1st September 2025
Rabbits.
The alarm goes off at 05:15, but I've not slept well — typically I don't at the start of a trip. I stumble about getting abluted and putting stuff in bags, and then sit and have a coffee.
I've managed to plan my groceries quite well this trip, only having to throw away a pint of milk and some tomatoes. As is becoming a habit when I travel, I'm having stuff done whilst I'm away — the roof of the house and the garage are being washed today — to get rid of a build up of moss. Oh — and the convertible is at Norwich Audi having a new camshaft fitted. Well, you can't take it with you…
Adrian turns up on the dot of 06:00, we load my bags into his car, and we're soon headed towards London. It's pretty quiet traffic-wise — and conversation-wise until we stop for a MacBreakfast at Barton Mills…
Sufficiently full, we take our coffees to the car and make tracks towards Gatwick, our destination today.
We cross the Thames over the Dartford Bridge — first bridge pic of the trip! Tolls are collected electronically, and I've already set up an account to pay for Adrian's car — as well as another account to cover his “drop off charge”
at Gatwick. Come to think of it, he could slowly bankrupt me by driving over the Dartford Crossing and back for days…
We get to Gatwick South Terminal at about 09:00, and we quickly unload my gear. I thank Adrian — great mate to do this
You get charged another £7 if you're there longer than 10 minutes…
I enter the terminal, wheeling my bags with me, ready to use the automated bag check, as I checked in online yesterday, and already have my boarding pass.
This is the queue to the auto bag check.
Basically, they aren't working, so the beleaguered ground staff have to do it all manually. It takes me over an hour to get my bag checked in, then make my way through security. Security was a lot easier than normal, as you no longer have to remove laptops from your bags etc — it all goes straight through.
I stop off at Duty Free to pick up a pre-order, then make my way to the Departure Gate…
By the time I arrive, they are starting to board. The snarl up at baggage check has slowed everyone down, and I'm glad I arrived as early as I did…
Eventually I'm boarded, when they say “everyone else”, and make my way through a rammed aircraft to my seat — in the middle of three on the right side, but at least it's right by the overwing exit…
…so I have stacks of legroom.
The in-flight entertainment has several films that I was interested in watching — starting with Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning, which was two hours and 49 minutes long.
Well, it's a nine and a half hour flight, and I don't have anything better to do, so I watched it. It appears to be a series of set pieces which show Tom Cruise (who does the vast majority of his own stunt work) trying to kill himself, interspersed with him running at full tilt. The bit with the two biplanes must have been something to set up — I'll have to look out for a “Making of” video.
Tom is 63 years old (but obviously looks nothing like it), but I can't help but feel he's running as hard as he can from ageing. He is undoubtedly a great movie actor, and there's rarely a boring moment when he's on the screen.*
We get fed a very decent Cottage Pie for lunch — BA food really has improved over the years.
Next up, I watched Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson — who plays an Expendable — someone whose whole life has been saved onto a computer and is used for hazardous duties, and who's job is to die, and then they'll 'print' another one. It was a fair film — but I think Murderbot did it better, really…
Finally, I just managed to squeeze in Black Bag, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A British spy thriller with a great cast (Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan), it kept me entertained for every one of its 93 minutes — thoroughly recommended
And suddenly we are arriving at Vancouver — named for King's Lynn boy George. We troop out, wheeling our bags, and walk/are conveyed at least half a mile (this is no exaggeration — my Apple Watch is so impressed with my step count), before arriving at the automatic border entry machine. I answer a lot of impertinent questions, and am rather amused when it tells me to “Look up into the camera” — it's at shoulder height. It takes a picture and gives me my entry pass…
Nice…
I go to the carousel and find my checked bag, which seems to have weathered the journey better than me, and then wheel my trolley over to the multi-storey car park, where the Avis desk is situated. As usual, they are extremely helpful. I had ordered a “Luxury Car” — which they said would be a Chrysler 300, or similar. Regular readers will already know where this is headed…
Yep — it's a BMW…
Although this time it's an X5 — which I've always thought a bit better looking than the pig-ugly X6…
It's also very cooperative, connecting my iPhone in no time and displaying CarPlay without being prompted. I sit in the car park with the AC on full, luxuriating in the chill, as I've sweated through my tee shirt and look like hell on toast. It's also nice to use my elbows…
After getting my temperature back to a reasonable level, I put my hotel's address into Waze and set off slowly into Vancouver's 15:00 traffic…
More bridges! We were stopped for a while, and I think it was to allow a boat to go through the lifting bridge — shame to miss a classic pic like that…
My hotel is literally five minutes away, so I stop under the canopy, check in, and pinch their luggage trolley to empty the car and drag everything upstairs to my 4th floor room. I go back, return the trolley, park the car in a convenient slot, the grab a couple of bottles of Gatorade from the fridge. Closing the room door behind me, I switch the AC to Neptune, and relax in its frosty embrace…
I take a shower that was like a religious experience, and put everything I was wearing today (even down to my watch strap) into a bag marked 'Toxic Waste' — I may be brave enough to launder it in a few days. I pop downstairs and fill my travel mug with coffee, then come back to my room and upload pics and make a start on my journal. I'm determined to stay up until at least 21:00 local (which will be 05:00 body clock time — ie 24 hrs), to try to make a dent in the eight-hour time difference.
Rough day, but then I have a club-class physique and an economy class budget…
*Edited to add — one of the most bizarre pieces of casting in Mission Impossible — Hannah Waddingham plays a Two Star US Navy Admiral. Bit of a change from Ted Lasso…
Rabbits.
