Diary Excerpt - Brasil to Canada '07

When I was in Brasil volunteering in 2003 I bought a surf board, a giant one. I left it there at the time, thinking that it was just going to be too much trouble to take to London.. so now that I am living in Sydney I was thinking that it would be cool to have my baord with me.. It would have been easier if I would have been able to post it from Brasil, but I don't trust their postal system, not a bit.. so it had to come with me.. below is the story of that journey, which unfortunately is not over yet.. I am still in Canada.. still NZ to go.. but we'll take one step at a time.

This day was so traumatic that I think I just have to share it here once and for all, then if anyone ever ask me to explain what happened I can just direct them here, and never have to relive this in the telling again. So here it is, straight from the diary.. think I will leave the bits that don't make sense, think the jet lag might have been doing its work...

4 September, Toronto, Canada, 29 hours travelling

I want to write this down, there has to be a record somewhere of all the crap (edit) that went on.

Cris dropped me at the Rodoviaria, it was so sad to say goodbye again, not sure if I should keep coming here, it is so hard to say goodbye everytime that i have to leave. Maybe it is just better if I stay away... but anyway, by my calculations, if I paid for the bus ticket between Congonhas and Gurrulhos on my card I would have $R 45 for the day. I had some breakfast at the Rodoviaria before I got on the bus, I bought a book, $20 gone.

Caught the bus to Floripa fine, 3 hours, but not major problems. The transfer between the Rodoviaria in Floripa and the airport on the public was fairly traumatic, but more auckward than disasterous. When I went to check in at the airport I was told that the cost to take the surf board was $R100! Almost more than the cost of the ticket! On further inspection I found out that I could send it via cargo for only $R40, I was told that it would catch the same plane as me and that I would be able to pick it up in Sao Paulo at the cargo hold which was walking distance from the airport. So that was what I did. I had to walk around Floripa getting it all sorted, and had to draw more money from the cash point ($5 charge from ANZ - Bless them) but anyway, it was gone. I went and got some lunch, and ran into the Criciuma football team! Which was cool. Got on the GOL plane to Sao Paulo fine, the flight is just 1 hour 20 mins, so you hardly even reach cruising altitude before you start the descent.

Before all this had happened I had made a plan to go to the TAP office at Gurrulhos and collect the $US100 that they owed me from when they lost my bag when I arrived. I needed to get to Gurrulhos ASAP before the office closed. (to explain - Sao Paulo has two major airports, Gurrulhos - International and Congonhas - Domestic.)

But back to the surf board, when I went to find out the exact location of the cargo hold I was told that there was no way that I could walk - it was too far. They couldn't bring it to me, I had to go there, with all my bags. I could catch a public bus, but they're not so safe for foreigners, especiallywith giant backpacks. So taxi it was. After buying the book in Criciuma and lunch in Floripa I was down to $R20 or so.

So my plan was to get a taxi to the cargo hold, get the taxi man to wait with me, pick up the board, and then get back to Congonhas ASAP so that I could get the bus to Gurrulhos in time to see the TAP people and check in for my flight to Toronto. I checked with the taxi guys, $R15 each way, so being safe (so I thought) I got $R40 out. (another $AU5 for ANZ).

Ok, so I gave the address to the cabbie, explained the situation, he took me to the cargo hold, we chatted from inside the cab with the GOL people for a bit, they said that the board hadn't arrived yet. Not wanting to run up the meter I let the cab go and went inside to investigate.

Turns out that there are two GOL cargo holds in Sao Paulo. I was at the wrong one. By the time they told me the cab had left. So now I was marching down the streets of Sao Paulo with my very western face and a giant backpack. I found the other place ok, but they didn't have my board either.

Turns out that it takes 1.5 hours after the plane has landed for the cargo to be released. First I've heard!

So now it's 5.45, the sun is setting, I'm in some bazzar cargo hold in some industrual area of Sao Paulo with no board, and only 1.5 hours to get to the other airport in time to check into my flight to Toronto. So I started talking options with the guys, I was thinking that they probably go to both airports regularly, could I get a ride? No. Aparently not. It was going to take too long for the guy to load and unload his stuff.

The bus between the airports takes an hour, and leaves only once an hour. If the man at GOL in Congonhas would have told me that it takes 1.5 hours for the cargo to be released I could have taken the time to check teh bus times, but not, no one decided to mention that fact until I got to the 2nd GOL cargo hold.

