We have car

May 18th eh - Jeez time goes quick, seems like yesterday I was in back in Wellington.

We have finally purchased the car! Nice black subaru GT AWD - good for the winters, and one that will surely last the 3 years - unlike some (I mean all) previous cars we have owned. We will make good use of it this weekend, as we're off to Quebec City, and then for a drive around the area, East along the Lawrence river.

Saw my first wild bear (and her two cubs) today in Gatineau Park. I went for a bike through the park, up towards one of the ski fields in the hills - it was a nice ride. Anyways when I was back at the car, I decided to take it up the same road for a few kms, and as I was driving (no one else around) a mother bear and her cubs were about to cross the road in front of me. They waited until I passed and leisurely walked across the road - although mamma bear was giving me the evil eye.

The Ottawa Senators are 1 game away from getting into the finals of the NHL - Stanley Cup. It is the furthest they have been in a while - so it is hockey fever at the moment in Ottawa. Also the NBL is in the final stages.

Off to get rego plates for the car.

Ottawa - the last 4 weeks

Date is as you see it!

Well because I haven't had much time to write I have let the ol' blog slip a bit;0. I will now attempt to write about the last 4 weeks in one sitting (a condensed version of what happened) while listening to Little Bushmen playing live in the RNZ recording studio - 3 tracks mixed into 1, 43 minutes long - good stuff though, you should have a listen (streaming audio) .

OK so we arrived in Ottawa - the weather was cold & on the second day we awoke to see, according to CTV, 15-20cm of snow on the ground - luckily we stayed near Arundel Mills in the States - bought heaps of cheap winter gears on sale. Then 2 days later the temperature was 24 C! How crazy is that eh! Even the locals thought it was strange - G.W. Luckily we stayed near Arundel Mills in the States - bought heaps of cheap summer gears on sale.


The hotel we stayed in was nice - on the 19th floor, but it didn't get much sun and I kinda got sick of the good service - actually just got sick of being called sir etc - not my kind of thing, I can serve myself & clean up after myself thank you! It was good for a while though;)

In the first week we had to organise a few things like setting up bank accounts, other official things, and looking through apartments in which we would live for 3 years. The first place we looked at was so (too) nice and was very central, near the canal, byward markets, elgin street etc - so we took it, furnished and all. I was thinking sweet, we can move in soon (so I could get out of the hotel and unpack my suitcase - which had had my stuff in since leaving Wellington - a month earlier) but the snooty in-house manager said we couldn't move in until May 1, 3 weeks later. The previous tenant had the place until then, even though he had already moved out - interestingly his name was Maurice Strong (do a Google on him, or just click his name for a wiki).


During this early settling in stage we a small deposit down on a car at a Subaru dealer in Hull, Quebec - 2003 Subaru Legacy GT - very nice indeed, good for some roadies! However the finance person there had just started working at the car yard (which we found out after we put some money down) and it has been a nightmare, as she had no idea how to handle the finance for two kiwis who had only been in the country for a week - it didn't help that she didn't speak English either. So after almost 4 weeks and hundreds of documents, phone calls, and sorry's, and other things, we have a meeting with her tomorrow to sign the deal and drive the bloody car away!


We had a rental car for the first 2 weeks there and made good use of it. Went up to Mont Tremblant for a weekend - the final weekend of the season. Pretty cool place (quite touristy in a way), cool multi-coloured village with heaps of bars etc. We ended up having a big night, as a few guys from Ottawa shouted us a few drinks, then some more, & a few more;) On the way back the next day we stopped in at Omega park where I almost had my head taken off by a giant elk - I thought they were vegetarians, maybe I have a head the shape of a carrot, as we were feeding them carrots from the car. The park also had bison, wolves, bears, beavers, goats with bigarse horns, moose, coyotes and Bambi.

So during the week while Miriam was at work, I was doing admin stuff - cable, phone, Internet, visas, working permit for me (still waiting on social number so i can work), Ontario licenses, etc. I also did the touristy things - byward markets, museums when it was cold, hiring bikes - great city for bikes (more about it below) - and joining some clubs - batucada, djembe drumming, adventure sports, tennis (all evening classes) - was going to take French, but course was canceled because of lack of numbers (June is the next intake).

Yeah a lot of cities around the world (that are flat & have some space left I guess) could learn from Ottawa in terms of public transport and bike ways. The bus service is amazing - where there are roads only for buses - it kinda works like other city subways, except above ground and on roads. On the bus website you type where you are, then your destination - and it comes up with the quickest route, even how long it will take to walk from your door to the bus stop etc. The bike ways are even better - they work like roads - stay on one side and there is even a speed limit. Heaps of people use them - biking, inline, walking etc.


We went for a weekend to Montreal - very cool place. Had a great Saturday night out - although a few of the places you needed to be on 'the list' to get in. Heaps of cool bars and restaurants - will definitely go back soon - maybe this weekend as it is a long weekend.

Went to the Canadian Civilisation Museum last Sunday - cool place. Also went to the IMAX theater there and watched deep blue - unreal, surreal! The IMAX screen there is a giant dome that covers the whole theatre - it's a bit like being in a giant marquee and the whole ceiling is the movie screen. We will have to get the 10 pass for future viewings.

Tulip festival (worlds biggest apparently) is on at the mo. - oh yeah, the weather is warmer now, so flowers can grow, it was even 29C for a couple of days last week - so alot of flowers around!

Things coming up:

• Blues festival, just got our tickets (passports to all gigs) - acts include white stripes, bob dylan, kanye west, manu chau etc - should be good.
• City Chase - like 'the amazing race' but on a local level - we are both thinking of doing it.
• Long weekend - will take new car on a road trip.
• Work for me!

So that is a wrap - missed a few a lot out, but sh** happens. All up-to-date now. stay tuned.

David Bain is out eh!