We are all here at last

Sorry to take so long to update the blog but it has been a pretty hectic time. Bev arrived back last Tuesday and has been settling in and readjusting to the cold ,

and on Australia Day our two dogs Murphy and Herb arrived in Saint John after a very long flight from Sydney which included a stopover in Toronto for everyone's peace of mind.

We have had four days or so with sunshine and no snow but the temperature is around minus 27c over night and around minus 10c during the day. That is all about to change with a winter storm warning current and the temperature warming to low minus. This means we are in for 15 to 25 cm of snow followed by strong winds blowing snow and lowering visibility and freezing rain which will make the roads slippery and dangerous. It is all part of living here and in a way is quite interesting because we have not been through it to this extent before.

University continues to be great fun particularly ritual studies where we are looking at rituals from all areas covering everything from attending a Muslim religious ceremony to all the ritual surrounding the inauguration of a US president.

We are having a belated Australia Day bash this Saturday with six of our immediate neighbours and two good friends who live in town. Although totally different from the Oz Day breakfast we are used to holding at home (one reason being that you cannot get a decent plain beef sausage here for love nor money, the boys who run the Jerra butcher shop are greatly missed). We are having dinner with garlic chilli banana prawns, steak and kidney pie, quiche, peach salad, lemon tart and a lemon meringue. You have to do the best with what you can get.

We have continued to explore the local area and are constantly amazed at the local architecture. There are some outstanding examples and I have included several photos of houses in the upmarket historic area close to downtown.

The local pub is called the “Wetmore – Street Pub” and is named for the two local lawyers who in 1821 participated in the last fatal duel held in the province. The duel took place in the immediate vicinity of the pub and Mr Wetmore was the one who got killed.

In these photos, taken outside the pub, you can see the ski-doos that are a favourite mode of transport at this time of the year. Just like riding the motor bike to the local at home.






Notice in this one the baby carriage attached at the back of the parents vehicle

Stay safe. Ross and Bev

Mid Winter

The good news to begin this post is that Bev is coming home on Monday and hopefully our two dogs "Murphy" and "Herb" will be following soon after.

Bev would like to genuinely thank all those who were able to attend her Dad's funeral and those who sent messages of support. The funeral went as well as a funeral can go with about 75 people attending.

On the home front in Fredericton, we are expecting what the locals call a cold snap -this means that we have gone from minus 18C yesterday to minus 25C today and a forecast tomorrow of minus 30C and this is before the wind chill factor. I have included a copy of the wind chill warning for today for the sceptics.

WIND CHILL WARNING: Fredericton and Southern York County Issued at 4:51 AM AST THURSDAY 15 JANUARY 2009
WIND CHILL VALUES OF BELOW MINUS 35 EXPECTED THIS MORNING TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING. THIS IS A WARNING THAT EXTREME WIND CHILL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
AN EXTREMELY COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL PERSIST TODAY TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. LIGHT TO MODERATE NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS BETWEEN MINUS 35 TO MINUS 44.

It does not worry me because I have already decided that minus 20C is cold enough and if it gets colder that that then I will stay home in the blissful warmth of geothermal heating.

Realistically you only have to worry about the cold when driving on the slippery roads and when moving between the car and the building / mall you intend to enter, but you really need to be prepared clothing wise, because at this temperature the impact is instant and dramatic.

The forecast however is looking up, by this time next Thursday we should be enjoying a balmy high of minus 5C (shades of Tahiti).

University continues to go really well with a huge range of lecturing styles from the "I am just the facilitator and you guys teach yourselves" to the formal 3 hour lecture witha mid term and final exam. There is a fairly big emphasis on attendance with generally 30% of the marks being allocated for attendance and participation. I have been really well accepted by the fellow students who think Australia is "awesome" and all want to move there.

I have included some shots below of part of the down town area I took this morning on the way home from "school". First one is the Old Government House

This one is of a local park, which at this time of year does not get much use. However the amount of people, including kids skiing around the suburbs and parks on cross country ski's is amazing.

Just a couple of shots of the frozen St John River which runs through the centre of town.

These last shots are of the average type of house in a small downtown street.

As you can see I like the blue house so much that I put it in twice. The fact is that I am so new to this blog stuff that I cannot find a way to delete one on them.

Stay safe. R

Settling In

Very sad news to begin this post. Unfortunately Bev's dad Chris passed away yesterday afternoon Australian time Wesnesday 7th. Bev and other family members were there and he died peacefully in his sleep.

For those of you located in Brisbane and who may care to attend, the funeral will be held at 10.30am on Tuesday the 13th of January at St George's Anglican Church, it is situated at the corner of Victor St and Thorne Rd. Birkdale.

Bev has asked me to pass on her sincere thanks to all who have contacted and supported her over the last week or so since she got back from Canada.

On a happier note, I have begun my first week at University and it is a bit of a change from uni at home. I have had to get parking permits, ID photos, set up on the university computer system, find my way around and avoid frost bite. I am really enjoying the differences but have only attended one lecture as one of the others was cancelled because the lecturer could not get to Fredericton as a result of highway closures and the one I was scheduled to attend today because of snow and ice on the road. As a matter of interest all the schools are closed today because of the snow. Locals tell me that this does not happen very often.

Depending on the weather this afternoon I may get to use the snowplough for the first time but have already realised that this is a task requiring many layers of clothing and the use of insulated gumboots and gloves made for Canadian weather. Luckily the owner has left all this for me to use.

This is the view from the house towards the driveway and mail box taken about 3 hrs ago, so you can see the situation.

On the household side, I mentioned in the last post that we had purchased a lounge suite so have decided to include a couple of shots from inside the house to balance all the outside photos to date.

The photo below is of the fantastic kitchen in the house. Wanda Little (the owner) spared no expense in fitting it out. All the appliances are "Kitchen Aid" and there is more than enough storage space and bench space.



Will provide a update next week and at this stage Bev is planning to return and bring the dogs late next week.

Stay safe