Flights Flights And More Flights!!!!

So it's official I have now been to a completely different continent and love it. I landed this morning at 8:15 in Sydney and have had a few hours to tour around and see the basics of the city. It may sound all fine and dandy, but getting here was quite the process and it started 2 days ago.

I began my travels on Tuesday afternoon where I spent the morning at home doing last minute bookings and making sure I had everything I'd need for the 3.5 weeks ahead of me. I got on a flight to Ottawa originally and had to take this route to Vancouver because of people rerouting their flights in an attempt to avoid the volcanic ash situation in Iceland. I made it to Ottawa and had some doubts about the 2nd flight to Vancouver since there was an increasing standby list with myself on it and limited open seats. Turns out I got the 2nd last seat on the plane and was sure that from there on in, things were a go!!

Arriving in Vancouver I had 4 hours to kill and didn't exactly want to spend it sitting in a terminal since I had sat for the last 5 hours I hopped on the skytrain and went to downtown Van. It actually hadn't really hit me until I was sitting on the train that the Olympics had just finished 2 months prior so it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to see any changes to the city since visiting last summer. I made my way to the Olympic Cauldron and was shocked to find noone in sight, a very eerie feeling. Two months ago, the city had to put up security fences to keep the mobs of people from getting too close and now not a soul was around to enjoy its amazing craftsmanship. I snapped a few photo's of the Cauldron and walked around a bit more ending up at an amazing crepe place which would give the Halifax market a run for its money. I returned to the airport a little while later and got ready for the last leg of my travels.

The Vancouver airport after about 11:00 turns into a ghosttown since no domestic flights are able to take off or land after that time. Walking through a poorly lit terminal (saving on their electricity bill I suppose) and not seeing a single person until you get to your gate is a very strange feeling. I felt like I was doing something wrong or in a forbidden place but of course it was just due to the lack of flight traffic at that late an hour. I boarded the plane and was able to get myself the centre 3 seats on the plane all to myself (an indescribably blessing!!!) The flight was weird because we took off on the evening of the 20th and flew the whole time in complete darkness only to arrive as the sun was coming up on the 22nd. I lay down the best I could over the 3 seats and surprisingly got almost a full nights sleep waking up only a few times to a limb that had gone numb from the awkward position or the positioning of the spare seatbelts. Both dinner and breakfast were served, and Dad I now understand why you bring your own meals to work now. Blechh!!! It's been awhile since I was on an international flight that served meals and they were nothing to boast about.

After landing and getting the plane fumigated for any foreign diseases (with the passengers onboard nonetheless....) we went through a very relaxed security checkpoint with more dogs on site I think than people. They had dogs climbing all over the carousels sniffing bags and walking amongst the crowds of people and I could tell a few passengers were a little uneasy. The best way to get downtown I found is taking a shuttle bus which is surprisingly cheaper than the public train and quicker too. I checked into my small hotel which is probably the plainest room I've ever been in and have spent the past couple hours walking around the city. My plans are to stay in hostels the majority of the time here but knowing that my internal clock would be quirky the first day here I found a very cheap hotel which now allows me to go back for a nap with no disturbance.

Tomorrow I fly out to an island airport by the Barrier Reef and am spending 3 days doing some snorkeling tours and island excursions. I've read that it's best to book both last minute as the prices drop and am hoping this is true and not that I end up missing all the booked boat tours. Not too sure if there is going to be internet where I'm staying as it is very much a beach town with a couple hostels and a grocery tour. If I don't have access there, then definitely in Cairns where I'm taking a train on the 27th that will take the entire day but is apparently quite an amazing ride.

Anyways, time for bed this jetlag is just killing me!!!