By 6.20 the board had arrived, and I was in a cab on my way to Gurrulhos direct, there was no way that I was going to be able to make my bus.. there were only 2 slight complications 1. I only had $R30 or so 2. we had one hour and then minutes to make 50 minute drive, should be fine right? But this is Sao Paulo, this city has the same number of people as the whole of Australia and some of the worst traffic jams in the world. The government recently tried to build a metro system. Unfortunately they didn't research so well, and then they started digging they burst water and gas pipes and had roads and even houses falling into the holes in the ground.

So back to our drive, my cab driver was lovely. He did his best to get me there as soon as he could. We chatted along the way, but how do you know when you can trust someone? When we arrived at the airport there was a $R97 fare on the clock. I needed to get cash out from the airport, (another lovely fee from ANZ), but what was I surposed to do with my backpack and board? Could he be trusted to sit in the cab with it and not drive off?

By this time it was 7.50, I was surposed to be at the airport at 7.30. All I could do was make note of his cab number, 864, and the first three digits of his number plate, then I ran to find the cash point, I withdrew $R100 and got back to the taxi stop as fast as I could. He was still there! Praise God! So I gave him the $R100 and went to leave.

While we had been chatting on the LONG drive to the airport he had suggested that I get a receipt for the cab fare for that I could get a refund from GOL. It sounded like a good idea to me. He didn't want me to leave and got back in the car mumbling about something. He started looking for something, I figured that he was checking for a pen so that he could write me a receipt, but when I offered him mine he said it wasn't that. If only it was that easy.

He was looking for his calculator. Aparently there is a 40% additional charge because he had to leave his zone. So what was a $R97 fare now became $R145. I was now about 40 mins late to check into my flight and I still had to negociate with Air Canada about taking the surfboard. What could I do? I didn't have any time to go ang draw more money. Why didn't he tell me about this charge before I went to draw cash? I gave him all that I had, about $R130 and ran to check in. I felt so bad, the guy had been so nice to me, and now I was ripping him off. By what could I do?

I ran to the Air Canada desk, well, as much as you can run with a 20kg backpack, a 5kg dayback, purse and 9ft surfboard. After another $US50 for the board, a long wait through security and immigration I made it to the gate, just. Once we were all on baord the pilot announced that there was a problem with the control tower's radio we were going to have to wait for a while at the gate, so we did, for about an hour and 15. It's normally a 10.5 hour flight to Toronto. But because of the delay in Sao Paulo I've missed my connection to Saskatoon.

So, another queue through customs, and then at the connects desk with my bags and board on my back because they can't connect them themselves and I need to take them through security, and now I'm currently on standby for a flight at 12.15 and failing that, I am definately booked on one at 4.30.

They say that either way my bags will come with me. I have decided not to believe what they say anymore. First thing I wanted to do was call Kim to let her know that I was not going to be on the early flight. I was hoping that my mobile was going to work here, but aparently Canada is another of the countries that it prefers not to operate.

So I had to draw money so I could use the public phone. I tried for $C100 - Insufficient Funds.. $C40 - I was in. And talk about blessed, when I went to find a shop so I could change the notes to coins what did I find but a Starbucks! Hurrah!

Change in hand I found a phone, after a few tries of my own I had to call the operator. Aparently even though the phone says that you need to dial 0 first, you do not. If you dial a 0 first you connect yourself to Hungary. It cost me $C5 to call Kim and say that I was not on my flight and that I was going to be there either at 1.40 or 5.30.

So here I am, tired, smelley, hungry, poor and with the most giant pimple persisting to grow right under my nose.

On the bright side, 1. I am going to see Kim today, 2. I am stuck in an airport in the first world while I wait, 3. As much as I hate it at the moment, I have my surfboard with me 4. I am about to, hopefully, get on a cute little plane with external propellers 5. Although there is no TAP office here, there is one in SY, so when I finally get home and get in touch with them, I will have $US100 to spend.


Toronto - 31 Hours Travelling.

Counldn't get onto the 12.10 flight. It was full. What are the chances of everyone turning up for a flight? Good aparently.
Think I should go and call Kim and tell her that I am not going to be there till later. Got to love the 9 hour wait in the airport. I am going to go and see if they can give me a food voucher or something. Man I am hungry.

This trip is going to take me 36 hours - 15 hours fly time, 2 bus rides, 3 planes, 2 taxi's, 2 times through immigration, 6 security checks, and 1 5am phone call to Kim (opps, didn't realise that there was a time difference!!)