Good things come to those that wait.

As always, a great send off from the Beatties on the latest leg of our adventure. Our hosts always make sure we are fed, watered and happy before being delivered to the correct terminal at the correct airport at the correct time. Friends like this don't come and go, they are forever.

However, I have a confession which might rock the very foundation of said friendship.......here goes!

Whilst being well fed & watered I happened to mention to Derek I was particularly fond of malted whisky from certain areas of Scotland at which point he produced a presentation box containing one of Scotland's finest exports.                     

He demanded I take it to Canada and sip the evenings away in bliss.

I could not believe it.  So, very carefully, I packed the boxed bottle into my rucksack for the trip in the morning, adamant those buggers at Thiefrow wouldn't get a sniff of it.

We checked our bags at Terminal  2 and went for coffee at Costa feeling relaxed and relieved of our heavy bags which we would not see until our arrival in Penticton.

Of course, when we went to go through security I suddenly remembered the whisky in my rucksack!     I was beside myself, how could I be so stupid? I was about to lose one of the best presents I had ever had and there was no way around it. Derek will never forgive me!   I couldn't go through with it, I just couldn't go through the gate. The man was beckoning me to be scrutinised but in my mind I could see him at home drinking my whisky!

At this point we meet Monika the manager of Costa who had seen the look of distress on my face and stopped to ask if all was OK.    What she actually saw was me considering downing the whole bottle before the flight.

Anyway, long story short etc, we felt we would rather Monika had the whisky than any of the security storm troopers who I think by now had got a sniff of something rather good coming their way but would now be bleddy disappointed.

Monika agreed to assuming custody of the golden liquid and I wished her well and through gritted teeth suggested it neat to really appreciate the flavours I could only imagine...........She surprised me by stating she would keep the bottle in her locker at Terminal 2 until a suitably qualified person or myself was able to reclaim it, no time limit.   Yeah right.

I accept I will never see the whisky or Monika again and carry on with my travel plan, feeling as though a member of our party has been arrested and wont be joining us.   Meanwhile, Lyn sends a distress text to her brother Paul as a final act of hope.   This was over a month ago.

Today I learn that Pauls wife, the Reverend Julia had taken on a rescue mission involving goodness knows who or what but the result is the whisky is in the custody of the family. Monika the manager was true to her word and handed over the goods on a bridge at night in the rain with soldiers watching and dogs barking, very tense.

Thank you all involved, cant wait to sample the stuff sometime near Christmas.