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Victoria to Vancouver

2023 Vancouver-Hawai’i Cruise

I like to arrive in a cruise departure city the day before a cruise leaves, in order to not be rushed and to reduce the inevitable anxiety of being ready to board the ship at the appointed day and time. I have a leisurely breakfast at home and take care of some last minute packing before going to the airport in the late morning. I check my bag at the check-in desk, go through security and have lots of time left to spot aircraft from the domestic gates waiting area. I only spot the usual suspects today: Westjet, Air Canada and Flair, and of course Pacific Coastal, which is my airline today.

Air Canada Rouge, Westjet, Porter, Flair & Pacific Coastal spotted at Victoria airport
Air Canada Rouge, Westjet, Porter, Flair & Pacific Coastal spotted at Victoria airport

My Pacific Coastal Airlines, Flight 106 on a Beech 1900D leaves Victoria Airport at 1:40PM, arriving at Vancouver airport’s South Terminal at 2:15PM. Skies are clear as we cross Georgia Strait, giving me some good views of the Gulf Islands. As we approach Vancouver Airport from the east, it’s fascinating to fly low over the Fraser River delta farms and urban development in Surrey, Richmond and Delta. I even catch some glimpses of Mount Baker to the south of us through the orange-coloured haze in the sky this afternoon. I take the shuttle to the Main Terminal and board the Canada Line Skytrain, arriving at the City Centre Station a half hour later. I’m staying at the Metropolitan Hotel, which is a 5-minute walk away.

I use the MarineTraffic app on my iPhone to check on Koningsdam’s current position. As of 4:30PM, the ship is just entering Johnston Strait near Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island, heading south to dock in Vancouver tomorrow morning. After having a shower and catching up with my online social media, I go downstairs to the hotel’s Diva bar and restaurant for some dinner. I have Grilled salmon over a roasted beet salad with a glass of Granville Island Pale Ale.

After dinner, I go on a walkabout downtown at sunset, taking photos of the buildings with my Canon R5. The art deco Marine Building is always a good subject, especially since it is surrounded with modern glass towers which reflect its image. The Apple Store is across the street from my hotel, but I’m not tempted to shop, despite being an Apple fan!

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Vancouver Arrival

April 30, 2023 – Sunday – Arrival in Vancouver and onward to home in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

2023 Panama Canal Cruise

I’m up at 6am to experience the beautiful light as we sail past English Bay, under Lion’s Gate Bridge and Stanley Park, down Burrard Inlet to the harbour. I grab a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant from the Explorations Cafe to take back to my stateroom. The ship docks in Vancouver a bit ahead of time, despite having two cruise ships docked at Canada Place ahead of us: the huge Discovery Princess and the much smaller Brillance of the Seas. This is the end of the cruise for me, and a return to reality!

Since I’m rolling my own bag off the ship, I’m one of the first off the ship, leaving at 8AM. Canada Customs and Immigration don’t want to talk to the departing passengers, so I make my way to the nearby Skytrain Waterfront Station and board the Canada Line which goes to the airport. It takes 35 minutes, so I’m at the airport station by 8:45am, catch the shuttle to the South Terminal, and check my bag with Pacific Coastal Airlines for my flight home to Victoria.

My flight doesn’t leave until 12:45pm, so I try going to the observing platform outside the terminal to spot planes, but the breeze is cold and there are very few aircraft moving at this time of day. Retreating back to the terminal building, I grab a muffin from the Galiano Cafe and settle in to wait by editing some of my photos on my notebook.

The flight goes without a hitch, however the dull grey weather means I take few photos out the aircraft window. We land on runway 13, which is unusual, but brings us very close to the apron in front of the terminal. My family are waiting for me, and my bag is the first on the belt. We pay the $2 parking fee and drive home, where the rest of the family are waiting to greet me.

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Victoria to Fort Lauderdale

Apr 7, 2023 (Friday) – Apr 8, 2023 (Saturday) – Flights from Victoria to Ft. Lauderdale via Toronto

2023 Panama Canal Cruise

My Air Canada Rouge flight (AC1900) on an Airbus A320-214 (C-GFCH) from Victoria (YYJ) to Toronto (YYZ) leaves Victoria at 11:24PM. This red-eye flight has lots of empty seats, so we can spread out a bit to rest, with some passengers have 3 seats to themselves, so they can lay down to sleep better. I have a good rest, but as usual don’t get any sleep. Flight time is 3:57, and the sunrise is pretty out the aircraft window as we land at Pearson Toronto Airport at 6:37AM the following morning.

My Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321 aircraft at the gate

Going through US security and Customs and Immigration pre-clearance is the usual sh*t show, which involves taking off shoes and jackets for security. The immigration line only takes about 10 minutes, so I don’t bother with the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) | U.S. Customs and Border Protection app before getting in line to talk with border security agent “Hernandez”. He appears to be pretty bored with all the cruise passengers he must be dealing with, asking me how long the cruise is and then waves me through.

My Victoria-Toronto flight arrival gate is in Terminal 1 and thankfully my Toronto-Ft. Lauderdale departure gate is in the same terminal. So after finding the gate for my Fort Lauderdale (FLL) flight, I start looking for a quiet place to have a cappuccino and some breakfast since I’m pretty hungry by this time. As it turns out there are few options, so I end up at the Hearth restaurant for breakfast, paying CA$30 for a vegetarian omelette and a cup of coffee!

I put an Apple Airtag in my checked bag before leaving home, so I now flash up the ‘Find My’ app on my iPhone. It indicates my checked bag is very close to me in the same terminal…a bit of a relief considering Pearson Airport’s recently newsworthy baggage handling fiasco.

When I return to the gate area, I still have about three hours to wait for my flight to start boarding. Passengers are gathering for a flight to Miami, leaving mid-morning. Huge numbers of parents with young kids completely fill the waiting area. The gate staff are making it clear that not all the carry-on bags will fit in the cabin, so they are urging passengers to check their bigger carry-ons.

The boarding process for my flight is a similar mess. It’s a full flight with lots of folks with wheelchairs, walkers, baby buggies and lots of oversized carry on bags that they eventually have to check, since there’s no more room in the cabin. Despite the chaos, the gate agents board everyone quite efficiently, and our Airbus A321-211 (C-FJNX) starts rolling off the apron at 12:45pm. The pilots start one engine using the power wagon, then start the second engine after they roll away from the gate.

This 2-hour 51-minute flight is fine, once everyone settles down. The kids are good, and my seat mates in the 3-3 configuration are fine as well. We fly south offshore from the Atlantic coast of Florida, and since I’m in a window seat on the right side of the aircraft, I have some good views of the ocean, beaches and cities before we turn in at Fort Lauderdale to land at 3:48 PM.

Atlantic shoreline at Hillsboro Beach

Since we pre-cleared in Toronto, we go straight to the departures area. To my great relief, my bag appears early on the belt, so I can get ahead of the crowd. I take a taxi to the nearby Hotel near Port Everglades | Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel, where I check-in and get settled in my room. I soon go downstairs to the R Lounge for dinner: tasty Mahi-mahi fish tacos with chips and salsa and a Space Dust IPA | Elysian Brewing for a total of US$35.

I’m quite pleased with how the flights went. I used some of my Marriott Points to pay for the night’s stay in this very nice hotel, which is in a good location.

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Arrival in Vancouver & home to Victoria

Oct 24, 2022 – Arrival in Vancouver, BC, Canada & flight home to Victoria

2022 Hawai’i Cruise

I’m awake as the ship passes English Bay and under the Lion’s Gate Bridge, sailing into Vancouver Harbour. The ship docks at Canada Place at 7:15AM – precisely as the captain predicted yesterday! I get dressed and go down to the Grand Dutch Cafe for my usual cappuccino, blueberry muffin and yogurt/fruit parfait. There is quite a line, so it takes about 20 minutes for Kaye to make my cappuccino, but I’m in no rush. After breakfast, I return to my stateroom and finish packing. By that time, the announcement is made that the ship is cleared and disembarkation is starting. 

Since I’m a 4-star Mariner, I can disembark anytime I wish up to 9:30AM. It feels pretty good to be able to bypass all the passengers waiting for their group numbers to be called as I have my keycard scanned for the last time, and roll my bags down the gangway and into the terminal. The CBSA agent welcomes me to Canada after I give them my declaration. They don’t ask to see my passport, so I walk out the terminal and turn left onto Cordova Street to walk the block in the rain to the Skytrain terminal to board the Canada Line to the airport. I mistakenly get onto the train to Brighouse-Richmond instead of YVR, but no worries since I get off at Bridgeport and board the following train to YVR three minutes later.

