Two weeks later than originally planned, and both testing negative, we are finally on our way.
We have used the two weeks delay to do a lot of holiday planning that we should really have done the first time around. I think that I finally understand the Hamilton/Toronto public transportation system, which I will bore you with in later posts. Vera also realises, the day before our new departure date, that you might not simply be able to waltz into Canada with a suitcase full of prescription drugs and that she should have been talking to people in the Health Products Border Compliance Program. So at 9 am Ontario time, 2pm for us, she tries phoning the HPBCP and gets through to voicemail and leaves a garbled message. I advise that email might be a better option, as she can list her medication and ask a more precise question. I’m not hopeful. I’m thinking that in the UK this service will have been outsourced, and have a 5 day service level for responding to queries. So I’m very surprised when she gets a detailed email response an hour later, clearing her general drugs and copying in the Office of Controlled Substances to deal with the more heavyweight items. There is a positive response from the OCS two hours later, and we are absolutely stunned by the efficiency of it all. We have clearly been conditioned to expect a rubbish service from government departments. Finally, at 9pm, there is a phone call from Health Canada responding to the voicemail message. How good is all that?
There have been detailed negotiations about what time to leave for the 12.30 flight. My view is that it takes 15 minutes to get to the airport, allow one hour for getting through security, so two hours before take-off should be fine. Two hours 15 is my fallback position. Vera’s view is that it’s an international flight, there’s a national train strike, and we should leave 5 hours before take-off. Air Canada acts as the mediator here, advising arrival 4 hours before. So our taxi is booked for 07.45, and we wake to learn that the incoming plane will arrive 90 minutes late. It takes the standard 15 minutes to get to the airport, where we meet a huge queue for check-in. But this is the TUI queue, Air Canada has almost no queue. Security is busy but not madly so, and it’s moving and takes about 45 minutes to get through.
We make a good start to the Guardian crossword during the wait. Our flight is eventually called and we make a long walk to the departure gate, passing the UK border exit desk. Empty and unstaffed, post-Brexit we are clearly taking control of our borders.
I can’t say that I was looking forward to the 7.5 hour flight, but with the right companion
it was pretty good
This did not start well. Our flight was subject to ‘metering’, meaning that they were only letting people off gradually so as not to overwhelm the airport. First off were people with connecting flights, which seemed to be the entire plane except for us and a handful of other people. Passport control was very automated, a machine scanning your passport and asking various questions. Are you bringing controlled substances into the country, was not one of them. The machine spat out a piece of paper with two Xs, which we took to the immigration control officer. He quizzed me about what I would be doing for four weeks in Canada, and then let us proceed.
We were the only people going into the red ‘goods to declare’ channel. Seemingly unstaffed, an officer soon appeared and asked what we were bringing in. Drugs, was Vera’s witty reply....Prescription Drugs I hastily added......we really didn’t need to be delayed by an official with a sense of humour bypass. He was very relaxed, asked if she was planning on selling the drugs and then let us carry on. No need to see the medication, or anything.
Our suitcases were waiting for us next to the baggage carousel.....that’s a first in my entire life. Then into the arrivals lounge. I knew from my research that we needed to buy and load money onto Presto GO cards to use on the bus, and that there should be machines to do this by the airport bus area. This was all going very well, but the seconds were ticking down to 16.10 when our bus was due to leave. We emerge into the Toronto heat, and see the number 40 at its stand and a clock reading 16.11. I run as fast as I can with two suitcases and we manage to make the bus....just. It sets off 30 seconds after we have sat down.
I had been led to believe that the roads around Toronto were a nightmare, but the first half hour of the journey is very smooth. We seem to be on a road dedicated for buses only. Then we are on the general freeway, but can use the multi-occupancy lane. There are a few sections of gridlock, caused by a lane closure or by roads merging, but nothing too nightmarish.
Vera tries and fails to find an ATM at the Hamilton bus station. There are two but both are in shops that are closed. We get a taxi to our accommodation, via a cash machine, dump our bags and take the very short walk to Mike’s flat.
It had been more than six years since Vera last saw her dad
We talk and chat for a few hours before walking back to our basement flat where we collapse into bed, exhausted.
The motorways in Toronto have a dedicated lane for green (electric) and high occupancy vehicles. It’s let’s buses move quite rapidly.
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