.
I checked out and my flights online to ensure they were not delayed or cancelled. Panicked for a moment when I was unable to find it online. All good my German roomate from them on her way out.
I waited for my friend to pick me up - my luggage already outside. 11.30 am she arrives with a 2 door car. I was also worried my luggage would not fit into her little car. It was a quick trip to Trudeau Airport about 30 minutes.
After saying good bye to my friend. I gave her a gift I had been carrying around for a while to her. It was a hand die cut black platypus pin made in Australia I had purchased from the Big Designer Market - I really loved these pins and purchased the black and white wren pins for myself. I then said that I would email her as soon as I land back in Sydney.
Still worried about missing my Toronto connection and my online check in the day before, I was fortunate to have the assistance of an Air Canada attendant that spoke English and was based at Toronto Airport who check me in for bag drop and advised me of the arrival and departure gates with my connecting flight at Toronto Airport when I arrived. She assured me that the transfer gate is usually really close by. There was only one other problem and that was my meal requests were not showing up on my boarding passes at all therefore the Air Canada attendant advised me to either go to the Air Canada Service Desk after I clear security here at Trudeau Airport or wait until I arrive in Toronto Airport if I have time. I decided to find the service desk at Trudeau Airport after clearing security as I had quite a lot of time to spare - my flight did not depart Montreal until 4 pm that day and it was about 12.30 pm by the time I had completed my bag drop. A 16 hour + flight without a meal is a little extreme!
After clearing security which in Montreal is not as strict as at Vancouver Airport. I found the Air Canada Service desk which was a bit of a walk from the departure gate and explained my problem. It was all in the system OK but it just would not come up on my boarding pass between Toronto and Sydney. The Air Canada atrendant made some phone calls and after attempting to reprint 15 boarding passes for me my meal requests finally printed out. Problem solved. No I did not want 15 boarding passes! I thanked the attendant and went back towards the departure gate with my newly reprinted boarding passes - detouring for some last minute shopping - a Montreal t shirt and more importantly bottles of water to replace the confiscated water through security and maybe some snacks for the plane. (I am sure bottles of water are confiscated as a means for you to spend more money post security and for no other reason!) Done. Now just to ensure I get onto that plane to Toronto and to my connecting flight in time.
I can't remember exactly what I did to occupy the rest of time waiting at the gate lounge to board the flight to Toronto - oh that's right apart from purchasing some bottles of water I also purchased a nice little French cookbook to take home with me and to read for at least part of the time I was waiting to board my flight and a white printed tshirt with Montreal on it. I probably changed my sim card back to my Testra sim card and repacked my carry on luggage yet again. I then stared to join the queue in the zone I was seated on the plane in. Because the flights between Montreal Toronto and Vancouver are always full people like to be as close to the front of the queues as possible as overhead locker space is limited particularly between Toronto and Vancouver where all flights seem to be fully booked even over booked yet once on board there is more carry on luggage then people in seats! Being last to board I have been caught out a few times already where someone has already taken my allocated overhead locker space and I've had to hunt around for spare overhead locker space which is nowhere near your seat allocation. Obviously some people have ignored cabin luggage restrictions! This is very inconvenient with connecting flights or transfers when you are often running to get to your connecting flights!
On the plane finally from Montreal to Toronto. No meals on domestic flights with Air Canada - no big deal - I always carry a bag of snacks and it is a short haul domestic flight.
I arrive at Toronto's Pearson Airport almost on schedule . I have about 2 hours to kill for my connecting flight to Sydney via Vancouver Airport . Unsure of the connecting gate I first check the flight arrivals and departure boards then walk down to the airport's information desk to double check the gate number - the Air Canada attendant that helped me check in at Montreal's Trudeau Airport was correct the connecting gate was very close by so I did a little more shopping around the airport as I had some spare cash and loose Canadian coins.
First stop find the nearest Tim Hortons and deposit all my loose Canadian coins onto my Tim card as they cannot be exchanged back into Australian currency. I then purchased some mixed Tim Bits to take back to Sydney with me - there will not be an opportunity to do this at Vancouver Airport as there is no Tim Hortons post security and if there is it would not be open upon arrival ie after 9 pm. Unfortunately there was not much choice in the flavours of Tim Bits available at the Tim Hortons at Toronto Airport therefore I purchased 10 mixed - disappointing as there were no boxes for them available so they were shoved into a paper bag which I later found out I had been overcharged for - all I could do was email a formal complaint to Tim Hortons parent company online (which I did when I landed back in Sydney detailing situation and support with receipt number store number amounts etc)
Next stop at the Toronto airport try and find a pin with Toronto on it - no store in the entire airport had one only ones with "Canada" on them so I settled for a very tacky keyring with a moving "Toronto" sign on it in bright coloured letters and a black and white mug with Toronto on it for my father which he wil use all the time as he loves his tea and coffee.
