Sunday 28 September - Silver Star

We drove up to Silver Star to do a bit of hiking...yes that is me in the driver's seat and yes, the car and Shaun are still in one piece...!

The drive takes about 30 mins on an assortment of tarmac and dirt roads..here are some pictures from the route...past the local golf course...

We hiked up Silver Star and there are amazing views from the top. Saw a coyote (or Ky-oats as they call them locally) and some coyote poo but no bears ( I was clapping again and Shaun was v.disappointed!).

Saturday 27 September

Still 27C so packed a picnic and drove up the road to the 2 local vineyards , Grey Monk and Arrowleaf to taste the local brew and Arrowleaf has a great picnic site...

...this is obviously all in the name of research for when you come over to visit of course....!

Great whites (sorry Eddie, Cliff !) and free samples - and there are about 20 vineyards you can visit ...hic!

Views from Grey Monk - next plan is to test out their restaurant....

Picnic site at Arrowleaf

Glass of Bacchus from Arrowleaf - mainly Germanic grapes over here and v.tasty!

Result!

Got Christmas sorted - Robbi recommended us to her sister to house sit in Vancouver and she has agreed! So we have to look after her 2 cats in this $4 million house on the northwest side of Vancouver, so about 1.5hrs to Whistler and 30 minutes to Grouse Mountain for skiiing....yippee!

We love Canada!

View from Carr's Landing Beach

Most of the land around the lake is privately owned but there are are public beaches were you can launch boats and have picnics and BBQ's- this one is about 5 minutes walk from the cottage....

Thursday 25th September : Move to new Home

Today, we moved out of the B&B into our rented accommodation in Carr's Landing, near Lake Okanagan.


It was sad to say goodbye to Robbi and Terry as they have been wonderful with great breakfasts and amazing patience answering our seemingly never ending stream of questions about life in Canada. Still we hope to have them over for dinner in the new place to return the kindness


Our new hosts are Rik and Janneke, a dutch couple who moved here about 10 years ago.

We weren't sure what to expect of the cottage despite the photos on the internet but it is fab! Its about the size of our ground floor in Lyndhurst so we have a kitchen/dining room, 2 bathrooms, bedroom, sitting room and patio with all the trimmings as R & J used to run a furniture store in Kelowna so the house has lovely sofas, lights etc.

Wednesday 24th September: Big Purchase!

Having been around every car show room in Kelowna and test driving a couple (yes, even me - on the right and managed not to crash!). We asked a couple of the dealers to look out for a Mercedes ML350 (4x4) as v. reliable and we have been told that a 4x4 is mandatory in the winter over here, especially for the drives to the ski resorts...

So.... 4 hours of negotiation later we walk out the proud owners of a 2003 ML500 (okay so its a little bigger than planned with a 5 lt V8 engine....gulp!) for a frac over £10k....not bad...must have been a good deal as, when we went to get the cheque for the car, the bank staff asked if we could buy their next cars for them!

Monday 23 September: Salmon Spawning

Take a break from all the 'work' stuff (seem to have visited every car showroom in Kelowna over the last few days!) to enjoy ourselves.

The kokanee salmon are spawning in the local creeks and there is a salmon festival on Misson Creek Greenway. The kokanee are land locked sockeye salmon and live in Lake Okanagan, they get to over 20 cms and longer before heading up river for a bit of hanky panky and inevitable death (would n't recommend being a salmon!).

There is a bear warning in place as they come down to eat all the dead and dying fish, but no sightings, just a harmless garter snake...

We like Canada...!

Sunday 21 September - Buy ski passes!

Number one priority completed! Two ski passes for Big White and Silver Star - 10,000+ acres of skiing, 2 mountains, ski season 19 November to mid April, average of 23ft snowfall.....bliss!

Will our knees take it!?

19 September Day One

Giant breakfast made by Robbi - freshly made scones, omelettes and fresh fruit - glad we elected for the 'light' breakfast for the rest of the week otherwise we would be the size of houses..

Terry has built the house over the last 14 years and is an amazing carpenter - the benchmark is now set for Shaun...

Later make the 20 min drive into Kelowna along the lakesides to start all the admin stuff - bank, car etc

18th September - on the plane

Not a good sleep for either of us but leave the Travellodge at Gatwick at 7:30 to check in

Load bags at checkin desk...54kgs! we are only supposed to have 40 so brace ourselves for the extra charges...checkin chap just smiles and puts the bags through...result!

Stop for breakfast in the departure lounge.. they have a double egg banjo (sandwich!) for Mr Reed - this day gets better and better.

Send some final texts...

Take off dead on time which bodes well for the connection at Calgary...sitting next to a very nice chap called Paul, who, we find out by the end of the flight is a Nigerian prince now working in the Calgary oilfields..!

Land spot on time at 12:30 (19:30 GMT) and go through passport control who direct us to immigration and customs.

