Wednesday 17 September 2025

Finally, after months of planning we are on our way to Japan.

Our house-sitter, Rob, arrived on Tuesday, he seems to be very nice. Callie greeted him in her usually way, flipping onto her back so that he could rub her belly, which he dutifully complied with, another servant for Queen Callie.

Today we were up at 4:00 a.m. to be picked up by Howard’s Taxi Service to take us to Ottawa Airport.  The taxi arrived promptly at 5:30 and with the bikes and bag in the van we headed north.

We always give ourselves plenty of time at the airport, when we are travelling with bikes. Although, Air Canada indicated a two-hour check-in, we arrived three hours prior to departure.  Most of you will think I am crazy arriving so early, however, you never know what to expect when you have to deal with the over-sized bike boxes.

Of course, this time it went so smoothly we were waiting for 2.5 hours at the airport. I couldn’t believe how quickly and easily it went. There was a fella at oversized check-in counter greeted us with a Hello Bonjour, he asked all the usual questions: where are you going, are these bicycles, any batteries, any compressed gas etc. After weighing the bikes, he sent the blue bag (panniers etc.) through the regular channel and told us to go to the over-sized baggage handler who was less than 50 metres away.  Ralf is supposed to have free baggage allowance as retired military, but we did have to pay the “special handling cost” of $50.00 per bike. He told us that everything would go to Tokyo Haneda Airport, and we would not have to re-check our bikes/bags at Toronto.

The cheerful man at the x-ray machine asked us to open the boxes and waved his magic wand over them. He lifted them through the x-ray machine, and we were done and ready to go through security and passport control. It took all of 20 minutes from arriving at the airport to saying goodbye to the bikes.

Bye-bye bikes hope to see you in Tokyo

We had a coffee and then headed through passport control and security. Again, we were through in record time. I had everything electrical in my front pannier/back-pack (laptop, iPad, bike computer, every connector you could possibly think of you could ever use. I was convinced that they would pull me aside as I had enough wires etc. in that bag. The machine was very hi-tech, it scanned the bag, then if there was anything that looked suspicious it moved it from the conveyor to the side and was searched by hand by security personnel. Mine was sent straight down the conveyor to my waiting arms. No problem with Ralf’s handlebar bag which had two cameras and more batteries and connectors!!

Then we waited until our flight was called for boarding.

Birchbark Canoe Display at Ottawa Airport

After a very short flight to Toronto, we hiked the Toronto Pearson Trail. Although we flew into Terminal 1, and we were flying out of Terminal 1 we managed to get our steps in for the day walking from the arrival gate to the departure gate. Our layover at Pearson was just over 2 hrs. By the time we had disembarked, hiked the “Trail” and found our new departure gate, we had to wait less than an hour before boarding.  By this time, we had been awake for 6 hours, time to eat. We had a lovely panini at the airport which we didn’t have to take a mortgage out for, very reasonably priced.

We didn’t see the bikes being unloaded from our Ottawa flight or loaded onto the Tokyo flight. They did arrive safe and sound in Tokyo.

The flight to Tokyo was long 13.5 hrs, it never seemed to end. I tried to sleep but could only manage a few catnaps. Ralf binged watch Chicago Fire! I watched a great movie – “Can I Get a Witness”. Ralf and I will have to watch it together, it will be a great discussion after watching it together. There was a little bit of turbulence as we came into Tokyo and the cabin staff informed us that they would not be able to serve us the last food service.

Passport Control and Immigration was very efficient, people directing you all the way through. While waiting at the carousel, Ralf asked where the Over-sized baggage came in. The young lady indicated that they will bring them to us. We were both doubtful. Ralf usually goes to the oversized baggage area while I wait at the regular carousel. Within minutes of us waiting, the bikes boxes were delivered to us, there didn’t appear to be any additional damage to the bags. The pannier bag arrived shortly after, and we were heading out of the airport.

Before leaving the airport, Ralf got a SIM card for the phone, and we then got a taxi to our hotel. 

Our room is small, but manageable for the few nights we are here. The hotel has a Happy Hour between 5:30 to 6:30 with free beer.  We were too late to participate but we will partake before we leave this hotel. After a quick shower we headed out for something to eat. We are close to a shopping and restaurant district. We came back to the hotel and ate in the small restaurant at the hotel.

Back up to our room and Ralf fell asleep while I was getting ready for bed. We had been up for over 24 hours.