Campfire Music at Konkle Lake, BC

It's been a while since we blogged anything, so I've gone back through some photos that we've had on our Flickr site for a while (double click on a photo to get to this), but thought I would match them with a few stories. This camping adventure was back in September 2007, at a really pretty lake about 3-4 hours away from Kelowna called Konkle lake. We were with a mixture of Martin's friends - some who he hadn't hung out with in years. Pictured here are the Doody brothers who Martin used to work with at Western Star in Kelowna. Well I had a ball because they play lots of different musical instruments and love to sing, and we all know how much I hate that! The Doodys taught me to play the spoons and you couldn't stop me playing! I had blisters before too long, but it was worth it! * Mush

Shock! I have to work now!

At the end of August '07 my Open Work Permit arrived quite unexpectedly, and so I found myself able to work. I had been volunteering, as you know, at numerous places around Kelowna and at one of these I got offered a position at the Canadian Cancer Society organising their large black-tie fundraising event scheduled for March 2008. Well, I accepted and soon began rubbing elbows with the more affluent and influential members of Kelowna society. If nothing else, it would serve me well in terms of developing connections in this relatively small town. It was a short-term contract until April/May 2008, and I enjoyed pretty much most of it. I worked hard at acquiring sponsorship which is crucial for anything like this to succeed. And certainly event planning for a charity is no mean feat, especially as it was totally my job and responsibility to make sure it went well! * Mush

CSI Kelowna!

No, not Crime Scene Investigator unfortunately, but Centre for the Southern Interior - a part of British Columbia's Cancer Agency. As I settle into a semblance of a life, most of you who know me know that I am not one to twiddle my thumbs... So here I am volunteering at CSI Kelowna with fellow volunteer, Ron . It's great because I get to meet fun people like Ron, and also feel like I'm doing something worthwhile too. Most of our chores consist of dishing out tea and coffee and big smiles to patients waiting for treatment. I have been doing enough shifts now (about 2-3 per week, each shift is 3-4 hours) that I recognise the patients and have fun - at least with some of them. As you can imagine it is a tough place to be for cancer patients, but on the whole, I think it succeeds in being a very welcoming and upbeat place considering the circumstances. Our job as volunteers is to make a difference and hopefully make the cancer clinic a nicer place to visit.

One of my other regular shifts at the Cancer Agency is working in ACU - the Ambulatory Care Unit - basically where patients come and visit their oncologists before, during and after their chemo treatment. I essentially act as a middleman between the patient and the doctor/nurse (whomever they are seeing). So I keep all the rooms tidy and ready for patients, I greet them, weigh them, show them to their consult room and then inform the doctor they have arrived. I enjoy it because it is challenging and keeps my organisational skills in shape - I have to juggle the logistics of 5 or 6 doctors all seeing their patients every 20 minutes. It's also quite different to what I used to do ... seeing cancer from a different perspective: I've gone from the intellectual challenge of trying to find a cure for cancer - to seeing patients get their treatment - the results of hard work (and blood, sweat and tears) of scientists, like myself! * Mush

It's Alive!!!

Well, one of my possessions left in the Kelowna area is of course, my Toyota Landcruiser. It was living up at Phil McNeil's for over 4 years, and it was tucked away in a back field with the weeds. I went out to see it, taking a battery in tow and some gas. After getting the bees nests out of it (many), and as many spider webs as I could, I threw the battery and gas in, and to my amazement, it started FIRST TIME!!! Sweet!!
So, it is now back on the road again. It needs plenty of TLC now as it is dirty and has a few more holes (rust) than it did 4 years ago. Still a tank though, and reliable.
After the truck, I managed to make it to another housewarming party. Keith and Amy from Site360 had the group from work over to show off their new place. Great times, good food and a special appearance from Tracey's 6 week old Great Dane (very cute) made for a great night and a late night - arrived home at 3AM!! *Stub

