Well, that wasn’t so bad. 

Looked up Air Canada Cargo on Dr Google and found an address out by the International Airport. A $35 taxi ride with a VERY talkative and impossible to understand Indian driver and by 2.00 pm I was there. No queue and a really helpful bloke behind the counter where I handed over my waybill (thanks Ivan) which he processed.  He said the bike was there (yehaaaaaaa) but I needed to take the paperwork to Canadian Customs – a 2 minute walk away. He said a lot of bikes had been sent back to their point of origin for being too dirty. Mostly UK bikes. The owners weren’t given the opportunity to clean them, just back on the next flight! I said I’d spent close to a day on it which impressed him. He said to make sure I reinforced that with Customs and that they usually don’t inspect them (didn’t make much sense after the earlier comments). But, he said, if they did, it would be a worst case scenario.

Continue reading “Cargo, customs and clearance” →

Took a while to get to sleep last night and woke up at 8.00 am a bit raggedy. However, I think the body clocks going to be pretty right going forwards now – doesn’t take long to shake the cobwebs out and I reckon I got away with the jet lag well.

A maintenance and admin morning coming up I think. Some washing, a few e-mails and belatedly updating the blog. I’ve never done one before and am enjoying it.

Continue reading “Maintenance and admin” →

….. kinda.

After 12 hours sleep, a bit of breakfast and then another brief snooze, it was time to get back into it. One of the best bits about traveling is street food. Walking through the commercial district Downtown, I saw a huge line up at a pretty grotty looking Taco Van. Always a good sign. I had the most awesome chicken taco with avocado, chilli and lime. It was one of the nicest things I’ve ever eaten! Nearly went back for another but, nope – so much more to try. Think I’ll be grazing all day!!

Continue reading “Back on 2 wheels …..” →

Well, here I am in Canada – all the planning and plotting has finally come to be! First impressions are great. In and out of customs in about 10 minutes, an e-mail from my AirBnB saying to check in whenever it suited and then a taxi into town.

The flight was easy and relaxing – movies, a brief snooze, not a lot to eat, but no complaints about what was served. The 16 hours went in a flash.

Continue reading “Touchdown” →