The Longest Day, part 2

18th August

Sadly, we were now on our way home. Our slightly snippy host had warned us that the drive to Swartz Bay ferry terminal could take a very long time as the road is slow in places, and our ferry was booked for 11:00 so we'd probably hit some rush hour traffic heading into Victoria.

So, we woke up at 6am, did our final bits of packing and tidying (always like to leave a place at least as tidy as we find it), and headed south on the highway towards the ferry.

 

The roads were busy but nothing too bad, and even stopping for a Tim Horton's breakfast (sprinkle donut for A, croissant for K, maple nut donut for me, just because) we arrived at the ferry port in time to get the earlier ferry to Tsawwassen. We even had time at the ferry port to browse the market on the quay and for Alana to spend her last few dollars on a metal Gryffindor sign for her bedroom door.

 

The boat trip was uneventful - we were all sad that it was the last time we'd see the island, at least on this trip. Once we disembarked, we headed for a large Walmart to get the last few bits of shopping - some Cheez-its for the plane, and some other bits and bobs. Then headed for the airport, dropped the car and put our big bags on the conveyor belt. Then realised that I still had my penknife in my carry-on bag. Sad times. I had to leave it behind at security.

Our flight to Calgary was, again, uneventful - Kathy and I watched a re-run of the Spain v Sweden semi-final, and Alana watched Super Mario Bros, laughing out loud at time! It was a little un-nerving seeing the extent of the wildfires, both from the plane window and also when we were in Calgary airport - the Calgary sunset was massively shrouded by the smoke. We hadn't noticed it before when we had arrived at Calgary, or when we had been in the Banff/Radium Hot Springs area, but the forest fires are much worse in that area now.

Our final flight to London was also uneventful. Neither Kathy nor I got much in the way of sleep, but Alana did manage to get a few hours, which was brilliant. As we approached Heathrow we flew over the Olympic Park in Stratford, and got a great view of Tower Bridge and the Thames.

The queue at passport control was not great - about an hour, and there were several families with young children who were obviously very tired and the kids were struggling to cope. But we managed just fine, luckily, and Tom met us the other side of baggage reclaim. Both Alana and I dozed a little on the way back to Basingstoke, and then I had an hour's nap while Kathy and Alana chilled with grandma and Tom.

Then we loaded our bags into our own car, and drove home, arriving just before 7pm. We had a brief de-brief with Karis, Jim and Henry who had been wonderfully house-sitting for us, had some tea, and fell into bed just the 32 hours after getting up.

It was so good to be home. 

Adventure score: 3/10

Tiredness rating: 9/10