Back on the Water

Well, after almost 3 years of being away from the water, I am afloat again! As most of you know I need to be near/on water - and I don't just mean the bath tub or a creek or something - I mean sailing on a boat on a large body of water, like the Columbia river or the ocean. Okanagan Lake is not, of course, the sea, but it is pretty big. When the wind picks up the waves feel and sound just like the ocean. I had been planning to park myself outside the yacht club and try and find a boat to crew on, but just by fluke I found out that a new friend's husband owns a Hobie 33 and he needed crew! So now every Wednesday night I race on the lake and have lots of fun. We generally come first - which turns out to be second after our handicap is taken into consideration. Oh well. Beer flows well, of course, and I am loving being out on the water again. The girls of my crew are a great bunch and we all get on well.

Our first weekend Regatta was in Summerland - about an hour south of Kelowna. By boat under motor-sail, however, it's 4-5 hours. We sailed in convoy with a few other boats to get there. We hit big waves and hailstorms, followed by hot temperatures and gorgeous sunny skies - perfect for cooling off in the water, and of course, obligatory water fights with the other boats. On arrival at Summerland Yacht Club, there were free Pina Coladas, and the delivery crews had more than their fair share of yummy cocktails. Giants Head Regatta, as it is known, was to start the next day so we had to pace ourselves. Needless to say, some were more successful than others!

Onboard our boat 'Celerity' was (left to right) Greg, whom we borrowed from a local Summerland boat, Skipper and owner Peter, Narissa, Leah, and Kristen. The long distance race around Rattle Snake Island was relaxed and enjoyable. The shorter races on Sunday were a little more intense and eventful, including shackles snapping open and sails flapping, capped off with running aground! Despite this we carried on racing and were surprised when we placed third overall!!! So it turned out to be a successful regatta after all! * Mush

Our Place

So here we are finally in our new place. Been here almost 6 weeks now. Most of that time seemed to be preoccupied with unpacking, sorting and purging / getting rid of stuff - something I am not very good at. It is a brand new carriage house - an apartment above the garage, and separate from the main house you can see here in the background. It's a one bedroom and not that big, so hence why we needed to have a good sort out!

The two main windows that you see are our living room (right) and dining area (left). The window towards the back far right, is our bedroom. Our dining room also has french doors (which you can't see here) around the left hand side. They open out onto a great view of the lake over the neighbours low single-story house. In fact, you can see the lake and hills between the cedars and the main house here. As you will have seen already from previous blogs, we have been enjoying the beach when the landlord is away. As you can guess, we're really enjoying our place and the great view, but more than anything, just having a place of our own at loooong laaaaast! *Mush

Getting Back Into Okanagan Life

So, Michelle and I have settled back in to life in the Okanagan (at least I have, and it is all new to Michelle). Among other activities, I really enjoy being out on the water. Unfortunately, I don't have a boat anymore, so have to rely on the kindness of others to 'invite' us on their boats. I've managed a waterski, and a couple of wakeboarding trips so far, and look forward to a few more. I haven't been pulled behind the boat in a few years, so the next day, the muscles sure hurt!!

I've also managed to get out mountain biking, camping, playing beach volleyball, while Michelle got back into sailing and racing on a crew. I've even managed to get out on the sailboat for a night on the water. We've been to many BBQ's and managed to catch up with lots of my old friends, whilst making some new ones through sailing and work!!! *Stub

Cowboys and Indians at the Cottons

Paul and Dana Cotton moved into a big new place, which is a huge change from their 1 bedroom condo. The house has at least 5 bedrooms, so now a new office for Paul, and a massage therapy studio for Dana downstairs.
So, of course, there had to be a housewarming party. The theme was cowboys and Indians. Some great costumes with the whole Cotton family coming as Indian (one East Indian - Al). I managed to sort through the tickle trunk and come up with this one.
Next to me is Kevin Holmes who actually had a pickle plate as his belt buckle - creative. We even had a Brokeback Mountain cowboy, as Spenny graced us with his presence.
A good night for all, and especially Dana who managed to see the sun come up whilst finishing some drinks with the last 2 remaining guests!! *Stub

