Back in the Motherland!

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Back in Canada
Tim Horton's, Ice Hockey, Toques
Canadiana.

Since my sleep schedule has been put off the last two days in the sense that I’ve gone to bed after 3AM, I thought I might as well stay up instead of going to sleep before my flight to Halifax. Departure time for Toronto is at 6:20, so that meant having to leave for the airport just before 4AM. Yowzers! Thank goodness I was chatting with Lainie til about 3AM...that really helped me to stay awake.

It's a great thing that Anita will be able to bring some of my stuff back to Vancouver when she visits next. Therefore I have been able to keep my checked in backpack less than 30lbs (I think that's about 13.5kg.) which is great! If only I could have travelled that light my entire trip!

Being so early, I beat the check in clerk to the counter! But that's okay, just means a little bit of waiting around by my gate.

I'd have to say that this flight was very uneventful since I slept the entire flight. In fact I fell asleep before take off and woke up about 15 minutes before landing. Thank goodness we didn't need to use the emergency door exit over the wing since I was the one in charge of opening that sucker in case of emergency!

Customs went pretty smoothly. Since I mailed home most of my goods, the kind customs officer filled in this "personal exemption for goods" form for me since most of my stuff is not on me. This form can potentially save me from having to pay a lot of taxes. Mind you, I think most of my packages I've sent home have not been taxed to my knowledge.

The airport staffs at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport seemed really friendly and chipper early in the morning. I had a transfer from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 via a shuttle bus. The walk to the Shuttle bus is quite a walk...I'm not exaggerating if I said over a kilometre to walk! I was walking maybe less than five minutes when a guy on a cart pulled up beside me and asked if I needed a lift. Now that was nice! We had a brief conversation about the ride in the "convertible" and he was super helpful telling me where to go to catch the shuttle after passing security. Too bad I'm sleep deprived and wasn't really paying attention after the first turn left. lol Thank goodness for good signage!

Now I'm currently on the plane to Halifax. A mere 1 3/4 hour flight East and into another time zone. One hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Walking to my gate I saw several flights to Vancouver and sort of felt like going home because I'm really missing the comfort of my own bed...especially right now since I'm so tired! But that passed quickly when I reminded myself that I'm going to Halifax!

Once again my flight to Halifax was pretty uneventful since I slept the majority of the time. But looking out the window as we were landing it was interesting to look at the reflection off of the many lakes. As we passed them they looked all icy because of the reflection from the clouds. Then there were patches amongst the trees where it looked like the trees were like match sticks just by the way they'd fallen. With the fall season upon us it was interesting to see the patches of orange, yellow and red deciduous (did I spell that right?) trees amongst the green coniferous trees. I have a feeling my next chunk of time in the Maritimes is going to be a lovely one!

Upon arrival at the Halifax airport I had a short wait for my bag before exiting. I came across the tourist information centre, found out where to find the nearest money machine - whoo hoo! A RBC so that means no more outrageous $5.50 transaction withdrawal fees! - and headed to the airbus window to purchase a ticket. I was about 3/4 of an hour early before the airbus was due to depart next so I took the opportunity to send a few text messages and then take a short nap once being able to board about 20 minutes early. The ride into Halifax which was about 35 to 40 km away from downtown was really nice. Not because of the scenery but because of the nice sun streaming through the window as I napped. I sort of felt like a cat napping in the sun...

My stop on the airbus did not drop me off directly at the hostel. It was a short three minute walk. I hadn't planned ahead and was hoping the hostel would have a bed for me the next two nights...I'm in luck! I got the last female dorm bed! Just goes to show that it pays to book ahead and it is a good lesson for the future! Mind you, you'd think I'd learn since thinking back that did happen in Auckland where I didn't book a bed ahead and they were full so I had to walk a couple of blocks to the "sister" hostel. 😊 Guess I'm not a quick learner. haha

After settling into my dorm room and quickly freshening up, I set off for a little walk about my hostel. It is really conveniently located downtown. Unfortunately being Sunday most things were closed other than some restaurants and eateries. Phew! I'm not going to go hungry! lol

With the sun shining and the streets not super busy, I took a really nice stroll to see what was on offer. It looks like there will be a few things to check out during my stay here in Halifax which is great because the next couple of weeks I'll be in and out of Halifax and will have about 3 to 4 full days to explore the City and surrounds.

Having not slept much, I headed back to the hostel after a bit to eat at the Tim Horton's. Boy that glazed donut was delish! I didn't want to crash right away so I headed to the common room to watch some TV. There, I met a couple of guys. One guy from Nova Scotia. He’s been studying to teach ESL and just finished his TOEFL certificate yesterday. The other guy was from Ireland and is just in love with Halifax. He's been travelling the States the last month but keeps coming back to Halifax because he loves it here so much. So much so that he has decided to get a job and stay here for a bit!

Half way through watching the “Water Boy” I just fell asleep. Guess I couldn't stand watching Adam Sandler and Henry Winkler (aka the Fonz). Or perhaps it was just a sign that I should just head upstairs to my room and hit the sack. A good three hours later and here I am awake again only because I forgot to take out my contacts. Doh! Just goes to show how tired I was! I'm still tired but want to look through a few brochures and stuff before bed. The number one priority for tomorrow is to go the train station (lucky for me, only about a three minute walk) and got myself a train pass otherwise I'm not sure how I'll make it back to Vancouver! Hopefully the weather will be nice and sunny again and I'll check out the water and also the historic Citadel...so much to look forward to!

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