Happy Christmas to the Faithful

I understand that few things put a person off blogs more than irregular and infrequent updates so if you are still tuning in, many thanks and Happy Christmas 2009!

Winter has returned and so has the season of skiing, skating and tobogganing. It took us a good 15 minutes this morning to shovel the overnight accumulation of 3 inches of snow from the drive, a pretty much daily chore nowadays. If it isn't shovelled regularly, it gets packed down and turns into treacherous ice which is even more difficult to remove. There's something quite theraputic about shovelling snow. It wakes you right up in the morning and gets your heart rate going, something I miss a little since it became too cold and snowy to cycle to work.

I've been reading on the online newspapers about the recent snowfall in the UK, about the stranded vehicles in Berkshire and people having to spend the night at John Lewis. Some people, it seems, are going to great lengths to finish their Christmas shopping. While Britain freezes, I think we're having less snow this year here in Prince George. It's still cold though and temps plummeted to -30 degrees last week on my week off. Thankfully it warmed up a bit by the end of the week so I was able to get out cross-country skiing on a couple of days which was great fun.

On Friday, a friend took me ice-fishing for the first time. We snow-shoed out for half an hour to a frozen lake, drilled a few 5 inch holes in the 8 inch thick ice and dropped a line and baited hook in. Unbelievably we had a fish on the hook within a couple of minutes. We caught 10 brook trout between us that day which will make good eating but the most magical part was was just being out there on a remote and deserted frozen lake surrounded by forest.

Time seems to be flying by at the moment. Another Halloween and Thanksgiving have been and gone. Our second Canadian Christmas is approaching fast. There are many differences between how people celebrate Christmas here and in the UK but we're getting used to some of the former and upholding a few of the latter. People are so friendly and hospitable here that we have found ourselves inundated once again with social invitations. Unfortunately I'm on call this Christmas but I'm hoping it will be quiet and leave some time for family and friends.

To all of you who continue to follow this blog, have a Happy Christmas and an excellent 2010.

Summer sun in BC

We've had a great summer here in BC this year. It's been hot and dry. Too hot in fact, as many of you may have heard about the forest fires that have caused so much trouble further down south in the province. The dry weather has produced tinderbox conditions to the forests and lightning strikes have acted as the necessary primers for thousands of fires around the province. We've been lucky in Prince George this year but one can't help thinking that as a city completely surrounded by forest, our number will come up sooner or later.

We had a lovely visit to the UK for two weeks in July. It was a pretty busy couple of weeks trying to get around and see as many folk as possible. It was great to see everyone we did but apologies if we missed you out of our schedule. There was only so much we could squeeze into one fortnight. Unfortuntely it rained almost every day in the UK while we were there (we'd just missed the heatwave).

We were glad to return to PG which is a good sign that we have settled here well. We did feel we needed a more relaxing break after our UK trip so took a week to drive across to Jasper and then down through the Rockies to Banff and Lake Louise. We had a lovely week taking in the scenery and getting in some hiking. Banff is a lovely centre and base for exploring the surrounding lakes and mountains and we were really taken with Moraine lake near Lake Louise. The kids enjoyed climbing the huge boulders (or moraines) deposited by advancing glaciers which after they receded, dammed the river forming the crystal turquoise lake behind it.

We've managed to fill the rest of the summer pretty well too. I spent a lovely day fishing last week. A friend and I hiked out a canoe to a beautiful and remote lake outside PG and once there found the lake almost to ourselves (sharing only with the bears). We had great success too bringing home 8 good sized trout which tasted delicious on the barbeque the next day.

Things will start returning back to normal after the labour day weekend coming up. The schools go back and work will start winding up again. Thoughts will turn towards cooler weather and preparations for the snow expected in October. I have to admit I'm actually looking forward to it.

Summer is here at long last

Despite a short snow shower in early May, things are now warming up nicely. We're enjoying continuous days of sunshine with temps in the mid 20s and so I'm back on my bike to and from work. So far it's going well, although since we moved, there's now an extra hill to climb on my way home. Handily, there's a Starbucks on route and on hotter days, a short frappucino break becomes the perfect antidote for aching legs.

To make the most of the longer evenings at the moment we spent the weekend before last, renting a cabin at Mount Robson Provincial park. Mount Robson is the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies and we had perfect warm sunny weather with clear views of the mountain peak. We did some walking around the mountain base and took a gentle dingy ride down the Fraser river. The Fraser is the largest and longest river in BC and originates in the Rockies only 150 miles from Mount Robson. The river's shallow, rapid waters are beautifully clear in the North and you can watch the salmon leaping the nearby falls on their long journey to their spawning grounds in September. By the time the Fraser reaches the lower mainland BC however, it's huge, dark and unfortunately somewhat polluted. The Robson river drains into the Fraser at the foot of the mountain, it's own origin lying high above in the mountain glacier. Making it's way down via two beautiful mountain lakes, the water takes on a blueish-white hue and is always freezing cold. The hike to the larger Berg lake takes 5-6 hours and most camp there overnight. The Berg lake trail is one of the most beautiful in BC. Sadly on this occasion, this trail will require a return visit from us but we're definitely coming back, perhaps in the autumn.

