Longest. Journey. Ever

So, I have no excuses not to maintain this blog now, given I have indeed started my ‘Big Canadian Adventure’.

It all got off to a frustratingly slow start thanks to a dusting of snow at Manchester airport. The irony of being delayed in the UK by snow when you’re heading for Calgary which is undoubtedly colder and has considerably more snow only made me laugh – initially.

Due to what seemed to be ineptitude of the de-icers at Manchester airport we sat on the tarmac for 4 hours before being thrown off and told to wait in the airport for a further 2 hours. Eventually, after the guy with the de-icer got his act together we were informed that the crew no longer had enough flying hours to get them to Calgary – which had been our original destination – instead we were going to fly to Quebec where we would have a crew change. So 7 hours later we landed in Quebec where the crew were ready and waiting. However, given it was 2am in the morning the re-fuelling guys were clearly having a cheeky nap somewhere meaning we sat on the tarmac for another 2 hours. Finally, after takeoff we headed for Calgary which was just an easy 4 hours. Although this meant I arrived into Calgary at 4am to a rather disgruntled immigration officer who had been waiting for me to process my visa. She was understandably annoyed. But all the same, she was nice to me and the visa was sorted in record time. Clearly I had missed my connection to Kelowna so I went to the desk to see if I could get onto the next plane for Kelowna. I couldn’t. It was full. Instead, they put me on a plane to Vancouver, then another plane back to Kelowna. Another 4 hours wait and off I went for Vancouver. I was cheered by only having 2 hours in Vancouver and sat at the gate patiently waiting for the last plane of my VERY long day. However, when it came to boarding the announcement you couldn’t even make up came over the speakers  ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, due to fog in Kelowna we are going to unable to fly and therefore we regret to announce that this flight has been cancelled.’ I was sent to retrieve my bags and return to the check in desks where they would try and get us onto later flights that day. I stood nervously looking at the departures board at the flight times and feared the worst. By the time I got to the desks I presumed that they had put me onto the last flight of the day, but happily I had a seat on the 2pm. So 7 hours of further waiting in Vancouver and staring into the distance, I finally boarded my last flight of the day, arriving into the foggy Kelowna, 19 hours late and with a total travel time of 36 hours.

Upon arrival I was introduced to superbowl Sunday, which given I had been awake for 2 days, I struggled to follow. Someone won, someone lost – I don’t know who.

So here I am. Let the fun begin....