And of course we had a hard time sleeping. It was hot and muggy. Everyone keeps telling me that this weather is not the norm for Cape Breton. It is lovely but the humidity is hard to deal with.
Bernie's brother Charlie drives us to Sydney to the airport. This is a small airport with only two gates. You clear customs and there is one big room and each end has a gate.
We don't have to wait too long before boarding though and we walk out onto the tarmac and board our Westjet flight.
Oh forgot to mention that the reason I was not able to print out Bernie's boarding pass is that he was tagged for extra screening. So he had to take his shoes off, he had to get the computer swabbed, he had to go into the scanner, but he managed just fine.
It is only a two hour flight to Toronto and here we have to clear security again and go thru US Customs. There is a huge line at security but we have Nexus and that saves us a lot of time. Thankfully we have 2 hours between flights.
BUT - when we get to the security guy at the front of the Nexus line he says to Bernie "oh you can't use the Nexus line as you are tagged for extra screening". He thankfully directs us to the front of a security line.
Bernie is loosing a bit of patience and I know to tread lightly. Again the computer gets swabbed, also his hands, he has to go thru the xray thing where you put your hands in the air. It was bit of an inconvenience but it is a pain but hey they are just doing their job.
Now we are at the gate and Bernie's name is called to confirm boarding pass and passport. What they need to see is that he went thru the added security. They tell him he doesn't have his boarding pass stamped from security. He says he did go thru it - so back he goes to the security door and gets the stamp on the boarding pass. All clear. But you can see he is even more frustrated.
But all is good, he now has his large cup of tea and he sips it and all is good with the world again.
Travelling is never fun - and it has only gotten worse. I don't know if I feel safer on the planes with all this added security. All I feel is like cattle and I dread flying days. Another reason we usually take longer trips so we aren't flying for just a week away.
The flight to Fort Lauderdale is 3 hours. In total flying time is just over 5 hours from Sydney to Fort Lauderdale. Big difference from Vancouver. Plus only a one hour time change!
When we arrive in Florida we notice that terminal one is almost finished - but the old security area is now under construction.
Sadly we had to wait 50 minutes for our bags. The airport is very busy so I am guessing that is why it is so slow for the bags.
We call up a Uber and we go out to wait. Pick up is between terminals one and two (note there is another pick up at between terminals 3 and 4) and they have a pull off now where they can easily pick passengers up easily. Cost for an Uber X is $23 - not bad for a Friday afternoon.
I booked this hotel with points but the cost of the room would of been around $150 which is a great price for Fort Lauderdale. It is situated in a great spot too with lots of stores, restaurants rather close by. Also Sawgrass Mills Mall is close by too.
Note they are doing some construction nearby so there may be some noise from that.
Price of the room included a Club Class lounge for drinks tonight and then breakfast is included tomorrow.
Right now we are just relaxing for a bit and then we will head out and get some wine and go for a nice supper.
Tomorrow we will take another Uber to the port and board the much anticipated Caribbean Princess.
Footnote: Remember yesterday's blog and not being able to find Bernie's nice red shorts - well we found them in one of the boxes! Score!!
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