Sea Island

Thursday morning I carefully rounded up all my possessions. I tidied my hotel room up as much as I could. I was ready. I was early for the flight but wanted to go there to be on the safe side. The front desk person called me a cab. I was away.

Richmond, where I had stayed, is a city on Lulu Island. The Vancouver Airport is located on Sea Island, across the Middle Arm of the Fraser River from Richmond. It was a short cab drive. 

I checked in at the South Terminal. I was now free to roam the neighbourhood for a few hours. I thought I would start by going to the outdoor observation platform. On the platform, a man had set up a video camera and was filming every airplane arriving and departing, giving a constant dialogue as he worked. From his talking, I gathered he was  filming for a group of people who were airplane enthusiasts. 

He and his equipment took up a lot of space and his voice was distracting, so I left. I walked along beside a fence which was topped by barbed wire. Not terribly interesting. I decided to head away from the terminal area and explore side streets. I made a plan to walk for one half of my waiting time, then turn back and return.

I had bicycled all over Sea Island for years when I lived just across the Middle Arm in Richmond. Sea Island is flat and almost entirely taken up by the Vancouver International Airport. The South Terminal is on the south shore of the island, and is used by smaller planes. There is a seaplane dock close by.

The side streets of the area around the South Terminal are delightful. Old  cement, no curbstones, bordered by drainage ditches and flourishing, low growing vegetation, including the ubiquitous trailing blackberry.

I admired old wooden hangers (plane storage sheds) and walked to the Middle Arm river bank to see the float plane dock.  I watched a float plane fly in from the ocean, gracefully descending onto the river like a pretty bird.

I checked my phone. Time to head back. I returned to the South Terminal observation platform. The video maker was gone. I spent a few moments watching the planes, then went inside to await the return of my cat, who had received medical treatment in Vancouver. 

The PetstoVets people carried in her crate. She was sound asleep hiding under the crate liner. I checked her in and waited till boarding time. We flew back to our home in the mountains. Goodbye riverbank. Goodbye Sand Heads. Goodbye White Rock beach. My getaway was over and gone.