The South Terminal shuttle is waiting right outside the pedestrian bridge at the US departures, so I’m checked in at Pacific Coastal Airways in short order. Now I wait five hours for my 3PM flight departure to Victoria. I settle in to work on my travel photos, but have a cappuccino from the Galiano Cafe first, and then an hour or so later I have some delicious seafood soup for lunch.

Bombardier Global 6000 executive jet taxiing at YVR
Bombardier Global 6000 executive jet taxiing at YVR

I spend an hour or so this afternoon plane spotting from the platform outside, taking photos of each aircraft as they takeoff and climb out. A Bombardier Global 6000 executive jet taxis past the platform to the private terminal next to South Terminal. Perhaps there is a VIP aboard? My flight is delayed 20 minutes but otherwise the flight goes smoothly. The pilot must have had a takeoff time slot booked, since he really hustles down the taxiway to the button, not even stopping at the stop line before taking off! The flight to Victoria was a bit bumpy, since we were flying at 2,000′ below the clouds. We fly a straight in approach over Sidney to Victoria International Airport, and roll onto the taxiway 15 minutes after our takeoff from Vancouver. There is an Air North Boeing 737 aircraft on the apron in Victoria, reminding me of my flight to Whitehorse back in May.

My family is waiting for me in the baggage claim area. My checked bag is one of the first to appear on the belt, so we are out of there in quick order, driving home in the rush hour traffic.

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Victoria to Vancouver

Oct 7, 2022 – Fly from Victoria to Vancouver & stay overnight

2022 Hawai’i cruise

Skytrain bridge over the Fraser River
Skytrain bridge over the Fraser River

After lunch at home, we drive to Victoria airport, where I take a Pacific Coastal Airways flight to Vancouver South Terminal (YVR), flying over the Strait of Georgia looking SE on a smokey afternoon. I take the shuttle from the South Terminal to the main terminal, and get off at the first stop (International and USA departures), walk across to the Skytrain terminal, and take the Canada Line to City Centre Station at Pacific Centre – about a half hour trip costing CA$9. The Skytrain is quite scenic as it crosses the Fraser River.

I’m staying at the Metropolitan Hotel (a Marriott), which is a half block walk from the Skytrain station. For nostalgia’s sake, I walk back to the intersection of Georgia and Granville Streets to take a few photos, and then do some last minute shopping at the London Drugs store on the corner where Birk’s Jewellers used to be when I lived here in the 1970s. The Birk’s clock is still there, but is now buried in the high-rises. After returning to the hotel, I have dinner at the hotel’s Gala bar and restaurant – a chicken clubhouse & Granville Island Pale Ale, before retiring for the night. I board the ship tomorrow.

Panorama of Georgia at Granville – Hudson’s Bay, London Drugs, Pacific Centre
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Vancouver Arrival

June 5, 2022 – Arrival in Vancouver and returning home to Victoria, BC, Canada

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I’m awake at 5:30AM, get dressed and go up to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 11 forward where the Explorations Cafe is located. The staff are preparing for opening at 7AM, but I’m interested in watching the ship pass under Lion’s Gate bridge as we sail into Vancouver. It is raining and gloomy outside, but I manage to take a time lapse video with my iPhone that captures the few minutes it takes the ship to pass under the bridge. The North Shore industrial terminal is on our left and Stanley Park is on our right as the ship makes its way through Burrard Inlet to the Cruise Ship Terminal at Canada Place in Vancouver harbour, arriving right on time at 7AM.

Time lapse video of the Nieuw Amsterdam passing under Lion’s Gate bridge, entering Vancouver harbour

I grab my last cappuccino from my favourite barista and head back down to my stateroom on deck 5, where I’m facing the dock at Canada Place. My preordered breakfast arrives at 7:30AM, right on time – my last lox, cream cheese and bagel for breakfast while aboard the ship. My debarkation time slot is second to last, so I have lots of time to relax and let everyone leave the ship. No doubt some are in a hurry to get to flights home and other onward travels. When my turn comes to leave the ship for the last time, my keycard is scanned by ship’s security, and I’m soon in the Canada Place terminal with throngs of other travellers.

