Gypsies Camping in the Halifax Airport
After a month spent in Newfoundland (to be written), a series of firsts and ridiculous amounts of alcohol, the weather turned cold and we’ve decided it’s time to head to warmer grounds. More specifically, Hawaii :D For the moment, I’m enjoying free WiFi in the Observatory of the Halifax Airport. This is home for the night :S
Fortunately, a generous friend offered us some Westjet buddy passes. That’s how Hawaii plotted itself in the itinerary. Who would pass up an opportunity like that? Certainly not us! As frost set in around the scenic island of Newfoundland, we started dreaming of sun, snorkeling and grass skirts.
Sounds amazing, right? Of course it does. However, always plan for the plans to change. After hearing that the $3 million runway expansion was completed at the Deer Lake Airport, we were excited to think that Westjet would be offering year-round flights out. Not this winter. Boo. We catch a 7 hour drive across Newfoundland with my aunt (God love her) to St. John’s on Friday morning. Good. We fill our bellies, have a nap and prepare for our last night out. Great. My partner gets ‘Screeched-In’ at Christians with some new friends, we attend a lil’ Newfie concert at O’Reilly’s, dance a jig for hours, get late night pizza (all on George St., undoubtedly), and finally head to Roses B&B where our long-time Toronto friend gives us her room! What an unbelievably epic last night on the ‘Rock’!
So, back to the part where you plan to have plans change. When we reserved with Westjet, they didn’t tell us that we’d been booked for a milk run: after a day long run across the island, fly to Halifax, Toronto, Calgary and then to Vancouver: over 13hours of actual flight time in total. But we roll with the punches and suck that up. I mean, we’re getting a steal on the price and budgeting is going to make or break this world trip. My lovely aunt picks us up this morning to bring us to the airport, amazing! However, my partner being the stud that he is, drank absolutely grotesque amounts of beer, and that mixed with our Newfie liquid gold, had him throwing up on the side of the road only 5 minutes out of the driveway. He gets in the front seat. Ok, we’re back on track! We arrive and start pulling out our backpacks and I turn around to hand him his bag but he’s throwing up in the garbage can behind me! Oh-no-how-are-we-ever-gonna-survive-this-day?!- is all that crossed my mind. Sorry Buddy, there’s no rest for the wicked, and besides, this is our ticket out of the country…we can’t miss this flight! We get inside and he’s pretty much just shaking and looking pathetic. I give him Ginger Ale, gum and pink monkey-printed tissues, that oughtta make him feel better ;)
Upon check-in, we discover that buddy passes get you on unreliable ol’ standby. Lucky us, we get on the St. John’s to Halifax leg. Naive travellers that we are, we’re stunned to find out that each leg of this race runs us the risk of being bumped, indefinitely. We arrive in Halifax to find ourselves: seats stolen and no later flights today. My mind’s a racin’ and I immediately get on Facebook to send out an S.O.S. to any of my Halifax friends. I was overwhelmed with the responses: I have people I haven’t seen in years offering up their homes to us stranded little gypsies. Unfortunately, it turns out our next potential flight out of here is super early and all prospects of free beds are just too far away.
An aside: I am so grateful for the generous and swift rush of aid. Not just today, but since the first day we sold our home, later when our accommodations fell through on our first trip to St. John’s AND on the second trip- come to think of it- we’ve been fortunate to have people offer all sorts of generosities that remind me of how lucky we are to have so many wonderful friends. Hear this, to all who’ve extended to us their hospitality: if ever we have a home again, even if it’s a shack, a hut or a hammock- you are welcome and encouraged to seek us out.
Now, to the hilarity that has become our life. Instead of booking a hotel costing $130 for the night (hostels were too far away), we chose to save the money and we’re sticking out the evening on the upper observatory deck. I’m certain we’ll be happy to have those dollars once in Europe (by early fall next year, fingers crossed) and we’ve already been pushing the budget on booze in Newfoundland. So, here we are, surely the only airport on earth where they have a huge aquarium brimming with lobsters for boxed take-away.
Next, dinner at the grill: my chicken fingers tasted the way an old freezer smells and my green salad was brown (fail). Mom, if you’re reading this, you’ll be relieved to know I’m supplementing my diet with peanut M&Ms, apple juice and Starbucks (big win). My partner had fish ‘n’ chips for the win. We watched a colourful sunset, it was stunning but my shot wasn’t ideal. We bought 3 new books: Frommers’ Hawaii 2010 for obvious reasons, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men because I’ve been meaning to read this one for years and lastly, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls just for the hell of it.
