Canadian adventure

This may be the first time some of you have heard of this (as if) but I’ve just been on another of my little adventures! This time I was headed to Canada for a little weekend break before setting sail on a Celebrity Cruise bound for Alaska. The main reason I was headed out there? Wildlife! Wildlife in general but most importantly Whales and Orcas. This trip was quite a large amount of my savings all in pursuit of the wildlife, so the pressure on the Orca to come and say hi was pretty intense!

So this blog over the next few weeks will track my journey through Canada and Alaska in search of the illusive Marine Life and you will find out how successful I was. If you want spoilers, check out my Facebook page!

There I am on the train from Doncaster to Kings Cross, laden down with luggage and surrounded by sweaty commuters, great start to my holiday right? I actually made it to Gatwick the night before my flight was due to leave. I had an airport hotel booked with the idea in mind that I could get a good night’s sleep before heading over to the airport to begin checking in.

It all started well, the Premier Inn, although basic was still pretty impressive. The service was good and at the end of the day I wouldn’t be there long. All I needed was a bed for a good night’s sleep right?

Having eaten a lovely meal (pizza, can’t go wrong!) I headed to bed in the hopes of getting a solid 8 hours before my early alarm call. What I hadn’t counted on was the pre-trip excitement… I mean I’d been looking forward to this trip for months, a lot was riding on this trip and I couldn’t believe it was finally here! So it was midnight before I finally drifted into an excited sleep.

The second thing I hadn’t counted on was Gatwick Airport having fire drills at 2 am! I’m quite a light sleeper at the best of times but in the midst of all the terror attacks we’ve had recently and my pre-trip anxiety, when you wake up to hear “evacuate the building” I was terrified! It took me a moment to work out that it wasn’t my building being evacuated (after I’d been the only one wandering around the hall in my nightie!) but then my mind set to racing, wondering why Gatwick was being evacuated. After half an hour of constant alarms, and some investigative Twitter work, I discovered it was in fact just a drill, and there was no need for concern!

But still I was awake, I desperately tried going back to sleep, my hopes of a good 8 hour sleep quickly disappearing, but I then began thinking about everything that the next 24 hours would bring, panicking about the hand luggage restrictions and wondering if I had packed everything! I eventually gave up on anymore sleep, less than satisfied with my 2 hours, I began my preparations for the day in a zombie like haze of sleep deprivation!

At least I had more chance of sleeping on the plane right? Seeing as though I was so tired? Not a chance! I was awake for the whole ten hours! Making friends with my Brazilian seat mate and eating a bad cheese pizza (it turns out, you can go wrong with pizza!). Not to mention the fact that the light switches were inconveniently placed on our armrest, so it was like a bad school disco from the 90s as people kept accidentally leaning on the switches!

I should also mention I was flying with what was evidently a long haul budget airline. So I was looking forward to a nice couple of films to pass the time? Nope! No entertainment available so I found myself quite thankful my kindle was well stocked with downloaded box sets!!

The one thing the flight had going for it were the views…

After some minor chaos attempting to leave the airport with the ever friendly customs officers, I finally made it out into Vancouver! I was so tired I was like the walking dead, and feeling quite horrible after the long flight and carrying my luggage round for so long! But this was my trip of a lifetime, and nothing was going to stop me enjoying every minute!

Join me next week as I start to explore the streets and seas of Vancouver!