The Finale

I arrived at John's house at about 8:00, and after thanking my chaufeur very much, my baggage from Invermere joined my baggage from Sunshine in the basement of John's house, and I began to sort out what I would take home. I planned to work through the night, however it wasn't necessary and I went to bed at 10ish. I had put aside 20kg of essentials (and laundry!) to take on the flight, and the rest was sorted int bags of priority, with duct-tape labels on each marking which order I would like them taken home in. I knew that Dad or John would be travelling to the UK a few times over the next 6 months, and obviously I wouldn't be needing my skis or boots any time soon!

On Thursday morning, John gave me a lift into Okotoks where I closed my bank account and withdrew my final $4000 in cash, to take back to the UK and sit on until the rate improves enough to sell them for £££! Interestingly, the only thing I had to present was my debit card- no ID, no confirmation. It seems I could have found any ATB card on the street and completely withdrawn all the funds! Perhaps it's a good job I end my agreement with them...

The next stop, my final destination in Canada, was Calgary International Airport. We unloaded my bag onto a trolley, and it was time to say goodbye. John had been such a support during my whole tour, if I hadn't have had someone like him living so close as my 'safety net', it would have been a lot more difficult to decide to go to Canada for such a long time. If anything had happened or I just needed to get away, John was always there just in case. Thankfully it never happened, but it was still a home I was able to relax in and get my stuff together on three separate occasions during my trip. I am very, very grateful.

Next I checked in- using the trick of resting a foot under the weighing scales with my bag on, and looking at the guage on the front, I could adjust the weight of my bag so I didn't have to pay excess, and then I was through to departures. I spent some of my last dollars on a chinese lunch, and read my book while watching the planes taxi around. Yet again, it was a beautiful soaring day, and I was going flying in a plane that really wouldn't appreciate it...

It wasn't too long before my flight was called, and after short sit in the lounge we were allowed to board to our designated seats. Once again, I was thankful that I had pre-booked a window seat- the in-flight entertainment wasn't working, but of course the window can entertain me for hours.



Beautiful spring soaring in Calgary during the departure...

On the great-circle route at this time of year (less than one month before the Solstice), it never really gets dark. Here is the eternal sunrise/set over the Arctic. This meant I couldn't properly get to sleep- I need it to be dark and quiet, yet many still had their window blinds open.

All too soon, as we ate our breakfast as the sun came back into view, we could see we were flying over the UK, covered in cloud as always. And we started our approach into Gatwick, through a thick layer of cloud with drissle underneath. As you might remember from my first flight out to Canada, it was dreary in London and soarable in Calgary. If I hadn't known better, I might have assumed the weather hadn't changed for 8 months...

So, I was back in the Motherland, the old Green and Pleasant, my Home. I collected my luggage, and waited in the arrivals lounge for whichever members of my family had risen at 5:00am to come see me... Eventually, I went for an explore at the same time as Mum and David, and we bumped into each other (since they had been waiting for just as long as I had...).

I was home.