The Journey

As the co-ordinator of the travel plans, and having a slight distrust, or ignorance of my iPhone capabilities, my carry on bag contained a file of paperwork relating to every aspect of taxi collections, flight times, e-ticket numbers, airport maps, various accommodation destinations, transport links and family contact details.

Following a 02:00 alarm call, the following four hours drifted by calmly. Taxi collection as arranged, through airport security without a hitch and boarded the first plane from Bristol to Amsterdam.  The departure time passed - the minutes ticked away. The pilot announced that "owing to airspace activity " our departure would be on hold for a short period. We taxed forward, then around the runway, and returned to the starting position.

Then came the information that a problem has been identified with  the engines. Only one was operational and attempts to start the second by various methods one had failed. Communication had been established with the technical staff in Amsterdam. The pilot entered the cabin to state that "never in my experience had this happened" further apparatus was attached to the plane and success -two engines ready to go. So, two hours later than scheduled we were airborne, with the reassurances that " this is a beautiful plane, your safety is paramount, we will not put you at risk". For passengers who had missed, and those who were likely to miss their connecting flights, the team in Amsterdam were re-assigning and finding alternative carriers.

Fortunately,  we had sufficient time to join the next leg of the journey to Vancouver. A nine hour flight in a Airbus 330,  tracked by both the eldest grandson in England and the sister with whom we are staying for the first five days of our vacation in British Columbia.

Customs and security staff at Vancouver International Airport proved to be efficient and through - questioning why we were in Canada, for how long and where and with whom were we staying. Ralph and I were quizzed re any possible contact with Ebola. M,S,I,J had to answer questions appertaining to how many years my sister had lived in Vancouver. However, the boys were delighted to be waved through and their passports stamped with date and time of entry into Canada.

Baggage claim was straightforward, our declarations form relating to an assurance that we were not attempting to bring in fruit, seeds, knives completed and accepted and we were then allowed to proceed into the arrivals hall.

Barbara, Dave and Simon took charge of the suitcases and steered us safely to their vehicles. Having been awake for 20 hours, whizzing through various time zones we were delighted to be swept up and driven to Maple Ridge... Ralph enjoying being whizzed and swept along in Dave's new 5.7 litre V8 pickup!

We are all delighted to have been made so welcome, and this home is beautiful.