May 7: Leaving Van City

The morning was mainly spent in laundry and packing. At the local laundrette, the exact change required for the washing machines made me reflect on the oddness of Canadian coins: there’s the 5¢, 10¢ (smaller than the 5¢), 25¢ (“quarter”), the golden $1 (“loonie”) and the two-metal $2 (“toonie”). Most still have Elizabeth’s head, but I’ve noticed a few Charlies around.

With everything packed, Richard and Tina bought us some pizza as a last dinner together. I presented Richard with a pen featuring Native American art for his collection, and Tina with polished stones for her craft projects. We then headed to the airport, slowed along the way by a pair of crashed cars who sat in the centre of the freeway while traffic edged around them. There was enough drop-off parking time to say goodbye to Richard and Tina and thank them for their hospitality.

Boarding was still some time off, but I’d prepared for this: I’d ripped a few DVDs onto my laptop before I left, so I could occupy myself with a couple of episodes of Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns. When boarding was eventually called, the boarding officials announced that the flight had been overbooked and asked if anyone would like to volunteer to move their flight to tomorrow, expenses paid. (No.)

May 8: More long flights

My flight to Gander was in three parts. The first, and longest, was a jet to Ottawa on a four-hour nightflight. In-flight entertainment was either reading my copy of Children of Men or getting frustrated at Angry Birds.

Air Canada, sending helpful texts throughout the day, informed me that my checked baggage would automatically be transferred between flights, so at Ottawa Airport I remained in the transfer section. It was like most departure lounges: standard furnishings, lots of seats, some places to eat and not much to do. I mostly read online news.

Spending so much time in Canadian airports made me reflect on another Canada quirk: its commitment to bilingualism is such that not only are place signs in both English and French, but so are many everyday items like groceries. This applies to official announcements, too; consequently, airport announcements and flight safety demonstrations take twice as long they would otherwise.

Stage Two of my flight was to Halifax, via Pal Airlines, Air Canada’s regional partner. Again, the boarding officials asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to move their flight. (How can you overbook in these days of electronic booking?) Our steed this time was a turboprop and I finally got an aisle seat. I either read, listened to a podcast or tried to sleep.

We left late, so by the time we arrived at Halifax, its departure lounge was quite packed.

This didn’t delay my next flight too much, however, and I was soon away on another turboprop. The passenger next to me had brought her cute dachshund inside one of her carry-on bags.

And finally, after crossing five time zones, I landed in Gander, on a very wet day.

Apart from being in the Come From Away airport itself, another attraction of being here was seeing its amazing international departure lounge, built in 1959 in a modernist style still preserved today.

I asked about a bus from the airport to the town. None, apparently. Okay, then, I’ll phone a taxi. I then discovered that my mobile provider has internet coverage in Gander but not phone coverage: no bars at all. Ah-ha.

Fortunately, one of the airport security team ordered a taxi for me, which drove through the rain to the Country Inn Motel, my residence for the next two days. After I got the key to my room, I caught up on some sleep. I woke to find the rain still steady and light getting dim, so I decided to stay in for the night. With all due continued thanks to Richard and Tina, it’ll be nice to sleep in a actual bed.