Camping Trip - Sugar Lake, BC

Another favourite Okanagan activity for us is camping. We joined Don, Nicole and the girls, along with 3 other families on a camping trip up to Sugar Lake - about 2 hours NE of Kelowna. We love camping, so it was nice to get all our gear out of boxes and put it to use again. The tent was as comfy as usual and sitting around the fire was fantastic. And of course, the food was amazing. Either cooked on the fire pit, or on the BBQ's, you just tend to eat all day long while camping.
Some managed to get out on little fishing trips, but unfortunately, Don had caught all the fish in the lake apparently - at least so he claims!
Don also had 2 Quads and was looking for a partner to accompany him on a ride. So, I thought I would help him out. We took off and gained a lot of altitude (4000 ft) on the little logging roads and trails. These things really fly too, as I had mine up to 90km/h on the trails and apparently was up on two wheels often while cornering!! Some great views along the way, but then the rains came. Heavy big drops that turned into hail. It was tough riding as it felt like little rocks being thrown at you at high speed. We suffered through the pain though and had a great ride. *Stub

24 Hour Relay with Site360, Kelowna

I'm sure you were all wondering when I would get a job again. Well, I finally started back to work at the end of May with a Civil Engineering/Landscape Architecture firm called Site360. So far, the work has been interesting and fun. The office has a great atmosphere, and the people there are friendly and fun. It is only a small company of 22 people, but growing due to the residential growth in the area. Like I said, a very good atmosphere at the office, and we manage to quit early on Fridays for beer in the lounge!!
After only 2 weeks at work, we joined the group to do the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay. It was a great way to meet the new colleagues outside of work and overall was a good time. Our team won Best Spirit, 2nd most fundraising and Most Laps/Distance run over the 24 hours. We also managed to party it up at night, with some of us staying in tents on the side of the track. All good fun, but the next day was a bit of a write-off!! *Stub

Things Happened Fast - Job, Home, Furniture, Car, etc

So, when I finally managed to get a job, everything else happened really fast getting back into 'real' life.
We managed to get my Oregon car imported, passed inspection and insured on the Thurs (May 24th). Also that day, I rented a trailer and drove my Dad's truck down to Portland. Of course, many of you know of my border troubles, so I was quite nervous trying to get into the US finally. All went well (only 1 hour at the border this time), and I was on my way to Portland. I stayed at Tom and MJ's, where we enjoyed a nice dinner, and then started packing up the big things into the trailer. I finished off packing some more things the next morning, then made a trip into my old work (Freightliner) and was able to meet up with a lot of old friends, although briefly.
From here, it was on to the Tomlinsons, where I loaded up all the other boxes and things from in their crawl space to fill the trailer. Trish had prepared a great dinner and had some more friends over for me to catch up with. A great time.
The next morning (Sat), I was driving back to Kelowna. I didn't arrive back until midnight after more stress at the border! But all was good. We had all of our things back in Canada.
Sunday, we moved in to our new apartment (see photo for our beach). More on the place later, but it is a beautiful 1 bedroom carriage house on the waterfront. Of course, moving and unpacking took all day (and the next few), but we had our own place finally after 2 years.
And then Monday, I started work!!!! Like I said, a busy 5 days, but everything really came together fast!!! *Stub

Picnic on Kitsilano Beach with J-Lo and Emma, Vancouver

My good English friend Rob (J-Lo) and his girlfriend Emma came out to Vancouver on a fact finding mission/holiday. They are scheduled to move out in July for at least a year, so were looking at places to live, and meeting with the new managers. Of course, there was a little skiing at Whistler too!
Michelle and I managed a quick few days in Vancouver to show them around a little. We stayed down in Kitsilano with Lisa again. We enjoyed some beers on patios, kite flying on the beach and picnics down on the waterfront. Both Rob and Emma really enjoyed their time in Whistler and Vancouver, and are quite excited about the prospect of moving to Canadia. * Stub

