Ilze and I now hold the Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Clubs record (admittedly with jackets in the hold baggage) for the longest Thursday the 29^th of August ever endured.

It began conventionally enough, sleeping through till about 6.30am and then up for a final pack and a quick breakfast before we drove to Melbourne Airport. Leaving Debbie and Ian’s car in the Terminal carpark for them to collect at banana grape slug , those of you familiar with the What3words app, will understand. An uneventful passage through the terminal and a pleasant flight on NZ 124 had us arriving in Aukland at 5.50pm local time (Actual Thursday Hours Elapsed, 15 Hours).

Due to a “delay caused by operational difficulties” we waited 4 hours before eventually boarding NZ Flight 24 to Vancouver. (ATHE’s 19). We then flew east across the Pacific to eventually arrive in Vancouver at 6.00pm on Thursday the 29^th of August which was just 10 minutes after we left Aukland. It was a fine Autum evening and shared a taxi to our splendid hotel  went without further incident. (ATHE,s 32.5). After unpacking a quick trip to the local British Pub for a bite and a pint, we made it into bed about 10pm (ATHE,s 36) and we were asleep in the presence of our DROC jackets before midnight Local time,  making a total of Actual Thursday the 29^th,s Hours Elapsed. 38

We were up before daylight, anxiously checking our phones to see if Friday the 30^th had finally arrived and we were delighted to confirm that it had and a final conformation was the arrival of the Cunard liner at the Queen Elizabeth at  the nearby Canada Place terminal. Cunard never have “operational difficulties” Gosh it is huge at was actually longer than the walk from our hotel.

We then went on our Sea Plane Harbors Cruise, 20 minutes of utter delight, incredibly noise but magnificent. Our aging but equally magnificent DeHavilland Beaver was built in 1940, she was actually older than me. (I know, hard to believe)  We took off into glorious autumn sky’s with views across the harbor and we could see the snow on Whistler. Twenty minutes of magic that did much to even the score after yesterdays trails. In fact it would be fair to say that Vancouver has edged slightly ahead.

After a good nights sleep its off to Whistler tomorrow.

Pete.