Queue up at immigration - v.serious people in uniforms at desks - guy in front is getting the 3rd degree - this is not going to be pleasant......

....how wrong were we! Very nice lady, stamped all the forms and 5 mins later we were permanent residents!

Then customs, again we had been told that this can take up to an hour but we had all our forms ready and were welcomed with open arms - apparently having the paperwork complete and in triplicate isn't standard! 10 mins and through...!

We are now in Calgary aiport...pick up bags and check in at WestJet for the short (hour) flight to Kelowna. Due to the immigration process being so quick we now have 3 hours to kill so a bit of sleeping, reading and eating later we are on the plane to Kelowna in Okanagan...

Great flight, clear skies so can see the Rockies (snow capped) and the valleys with crystal clear lakes and rivers...not bad at all..!

Land at 16:40 (24:40 GMT) in 27C - mmmm toasty! and pick up car to B&B.

Robbi and Terry give us a great welcome and there is a bottle of red wine in the room so we decide to have a couple of glasses on the verandah as the sun sets over Wood Lake...

10 mins later we are snoring! Time for bed...!

17th September - Leave IoW

Gulp! Tears and brave smiles - can't say any more....

15th September - Removal Day

We have spent the last month getting rid of 'stuff' and packing clothes and books and were confidently thinking we were ahead of the game and that there was only a few boxes left to pack....boy were we wrong!


So we were up at 7 to try and sort out all the stuff which was left...thanks to Lottie, Paul, Sue and Nikkie who dropped in and drove away with a blanketbox, microwave, TV and bike respectively!

Shaun makes a last breakfast for Otter - chicken roll in a muffin - McLovely!

Removal chaps from Doree Bonner turned up at 10:30 and aided by copious mugs of tea from Shaun proceeded to start packing...an extra 20(!) or so boxes later they took a break for lunch....its amazing how much stuff suddenly appears from corners and cupboards you swear were empty 5 minutes ago....








14:30 all our possessions were packed into a disconcerting small space on the removal van - still amazed they managed to fit all the extra stuff into the original space...no extra shipping charges ...yipppee!






14.45 wave goodbye to all our stuff...gulp... this is really happening....!



14.50 look at the empty living room and realise it is going to need complete repainting, including the skirting boards, architrave, windows...plus all the picture holes in the rest of the house....oh no...! Shaun (genius) set aside brushes, rollers, paint so we make a start...
17:00 still going
18:00 still going (supposed to be at Ken and Elizabeth's for drinks but have to push on...
19:00 cancel ferry to IoW at 20:00 and re book for 22:30...
20:00 still going...beginning to lose GSOH and start thinking this is a bad idea...

21:00 FINISHED! Have repainted 2 rooms, including all the woodwork, cleaned house top to bottom, varnished the conservatory and kitchen floors (btw - slate polish is REALLY good for your fingernails ladies - mine were buffed to a lovely shine!), repainted conservatory, front door, window ledges and packed the car to within an inch of its suspension...!

21:10 K&E - dropped into apologise for missing the 6pm slot but unfortunately you were out...
21.15 Andy and Nikki provide a comfy chair and a much needed glass of wine...
21:45 Wave goodbye to our little home.....looking really good...now just need some one to buy it...
22:30 Catch ferry
24:00 Arrive at M&D's - food! wine! hugs! sleep!

No going back now!

Lyndhurst Drop In Centre!

A big thanks to everyone who dropped in, emailed, called or invited us out for much needed food and alcohol in the last weeks - it definately managed to keep us sane at a very stressful time and also remind us what matters most....its not packing that last piece of furniture but saying goodbye....temporarily(as you are all coming out to see us)... to friends and family!!!

14th September

We managed to find time in the final countdown for a walk in the Forest with Otter at Andrew's Mare (which was the first walk we did when we where 'courting' - aaahhh!)

Also dropped by the church at Emery Down where the dirty deed was done (in Shaun's words!)

More Photos!

Don't think the rest of you folks are going to get away with no photos on this blog...!

Bon Voyage Party - 6 September

A big thank you everyone who came to the party and to those who couldn't make it but sent best wishes.

Apart from the overly enthusiatic DJ (apologies to anyone who had a hoarse throat in the morning from all the talking over the music) I hope a good time was had by all!

A special thanks to Sue and Adella who took over the kitchen and got all the food out despite a very dodgy oven.

Much wine was brought and drunk, the Ringwood barrel emptied with a heroic 1am effort from the boy's cleaning team (Shaun, Trev, Dad and Gary) and everyone's kind gifts saw us through the Big Push to the 18th in style.

Adella managed to capture some 'moments' in between shifts as a domestic goddess and if anyone else has photos please send them to our email and I will post them on the blog for the amusement of all!

Da Girls!

Trev and Mr Reed couragously demolishing the Ringwood

LaVey's & McDonald's loitering

The Young's and the Reed's Oh the glamour!