Almost boarding time by the time I walk back to the departure gate. I attempt to line up as close to the front of the appropriate zone line I am allocated a seat on the plane at but find there are already lines of people in all zone lines. I join the queue until it is time to board. My seat allocation is different as there was a change of planes however my seat allocation between Toronto Vancouver and Sydney will remain the same. I board the plane. Now to make it to Vancouver airport and onto Sydney - no meals again between Toronto and Vancouver - I thought the flight was only a few hours between Toronto and Vancouver - my mistake it is actually 5 hours or more I believe?! Lucky I have my "le sac" full of snacks!
Right near the back of the plane yet again -seat 33C asile seat all the way from Toronto to Sydney via Vancouver - plane is full no surprise.
I try to get some sleep but it is so difficult. I cant remember what I did to occupy myself for this 5 hour or so plane trip.
Arrive at Vancouver airport safely and almost on schedule but we all have to deplane and transit in the gate lounge at Vancouver Airport for approximately 30 minutes to upto an hour. I go straight to the only store open at this time of the night (the Vancouver to Sydney flight always departs around midnight), having visited this store quite a few times on my annual trips to Canada previously, I immediately head towards the refridgerator and grab another few bottles of water and my favourite snacks - 2 packets of maple sesame covered cashews. I still have some snacks in "le sac" but needed extra bottles of water and a top up of snacks - although 3 meals are provided on this long haul 15 hour + Vancouver to Sydney flight , there is not much to do except sleep watch movies read play games etc therefore eating is another way to occupy time.
I can't remember if I mentioned in any of my other blogs which movies I watched during any or all of my flights to and from Sydney/Vancouver . Here is a list of them :
LaLa Land - only available on my second trip Sydney to Toronto/Montreal. I loved this movie rating it a 9/10
Smurfs - did not enjoy this therefore abandoned this movie to watch another movie - straight to video - might have enjoyed it if I was a kid rating it 5/10
Bridget Jones Baby - chick flick and I enjoyed it - rating it 7/10
The Accountant - never heard of it? I just had to watch it being my former profession. A little bit violent and I'm not a fan of violent movies but this one I was able to tolerate as it did have a romantic touch to it. If you enjoy movies about the Mafia , under belly, money laundering , extortion, bribes and in general criminals of the black market then this is a movie for you. Rating 7/10
Trolls - Rating 3/10 hated it abandoned it to watch other movies and tv series - The Big Bang Theory and Superstore (I really liked Superstore - working in retail although never at a superstore, I know exactly what it is like to be one of the characters in the series).
Le Chalet - Rating 2/10 tv series in French - could not get into the series. The French version of Whistler ski resort set in one of the many Canadian ski resorts (cannot distinguish which one) - full of good looking young guys and girls and their lives living in or around a ski resort - it's no Whistler the 2007 tv murder drama mystery series obviously based in or around Whistler ski resort on the West coat of Canada and about the murder of an Olympic snowboarder and it's no Thredbo (Heroe's Mountain) which is an Australian drama based on the story of the 2002 Thredbo landslide tragedy.
A bit of turbulance here and there throughout the duration of the long haul flight between Vancouver and Sydney, dinner a midnight snack and a very rushed breakfast service in between an attempt to get a few hours of sleep and watching a few selected movies and we land in Sydney finally after taxiing up and around Sydney International Airport. Next the compulsory spraying of the entire plane as required by Quarantine before passengers can disembark the plane.
Off the plane finally, mobile phone on - clear customs via self service booths, baggage claim ( much faster this trip without having to collect my oversized ski bag) and final inspection from the beagle before exiting - I go straight to the McDonald's at the other end of arrivals in search for my prebooked ASN shuttle bus from the airport home. The driver was not difficult to spot this time and I make myself known - he was holding a sign with passenger names on it. I was starving therefore asked if I had time to get a McDonalds Mcmuffin to eat while he was wsiting for his other passengers. Done and because hus other passengers were held up it was just me this time round - home by 1 pm or so.
Finally the end of my 2nd trip to Canada - hope to do it all again next year!
Straight back to work the next day - no time for jetlag hence a borocca with breakfast on the plane is a must! Highly recomnended as it is not just for hangovers.
We did not walk down to the port as people walking back advised us that there was actually nothing happening down there when there was suppose to be "hot chocolate & drinking"
After our final Nuit Blanche activity we decided to find the nearest Metei subway station to get back to the hostel but found every entrance to the Metro subways closed - we even walked to the next Metro subway station and it was closed therefore had to walk all the way in the cold back to the hostel on Rue Mckay - it was a very long walk and we were so tired. We arrived back at the hostel around 3.30 am and I went straight to bed as I had a flight to catch back to Sydney that afternoon.
