26/02: A Long, long, long ... day
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
We left the hotel for the airport at 3:30 am New Zealand time (a 2 minute drive) and arrived at Toronto airport at 6:50 pm Toronto time just over 33 hours later. And we have the 2 1/2 hour drive home.
The airport opened at 3:30 am but security didn't open to 4:30 am. It's pretty quiet when you get to your gate right after security opens.
It was raining when we left New Zealand so no "good-bye New Zealand" photos. The flight was nice and uneventful.
Our layover at Sydney airport was suppose to be 4 hours. It quickly turned into 6 hours when the waiting passengers were informed about a "mechanical problem" with the airplane.
It had been raining when we landed in Australia but by time flew out the rain had stopped though it was still overcast. Good-bye Australia!
After we had been flying for a few hours, a flight attendant made an announcement asking if a doctor was on board the plane would they please let a flight attendant know. Later we were asked if anyone had a glucometer and certain meds. When you are flying over a lot of water you start to wonder where the plane could land if the ill person needed more help than a doctor on an airplane could give them. Luckily, the doctor managed and paramedics were waiting for us in Vancouver. This unfortunately caused further delays as medical equipment needed to be refilled or replaced.
When we finally boarded the plane our ETA in Toronto was 2:50 minutes past our original ETA.
Leaving Vancouver we saw the top of a mountain poking through the clouds.
The pilot really put the pedal to the metal or found a tail wind getting us to Toronto 15 minutes before our updated ETA. On the upside we missed rush hour.
I called my brother when we landed in Toronto knowing that we would be outside waiting for him when he arrived a half hour later. When we walked to the designated "pick up" spot we didn't see anyone being picked up but rather cars stopped and waiting. Due to these inconsiderate people, cars, like my brothers, were forced to double park so they could pick up people resulting in a huge traffic mess.
My second pet peeve actually occurred a couple of days ago. For some reason Chinese people think it's a good idea to stand in the middle of a highway and take a photo of someone doing the "jump pose" in front of a distant mountain ignoring oncoming traffic. When you see it the first time you just think "stupid people" but when it occurs a number of times you really start to wonder what people are thinking.
When you've been on airplanes for more hours than you want to imagine you look for things to amuse you. The frost on the outside of the window amused us for several minutes.
This ends our New Zealand adventure. Now I can start planning the next trip!!!!
The airport opened at 3:30 am but security didn't open to 4:30 am. It's pretty quiet when you get to your gate right after security opens.
It was raining when we left New Zealand so no "good-bye New Zealand" photos. The flight was nice and uneventful.
Our layover at Sydney airport was suppose to be 4 hours. It quickly turned into 6 hours when the waiting passengers were informed about a "mechanical problem" with the airplane.
It had been raining when we landed in Australia but by time flew out the rain had stopped though it was still overcast. Good-bye Australia!
After we had been flying for a few hours, a flight attendant made an announcement asking if a doctor was on board the plane would they please let a flight attendant know. Later we were asked if anyone had a glucometer and certain meds. When you are flying over a lot of water you start to wonder where the plane could land if the ill person needed more help than a doctor on an airplane could give them. Luckily, the doctor managed and paramedics were waiting for us in Vancouver. This unfortunately caused further delays as medical equipment needed to be refilled or replaced.
When we finally boarded the plane our ETA in Toronto was 2:50 minutes past our original ETA.
Leaving Vancouver we saw the top of a mountain poking through the clouds.
The pilot really put the pedal to the metal or found a tail wind getting us to Toronto 15 minutes before our updated ETA. On the upside we missed rush hour.
I called my brother when we landed in Toronto knowing that we would be outside waiting for him when he arrived a half hour later. When we walked to the designated "pick up" spot we didn't see anyone being picked up but rather cars stopped and waiting. Due to these inconsiderate people, cars, like my brothers, were forced to double park so they could pick up people resulting in a huge traffic mess.
My second pet peeve actually occurred a couple of days ago. For some reason Chinese people think it's a good idea to stand in the middle of a highway and take a photo of someone doing the "jump pose" in front of a distant mountain ignoring oncoming traffic. When you see it the first time you just think "stupid people" but when it occurs a number of times you really start to wonder what people are thinking.
When you've been on airplanes for more hours than you want to imagine you look for things to amuse you. The frost on the outside of the window amused us for several minutes.
This ends our New Zealand adventure. Now I can start planning the next trip!!!!