From First Time Flyer to Frequent Flyer

Hello!

Me pointing at our destination on the giant globe in Heathrow Airport

I have officially arrived in East London and I am loving it so far. It is the most beautiful city I have ever been to and has such friendly people. Everyone I have met so far has been extremely kind and very welcoming. I thought I would write a quick re-cap post to tell you all about the journey here. 

Flight One: Toronto, Ontario to London, England

After an amazing last night in Canada spent seeing the new Batman movie with two of my very best friends I slept-in a bit, finished packing and headed to the airport at 7:45 pm. The plan was to meet up with Amelia and Ryan a little after 8 pm to get ready for our 11:20 pm flight. After a nerve racking car ride and a teary goodbye with my best friend I headed into the airport both nervous and very excited.

I rented a baggage cart and waited for the others to arrive. Ryan came soon after and we explored the Terminal a bit. Amelia and her family arrived around 8:30 pm and helped us all to check our bags and get our boarding passes. We looked around the airport a bit more and at about 10 pm we headed into our gate to explore before our flight.

Ryan, Amelia and I before we entered our gate

As some of you may know I have never flown before! I was very nervous for the flight (especially after seeing a plane crash in the movie the night before haha). Waiting felt so much longer than it was because I was so excited! 

An amazing display in Terminal One of Pearson Airport. I heard one woman say she thought it was fish hahaha

We headed to our gate, only to find out the location of our gate had been changed. We rushed to our other gate only to find out our flight had been delayed a bit. We took this chance to get one last Tim Hortons fix before we missed it for the next seven months. 

My bagel bag, how I miss Tim's already!

Eventually we boarded our plane, got comfortable and were ready for take off. People told me that it would be very nerve racking but to chew gum and try not to worry. I actually LOVED the take off! It felt just like riding a roller coaster. 

I was able to fall asleep for a few hours on our seven and a half hour flight, but spent the rest of time trying to watch movies (I fell asleep halfway through each), listening to music and reading.

Although this flight was long it didn't feel so bad! The plane was fairly comfortable and I was so excited that the time flew by.

Layover One: Heathrow Airport, London, England

After getting off our plane we had to decide what we would do for our seven hour layover. None of us were very tired, so we decided to stay and explore the airport. 

We headed straight to our terminal and looked around some of the stores. This airport was very fancy - there were Gucci and Prada stores as well as a huge duty-free Harrods. After exploring for a bit we headed to a cafe to have some coffee and relax. We chatted for a few hours and then eventually headed up back towards the stores to buy some things. 

All different flavours of a drink my family and I love!

After exploring a bit more we headed up to the top level and took a seat and people-watched for a while. This was really fun, airports are full of such interesting people.

Not too long before our flight we were told our gate number and we headed over to it. This flight was also delayed, so we sat tight and waited. We quickly realized that there were A LOT of people waiting at our gate and that our flight was going to be packed. 

After a bit of a delay we boarded the plane!

Flight Two: London, England to Johannesburg, South Africa

I knew that this flight would be a doozy - it was almost eleven hours! However, I was convinced that I would be able to sleep on the flight, boy was I ever wrong. 

Instead of sleeping I watched two movies (The Vow and Friends with Kids, I really liked both and would recommend them if you haven't seen them!) listening to two full albums (The Shins and We Are Augustines) and watched a few TV shows. 

This flight seemed much longer than the other one! I got up and stretched a lot during this flight. I was so excited the closer we got, even though it was not sinking in that when it was over I would be in Africa.

This flight was a bit scarier than the first as there was a pretty rough patch with lots of turbulence. I told myself not to worry and remembered all the travelling tips I got and felt much better.

Layover Two:Johannesburg International Airport

The airport near where we picked up our bags!

I was really nervous about this layover from the start of our trip! We would be picking up our bags here and transferring them to East London. I was so afraid that my luggage would get lost and I would be stuck with nothing for a few days. We got off the plane, went through customs and went to find our bags.

All my bags safe and sound

Unfortunately, Amelia's bag got lost. We left our names and numbers and headed through to catch our next flight. Our stopover here was quite short, and we didn't have much of a chance to look around the airport. We quickly stopped in a store to buy adaptors and looked around at South Africa fast food places a bit. 

Flight Three: Johannesburg, South Africa to East London, South Africa
This was by far my favourite flight in the whole trip. The aircraft was extremely comfortable and I sat next to the nicest guy! He was originally from East London and Durban, but moved to London, England a few years ago. He gave me lots of tips on the city and travelling around South Africa. He even taught me all kinds of South African lingo so I wouldn't embarrass myself when speaking to locals. 

The view of East London from my plane seat

The view from the plane was amazing. This was my first flight with a window seat and I took full advantage of it. The plane circled around the city of East London before landing. We got an amazing aerial view of the city and the ocean. I have never seen the ocean before this trip! And my new friend from the plane was enjoying laughing at how excited I was. 

Amelia and Ryan getting off the plane in East London!

When we landed we got off the plane straight onto the tarmac. It was an amazing way to enter our new home. Stay turned for updates on our first week in the city! I will be adding pictures to this blog soon! Just having a bit of difficulty today.