13.09.2023 and 14.09.2023 Shearwater Aviation Museum. When will we get home?

 Today we are not being picked until 4.30pm. So we have time to go to the Shearwater Aviation Museum. We said our goodbyes to the others, who are off to Philadelphia, at breakfast time. We left our cases at reception all with tags on, and the hotel called a taxi to take us to the museum. This base is right by the river and during the war there were Sea Planes stationed there. Masters Great Uncle Billy had been stationed there during the 2nd world war with Canadian Pilots. Looking around the museum I found a reference to the F36 Flying Boats from Felixstowe that were there. Master had a long chat with the curator of the museum and was able to speak with the Librarian too. He would like to find out a bit more about his Great Uncle Billy's posting to Shearwater. I think they are going to try and find out more for him. We walked along the road to the Tim Horton Cafe and had a bite to eat, then went back to the museum and phoned the taxi driver who said he would come and pick us up and take us back to the hotel. 

We had time at the hotel for a sit down and a drink, before the car came to take us to the airport. It was quite a long drive to the airport, I hadn't realised it was so far out of town. Our plane is due to leave for Montreal at 8pm and then our plane from Montreal to London Heathrow at 10pm. Hmm! that didn't quite happen. We went and sat in the Air Canada lounge and had a bite to eat and sat and waited. Then it was announced that our plane was going to be half an hour late due to a technical issue with the plane So, that meant that it was going to be a tight schedule when we got to Montreal as it is a 1.5hr flight from Halifax. While we were in the lounge some of the German passengers from RA turned up they were flying to Frankfurt. We said our goodbyes to them as they walked out of the lounge for their flight and we waited and waited. It was then announced that the plane would be three quarters of an hour late. Eventually it did arrive at 20.45, but of course the other passengers had to get off and the plane had to be cleaned, fuelled etc. This was the same plane that had a technical fault before it flew to Halifax from Montreal. We wondered if they would say that it wasn't fit to fly, but they got it turned round and we were all packed into it around 21.00 It was full, the luggage was loaded after we got on the plane. After this the plane moved out onto the apron and taxied to the runway, it was making a horrible noise as if a brake was sticking on a wheel. When we set off down the runway I began to wonder if we were going to take off. I was a bit frightened in my travel bag, but then woosh we were up in the air and on our way.

Well the inevitable happened and as we landed at Montreal our plane to London was just leaving. As we taxied to the terminal it was making the horrible noise again. However when we did get off the plane everything had been sorted and we were given our boarding passes for the 18.30 plane the next day. Then we were taken to the luggage retrieval and were able to get our luggage transferred to the flight the next day, and so that stayed at the airport, we had everything we needed in our hand luggage. Then we went to the check in desk where we were given a voucher for a hotel for the night plus two $40 food vouchers. We made our way to door 8 where the Hotel shuttles collect and drop off. Who ever says Montreal airport is small is lying, when you have to walk from door 1 to door 8 at between midnight and 1AM and you are tired it is a jolly long way. A room at the Sheraton Hotel had been booked for us and the receptionist gave us the $40 voucher for Breakfast. The room was spacious and the beds comfortable but the pillows were all lumpy, we were so tired now though that we fell asleep straight away. 

In the morning Master and Missus realised they would have to rearrange our pick up at Heathrow. Master had difficulty getting through and went off for a shower, Missus however managed to get hold of the transport company we were using, albeit the wrong department, they kindly put us through to the right dept. The lady there said that we would need to get hold of the company we booked through to get it rearranged. When Master came out of the shower he was able to contact ROL and our pick up was rearranged with no problem. Missus had a shower and they went down to breakfast that meant that Morgan, Harbie and I could have a longer lie in!

The Master and Missus had a lovely breakfast each, Missus's came with a lot of Sauted Potatoes so master has some too and it came to just $4.85 over the $40 voucher, but it set them up for the day. They took a short gentle stroll round the hotel grounds and watched some planes taking off and came back in and decided to go to the little shop at the hotel and bought some presents. They bought some Star Marble Polar bears This Marble is quite sparkly and white just right for Polar bear figurines. It is a bright sunny day with a chilly breeze. We set off for the airport and the shuttle dropped us off at door 8, and it was a long walk back to door 1 again to get checked in!! We had to wait some time as we cannot go to the Air Canada lounge until 3 hours before the flight, however we were taken to the lounge a bit earlier as it was quiet in there at that time. Missus had a wheel chair to there. There was hot and cold food and drink. Our Flight is at 19.30ish. We ate and drank and peopled watched which is always interesting to do. We eventually boarded our flight from gate 64 glad we had a wheel chair to get there. Our flight to London only takes 5.5hours from Montreal and because of time differences would be landing in London at 6.30am. Looking forward to getting home now.