Day 274: Edmonton – Calgary – Vancouver – Los Angeles
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Monday May 9th
After six months and four days in Canada, it was finally time to leave. I woke at 6:15am to quickly shower and say good-bye to Amanda and Luke, and then I was on my way to Calgary. I had been a little concerned about driving by myself – more about getting out of the city, as the streets were quite narrow and there were cars parked on the streets – but I made it out fine. Once I hit the highway, I was cruising – until the fog set in, and followed me almost all the way to Calgary. I desperately needed petrol but wasn’t keen on pulling off the highway, not being able to see in the fog.
I ended up getting petrol on ‘Gas Drive’ near Red Deer and also stopped in at McDonalds for breakfast (the very weird McGriddle again). By 10:30, I had made it to the Calgary airport, with the car still in one piece. After dropping it back I made my way into the terminal to check-in for my flight to Vancouver, the first of two flights for the day.
I had expected to pass US customs in Calgary, which is why I had allowed so much spare time at the airport (my flight wasn’t until 2:08pm, and I was checked in by 11am), but I was informed I would need to clear it at Vancouver airport – where I had only an hour before my next flight!
The next few hours passed quickly with the help of a trashy magazine, and before I knew it I was on my way to Vancouver. I rushed off the plane and followed the numerous signs to US Customs. Luckily, there was no queue and I had a nice officer, who didn’t interrogate me like the one arriving into L.A. had. It’s a weird concept, officially entering into a new country before physically arriving into the country (the sign read, “Welcome to the USA!”, when I was actually in Vancouver!), but it meant the flight was treated as a domestic flight in L.A., and I simply had to pick-up my bag once at LAX.
For once, my bag was the first off the flight, and I made my way out to the Super Shuttle waiting area to catch a shared van to the hostel. Some of the areas we went through on the way to the hostel were dodgy – L.A. is a lot like that, extreme wealth in some areas and extreme poverty in others. One thing I was very stoked about was that I saw a celebrity from the car – Paul Walker (of Fast and the Furious fame) was walking along the road just out of Santa Monica.
The hostel was amazing. It had a beautiful courtyard; massive kitchen; and numerous TV and chill-out rooms. The dorm itself consisted of three bunk beds, which with my arrival were now all occupied; and I was stoked to find two good pillows, nice linen and a king size towel waiting for me on my bed.
As it was still relatively early, I headed out to check out the surroundings. I was not disappointed – Santa Monica is beautiful, picture-postcard worthy with palm trees lining the street, cloudless blue skies and wide clean streets. Of course, I was ecstatic to find that the next street over from the hostel was shopping heaven – Zara, Kitson, Forever 21 and H and M all had large stores. There were also several English pubs/shops near the hostel which promised Australian and English sweets – I made a mental note to return the next day to check them out.
I had a quick dinner of Subway and then made my way back to my dorm room, where I met Harriet, one of my dorm mates. She was returning to England after living in Australia for 12 months. Shortly after I also met my other dorm mates, four German girls travelling long-term in the USA. It seems no one holidays for a week anymore – go long or go home!!
After six months and four days in Canada, it was finally time to leave. I woke at 6:15am to quickly shower and say good-bye to Amanda and Luke, and then I was on my way to Calgary. I had been a little concerned about driving by myself – more about getting out of the city, as the streets were quite narrow and there were cars parked on the streets – but I made it out fine. Once I hit the highway, I was cruising – until the fog set in, and followed me almost all the way to Calgary. I desperately needed petrol but wasn’t keen on pulling off the highway, not being able to see in the fog.
I ended up getting petrol on ‘Gas Drive’ near Red Deer and also stopped in at McDonalds for breakfast (the very weird McGriddle again). By 10:30, I had made it to the Calgary airport, with the car still in one piece. After dropping it back I made my way into the terminal to check-in for my flight to Vancouver, the first of two flights for the day.
I had expected to pass US customs in Calgary, which is why I had allowed so much spare time at the airport (my flight wasn’t until 2:08pm, and I was checked in by 11am), but I was informed I would need to clear it at Vancouver airport – where I had only an hour before my next flight!
The next few hours passed quickly with the help of a trashy magazine, and before I knew it I was on my way to Vancouver. I rushed off the plane and followed the numerous signs to US Customs. Luckily, there was no queue and I had a nice officer, who didn’t interrogate me like the one arriving into L.A. had. It’s a weird concept, officially entering into a new country before physically arriving into the country (the sign read, “Welcome to the USA!”, when I was actually in Vancouver!), but it meant the flight was treated as a domestic flight in L.A., and I simply had to pick-up my bag once at LAX.
For once, my bag was the first off the flight, and I made my way out to the Super Shuttle waiting area to catch a shared van to the hostel. Some of the areas we went through on the way to the hostel were dodgy – L.A. is a lot like that, extreme wealth in some areas and extreme poverty in others. One thing I was very stoked about was that I saw a celebrity from the car – Paul Walker (of Fast and the Furious fame) was walking along the road just out of Santa Monica.
The hostel was amazing. It had a beautiful courtyard; massive kitchen; and numerous TV and chill-out rooms. The dorm itself consisted of three bunk beds, which with my arrival were now all occupied; and I was stoked to find two good pillows, nice linen and a king size towel waiting for me on my bed.
As it was still relatively early, I headed out to check out the surroundings. I was not disappointed – Santa Monica is beautiful, picture-postcard worthy with palm trees lining the street, cloudless blue skies and wide clean streets. Of course, I was ecstatic to find that the next street over from the hostel was shopping heaven – Zara, Kitson, Forever 21 and H and M all had large stores. There were also several English pubs/shops near the hostel which promised Australian and English sweets – I made a mental note to return the next day to check them out.
I had a quick dinner of Subway and then made my way back to my dorm room, where I met Harriet, one of my dorm mates. She was returning to England after living in Australia for 12 months. Shortly after I also met my other dorm mates, four German girls travelling long-term in the USA. It seems no one holidays for a week anymore – go long or go home!!
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