Raakel's Pit on Final Ski Weekend at Big White

As usual, nothing but sunny skies and HOT weather for the final weekend at Big White. The skiing was spring skiing at it's best, with some slushy corn snow. It didn't stop the boys from getting a little crazy on the Cliff though.
We managed to stay up at the hill with Rob Nagy and Michelle. Partying the Friday down at Happy Valley, watching Paul Cotton win the film competition again for his new short called The B Squad.

Much of the weekend went like this - chilling out with friends in the Pit. The whole gang was there, so a good way to finish up my first season back at Big White - and Michelle's first. *Stub

Huge Back Flip by Spenny

Final weekend at Big White and I was sure glad I took my camera out for the day. I wasn't able to get crazy but the crew were 'going off' - hucking themselves off some big drops, and letting some huge tricks out. And there was carnage. This shot from below in the terrain park looked sweet, but the landing wasn't so great! Spencer McLennan, Mark Smeltzer and Jeremy Denman really performed for the camera and I nailed some sweet shots (check out more on Flickr). Getting ready for next years photo competition!!! *Stub

A Week In Vancouver

The day after we returned from Fernie, I took Martin's Grandad for cornea transplant surgery in Vancouver for 5 days. Martin's parents winter in Mexico, Martin's uncle had broken his ankle, and Martin was working for a friend in Vancouver. So it was just me left. Vancouver is about a 5 hour drive from Martin's grandparents one way and it was a long drive. Martin's grandparents are 90 years old. Grandad can't see well or hear, which is very frustrating for him. Nanny can't walk very far or for very long, and is losing her memory. Needless to say, it was a looooong week - for all of us, what with getting them around Vancouver's suburbs for different appointments each day. It didn't feel very much like my Birthday, but I did go out for ice cream to celebrate with my old Uni friend, Nadia, who I was staying with. The good thing is that Grandad's surgery went well and he is now able to see a bit better and is in a lot less pain.

I was not the only one to have a rough week - Martin was working 16 hour days doing labour work for a friend laying concrete and epoxy floorings. I don't know who had the worst week between us: him or me! * Mush

The Six-Pack Together Again, Fernie, BC

It was back in 1989 when Mark and Jeff Neilson, Sacha Singh, Rob Irwin, Mike Henderson and I went on our first big ski trip out West to Panorama. Well, this was the Six-Pack Reunion tour to Fernie. Now of course, there were a few extras (like a 12-Pack) and some minis.
It was great to get the group together again and have all the significant others (although we missed Cathy) with us, along with the kids Abby Irwin, Rhianna and newborn Callum Singh.
And what a week for skiing. Big dumps of snow and a magical powder day. Of course, there were no friends on a powder day and we all just charged, skiing with whoever could keep up. A small group of us had a dream run, as we arrived at the top of the lift just as the ski patrol was dropping the rope to an entire bowl full of unbelievable, untouched snow (25cm+). The elbows were flying as the rope dropped and it was a gong show of speed and lack of control!! * Stub

Surrounded by Visa Applications, Kelowna BC

January and February was also a busy time for getting Canadian visa applications done. First priority was the extension of my current status as a Visitor which was due to expire in March: meaning, if I didn't get this done, I would have to leave!

