Flight and Premonition

Arrived in Vancouver minus sanity and sense of smell after 25 hours of flight and airport layovers; it's amazing how one's sense of smell shuts down to avoid offense! God I hate flying.

And yet the seemingly unending flight offered a jewel at its end: cloud cover parted to reveal the Northern Rockies in all their glory. Coming from the endless plains of Perth, W.A, an appreciation for verticality is not native. Here in the vista presented to me I saw the principle at close hand.

Vast stretches of craggy peaks lightly dusted with snow stretched outwards and upwards, seemingly close enough to brush our plane. Valleys, some mere scratches and others huge gouges, crisscrossed the scene; land-locked lakes, some covered with ice and snow and others open, dotted the landscape, their colors ranging from darkest black to startling torquoise: some of the frozen surfaces painted with black plumes on their edges where rock avalanches had abruptly ended.

Further on as we approached Vancouver the deep valleys multiplied and in turn filled with water - these lakes and rivers joined in waterways providing home and shelter. Houses and buildings scattered on their edges and water craft slow-motioned across their surfaces. Here and there huge log drifts checkered their surface, mostly ordered but some looking as if they had executed an escape plan and scattered in all directions. Several massive cargo ships left white trails kilometres long, and here and there a small plane appeared below, seemingly stuck to the sky like a pinned insect.

No stay in Vancouver: layover for a fight to Seattle for the first leg of the tour. Vancouver is a lovely airport - clean, neat and with some interesting architecture and fixtures which even I noticed in my brain dead state. Customs in was as I remember from International flights many years ago: fairly simple and litte fuss (apart from my bike, which I've learned has a serious ability to be deposited in 'special' areas where I and the airport staff wouldn't dream of looking - baggage handlers wield power and a mystical ability to hide stuff in full view!) Customs Out - to Seattle and hence US soil - was entirely different: a highly routinised and scrutinised military-like operation. Note to travellers: follow instructions explicitely, be polite and attentive, and endure stoically the process and you will be fine. Question, argue and look aggrieved and you will get your arse handed to you on a plate! Treat it like a test and try and get a smile out of one of them - I haven't yet but will struggle on!

Arrived in Seattle very early with the prospect of a 6 hour wait for check-in at the hotel but inate charm secured me a spectacularly early room! (Actually I just wept unashamedly at the counter and they threw me a bone).

So, the first leg of the cycle tour commences very soon - my slightly screwed up body clock sees me fully awake and ready at 3 a.m., but that will soon synch. Bike was fine once re-assembled - it and I are straining at the bit to go!

Back soon with more.

Oh, my premonition? Saw quite a few homeless under the freeway ramps on the way in on the bus to my hotel - weird thing is, several of them seem to have bikes!