Left Victoria @ 0615 for the direct Toronto flight. There has been quite a bit of fog in Vancouver over the last little while, so it was better to cool my heels in Toronto waiting for the Caracas flight than worry about a tight connection.
So I spent the afternoon in the AC lounge at YYZ.
The flight left almost half an hour late, so it wasn’t looking good for getting a good night’s sleep on arrival. Had the upgrade on both legs and managed to catch an hour or so nap on each. Watched the second half of “Get Smart” that I missed out of Victoria.
Arrived in Caracas at 2340 local, but they couldn’t move the ramp. “Every one sit back down, please.” After midnight before we were collecting bags. Nemer had arranged for a taxi to take me to the hotel. He was waiting with a sign, so that was easy.
Got to his car – it wasn’t a taxi so much as a car service – and after we stopped to pay for the parking, the car wouldn’t move. It was an automatic, but it was acting like a standard with a slipping clutch. I got out and pushed it away from the booth as there where cars behind that couldn’t move past.
We found that if he shut off the motor and restarted, we could go for 20 or 30 seconds at a time. He got pretty good at shifting into neutral (while still moving), stopping and starting the engine then shifting into gear…for 20 seconds.
I don’t think this is a new problem for him.
The hotel wasn’t far from the airport and I was on bed by 0115 or so.
Up at 0530 for a 0600 pickup by Nemer, and we were back to the airport. Check in at the Domestic Terminal for a 0800 flight to Porlamar on the Island of Margarita.
Flight final took off at 0925.