The observatory up here is peaceful, dim lit and conducive to writing :) My partner is playing a pirate game on the iPhone and all’s well. Maybe later we’ll sort some photos, catch a snooze, play some cards (love Scat, aha) and watch some planes take off :) Sounds like camping, actually.
I spoke to my dad to let him know that after essentially two days of traveling, we’ve managed to cross one province. He laughed, “it’s all part of your trip. Keep a diary!”. And that’s exactly what I’m trying to do, I could never make this stuff up ;)
6&7: Weekend Visits are Good ;)
Over the weekend we’ve been productive, lots of visiting friends and family. This is the important stuff. My belly hurts from laughing; we’re going to miss you guys so you had better install Skype to keep up with face time.
In other news, today I got a few pairs of wool socks for the trip. They cost $21.99 EACH. At that price, I hope they do the hiking for me…
In conclusion, this travel blog is gonna get lame real fast if I don’t soon have some traveling stuff to add. I’m so ready to get started but we are having a great time camping out in Brampton (minus the fact that we’re in Brampton)!
I’m a Keeper with Good Teeth!
I passed! I’m doing something right, whew…no extra needles or fillings required. And, I got a loot bag. I’m thinkin’: this is going to be a good day!
Next on the Day 5 agenda: return Ikea stuff not used in home staging = fail. Sign says ‘now serving 062′, we take our number: 111. Seriously? How is that even possible?! Look around, well there are about 40 people waiting and I guess the other 10 did the same as us and dashed for the doors.
Obviously, returns didn’t get checked off but at least we’re cruising in a cushy rental. The 1993 Cavalier has done us proud but since all possessions are on the chopping block, she had to go too.
Further accomplishments include, but are not limited to (kind of sounds like side effects, or symptoms, or both): dealing with Rogers (luckily we got a Newfie on the line!); banking; paying bills; buying trip clothes, makeup and an iPhone 4 (yup, you read right, we got one); and other random things you feel are necessary to do before packing up your life into a 50l bag for an indefinite period of time.
Since my partner and I are staying at his cousin’s place until we leave Ontario, the absolute best part of my day is when I get a goodnight kiss from one of my favourite 2 year olds. More importantly, tonight, Christopher finally sees fit to refer to me as Auntie Tracy again, instead of Uncle Shelley, as he’s been doing for 3 days straight. Who the hell is Shelley, anyway?
Fourth: All’s Well When It Ends Well
It’s a new day alright! Haircut, colour, manicure, pedicure. All good stuff. Allow me to interject a little background here: I managed Taz Hair Co. until last week; so this was an opportunity to pamper myself and spend time with friends I won’t see for a year. We had ‘Bon Voyage’ cake and well wishes spilled onto extra paper inserted into my card. It was a lovely afternoon, in fact.
But there’s always a catch and here it comes just before I head out the door: phonecall from my partner, at the dentist office, “Baby, the good news is, I love you, the bad news: I need surgery to remove my wisdom teeth before we travel.”
I’m processing: departing Monday just officially slipped out of reach. New date, tba. It’s all good, we have to travel healthy. So, we roll with it, but I have my dentist appointment in the morning and I can’t help but worry that the same could happen to me. A little selfish -yes- but we already know he’s getting more needles! Eek.
Fortunately, all’s well that ends well and tonight we visited great friends. Anxieties disappear with belly laughs and banana ice cream. These people are the type you don’t see for years but when you do, you pick right up where you left off: as if time hasn’t and will never change the bond you’ve created. They are genuinely compassionate in every sense and I’m eternally grateful for their open arms and hearts.
Like I was saying: it’s all good. And, wish me some luck in the morning!
3 is a Blurry Buzz
So, Day 3: more running around. I know, I’m starting to sound redundant. We did however, manage to pick up my passport, add a couple hundred kms to the odometer and move boxes that were supposed to be happy in their new home. The best part of the day was going to bed knowing we are one day closer to leaving and getting a big, fat, breath of fresh air. Oh, and we had spinach cheese dip…it helps my life ;)
Out with the Old & In with the New, Passport Photos!
Poking & Prodding on Day 2
Day 2 and lots of running around: banks and lawyers’ appointments, and best yet…more needles! Who knew traveling involved so many pokes and prods? Almost $2000 in, some aching arms later, a good luck send off from the travel clinic and we’re sure to be safe from japanese encephalitis, of all things :)
Hopefully tomorrow will be less painful!
List of shots required to date (some in multiples): Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Tetanus, Dyptheria, Polio, Rabies, Japanese encephalitis. Oh, and let’s not forget malaria pills at $5 per day!