Well, if I thought gathering documents and filling the ambiguous forms for the extension application was challenging, it was nothing compared to the Common-law Permanent Resident application! To prove Common-law for a normal couple is relatively easy - you have a house together, you have bills, bank accounts, credit cards, blah, blah, blah. I said 'normal'! Well, as you know... we're not! How do you prove Common-law when you've been traveling in 15 different countries for the good part of the last two years?! No houses, no rent, no mortgage, no bills, no statements. Just tons of stamps in our passports and 20,000 pictures to show for it! With so many photos and emails to sift through it was a tough task. If it hadn't been for the generosity (... and printers/scanners/photocopiers!) of friends Nicole and Don, I don't know what we would have done! To boot, medicals, fingerprints, and police checks needed to be done. Not to mention the forms themselves which for me -- not being normal -- were a nightmare! Here's an example:

"Print the information requested for each address you have had in the last 10 years. You must put down every address no matter how short a period of time you stayed there. Forms will be returned if there is any period of time which you have not shown an address."

Can you imagine compiling a list of your own addresses for the last 10 years - no matter how short a period of time you stayed there? Then imagine not having a fixed address, on the move every 2-3 days and 'staying' in as many countries and places as we have!! Well, an impossible task - we have no idea of the address of most places we stayed in! So all in all, compiling the application was right up there next to writing research grant applications and my PhD thesis! In fact, by the time I was finished, the whole thing looked like a thesis! It was very very painful. Imagine my sigh of relief when we FINALLY got it sent off in the post! Phheeeewww! * Mush

Scoping Out a Line at Big White, BC

Well, this is what we had been planning for since we'd come back from our travels... and finally we were here! Big White. Martin's old ski hill. We rented a condo from one of Martin's friends, Paul Cotton, and skied as much as we could. Martin went out pretty much most days. I went out a little less sometimes working on paper work for Visa applications or job searching. Sometimes I would be put off if it was socked-in or cold. At the end of January the weather was bright and sunny, but got bitterly cold going down to -19 degrees C, and that was at the bottom of the hill!

All in all, we spent 6 weeks on the hill, every so often coming down into Kelowna for supplies and to see people. We also had friends from Portland come up and visit - it was great to have visitors, and to finally have a place that felt like our own for the very first time in just so long. It was also a very social time for us as many friends from Kelowna came up to visit and ski. We became good friends with the upstairs neighbours, Trina and Jeff, as they were up usually 3 nights per weekend. The skiing was great, and all in all, the 2 months were quite cheap! * Mush

Martin Reunites with Some Old Friends

An old work buddy from Kelowna and later, Portland, was visiting and it was a good excuse to gather together a few old faces to reminisce on old Western Star-times.

Happy New Year!

From Vernon it was back to Kelowna, Martin's last hometown. Rather than having to hook everything up (phone, water, cable) at Martin's parents' place we took Don and Nicole up on their offer of their spare room downstairs in their beautiful mansion house. It was a fun time and we were made to feel very welcome. Their two girls, Karleigh (is 5), and Jocelyn (is 6), were a lot of fun and we loved spending time with them. (They really took to Michelle!)

On New Year's Eve Don and Nicole had a huge party which was a great success, especially after a few boozey shots after midnight! We all went to bed around 5 in the morning; even the girls managed to stay awake till then! Needless to say we were all pretty zonked the next day.

Finally, our 10 days were up and it was time to leave for Big White. We were sad to leave Don and Nicole, and the girls, and Mac the dog. The girls clung to our legs and didn't want to let us go and told us that we could "stay forever if we wanted to. They didn't mind". *Mush

With the Butter's, Vernon, BC

On our way back from Calgary, we almost made it back to Kelowna, but stopped in Vernon to visit the Butterworths. Dave is a good friend, but has been living in the US (most recently Savannah, GA), but was up for Christmas to see the family. So we had some fun times in the snow both in town and up at Silver Star Mountain. I even managed to get out on the slopes for a couple of runs and Angie was finished for the day and loaned me her pass. First time out in 2 years, and on a snowboard at that!! I 'ripped' it up with Dave and Little Butter (Darren).
Special thanks to Don and Joyce for being such welcoming and gracious hosts for putting us up for 2 nights and feeding us like Kings and Queens!! We miss the Butter's. *Stub

Christmas in Calgary, Canada

Friends Rob and Nat stayed on at Fairmont for Xmas, but very generously let us stay on at their house in Calgary for the rest of our trip. Christmas Eve we went snowshoeing/cross-country skiing with Martin's friends Jeff and Alana, and Stella and Steve, Jeff's parents. It was great to see them all after so long. We spent a quiet Christmas Day mostly watching my absolute, favourite movie - Elf (I always laugh my socks off at his first time up the escalator), and on the phone to our families in England, Toronto, and Mexico. Where would we be without Skype!