The Metro subway was meant to be running all night , when I mentioned this to my friend she said something must have happened to shut it down. It could have been a partial shut down or full shut down. Accidents and suicides are usually the reasons although not publicised to prevent copycats. Earlier the previous evening I did witness parametics around someone shielded behind " Another Brick In The Wall" in the Place 'Arts wrapped in an emergency blanket and shaking uncontrollably. My friend mentioned it was probably due to the influence of drugs when I mentioned this to her although I thought it may have been hypothermia as it was -20 degrees outside at one stage.
I was suppose to meet up with my friend that night but without a mobile phone it would have been almost impossible. In the event I became lost I would have been in trouble with no way of contacting her. Unfortunately I did become lost several times throughout that night and morning.
When I got back to the hostel I sent my friend a quick email to apologise for not meeting up with her and that I did not need to be at the airport that early so 11.30 am pick up was fine before going straight to bed.
I woke up at 6.30 am in the morning ( yes I had 3 hours sleep) to shower, do a final pack and drag my suitcases downstairs as there is no lift before having breakfast and cleaning out my leftvover food in the fridge.
I left my German roomate any non perishable food such as tomato paste sachets, spaghetti etc.
I checked out and my flights online to ensure they were not delayed or cancelled. Panicked for a moment when I was unable to find it online. All good my German roomate from them on her way out.
I waited for my friend to pick me up - my luggage already outside. 11.30 am she arrives with a 2 door car. I was also worried my luggage would not fit into her little car. It was a quick trip to Trudeau Airport about 30 minutes.
After saying good bye to my friend. I gave her a gift I had been carrying around for a while to her. It was a hand die cut black platypus pin made in Australia I had purchased from the Big Designer Market - I really loved these pins and purchased the black and white wren pins for myself. I then said that I would email her as soon as I land back in Sydney.
Still worried about missing my Toronto connection and my online check in the day before, I was fortunate to have the assistance of an Air Canada attendant that spoke English and was based at Toronto Airport who check me in for bag drop and advised me of the arrival and departure gates with my connecting flight at Toronto Airport when I arrived. She assured me that the transfer gate is usually really close by. There was only one other problem and that was my meal requests were not showing up on my boarding passes at all therefore the Air Canada attendant advised me to either go to the Air Canada Service Desk after I clear security here at Trudeau Airport or wait until I arrive in Toronto Airport if I have time. I decided to find the service desk at Trudeau Airport after clearing security as I had quite a lot of time to spare - my flight did not depart Montreal until 4 pm that day and it was about 12.30 pm by the time I had completed my bag drop. A 16 hour + flight without a meal is a little extreme!
After clearing security which in Montreal is not as strict as at Vancouver Airport. I found the Air Canada Service desk which was a bit of a walk from the departure gate and explained my problem. It was all in the system OK but it just would not come up on my boarding pass between Toronto and Sydney. The Air Canada atrendant made some phone calls and after attempting to reprint 15 boarding passes for me my meal requests finally printed out. Problem solved. No I did not want 15 boarding passes! I thanked the attendant and went back towards the departure gate with my newly reprinted boarding passes - detouring for some last minute shopping - a Montreal t shirt and more importantly bottles of water to replace the confiscated water through security and maybe some snacks for the plane. (I am sure bottles of water are confiscated as a means for you to spend more money post security and for no other reason!) Done. Now just to ensure I get onto that plane to Toronto and to my connecting flight in time.
I can't remember exactly what I did to occupy the rest of time waiting at the gate lounge to board the flight to Toronto - oh that's right apart from purchasing some bottles of water I also purchased a nice little French cookbook to take home with me and to read for at least part of the time I was waiting to board my flight and a white printed tshirt with Montreal on it. I probably changed my sim card back to my Testra sim card and repacked my carry on luggage yet again. I then stared to join the queue in the zone I was seated on the plane in. Because the flights between Montreal Toronto and Vancouver are always full people like to be as close to the front of the queues as possible as overhead locker space is limited particularly between Toronto and Vancouver where all flights seem to be fully booked even over booked yet once on board there is more carry on luggage then people in seats! Being last to board I have been caught out a few times already where someone has already taken my allocated overhead locker space and I've had to hunt around for spare overhead locker space which is nowhere near your seat allocation. Obviously some people have ignored cabin luggage restrictions! This is very inconvenient with connecting flights or transfers when you are often running to get to your connecting flights!
On the plane finally from Montreal to Toronto. No meals on domestic flights with Air Canada - no big deal - I always carry a bag of snacks and it is a short haul domestic flight.
