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Firstly congrats to my big sis Lisa on having a little girl named Kate Isobel - just heard the news - well done Steve and Lisa - Lucy now has a sister. I'm an Uncle again (in other words - an old bastard).
The snow images in the last post are nothing compared to the large dumping of snow we had on Sunday.
Ottawa recently had the biggest snowfall for few years and the 'weather experts' are stating that this Winter, Canada will be moving into a 'mini ice-age' - in other words it might be the coldest Winter in 20 odd years. I can kind of believe this as last week we had a -20C and a few -10C days (well below the seasonal norm for this time of year), and on Sunday night we had at least a 30cm dumping of snow (it is snowing outside at the mo.). The fact that Winter doesn't officially start until December 22, this is the coldest Autumn/Fall I have ever experienced! Miriam and I have spent a small fortune on winter clothing, boots (with rubber soles that will not harden until the -30Cs), hats, clothes and scarfs - so we are set for the Winter - bring it on. We also have our ski/boarding gear ready - the fields across the river (closest is 20mins from our apartment) are already open, and have had their best start to a season in years - powder as opposed to rock and ice. We have been up a few times - and may get a season pass for the evenings at Camp Fortune, so that we can hit the slopes after work - saaaweeet!
Ottawa is used to this kind of weather though, - all the systems are in place. As soon as the roads have some accumulation of snow, the salt trucks are out - spraying the roads with a salt grit mix (good for the car - have had it rust proofed though - a must every Winter, and it's only $80. Even with the rust proofing, the car is still prone to getting rust, so I have to clean it often (see pic below - the white stuff is dry salt)). If the snow is heavy, graders and trucks with ploughs come out to clear the roads, and contractors with snow ploughs on the front of their huge pickups (6litre chevys) clear driveways and side streets. The contractors get paid a set amount each Winter from households, to clear the driveways - if it is a mild winter (like last year), they have a sweet winter - still get paid, and have little ploughing to do. But if it a snowy winter (like this one is going to be), they have their work cut out for them. A friend of ours, has a landscaping business during the summer/spring months and ploughs during the Winter. Last Sunday, he started ploughing at 4pm, had a break at 4am and was back on the roads after a 2 hour sleep! Anyway, the snow is ploughed in to huge piles all around the city (sometimes over 15feet high) and to the sides of roads. During the night the streets are full of huge dump trucks and blowers, that blow the snow piles into the back of the trucks for disposal (out of the city somewhere). This city doesn't have to stop for snow or extreme cold (a good example of this, was last night (-12C), they had a huge crowd out to watch the Christmas carols and to see the Christmas lights on Parliament (see pic below).
So with the cold, comes colds. I had my first Canadian cold last week - it lasted all week! Hopefully that is it for Winter.
So what's been happening (apart from the snow and cold). Miriam's mum was in town for a looksy; we went on road trips to Quebec City, Montreal, and Toronto; tried ice skating; had a go at curling; have been playing dodge ball, volleyball, indoor soccer, hockey, and b ball; helped with some landscaping (digging); received a cruise for two in the Caribbean (scam); went to Ottawa Wine & Food; Miriam went on a girls shopping trip down across the border ($Canada was at $1.10 to $US1); Miriam had her birthday (in Quebec City); had many a night out; went to Senators ice hockey match; saw some wolves (well saw one wolf and the hind legs of what may have been another in the bushes off the side of the road); been driving on ice, salt, grit and snow; had my photo and name said on National TV; had my face printed on a t-shirt; bought someone else's face on a t-shirt; almost finished the marmite; have been up snow boarding/skiing at Fortune, Edelweiss and Tremblant; and we are ready for New York - leave week after next - for Christmas and New Years.
Miriam's mum, Anne, arrived in Ottawa mid October after competing in a singing contest out West in Calgary (their group, the 'Sweet Adelines' were placed 9th out of about 36 international barbershop groups - great effort). After a few days in Ottawa, we took Anne out east to Montreal, Quebec City and surrounding areas. Anne really enjoyed her time out east - even though it was a short trip. Miriam had her birthday in Quebec City - we had a very nice 3 course meal in a 80's decor restaurant - very nice. The weather was nice, and cold enough for there to be an out door ice skating rink in old Quebec City. So Miriam and I had a go - Miriam was skating like a professional and I was trying not to fall on my arse, but it was fun - will have to learn how to do it properly, as the canal will be open soon for ice skating (it is already frozen over - but the council will not open it until there has been 10 days of -15C!).
Anne enjoyed Ottawa as well. She went to a few of the museums, and took a tour through the Supreme Court, downtown - I think she was impressed. We also took her out to Wakefield and Gatineau Park - with all the impressive Fall colours - we even organised to have a few deer come out of the forest on cue, as we were driving by. Her time here flew by - and it wasn't long before we were saying the goodbyes at Ottawa airport.
