Found all my bits and bobs in record time and commenced with packing, which meant I had to go into the garden to collect some clothes off the line (due to the very high cost of utilities in Antigua, laundry dryers are a luxury and are not readily available for sale on island).
Glancing at my avocado tree I decided it would be a nice idea to pick a dozen of the bigger avocadoes for the young lady who was kindly looking after the place and my herd of felines.
Now lets fast forward tooh about an hour later.as I lie half naked on a treatment bed having one of my ribs put back into place during my first ever chiropractors visit, maybe the fruit picking wasnt such a good idea after all. After a couple of loud cracks and me cracking up painfully laughing at the absurd positions that I am being forced into I am pronounced fit to leave.
A quick stop for painkillers and a vet visit for one of the herd and I am off to the airport.
For anyone that has to fly out of ANU I can only offer these words of advice.get there earlyas early as you possibly can. Check in when the relevant desk opens and pay your departure tax. Then leave and go about your business until its time to go through the security checks. So thats exactly what I did.
A lunch with my house sitter then a final fuss over the cats and its off back to the airport. It takes about thirty minutes to get through security due to the line of people waiting and I am at the bar wondering if beer is a good idea after taking 800mgs of ibuprofen, I decide to chance it but opt for a coors light..it looks like beer but really isnt.
At this point I go for a wander and make a startling discovery. There used to be a small room off of the departures area that was full of slot machines. These machines have been removed for some time now but I never bothered to wander into that room.what a mistake that was as this is the only part of the lounge with air conditioning. Ahhh bliss.there is also a small internet caf_ setup there which is cunningly hidden in a corner with nothing in the way of signage to let you know its there.
The flight is called about 40 minutes late and we all walk on out to the plane to board (no jetways in use in Antigua, we do things the old fashioned way). The aircraft was aa Airbus A319-100 which is described as the smaller sister ship to the A320, offering 120 seats in a mixed executive and hospitality configuration, compared to the 140 seats in Air Canada's current A320 fleet. Dont you just love copywriters?
I settle in my seat and to my horror discover that I am flying cr_che class. In the immediate 3 rows in front and to the rear are no less than seven children I estimate to be eight and under. I know that the flying with kids thing has been done here in depth and that we all know its the parents fault when the kids get out of hand but I felt I had to point out to one grandfather that having his granddaughter sat on his lap screaming (and I do mean screaming) DOLLY at the top of her voice was getting right on my nerves and could he do something to stop it. About half an hour later the FA arrived with the aforementioned Dolly having had to remove it from an enormous carry on bag at the front of the aircraft. After that it was the usual things that terminally bored kids get up to on flights and its fair to say that I was none to sympathetic with my back still hurting but I did my best to be understanding.
Saying that Ive often wondered why people flying with young children should be scattered randomly among the cabins. They used to put smokers down the back of the cabins to ease the discomfort for other passengers why not the same do with young families. It may not be PC to suggest it but I think it would help. I know not every child is a demon on a plane and you have to understanding, but you can only be understanding up to a point. I do apologize to all that fly with children and do their utmost to keep the kids happy whilst being considerate of the other passengers but in my experience that consideration is becoming a thing of the past.
Anyway rant over and I decided to pass the time away with a few frosty cold beverages. Flying Y on Air Canada entitles you errrrr well not a lot actually, they charge for alcoholic drinks at $5 CDN each, not too bad a price I suppose. I noticed the passenger directly in front of me was having his beverages paid for by an assortment of the other passengers.hmm thats odd is he a celebrity I wonder. As it turns out it was a sitting member of the Antiguan parliament and I for one (as a tax payer) was very happy to see him flying coach.
So onto the lunch service. The usual choices of Beef or Chicken were offered and I selected the beef. AC usually have a container of some odd type of coleslaw which acts as a salad/appetizer, maybe its a Canadian thing. I chose to forgo that having sampled it in the past and ended up with Mediterranean Beef.here we go I think to myself, disengage taste buds and enter auto-consumption mode. However the beef was truly excellent, if I had selected that in a restaurant I would have been very happy with the choice. It appeared to be a brisket or flank cut that had been braised in red-wine/stock sliced very thin served with the usual assortment of overcooked veggies. Looking back on it I wonder if my enjoyment of lunch may have been helped by my choice of the beer and ibuprofen appetizer.
Sadly the drinks service didnt get to me during the meal so I had a couple of wines afterwards as an improvised desert course, as one does. At this point the dull ache from my back had disappeared enough for me to relax through the movie (sorry cant remember what it was now) which was screened retro-style on the bulkhead in front of each cabin.
Soon enough we were descending into Toronto where I was overnighting with friends before continuing onto Vancouver the next morning. I like YYZ however being bussed to and from the outlying gates is a bit of a pain but its not as bad in the summer months as it is in the Winter when you feel like you have walked into a deep freeze. The 15 minute bus ride over with I passed through a very friendly immigration and odd sort of pre-customs paperwork check where the inspector (after asking which company I worked for) asked some questions about the safety of online gambling systems (my line of work) as he enjoyed playing poker online but wasnt sure about using his credit cards on the various sites.
I spent about thirty minutes at the carousel before my case came into view and was again pleasantly surprised when the customs agent just waved me through when I tried to declare the additional Antiguan Rum I was bringing in for friends (as I was a few liters over my allowance).
Thirty minutes later Im sat in my friends garden with the BBQ blazing and a cold Stella in my hand wondering why I dont come to Toronto more often in the summer.
Not a bad flight all in all, a tad more consideration could have been shown by the grandparents of the little foghorn earlier on in the flight but that was soon forgotten.
The next days flight to Vancouver was very run of the mill so I dont think Ill be narrating that but I will say that anyone who hasnt been to Vancouver in the summer should make an effort to do so, this is a stunningly beautiful city with plenty to do and see.
