Lake Magaguadavic

Hello again, we have just returned from a great 24 hour visit with our great friend Jacqueline at Lake Magaguadavic (pronounced mack-uh-day-vick) which is about a 1 hour drive south west of where we live. Like certain parts of Tasmania, weekend or summer cottages are very popular here and we had the opportunity to stay in one of these with Jacqueline. This is the second year that Jacqueline has booked this cottage which holds a special place in her heart as her much loved mother passed away last year after spending a pleasant few days there with Jacqueline so we were privileged to be invited to the cottage just after what would have been her mother's birthday.

As you can see Murphy really enjoyed the freedom to roam.





It was also an opportunity to flex out, enjoy good wine, food and conversation. We spent a lot of time outside .

We have commmented on many occassions about the friendliness of the Canadians and this weekend was no different as you can see from the photo below where the girls from a cottage nearby came over for a chat.

Ross doned on his miner light to prepare our evenining meal as the lightbulb had blown in the kitchen so it was a bit difficult to see the curried prawns we were going to have for supper. Happy to say the curried prawns and rice were delicious - Thank you Ross.

Barb,Kim and Kerry the girls who came over for a visit in the afternoon invited us back to their cottage after supper for apple pie. So we all went to their cottage for apple pie. This turned out not to be a dessert but a drink which was served in a shot glass. Yes, it did taste like apple pie. So this was an opportunity to go back to Jacqueline's cottage and bring back for the group the lemon yogurt dessert Bev had made.

These ladies are an amazing group of 9 plus Michael. This is the 9 th year they have booked their cottage and their daughters, female cousins etc cannot be part of this group until they turn 19 years of age. They celebrate their womanhood in the most positive way and they were proud to show us their photo albums which documents for their female generations to come the joy and love they have for each other. The last night of their time together they put on an ABBA concert and had a great time.

In the photos below you can get a sense of the ages from grandmother to granddaughter.

We had a fun time with lovely people who are happy and find joy in being together. It was thanks to Jacqueline that we had the opportunity to see this very pretty part of the country. We plan to spend a few days there in future.

Today in Fredericton the temperature is 33 C and is expected to be 34C tomorrow. It is dry and humid and the pond in the back of the property is now 2 ft down.

Until our next update stay happy. safe and well.

Love Bev, Ross and Murphy

P.S. Beautiful Canadian scenery and great Australian red - it doesn't get much better.

Ottawa & Quebec City

Hello again, we recently returned from our first trip to Ottawa, the capital of Canada and the distance from Fredericton to Ottawa is about the same distance from where we live in Australia to Brisbane a distance of some 1.000 kms.

Ottawa is located in Ontario and is a very lovely city. In their capital sits their seat of Parliment. We had the opportunity to have a tour of this magnificant building which was rebuilt after a horrific fire around 1865, it was further rebuilt in 1922. The only part of the building which was saved was the library which is spectular and as you can see from the photo below the whole buiding is most impressive.

Parliment has many services guarding it inclusive of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who always look spectacular in their uniforms.

There is lots to see in Ottawa and below is a photo of their War Memorial where the unknown soldier lies and this day he was guarded by Navy.

Looking down from the Memorial is some of the city of Ottawa and one can get some sense of the city and its layout.

Looking up from the Memorial is the amazing lock system which marks the start of the Rideau Canal that runs for 202km to Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was built in the early 1800's to provide a secure resupply route in case of further invasions of Canada by the USA.

The reason for our visit to Ottawa was to visit with our lovely friends Dennis and Pat Hearn. Dennis is a LTCOL in the Canadian Army and we have know each other since 1993 when we met at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. Bev and Dennis where International students at the time and we have stayed in contact over these many years . We last saw Dennis in 2004 in Edmonton when we attended the celebrations for the centenary of the Canadian Health Services.

Dennis had started construction of a new deck prior to our arrival so on one of the days we were visiting Ross and Dennis took on the roles of Bob the Builder and you will see from the photo below the professional job they were doing. So much so we were able to sit out their of an evening and enjoy a pre dinner drink accompanied by the delicious appetisers made by Pat.

Over all of the years of knowing Dennis and hearing about his family this was the first time we had ever met Pat, their daughter Kate and grandaughter Carlie who is an adorable 2 year old.

Pat a loverly lady and a fantastic cook and we hit it off so well. We just felt like we were at home and we all had the opportunty to relax and chat. Murphy had the run of the house however, unfortunately she and Sox their 14 year old cat did not see eye to eye.

The morning we were leaving was photo time and below is a photo of Dennis, Pat, Ross and Murphy on the deck.

On the way home we made a return trip to old Quebec City. The city never disappoints and provides the traveller with a variety of things to see and do.

We had a wonderful visit with Pat and Dennis who made us feel so welcome and we are hopeful they will come over to our part of the country for a visit before we leave Canada.

We have now lived in Canada for 20 months and continue to enjoy the hospitality and friendship of the lovely people here.

Ross recommences university 9 September and is looking forward to this so our travelling will start to slow down, however, we are looking forward to relatives and friends who will becoming to visit with us later in the year.

May you all stay, happy, safe and well.

Love Bev and Ross

New Brunswick Day 2010

Just as we were about to publish this post five Canada geese landed in our pond, going on past experiences they will stay with us for several days and then move on. The abundance of wildlife here never ceases to amaze us.

Monday 2 August was New Brunswick Day and as it was a public holiday it was great opportunity to celebrate this day with our good friends. It was also an opportunity for Bev to wear her Mambo shirt.

We had a very simple BBQ but we had so much fun as our Canadian friends who all have great senses of humour. The weather was perfect for the day so we ate out in the sunroom and in the photo below you will see our friends Jacqueline, John, George & Debbie.

Jacqueline brought along desset which was a very large Dairy Queen (DQ) ice cream cake which reads 'Good Times Good Friends'. You will see the large beer stein on it as decoration. The cake was delicious.

We take every opportunity to spend time with our friends who have made us so welcome and continue to make our life here happy and joyful.

Best wishes to all.

Love Bev and Ross

Bar Harbour, Maine

Hi again,

Prior to our return trip to Bangor and Bar Harbour Ross wanted to take a picture of his corn crop just in case the Bandicoots decided to feast on his crop while we were away. As you can see the corn is in good condition and remains so. So this is a snap below which fulfills the saying " you build it and they will come" Well as you can see it worked as Bev and Murphy enjoyed a frolick in the corn before we departed on our trip.

While in Maine we purchased a new 46 inch Sanyo Digital HDTV which cost us US$650.00 which when converted to Australian was $ 711.00. Just shows how inexpensive some things are here.

After our shopping trip was completed we returned to Bar Harbour for the day with the intension of having lunch there . We had stayed in Bar Harbour during last winter so we wanted to take the opportunity to see what it looked like in the summer. Bar Harbour is a favourite holiday destination for many at this time of the year including President Obama and his family who had been visiting this area just a few days before our arrival. The town was very crowded so it was difficult to find a parking spot, eventually we travelled back up the highway for lunch and stopped at the lobster restaurant (pound) in the photo below. As you will see the lobsters are cooked in the outside pots.

We enjoyed the best lobster rolls we had ever eaten and you will see what we are saying from the photo below. The restaurant is directly across the road from the Airfield and as we were leaving the restaurant we saw several Lear Jets arrive and shortly thereafter we saw two civilan pilots followed by two Marine pilots who had walked from the airfied to enjoy a lobster lunch.

We will be returning to Bangor later this month on our return from Ottawa.

Love Bev and Ross