A few weeks back we decided to go to Toronto for the long weekend (well one night of the long weekend). We stayed in Old Cabbage town at a little B&B - 213 Carlton Street - a good place that was close to the downtown area. Toronto (as you would expect) was a very lively place (made Ottawa seem like a ghost town). Queen Street West is the one of the major downtown streets with all the shops, bars and restaurants. We went to this cool underground op shop - it was huge. It had everything, new and used - very cheap. We had a good look around, ate some Mexican (food that is), and ended up at a place called The Drake Hotel at 1am. We were talking and drinking a cocktail and all of a sudden I thought I was back in Wellington. We didn't click until half way through a song that it was a kiwi song - Dust by Recloose (featuring Fat Freddy's Joe Dukie). Nice one - it felt as though we were back in NZ for a few minutes.
The next day we went up the CN Tower - which had the highest deck in the world. It was impressive - planes were flying below us! Miriam couldn't stand near the edge - so she hung around the center of the tower. It was pretty cool walking over the glass floor - I wonder how often they check the supports? The day was clear and we had a great 360 degree view of Toronto (see pics).
I spent a day curling a month back. A friend here in Ottawa was short a player so I decided to give it a go. Good game (a little boring), I even got the hang of sliding down the rink on my feet before releasing the rock. The concept was simple, we would play for an hour, then go in the club rooms and drink for an hour - and we did this for 8 hours! Not really a sport to keep fit.
Ottawa had a Wine and Food show a few weeks back. It is an annual event that attracts huge crowds - with wines, beer, spirits and food from all over the world. New Zealand was well represented and was a popular tasting spot, closely followed by Aussie. Miriam put her name in for a draw to win a 8 day Caribbean cruise for 2. Guess what........
...about 2 weeks after the wine and food show, we had a phone call at home. Miriam answered and was told that she had won an 8 day cruise for 2 in the Caribbean on Majestic Imperial Sea cruises (the same competition she entered at the show). The catch - we had to pay $299US each on the spot over the phone, in order to cover some sort of admin costs that couldn't be covered by Majestic Imperial. By that stage I was on the phone as well, as the (con)man said that we should both be on the phone at the same time. We said, that we don't give out credit card details over the phone, he said - why do think this isn't legit? By this stage he was getting impatient and rude. We said again that we just don't give out credit card details over the phone - he kept on repeating 'so you think this isn't legit', then he said that we would receive an audio receipt from a third party (we were thinking, yeah right, a third party - you mean, someone in the other room (from him)). To cut a long story short, he was rude, impatient and a conman - we rejected the offer, he yelled some abuse and hung up. We looked up Imperial Cruise Scam - here are some results in Google.
We were told about a website - http://www.joytshirt.com/ . Have a look, something different - where you send an image of yourself - this dude draws your face - writes down your life passions - another random person from wherever orders your face (t-shirt) - the Joy dude prints your face on a t-shirt, adds a tag with your life passions and posts it to the person that ordered it online. I bought 'Frank Joy' from North America. My face will be up soon - might be the first kiwi on the site!
A friend here in Ottawa had some tickets to see the Ottawa Senators play - this is the team that made it to the playoffs at the start of the year and the whole city went berserk! It was a good night - new experience - but the Senators lost 4-3. There is so much ice hockey over here - it's on every night - just about.
Have seen a lot of wildlife of late. Last week after the big snow, I was driving through Gatineau and a wolf (maybe two as there was some hind legs in the bush ahead of it) crossed the road in front of me. I went to the local Information Centre (like a DOC info Centre) to report the sighting. They said that there are two wolf packs in Gatineau, but seeing them was a rarity. Keeping on the wildlife theme, Miriam and I tried out snowshoeing on Sunday in Gatineau. We spotted a woodpecker doing its business to a tree. We got within 3m of it and it was still pecking away.
So with all the snow, the ski fields have opened early. We have been up a few times to Fortune, Edelweiss, and once up to Mont Tremblant . Edelweiss had 3 out of 16 runs open, Fortune 3 of 16 runs and get this, Tremblant had 69 runs of 94 open! 94 runs - we were in ski/board heaven - and it was all powder mate. Have to go up again this weekend!
New York New York, The Big Apple, the city that never sleeps, the bagels, Fifth Avenue, Broadway, Statue of Liberty, Macy's, Natural History Museum, The Empir....yep we are driving down to New York city (10 or so hours from Ottawa - depending on weather, traffic etc) next Thursday and will spend Christmas and New Years there (and take a side trip to DC). We are meeting up with two friends from NZ who are travelling across from the UK. It will be a blast!
So it has been 8 months, and we are getting into/used to the Canadian life here in Ottawa - the canoes, poutine, beaver tails, beavers, black bears, wolves, keiths red, oat and a boat, salty roads, icy roads, snow, -20s,+36s, Tim Hortons, Senators, Dodgeball, curling, ice skating, skiing, snow boarding, snow shoeing, wood peckers, majestic cruise scams, tipping, good service, piss poor service, forms, more forms, maple trees, Autumn colours, Fall colors, turning right on the red, left hand driving, freeways, Canadian/French politics, cable tv, fast Internet, and how similar Canadians are in a way to NZders, and how dis-similar Americans are!
Probably won't have time to write another Blog entry before the New Year, so...
Have a good Christmas and New Year everyone - tis a white Christmas here (no bbqs for Christmas this year!
I need some more marmite.
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