Day 1 - Travel to Fredericton

It was an early morning - everyone had to be up and at the airport by 6:15 AM ... and everyone was on time and ready to go!

Though that stack of lost luggage behind us in the picture at Toronto Airport's Terminal 1 proved to be a bit of a foreshadowing of some events to come...

It was an uneventful two hour flight from Toronto to Fredericton, with a full plane of science fair students from all parts of the country ... the Northern BC Team was connecting through Toronto after starting from Dawson Creek and flying to Vancouver then Toronto... having been travelling since yesterday afternoon.  I guess our 6:15 AM start wasn't that bad after all...

And hey, you can always sleep on the plane!

Upon arrival at Fredericton airport we were greeted by the CWSF volunteer team, giving us all a very friendly and hearty welcome.

We're here!

A quick bus trip and then we were welcomed at the University of New Brunswick campus, our home for the week.  A short jog to our residence rooms, and then we were off to lunch - and lots of selection for everyone.  The unlimited ice cream was particularly popular!

After lunch we had the chance to get a tour around campus, and learn about both the history and the academic programs of the university.

We even got a glimpse at the Project Hall, were we will be setting up our projects tomorrow...

Soon it was time for dinner - lots of selection once again!  And after dinner it was time to practice our presentations to each other, and then some free time in the lounge - time to meet the Australian delegation!

 

And did we mention the luggage?  Apparently a number of bags were turned back from being loaded on the plane as we left...  three of our team (Katie, plus chaperones Dan and Dana) were missing their luggage when we arrived, as well as a number of students from other teams as well.

Thankfully that resolved itself as the luggage was delivered by the end of the day, to the relief of some of the team...

It's been a long day of travelling, now it's time for sleep...  tomorrow is project setup and more practicing those presentations!