Cruise passengers make their way into the city from Canada Place

It is actually pretty well organized, with lots of staff to point everyone in the right direction, and keep people moving. The Canada Border Services officers are waving everyone through, taking our customs declaration forms, but they don’t want to see passports, vaccination cards, or our bags. Perhaps this is the benefit of everyone onboard having previously entered the required personal information into the ArriveCan app. I’m soon directed to a line to wait for the bus that transfers us to Vancouver Airport. A half hour later I’m dropped off with my bag at Domestic Departures, and walk a bit further to the free South Terminal shuttle, which soon arrives, taking me on a 20-minute drive out the main terminal area and back into the south terminal area.

The south terminal used to be Vancouver’s main airport, which I can remember taking flights from when I was a kid in the 1960s. Now, it is home to Pacific Coastal Airways and other small airlines serving people travelling to small BC destinations. I arrive at 11AM, but my flight doesn’t leave until 6:30PM, so I have the whole afternoon to kill before I fly home. I surf the Internet for awhile, but I’m soon bored, so I have a plate of fries at the Galiano Cafe for lunch.

Air France Boeing 777-200ER climbing out, bound for Paris
Air France Boeing 777-200ER climbing out, bound for Paris

I’m looking at a lot more waiting time before my flight, so I go outside and soon discover a plane spotting platform on the north side of the terminal. It has a great view of the executive jet facilities next door, and the main, southern east-west runway, which is being used for takeoffs this afternoon. Plane spotting using my long 100-500 lens keeps me busy for a couple of hours. I spot a couple of executive jets landing or taking off, an Air France flight taking off for Paris, a Japan Airways flight destined for Narita, along with the usual traffic. Vancouver YVR is a very busy airport.

I clear security and wait for my flight in the only secure boarding lounge in the South Terminal. My flight to Victoria aboard Pacific Coastal Airways takes off a few minutes early, since everyone has checked in and are onboard. The flight takes about 20 minutes, and os clear enough for me to take a few photos out the window with my iPhone as we fly over Georgia Strait and the southern Gulf Islands before arriving at Victoria Airport at 6:30PM. We retrieve my bag and drive home, where my Jack Russell Terriers are waiting to give me a frenzied welcome.

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Juneau

June 2, 2022 – Juneau, Alaska, USA

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

The ship arrives in Juneau at 8AM and my floatplane excursion doesn’t leave until Noon, so I have plenty of time to have breakfast and look around the city. Juneau is the state capital of Alaska, so in addition to tourism, the city has the government and some industry to base their economy on. There are nice plazas, a developed waterfront, the shops are plentiful and appear to be prospering. Before returning to the ship, I check out where Wings Airways dispatches their seaplanes from, which is only a 5-minute walk from where the ship is docked.

Five Glacier Seaplane Exploration

The pilot selects me to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, so that’s a real bonus, allowing me to see out the front of the aircraft as well as having a side window. We soar over the lush wilderness of the Tongass National Forest, catching our first glimpse of five distinctly different and majestic glaciers making up a section of the 1,500-square-mile Juneau Ice Field. We fly over the deep crevasses and azure blue meltwater pools of the Norris, Hole-In-The-Wall, East and West Twin Glaciers and lake, plus the impressive five-mile-wide Taku Glacier. Of the 36 named glaciers comprising the Juneau Ice Field, the Taku Glacier is the largest. The Annex Creek power station is visible as we fly along the Taku Inlet. There is a verdant valley between the foot of Norris and Taku glaciers and Taku Inlet.

We end the flight by overflying the harbour and city before landing on a southerly heading, returning to the dock. I buy a souvenir t-shirt and ball cap combo from the seaplane office before returning to the ship. I have lots of photos and video taken with my iPhone 13 Pro on this spectacular flight in clear and sunny weather – well worth the expense for this excursion.

I have a pizza and a beer from NY Pizza aboard the ship, sitting in the shade beside the Sea View pool on the stern, overlooking the city and harbour. It’s a lovely warm and sunny day. In fact, Juneau breaks a record today set back in 1946 for the hottest day:  28ºC (82ºF). Our Belgian cruise director complains about getting a bit of a sunburn today!