Can you believe it's almost a whole year since we moved to BC? Everything that has happened these last 12 months have been new experiences and now that the same calendar events are coming round again, things are beginning to feel strangely familiar. We've survived our first year and it's been a blast!

Where the mountains meet the ocean.

So what's news? Well, as regular followers of this blog may have realised, I've recently got a little behind with my updates. This presumably means one of two things. Either I've been busier than normal or life of late hasn't been interesting enough to blog about. I'll leave you to decide as you read on.

We had a great weekend in Vancouver a few weeks ago. Hot on the tail of Easter in Victoria, Vancouver turns out to be a different kettle of fish being much bigger, busier and feeling altogether more, well, city-like. That's not to say we didn't enjoy the weekend. We had a fab time visiting the park, the aquarium, the markets on Granville Island and taking time to sit watching the seaplanes land at the harbour. We managed to tame the mass transit system (exact change only) and find time for a harbour taxi ride. The vast array of shops gave us a much larger choice than that normally available to us in Prince George. Our hotel in the heart of downtown was perfect in location and the service exemplary. Even the weather was good enabling us to forget the snow we left behind in PG and sun ourselves in Stanley park amongst the racoons, rollerbladers and totem poles. The aquarium particularly was a treat, especially the Beluga whales, one of which was pregnant at the time, but has since delivered successfully amidst a worldwide media frenzy. Vancouver itself is utterly beautiful as snow capped mountains emerge straight out of the ocean to surround the city (we were lucky with the weather because rain is to Vancouver what snow is to Prince George).

It's not all roses down in Vancouver of course. The traffic is appalling, property prices are sky-high and of course every big city comes with big inner city problems of homelessness, drugs and crime. Still, as long as you know which neighbourhoods to avoid, things are fine and we didn't feel unsafe at any time walking around downtown.

Perhaps slightly more surprising were the vast number of English people we came across in Vancouver. The city is the boarding point for the Alaskan cruises and so many folk choose to spend some time in the city before and after.

So would I recommend Vancouver? Definitely two thumbs up. If you can catch an Alaskan cruise at the same time, even better.

Victoria, BC - More English than England?

We have just spent a fabulous Easter weekend in Victoria, our first visit to Vancouver Island. Billed as the provincial capital, the home of the provincial legislative government and the earliest site of white settlers to British Columbia, Victoria has been described as "more English than England". Well, the buildings are certainly grander and older than most we've seen in Canada and the government buildings are pretty impressive. The BC museum is excellent and the city has an English Riveria feel to it with a developed inland harbour, lots of waterfront property, houseboats and lots of greenery, parks and spring flowers. The kids had a great time at Victioria's Bug Zoo. Karenza got to hold a Tarantula (I was far too afraid). The kids enjoyed feeding the harbour seals at Fishermans Wharf, where Houseboat living had never appealed until now. We caught the harbour taxi to and fro and enjoyed High Tea at the Empress Hotel which was very grand, formal and colonial in both style and atmosphere and who served us one of the best cups of tea we've had since we arrived in Canada.

Victoria is a lovely place to visit and most attractions are located centrally so it's easy to walk to everything. It was nice to get away from the snow of the north and browse around some different shops (Victoria has some great bookshops). But was it more English than England? Not really, but I can see why people would say that. Our previous house in Worcestershire was older than the oldest settlers' house in Victoria and the service in the shops and hotels was far too good to be in England but over this last week back in PG I did miss England a little more than I have for a while. Maybe it had more to do with the piles of snow that are still sitting outside our house.

Next up, Vancouver. We're heading down there for a long weekend next week so keep a look out for a blog update after then.

Welcome to the pot hole capital of the world

Well we're finally in the new place and settling down. Although we've only moved across the city, the amount of organizing, the number of people to inform and the stress involved, you'd think we'd moved continents again. Still, the new place is nice, the views fabulous and now we have internet, cable, phone and our washing machine plumbed-in, life is resuming normality. The kids can also walk to school now which is a boon. The house is a bit bigger than our rental place so our furniture is rattling around a bit but that's easily remedied with some shopping.

I've managed to get the full 4 days off work at Easter so we're heading down to Victoria, the provincial capital, for a few days R&R this weekend which will be interesting. They're well into their Spring down there so it'll be nice to see some flowers and get away from the snow which, although melting fast, will still be around here for a bit. Our kids are still sledding down the hill at the back of our garden can you believe. It's warming up though and last night stayed above zero degrees for the the first time since I can't remember when.

