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And the journey begins

Boarded the bus in Breslau

So, on a cold, windy day, our daughter Kim and her husband Steve, dropped us in Breslau at the Region of Waterloo airport. After a smooth check-in we had about an hour to wait before they announced we could board the coach for Toronto with 10 others for an uneventful trip there.

The Maple Leaf lounge was a real treat. We had a couple of hours until boarding and breakfast was a long time ago, so we took advantage of the selection. Roasted green beans and garlic, roasted potatoes and tender pieces of chicken in a cream sauce. Add in salad and some dessert treats (carrot cake, brownies and about 4 kinds of cookies including Paul’s fav, white chocolate macadamia) and whatever you want to drink and great wireless and the time flew by.

Awesome meal in the Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto Airport

Then it was time to board and experience Business Class.

We each had our own cubicle.

Between Toronto and Vancouver we had excellent cabin staff and service. My cabin steward addressed me by name each time during the 5 hr flight. He did only have about 15 names to remember, but certainly impressive. We had no shortage of food and beverages on our flight. However, about 2 hrs from Vancouver, we were notified our next flight was delayed by 3 hrs which would result in about 6 hrs in the airport. We decided to take a bit of a power nap which turned out to be a good idea. Once again, thank goodness for the Maple Leaf lounge that stayed open an extra few hrs because of our flight delay, although the food selection here was less.

We passed the time with another couple from Colorado who were also waiting for the same flight. By the time we took off from Vancouver, it was nearly 6 am our time. Haven’t pulled an all nighter for many years!

Our meal service was not as good on this leg of the journey. They finally served our supper about an hour and a half after we took off. Then it was sleep time. We both slept not too badly; Paul better than me. The rest of the time we watched movies or shows until breakfast was served a bit more than an hour before landing in Auckland.

View of Auckland from the plane

Arriving in Auckland was a fairly lengthy process with clearance through bio security first, then customs declarations and picking up our bags.

Next up, getting connected and transportation looked after.

And another trip finshed!

Our trip back across Canada followed our route to B.C. Fall is here and cooler temperatures are the normal now. We also experienced more rain on the way home than we did during all our time in B.C. The days are getting shorter – no more sunsets after 9 pm.

We spent 2 nights in Winnipeg again. This time, however, we stayed at a farm about 20 min. from my friend’s home. We decided we weren’t going to risk his narrow lane way. We made a trip into Steinbach for some fuel and supplies. I figured it would be our last grocery trip until home.

Once we got into Northern Ontario, we had to stay at a different campground for our first campground since Aaron Provincial Park has closed for the season. Our private park at Wabigoon Lake RV Park was easy to get to and we had a pull through site, but it was right beside the Trans Canada Highway and very noisy with vehicle traffic. Ok for a night but nothing more.

View of Wabigoon Lake from our campground

We spent another night at Cedar Grove Boondockers at Hurkett. This time we didn’t have rain while we were there, but our hosts were travelling so we didn’t have a chance to visit! it was kind of them to allow us to stay anyways.

Once we got south of Wawa and into Lake Superior Provincial Park, we started to see some nice colours in the hills: definitely not at peak yet.

We spent the night at a different campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Agawa Bay. We had a nice evening ending with a lovely sunset.

Our last two days were in and out of rain. As much as we enjoyed our B.C. time, we wish it wasn’t such a long trip to get there and back! Pulling a trailer also costs a lot! Fuel costs were about $3100 CND to travel about 12,000 km of which 3,700 were without towing the trailer.

We had a very good trip – overall great weather, especially when it counted. We had some good visits with friends and family along the way. Our travels were relatively incident-free. The two issues we did have (broken window, trailer brake) didn’t cause us any major delays or require re-routing. We’re thankful for safety while travelling but are glad to be back home.