Now we are here

The bad news to start this post is that the previous good news re Bev's dad was only temporary and she has had to return to Brisbane today Canadian Atlantic time and will arrive in Brissy on New Years Day early in the morning.

As yet Canadian Air and Canadian customs have only seen fit to get 3 of our 4 bags here but enough to establish ourselves in our new home. The landlords have been generous enough to leave many items and utensils to make our transition easier and we have boosted the Canadian economy buy purchasing a great lounge suite and occasional tables (we had previously purchased the dining and bedroom suites from the owner). Today I also was given a New Brunswick drivers licence which allowed us to purchase a Jeep Cherokee for transport. We live about 17km out of the city of Fredericton.



The licence was easy as there is an agreement between Australia and Canada and all you do is just give them your licence and for $60 you get a New Brunswick 4 year licence.

We are adjusting very quickly and have gone from the heat of Tahiti to minus 28 with a minimum of fuss. The geothermal heating in the house is fantastic and without much prompting we have purchased appropriate clothing.










As an example for the next four days the maximum temp will be minus 12 on Thursday with minus 17 as the minimum. But honestly we have found that you hardly notice - you just take appropriate clothing including studded boots for the icy footpaths and get on with enjoying life.

And as an added bonus I do not have to worry about mowing the lawns for a while.

For the boys who are reading this and my great friend Lauren in Jerrabomberra I should explain that when we arrived we knew that we would inherit a John Deere ride on mower.





Little did we know that it came with a big brother which handles the 7 ft snow plough, slasher, soil plough, mulcher and has a bucket or fork lift on the front.



















Just before I finish this post I will include a shot of the back yard and the start of the seven acres that go with it. The pond in the foreground is very frozen and I only hope the fish under the ice are acclimatised.

I hope you all have a great 2009.