Since I have the drinks package, I’m making a point of ordering cappuccino and alcoholic drinks anytime I want one. Today I had two cappuccinos with breakfast, the beer with lunch. I also have another cappuccino in the late afternoon at the Explorations Cafe, where Maria, the young barista thanks me for leaving a complimentary comment using the Navigator app a couple of days ago. 

I skip dinner or even a snack this evening, since the personal-sized pizza I had this afternoon was 6 slices, which filled me up. I attend the 7pm Step One Dance Company Presents: Humanity and send a comment through Navigator app: “This is my first MainStage show viewed on this voyage, which I thoroughly enjoyed! Please pass on my congratulations to the performers. I know it must be tough to play to a mostly empty house, but their enthusiasm and professionalism shone through.”

I spot my first small Humpback whale at 9:30PM this evening from my verandah as we pass through Frederick Sound. The ship is making 20 knots to Ketchikan, so there is only time to grab binoculars, not my camera.

Juneau
35 photos, 1 video
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Vancouver to Yukon

May 23, 2022 – Fly Vancouver to Whitehorse to Dawson City

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I wake up around 7:30AM, get dressed and cleaned up, and then go down to the restaurant for breakfast. I have regular coffee and a seafood frittata, which costs $35. I go for a walk along the same path as I used last night – it feels good to walk the 1 km loop, and get some fresh air this morning. When I return to my room, I pack my things and sit around for awhile before rolling my bag downstairs to check out. I will be wearing my mask all day, which I’m not used to when I’m at home.

I walk the full length of the airport to the Air North gate, but I’m too early for the afternoon flight, so there are no gate agents yet. The Holland America check-in lane is marked, so I find a seat and watch the people entering the security lines. Once the Air North agents arrive, I check in and get my boarding passes for the two flights: Vancouver-Whitehorse and Whitehorse-Dawson City. The security process is relatively painless, and the procedures are exactly the same as pre-pandemic. I find my gate and settle in to wait for the flight. The notice board says the flight is delayed an hour, now departing at 2:30PM, so we’ll see how our connecting flight to Dawson City works out. 

Snow-covered mountains, the highway and river through the windows as we approach Whitehorse
Snow-covered mountains, the highway and river through the windows as we approach Whitehorse

There is an incident as we board the aircraft, where a young male passenger refuses to wear a mask and eventually leaves the aircraft. The captain announces they will be starting engine 1 using the power cart, and then starting engine 2 from engine 1 after push away, which takes a bit longer. We take off from Vancouver at 2PM, so the flight isn’t seriously delayed. I’m stuck in an aisle seat, since I didn’t have a choice of seats when I checked in, so other than taking a couple of zoomed in photos through the window across two seats from me, I don’t get to peer out the window like I usually do on flights.

Our Holland America Tour Director Cassandra Joy is waiting for us in Whitehorse airport. She gives us name tags on lanyards to help her remember our names, and she also hands out some information sheets covering the Dawson City portion of our tour. I chat with a few of our group, since this is the first time we’ve gathered together. Our chartered flight aboard an Air North 737-400 Whitehorse to Dawson City is delayed a bit, but eventually we are lead through a “gate” to board the aircraft waiting for us on the apron. There is an actual wire fence gate we are checked through outside, just like the old days! There are 16 of us, so the Boeing 737-500 cabin is nearly empty. Our route follows the Klondike River as the 45-minute flight takes us over the Tombstone Mountains.

Diamond Tooth Gertie
Diamond Tooth Gertie

Once we arrive in Dawson City and get settled into our rooms at the Westmark Inn, I join our Tour Director and two other people from the group to see the dancing girl Can Can show at Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling hall and saloon. We have a slice of pizza and a beer, since we will otherwise miss dinner. The show is quite good, but costs a $20 entrance fee per person. There is also a small casino in addition to the stage show and bar. Two RCMP officers walk through the establishment while we are paying our admission and showing ID. 

After I return to my room, I settle in for the night. The Wi-fi is too weak from my room, since I’m across the street from the router, so I make use of my mobile LTE service, hot-spotting to my notebook computer. At midnight, I go outside to take a photo of the hotel at midnight, since the sky is still bright blue – the midnight sun at Dawson City, located at 64° North latitude.

