Birthdays and Snow

Hello again from the beautiful city of Fredericton. The major event since our last update was Ross’s birthday. He wanted to celebrate his birthday at home and requested lobster mornay with Australian white wine. For those of you who know us really well a change to white wine from our much enjoyed Australian reds was a surprise. It must be the Fredericton climate getting to us.

Where we live in Australia, we have some very special friends and several of our friends and my lovely nephew Adam who lives in the Northern Territory celebrate their birthdays all within a few days of each other. Usually we get together for this event but, as on this occasion we are on the other side of the world, the photo of Ross’s toast is to our dear friends and family who we love and miss.

However, more about the lobster. Unlike Australian lobsters a considerable amount of the lobster meat is found in their huge claws. Check out the photo below. Hence I had to serve the lobster in a bowl and I’m happy to report that the lobster was just great.

On 14 Feb we went along to dinner at the Wetmore Street Pub, our local watering hole for a Valentine’s Day dinner. We have never been keen on Australian Mussels as we find them too strong however we treated ourselves to very tasty Canadian Mussels in a wine sauce.

Today Weather Canada published a winter storm warning and, true to the advice provided the snow fell to some 20 cms. The closest this comes to in terms of visibility in Australian would be a white out on the snow fields and you will note from the photo below what we are trying to convey.

Just to give you some idea please check out the photo below to see how the locals dress for Snow ploughing (only joking and this is not Ross).

We have such wonderful neighbours who at no prompting will come home late at night and not only clear their driveways, but are kind enough to do ours as well. We certainly have chosen the right place to come to and it and its wonderful people will always have a special place in our hearts.

In another weeks time Ross has 10 days off from University so we are planning to see some more of this lovely country.

So stay safe, happy and well and remember there is a bed for you all if you wish to come for a visit.

Love Bev, Ross, Murphy and Herb

Winter Continues

Hi again, we have just been through a warm snap where for 24 hours we stayed above 0 degrees c. The snow on the roof started to melt and for a short time we could actually see the black bitumen of the driveway. Reality is back today with a beautifully sunny day but it is minus 11 c with a wind chill of around -20c.


The snow has continued sporadically so we have included a couple of shots of the John Deere with its highly competent operator in action.






Bev is trying to introduce the dogs to the snow and ice but at this stage they are staying inside by choice. We went to the expense of buying them boots but both the dogs and Ross rejected them out of hand. We got a refund.

As most of you know we love the barby and have been suffering withdrawal, so despite the fact that the locals call it a seasonal activity (with some justification) we decided to fight the trend and christen the new BBQ ($150 at Wal*Mart). As you can see below it required some spadework but the result was worth it.

The wait to achieve operating temperature in this climate is considerable hence the backboard to reduce windchill.

And if you dare lift the lid whilst cooking, the temperature drop is instantaneous. As you can see there is still a little spadework to be done.

Obviously we are on a winter outdoor cooking learning curve but to date the results have been more than acceptable. The quality of the beef here is magnificent and reasonably priced even for steaks like rib-eye.



Uni continues to be great fun and is far more flexible in delivery mode than at home. It also comes with health insurance, diverse lecturing styles (all lecturers are called professor here), Tim Horten's coffee shops and free broardband for all students. This shot is from the upper area looking down to UNB, downtown and the St John River.

Our genuine sympathy and condolences to all in the bush fire areas and obviously to all who have friends and realtives in the areas. The fires continue to make prime time here.

Please stay safe.

Cheers Ross and Bev

Winterfest

Hi again from beautiful Fredericton. This week we have ventured to the north side of town to attend Winterfest with our friends Jacqueline and John. The winterfest is a fun weekend down by the frozen river with kids as the prime focus. As you can see from the shots there are ice slides, sleigh rides, ice golf, bowls and curling at a basic original level, pony rides, ice carving, igloo making, ice maze, various food stalls (including buffalo burgers) and a warming tent where free maple leaf tattoos are applied.

The photos are pretty self explanatory.












After all this excitement we journeyed to Mama's Pub for the compulsory steak and eggs Fredericton weekend brunch and as you can see the ski-doo's are the go here as well.


Will post more later in the week.

Stay Safe. Ross and Bev

Settled in with great new friends

Hi All, we are now settled in and and the dogs seem to have forgotten the stress of the flight over but are still coming to grips with the reality of cold white stuff that should be green grass.

When we decided late in 2008 to come to Fredericton some of you would be aware that we were greatly assisted by Jacqueline Wilt from Rental Hounds who was instrumental in finding the lovely home we now reside in. Now that our camera has finally found us we are now able to share with you our lovely friend.

Jacqueline has been outstanding in her friendship and as you can see from the shot below is like most Canadians we have met, very pet friendly. The photo below is of Jacqueline with her beloved Golden Retrievers, Bryn, Megan and Haley in the foyer of her home in Hearne St, Fredericton.

Jacqueline along with her lovely husband John (who continues to serve in the Engineer Corps of the Canadian Military), have been terrific support to us and by way of background for those of you who have or have had a military involvement, John was in Rwanda late 1993-1994 as part of UNAMIRI and served with the then LTGEN Romeo Delaire the author of ‘Shake Hands with the Devil’ and is now in the Canadian Government. John has seen many facets of war, serving in Kosovo, Bosnia and many other countries that the Government of Canada has been involved in.

Just to give an idea of the support Jacqueline has provided, I will list just a few of the things she has done for us. Not only did she willing accepted, store and in some cases pay for the numerous boxes we sent from OZ, she also met us at the airport when we arrived, booked us into a lovely motel for the evening, invited us to have Christmas supper (dinner) with her and her lovely mother Shelia, which was fantastic. Further she has also assisted us in so many ways such as the frantic shopping expedition I (Bev) needed to do on Christmas eve before the shops closed for the Christmas holidays through to both she and John taking us to the Co-op and the local markets. When we needed furniture delivered Jacqueline willingly gave her very valuable time out of her busy schedule to conduct this activity. We consider ourselves so fortunate to have such great friends.

We continue to fell very confident that we have made the correct decision to come to this lovely country. Wherever we go we continue to meet friendly, polite people from the time of standing in line for 6 hours at the Toronto airport to the local pub, Home Depot, the Supermarket and so forth.

Our first Australia Day celebration in Canada whilst not held on our National Day owing to travelling to St John on that day to collect Murphy and Herb. (it may be appropriate that our two little ones arrived on this day Jan 26). Was delayed so Saturday evening 31 January 2009 saw us having a wonderful Australia Day time with some of the lovely folks we have met since arriving in Fredericton.

You will see from the photos that we celebrated in fine form. Our guests were served Australian wines and foods usual to us at home and a great time was had by all. Apart from the Canadian accents heard around the table all could all have been Aussies as they all have a wonderful sense of humor and like us enjoy their lives and know what is important to them.

So you can come to know these lovely folks from left to right of the group photo, may we introduce Debbie, George, Kevin and Ester, James and Susan, Jacqueline and John. I was the photographer, so no comments on the clarity of the photo. I was only drinking red wine out of a champagne glass bought at the dollar shop.

As with each post so far I have included a couple of shots of our tours around the local area.

The two above are of the free skating rink located in Officers Square in the city centre. In the background is the frozen St John River.

Hope you enjoy the read. Please come and visit and love to you all.

Stay safe and enjoy life. R & B

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