I arrive at Toronto's Pearson Airport almost on schedule . I have about 2 hours to kill for my connecting flight to Sydney via Vancouver Airport . Unsure of the connecting gate I first check the flight arrivals and departure boards then walk down to the airport's information desk to double check the gate number - the Air Canada attendant that helped me check in at Montreal's Trudeau Airport was correct the connecting gate was very close by so I did a little more shopping around the airport as I had some spare cash and loose Canadian coins.
Next stop at the Toronto airport try and find a pin with Toronto on it - no store in the entire airport had one only ones with "Canada" on them so I settled for a very tacky keyring with a moving "Toronto" sign on it in bright coloured letters and a black and white mug with Toronto on it for my father which he wil use all the time as he loves his tea and coffee.
Almost boarding time by the time I walk back to the departure gate. I attempt to line up as close to the front of the appropriate zone line I am allocated a seat on the plane at but find there are already lines of people in all zone lines. I join the queue until it is time to board. My seat allocation is different as there was a change of planes however my seat allocation between Toronto Vancouver and Sydney will remain the same. I board the plane. Now to make it to Vancouver airport and onto Sydney - no meals again between Toronto and Vancouver - I thought the flight was only a few hours between Toronto and Vancouver - my mistake it is actually 5 hours or more I believe?! Lucky I have my "le sac" full of snacks!
Right near the back of the plane yet again -seat 33C asile seat all the way from Toronto to Sydney via Vancouver - plane is full no surprise.
I try to get some sleep but it is so difficult. I cant remember what I did to occupy myself for this 5 hour or so plane trip.
Arrive at Vancouver airport safely and almost on schedule but we all have to deplane and transit in the gate lounge at Vancouver Airport for approximately 30 minutes to upto an hour. I go straight to the only store open at this time of the night (the Vancouver to Sydney flight always departs around midnight), having visited this store quite a few times on my annual trips to Canada previously, I immediately head towards the refridgerator and grab another few bottles of water and my favourite snacks - 2 packets of maple sesame covered cashews. I still have some snacks in "le sac" but needed extra bottles of water and a top up of snacks - although 3 meals are provided on this long haul 15 hour + Vancouver to Sydney flight , there is not much to do except sleep watch movies read play games etc therefore eating is another way to occupy time.
I can't remember if I mentioned in any of my other blogs which movies I watched during any or all of my flights to and from Sydney/Vancouver . Here is a list of them :
LaLa Land - only available on my second trip Sydney to Toronto/Montreal. I loved this movie rating it a 9/10
Smurfs - did not enjoy this therefore abandoned this movie to watch another movie - straight to video - might have enjoyed it if I was a kid rating it 5/10
Bridget Jones Baby - chick flick and I enjoyed it - rating it 7/10
The Accountant - never heard of it? I just had to watch it being my former profession. A little bit violent and I'm not a fan of violent movies but this one I was able to tolerate as it did have a romantic touch to it. If you enjoy movies about the Mafia , under belly, money laundering , extortion, bribes and in general criminals of the black market then this is a movie for you. Rating 7/10
Trolls - Rating 3/10 hated it abandoned it to watch other movies and tv series - The Big Bang Theory and Superstore (I really liked Superstore - working in retail although never at a superstore, I know exactly what it is like to be one of the characters in the series).
Le Chalet - Rating 2/10 tv series in French - could not get into the series. The French version of Whistler ski resort set in one of the many Canadian ski resorts (cannot distinguish which one) - full of good looking young guys and girls and their lives living in or around a ski resort - it's no Whistler the 2007 tv murder drama mystery series obviously based in or around Whistler ski resort on the West coat of Canada and about the murder of an Olympic snowboarder and it's no Thredbo (Heroe's Mountain) which is an Australian drama based on the story of the 2002 Thredbo landslide tragedy.
A bit of turbulance here and there throughout the duration of the long haul flight between Vancouver and Sydney, dinner a midnight snack and a very rushed breakfast service in between an attempt to get a few hours of sleep and watching a few selected movies and we land in Sydney finally after taxiing up and around Sydney International Airport. Next the compulsory spraying of the entire plane as required by Quarantine before passengers can disembark the plane.
Off the plane finally, mobile phone on - clear customs via self service booths, baggage claim ( much faster this trip without having to collect my oversized ski bag) and final inspection from the beagle before exiting - I go straight to the McDonald's at the other end of arrivals in search for my prebooked ASN shuttle bus from the airport home. The driver was not difficult to spot this time and I make myself known - he was holding a sign with passenger names on it. I was starving therefore asked if I had time to get a McDonalds Mcmuffin to eat while he was wsiting for his other passengers. Done and because hus other passengers were held up it was just me this time round - home by 1 pm or so.
Finally the end of my 2nd trip to Canada - hope to do it all again next year!
Straight back to work the next day - no time for jetlag hence a borocca with breakfast on the plane is a must! Highly recomnended as it is not just for hangovers.
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