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Victoria to Vancouver – May 2022

May 22, 2022 – Flying from Victoria to Vancouver

2022 Yukon & Double Denali Alaska land/cruise

I finalize packing this morning, since I leave this afternoon on a 1:05PM flight to Vancouver – the first leg of my Alaska Cruise with Holland America.

We leave for Victoria airport at 10AM, which is incredibly early, but I want to check in and navigate security without having to stress about the new procedures. The Pacific Coastal Airways agent tells me I have about a half hour before the security area will be very busy, so I proceed directly there. It is all very easy – all I need is my boarding pass QR code, my passport, and my federal COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination QR code. I have a couple of hours to kill, but after a few flights depart, my aircraft arrives and the flight is announced. We take off 5 minutes early at 1:00pm in a Pacific Coastal Airways Beechcraft 1900D (10 rows of 2 seats). Chad is our pilot, Tyrone is our copilot, there is no flight attendant, and there are about a half dozen passengers aboard the flight. Once we arrive at the South Terminal of Vancouver Airport, three of us collect our checked bags and then take a shuttle to the main terminal. I walk back to the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel, which is right inside the terminal at the east end and check-in.

Joe having a martini with lunch in the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel bar overlooking the gates and mountains

Once I unpack a few things, I go downstairs to the bar for some lunch. There are seats right beside the windows that look out on the gates and aircraft aprons, with the North Shore mountains and the City of Vancouver visible in the distance. My lunch is rather expensive ($60 with tip), but I don’t care since I am hungry and I have a martini to celebrate my first time travelling in over two years. When I return to my room, I freshen up and have a nap. After waking up, I go for a walk through the pocket park, which is just east of the hotel, located between the main road approach to the terminal (Grant McConachie Way) and the servicing areas for the aircraft. The Canada Line Skytrain runs overhead, but it’s good to get outside for some exercise – the fresh air smells good believe it or not!

My room faces south over the southern 08/26 east-west runway with the South Terminal visible in the distance. The main road approach to the airport is directly below and the Skytrain is there as well. Despite all this, my room is quiet and very comfortable. Since I had a late lunch, I don’t bother with dinner.

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Ft. Lauderdale to Canada

April 3, 2020 – returning home to Canada from Fort Lauderdale

2020 South America cruise

Fort Lauderdale

By mid-morning, we are called to leave the Rotterdam, so we put on our face masks and gloves before leaving the ship. US customs and immigration wave us through, as does US Health, since ship’s staff pre-processed the required paperwork the previous day. As we board our buses, many of the staff in the terminal wish us well, and one woman is waving a Canadian flag – very touching and much appreciated! We wait in the buses for about an hour, and then the Broward County Sheriff officers take us on a half-hour motorcade to a private area of the Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood airport (FLL). I must say that despite the circumstances, it’s a very impressive ride!

We are then checked in by US officials and airline staff, and walk aboard the aircraft to find our seats and get settled. We wait for over two hours while the rest of the passengers board the aircraft. The Eastern cabin attendants are fully-suited up (see banner image above) and only offer basic services. The 1978-era Boeing 767-300 charter aircraft is a wide-body cabin with 2-3-2 seats across two isles, and has a capacity of 375 passengers. Every seat is taken. Once we take off for Toronto, we have several hours to get into the bagged meal given to us as we boarded.

Flight path from FLL - YYZ - YVR - YYJ
Flight path from FLL – YYZ – YVR – YYJ

Canada

After our arrival in Toronto, we are processed by Canadian Border Services and Public Health Canada, given a kit describing the quarantine conditions we will be operating under for the next two weeks, a digital oral thermometer and a new mask. They take my temperature, ask me some health questions, and get me to dispose of the mask and gloves I’ve been wearing all day on the aircraft. I’m on my way to Terminal 1 and my domestic flights from Toronto to Vancouver, and then Victoria. I barely make it aboard the Toronto-Vancouver flight, since the shuttle driver doesn’t know where she is supposed to take us, and once we arrive at the terminal, the Air Canada staff are confused about how to get us to the gate!

The flight to Vancouver is otherwise uneventful. Once we make the short hop from Vancouver to Victoria, my travel buddy and I drive (independently) to our respective homes, adhering to the Canadian quarantine rules we are now bound by for the next two weeks. Air Canada manages to lose my checked bag, but the baggage claim clerk takes a description of my bag and assures me they will deliver it tomorrow afternoon (which they do).