The mood is changing too. Everyone wants to see the end of the snow (it was still snowing on the first two days of April) and are now looking forward to the summer. The shops are full of lawnmowers, barbeques and patio furniture. I even saw someone wearing shorts last week. The bad news is that the winter has had it's toll on the city roads and it feels like we have now become the pot-hole capital of BC. The main city routes have become giant slalom courses and drivers everywhere appear be driving enebriated but are simply trying to save their undercarriages as they swerve across the roads avoiding the holes. The same city crews which spent the last 4 months snow-ploughing the roads are now repairing them with a 24 hour pot-hole patrol in effect. Not only that but the melting snow has turned roads into streams and snow blocked drains everywhere result in very large puddles further impeding driving. Pickup trucks and SUVs are handy not only for winter but all year round in PG it would seem.

Snow Shovelling the lawn? (there's something you don't see every day!)

At last we're beginning to see early signs that winter may be on the wane. The air is beginning to warm a little and the snow beginning to melt. We're still getting intermittent snowfall but it's no longer very heavy, just enough to keep the skiers amongst us happy. The large piles of roadside snow are beginning to turn brown and speckled in colour as it gets mixed in with the road grit - "chocolate chip cookie dough" as my children call it. The city's hue is beginning to take on a sepia tone as a result. The skies are blue and people are starting to talk about their plans for the summer.

The season of Spring is short here in Prince George in a "blink-and-you-missed-it" sort of way We plan to head down to Vancouver in April where Spring lasts a little longer and where we might be able to get our "fix" of Spring flowers which we loved when we were in the UK. Some PG residents are trying to hasten the onset of spring by switching from shovelling the snow off their rooves to shovelling it off their lawns. Sounds like a waste of time to me, like it's gonna melt anyways right? (check out my newly acquired Canadian diction there).

Still, while the snow and ice are still here I'm going to try and squeeze the last bit of fun out of it. We're still skiing at the weekends and the snow will hang around longer up in the mountains yet. I'm beginning to enjoy watching the hockey a bit now and even my skating is coming on too. My children are beginning to pick up an accent and my vocabulary has also changed quite a bit. Surviving our first winter here is making me feel Canada is rubbing off on us a little at last.

We're moving again!

Big news this month, we have taken the plunge and finally bought ourselves a house in Prince George. It all happened very quickly, unnervingly quickly in fact. About three weeks ago we instructed a realtor. We gave him our desired locations. He then sent us details of 15 houses which met the spec. We lined up appointments to visit about 10 of them and within a week we'd found the one we wanted. The process of price negotiation, dealing with home inspectors, surveyors, lawyers etc. all went through the realtor who in our case has been excellent, well organised and demonstrated considerable experience. The best bit is that he gets paid by the seller.

The result? We hope to move into our new place in mid-March just before our current lease runs out. We could have moved much earlier as the conveyancing process is quick here in BC but March suits us and hopefully it will be warmer then and the snow melted with a bit of luck.

We fell for a house at the edge of town overlooking the city with fabulous views of the mountains behind. The plot isn't huge but we decided against acreage outside the city pretty shortly after the first major snowfall. The city snowploughs have their advantages after all, as do mains water, sewerage and refuse collection all of which aren't guaranteed outside the city limits. The house is well built (made of wood like all houses here in Prince George) and modern being only a year old. The downside is that its up a pretty steep hill which will make cycling to work fun in the summer and back home not so (but hey, it'll be good for me). Another good thing, due to the difference in house prices between the UK and Prince George, is that we will be mortgage free which will be one less thing to worry about (unless we decide to move back to the UK of course - no signs of that yet - sic).

Look out for more updates on the Canadian house buying experience but dare I say it and tempt fate, it's so far so good.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone following this blog. I hope you managed to get some time off and a bit of a break. We ended up far busier than we expected being invited out for meals and parties. People are so friendly here. Karenza's sister Cheryl came to visit from the UK which was great as she got to experience a white Christmas in all its glory. Apart from a few days at -25 below when it was difficult to get out, we managed to go skating and sledding a few times which was tremendous fun. Now it's all returning back to normal. The kids restart school again today. I'm back at work in ultrasound this week and yes, it's still snowing.

Favourite things about Canada so far?

1. The snow - I love it. You can play in it and sled and ski on it.
2. The people - They're so friendly and welcoming particularly to foreigners
3. Prince George - It's a small city in size but seems to have everything found in a large city yet within a shorter distance. There's no traffic and the cost of living is much cheaper than in the UK or Vancouver.
4. The stunning landscape of BC. - mountains, lakes and rivers all on our doorstep.

Least favourite things?

1. The snow - particularly when you have to shovel a foot of it off the drive in the morning to get the car out.
2. The freezing cold temperatures - When it's -25 degrees outside, outdoor pursuits are off the menu no matter how many layers you put on.
3. The travelling distances to other cities - we're 4 hours drive from the next major city and 10 hours drive from Vancouver. Thankfully there is a local airport.

We're still enjoying it out here though and hoping to visit the UK in the summer. Happy New year again. I hope 2009 is a good one for you.