The alarm goes off at 05:15, but I've not slept well — typically I don't at the start of a trip. I stumble about getting abluted and putting stuff in bags, and then sit and have a coffee.
I've managed to plan my groceries quite well this trip, only having to throw away a pint of milk and some tomatoes. As is becoming a habit when I travel, I'm having stuff done whilst I'm away — the roof of the house and the garage are being washed today — to get rid of a build up of moss. Oh — and the convertible is at Norwich Audi having a new camshaft fitted. Well, you can't take it with you…
Adrian turns up on the dot of 06:00, we load my bags into his car, and we're soon headed towards London. It's pretty quiet traffic-wise — and conversation-wise until we stop for a MacBreakfast at Barton Mills…
Sufficiently full, we take our coffees to the car and make tracks towards Gatwick, our destination today.
We cross the Thames over the Dartford Bridge — first bridge pic of the trip! Tolls are collected electronically, and I've already set up an account to pay for Adrian's car — as well as another account to cover his “drop off charge”
We get to Gatwick South Terminal at about 09:00, and we quickly unload my gear. I thank Adrian — great mate to do this
You get charged another £7 if you're there longer than 10 minutes…
I enter the terminal, wheeling my bags with me, ready to use the automated bag check, as I checked in online yesterday, and already have my boarding pass.
This is the queue to the auto bag check.
Basically, they aren't working, so the beleaguered ground staff have to do it all manually. It takes me over an hour to get my bag checked in, then make my way through security. Security was a lot easier than normal, as you no longer have to remove laptops from your bags etc — it all goes straight through.
I stop off at Duty Free to pick up a pre-order, then make my way to the Departure Gate…
By the time I arrive, they are starting to board. The snarl up at baggage check has slowed everyone down, and I'm glad I arrived as early as I did…
Eventually I'm boarded, when they say “everyone else”, and make my way through a rammed aircraft to my seat — in the middle of three on the right side, but at least it's right by the overwing exit…
…so I have stacks of legroom.
The in-flight entertainment has several films that I was interested in watching — starting with Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning, which was two hours and 49 minutes long.
Well, it's a nine and a half hour flight, and I don't have anything better to do, so I watched it. It appears to be a series of set pieces which show Tom Cruise (who does the vast majority of his own stunt work) trying to kill himself, interspersed with him running at full tilt. The bit with the two biplanes must have been something to set up — I'll have to look out for a “Making of” video.
Tom is 63 years old (but obviously looks nothing like it), but I can't help but feel he's running as hard as he can from ageing. He is undoubtedly a great movie actor, and there's rarely a boring moment when he's on the screen.*
We get fed a very decent Cottage Pie for lunch — BA food really has improved over the years.
Next up, I watched Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson — who plays an Expendable — someone whose whole life has been saved onto a computer and is used for hazardous duties, and who's job is to die, and then they'll 'print' another one. It was a fair film — but I think Murderbot did it better, really…
Finally, I just managed to squeeze in Black Bag, which I thoroughly enjoyed. A British spy thriller with a great cast (Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan), it kept me entertained for every one of its 93 minutes — thoroughly recommended
And suddenly we are arriving at Vancouver — named for King's Lynn boy George. We troop out, wheeling our bags, and walk/are conveyed at least half a mile (this is no exaggeration — my Apple Watch is so impressed with my step count), before arriving at the automatic border entry machine. I answer a lot of impertinent questions, and am rather amused when it tells me to “Look up into the camera” — it's at shoulder height. It takes a picture and gives me my entry pass…
Nice…
I go to the carousel and find my checked bag, which seems to have weathered the journey better than me, and then wheel my trolley over to the multi-storey car park, where the Avis desk is situated. As usual, they are extremely helpful. I had ordered a “Luxury Car” — which they said would be a Chrysler 300, or similar. Regular readers will already know where this is headed…
Yep — it's a BMW…
Although this time it's an X5 — which I've always thought a bit better looking than the pig-ugly X6…
It's also very cooperative, connecting my iPhone in no time and displaying CarPlay without being prompted. I sit in the car park with the AC on full, luxuriating in the chill, as I've sweated through my tee shirt and look like hell on toast. It's also nice to use my elbows…
After getting my temperature back to a reasonable level, I put my hotel's address into Waze and set off slowly into Vancouver's 15:00 traffic…
More bridges! We were stopped for a while, and I think it was to allow a boat to go through the lifting bridge — shame to miss a classic pic like that…
My hotel is literally five minutes away, so I stop under the canopy, check in, and pinch their luggage trolley to empty the car and drag everything upstairs to my 4th floor room. I go back, return the trolley, park the car in a convenient slot, the grab a couple of bottles of Gatorade from the fridge. Closing the room door behind me, I switch the AC to Neptune, and relax in its frosty embrace…
I take a shower that was like a religious experience, and put everything I was wearing today (even down to my watch strap) into a bag marked 'Toxic Waste' — I may be brave enough to launder it in a few days. I pop downstairs and fill my travel mug with coffee, then come back to my room and upload pics and make a start on my journal. I'm determined to stay up until at least 21:00 local (which will be 05:00 body clock time — ie 24 hrs), to try to make a dent in the eight-hour time difference.
Rough day, but then I have a club-class physique and an economy class budget…
*Edited to add — one of the most bizarre pieces of casting in Mission Impossible — Hannah Waddingham plays a Two Star US Navy Admiral. Bit of a change from Ted Lasso…
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