Back To Canada

On the morning of December 15th, we woke up, got dressed, and checked our luggage to see if everything was packed. We had entered the last leg of our trip: the journey home. Sure, it was fun travelling around Australia for the last month but as Dorothy Gale would say, “There’s no place like home.” After carrying our luggage down to the ground floor, we checked out of the Hyde Park Inn and waited for the airport shuttle. When it arrived, my parents & I bid farewell to my brother and wished him luck in his future studies. He would be catching a bus back to Canberra. The airport shuttle stopped by several other hotels to pick up more travelers. It was a little cramped but we made it to the Sydney International Airport with plenty of time to spare. The airport shuttle cost about $12 per person.

The Air Canada check-in line was long, as were the lines for the other airlines, but we finally made it to one, only to be told that our flight from Canada was delayed due to winter weather. Here we go again. To prevent us from causing a scene, the check-in clerk gave us $10 restaurant vouchers. With even more time to spare, we decided to use the vouchers at The Terrace Bar & Brasserie and dine on a formal breakfast, having eggs benedict. Following breakfast, we passed the time sitting outside on a patio reading books, and I walked up to the observation deck to photograph the scenery. When it was time, my parents & I walked through security and made our way to the gate. Unfortunately, that meant walking through the Duty Free section, an area that caters to the travelers’ addiction with ‘cheap’ alcohol and chocolate. What caught my attention was a Swarovski diamond bottle on sale for $4000AUD.

For the trans-Pacific flight to Vancouver, I was assigned a seat a few rows ahead of my parents. As the plane filled with passengers it appeared that I would have an entire row to myself. However, that hope was dashed when I was informed by a stewardess that the other two seats would be occupied by a father & his infant child after takeoff. Not wanting to sit next to a crying baby for 13 hours & 45 minutes, I accepted an offer to switch my seat with the mother who was also looking after a child, thereby letting the family of 4 sit together. The mother’s seat had more leg room and easy access to the washroom so I guess it was a good deal. During the flight I occupied my time listening to music, watching the film Inception again to fully understand the plot, eat the okay food, and lapse in & out of consciousness. Somewhere in the middle of the flight, the plane crossed the International Dateline and leapt into the past.

Upon arrival in Vancouver, we disembarked from the plane and stood in a long line to clear customs. Past that, we picked up our luggage and made our way to the Air Canada domestic transfer desk only to be told that we had missed our flight to Regina. Figures. Along with other annoyed passengers who had missed their transfer flights, we were re-booked to fly first to Edmonton, then to Regina in the evening. Seeing that we had an entire afternoon to kill, we had lunch at Monk’s Grill, dining on good food & wine.

The delays were far from over. Upon reaching the gate for our flight to Edmonton, we were told to wait some 45 minutes more because the crew had yet to arrive from another flight. My parents & I passed the time watching the evening news and having a quick nap. The flight crew finally arrived from a previous flight and got the plane ready to depart. Everyone was boarded and the plane took off towards Edmonton.

At this time, the news in Edmonton was not that great. A huge winter storm was blowing through the area, dropping the temperature to -15 degrees Celsius, and making air travel more difficult. Thankfully, the plane safely touched down and we made it to the gate for the Regina flight with time to spare . . . because it too was delayed. Now up until this point in our return trip, we had not come into contact with the harsh Canadian winter, thanks to air bridges and heated terminals. Our bodies were still used to the warm Australian climate. In Edmonton, however, that all changed because we had to board our flight to Regina via the open tarmac. I was glad that I was wearing winter clothing and had a hat & gloves to put on because I was greeted by strong winds & numbing cold when I stepped onto the snow covered tarmac. Once safely inside the small Air Canada Jazz jet, the plane was de-iced by ground crews, and then took off into the night sky.

Fate decided to throw us one last scare by getting the pilot to announce the possibility of the flight being diverted to Winnipeg due to low fog in Regina. The tension was raised even further when the pilot later announced that he was going to try and land in Regina but if his first landing attempt wasn’t successful, he would have no choice but to divert to Winnipeg. I stared out the window during the final approach, hopelessly trying to see the city lights below the plane. The runway suddenly appeared and the wheels touched the ground with a ‘thud.’ The plane came to a full stop and then the pilot taxied the aircraft to the terminal. There, we were met by my uncle & his oldest daughter who had winter coats for us. We would stay with my grandmother for the next two days, recuperating from jet lag, before flying back to Ottawa.

And that’s how our Australian trip turned out. It was fun & exciting. In a span of 4 weeks, I got to explore many places for the first time and capture it all on camera. In total, I took about 500 digital pictures and a short video of my brother’s graduation. I can now say that I successfully climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and attended a concert at the Sydney Opera House. I’ll definitely be back because there’s still a lot more to explore & experience. Australia has a lot to offer so give it a try some time. You won’t regret it.