Later that evening, Martin's friend Mark Nielsen (also Jeff's brother) flew into town from Toronto, with Cathy and her son Nathan. We spent the evening goofing around at Jeff and Alana's. Mark decided that Martin's hair (being quite long for him) looked like Sonny Bono. Then, out came the burnt cork and a new moustache!! It all went from there! Double click the pic for some more arty-farty shots and the redneck Donkey look! * Mush

Christmas Holidays at Fairmont Hot Springs, BC, Canada

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The build up towards Christmas was great with a spontaneous trip to see Martin's friends in Calgary. We saw Rob and Natalie and their little girl Abby. Nat's family had rented a condo at Fairmont Hot Springs in the Rockies and we were made super welcome by Nat's Mum and Dad. We felt very lucky and it was a great few days chilling out, eating, drinking and doing jigsaw puzzles. We did do some snowshoeing and it was good to get out in the fresh mountain air. Here we are at the natural hot spring - a bit of a chilly walk down to it though.
Of course, it wasn't long before the boys were up to mischief. They found a logging road and using a strong branch stump and rope, they made a makeshift ski rope, and went car skiing! It was just like water skiing except instead of a wake, there was a road and ditches. They came back looking very pleased with themselves as they had managed to get some good speed up!* Mush

Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria, BC, Canada

After Michelle returned from Portland, we spent another enjoyable night with Lisa. Michelle loved the time as she and LT went to get a Christmas tree and we spent the evening decorating - getting into the Christmas spirit. The next day, we hopped on a ferry and cruised over to Victoria on Vancouver Island to stay with our good friend Bernie!!
The weather in Victoria was again unseasonably cold and windy, but we came at a good time as Bernie had just finished his semester at UVic, working towards his MBA. That meant we had time to sightsee with him. He treated us to a few good meals and toured some of the rainforest greenery the Island is famous for. The salmon run had just finished but this meant that there were still many fish corpses in the stream - a little eerie!!! Also, the downtown was all dressed in Christmas lights and the Parliament building looked exceptionally impressive with lights outlining it all.
One highlight for us was a trip to the stunning CraigDarroch Castle. Built in the 1890's by Canada's richest man of his time (Robert Dunsmuir), the exterior was ornate and the interior was decorated in wood to great detail. It took some time to circulate as there was plenty to see and lots to read.
We also managed to take a trip up to Mill Bay to visit our friend from Cambodia - Ron - at his eclectic house in the country. We had to leave in a hurry as another major windstorm was expected and we didn't want to get stuck at the ferry. A long day landed us back in the Okanagan in Penticton after driving through whiteout, blizzard conditions on the Hope/Princeton Highway. *Stub

Back in Portland, Oregon, USA

A trip down to Portland was on the cards and we were very excited about seeing old friends and good old Portland again. However, what happened next was to be our worst border crossing of our trip so far. Being British, I had to go into the US customs office to get a visitor's permit. Martin had to join me inside, and while I'm filling out the forms, Martin got asked lots of questions. Since we have been away so long, and without a current job or fixed address in Canada, after 3 hours of waiting they came to the conclusion that he was wanting to resume residence. Suddenly, he was fingerprinted and promptly refused entry! Boom! Nothing could have been further from the truth, but what could we do?!!!

