Greyhounds – not so fast….

After a quiet nights sleep, I left at O’silly’o’clock to reach the greyhound bus to Kelowna, where Ali was staying.

To do this I needed to get a connecting bus to the Depot. Having found the bus I needed and worked out where the stop was, I didn’t think I’d have a problem.

I should have known better….

The small catch was carrying about 50kg of stuff, spread over three bags about 2 city blocks, stopping at crossings, waiting while holding three bags as cars zoomed past.

Three bags that grew heavier, and Heavier and HEAVIER as I went.

One thing I can’t criticise is the bus system though. A bus every 10 minutes – or better – with helpful, cheerful drivers willing to help the poor benighted traveller on their way.

At the terminal it was a 50 yard struggle to the coach and Drop, feeling lighter and cheerful as the staff whisked away my bags into the coach, checked my ticket and waved me on. Given it was 9ish in the morning, I couldn’t believe how helpful they were.

On maybe they could only help one person each day, and I was just lucky…

And the wheels on the bus.

Went round.
And around.
And around.

For 6 hours we drove through the Canadian mountains – well I say mountains. Fellow passengers claimed the hills were barely worth the mention, and that the snow was a trivial affair not worth noting. All twelve inches of non-noteworthiness.

Slowly we crawled along the roads, passing through such places as Hope and Merit, over a huge bridge into Kelowna. Ali was kind enough to meet me at the station, where we headed to the store at the mall which she’s running, where I grabbed some food as she wrapped up at the end of the day.

Before heading back, we nipped into the shops for a few bits of food, a pillow and a loaf of fruit bread.

A lift back to the house, courtesy of our house mates, Bruce and Donna, prior to a mug of tea, a late Christmas present from the parents to Ali (which she liked) and an early night.