I ended up going to Portland on my own a few days later. It was a hectic week, catching up with friends, and then having friends help move all our stuff to John Tomlinson's basement for storage. I managed to sift through our stuff to bring back some of Martin's things - he is still living out of his backpack. All in all, it was a fast week, and it was great to see some good old faces. The city seemed to have developed quite a bit since we left. It was great to see old faithful Mt Hood and St Helen's still there. It was great to be back no matter how short the visit. * Mush

A Brief Stop in Vancouver

Four and a half hours of driving through the beautiful mountains landed us in Vancouver. This is supposed to be the mildest city in Canada but we were greeted with a surprise sight of a large blizzard, and one that left 6 inches or more of snow on the ground for at least a week. Very weird for Vancouver. The city was at a standstill for a couple of days at least!
We stayed with a high school friend of Martin's - Lisa (or LT). She has a great little apartment across from Kitsilano Beach, so it is an excellent location in a cool and funky neighbourhood. Well, LT had a little surprise for us - a crab and shrimp feast to celebrate missed birthdays, and boy was it good.
We toured the town a little, caught up with some friends we met traveling and enjoyed a few drinks (Paul/Tracy, Andy). Spent some good nights catching up with Kelowna friends Geri/Eric, Pam/Jeremy, also a couple of Brampton friends - Sharon (with boyfriend George) and Tina. We even had a fabulous roast dinner with Michelle's old university friend Nadia and her family. They had a surprise for us too as they pulled out a bottle of Veuve champagne to celebrate our engagement.
We did even manage to do some sightseeing and getting to know Vancouver a little more as we have talked about moving there. One of our stops was the Museum of Anthropology, at the University of BC on Point Grey. A very interesting museum showcasing some of British Columbia's native culture and artwork including totem poles, masks and other artifacts.
Very cool. *Stub and Mush

With friends, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

So it was time to leave family and friends behind. All in all we had spent 6-8 weeks in Toronto and although we were sad to leave Martin's sister and family, we were not sad to leave the flat, sprawling 'burbs! Kelowna, B.C., made for a refreshing change with its rolling hills and huge lakes! Mega thanks go to Martin's parents for lending us a car - it has been a godsend and definitely made getting around seeing people and doing our chores way more easier in the short period of time that we've had.

In the two weeks we have been here, we have seen Martin's Aunt and Uncle, and his grandparents who are now almost 90! (His parents winter in Mexico, remember). Since I last saw Martin's grandparents, they moved into assisted living - a move they are very reluctantly coming to terms with, but the best in terms of help being on hand for when Nanny falls down. It has been great too to see all of Martin's friends that are still here. We have enjoyed doing some hikes in the hills pictured here above Kelowna, and just hanging out. I'm certainly getting to hear lots of stories as Martin and his friends reminisce over years of mischief and adventures!

Our short term plans -- there aren't any long term plans yet! -- have been forever changing, but we've finally made plans to head to Vancouver and Vancouver island to see friends tomorrow, and then south into the States landing in Portland for the month of December. Then back up to Kelowna Boxing Day and in time to get our ski legs on for the New Year. * Mush

On Top of the World Again, Toronto, Canada

No, not Everest this time, but the CN Tower - the highest building in the World. We had to splurge a little as it is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World! Around 4 PM, we took the speedy lift up to the first viewing platform, 342 m (1,122 ft) above the ground. Here, there is an outdoor viewing area, and a glass floor!! Even though you see everyone else standing on them, it is still a little frightening stepping out onto the glass. We managed to take the obligatory pics laying down on the glass with the ground far below. There is also a revolving restaurant on the next floor up, for some great dining views.

But this was not high enough! We had booked to go up to the SkyPod, which is the World's Highest Public Observation located at a dizzying 447 m (1,465 ft.)!! What a view, and we had a clear day to boot! Tiny ants below driving miniscule cars! You can easily see over all the skyscrapers in town, and in the picture you can see the shadow of the CN Tower on the right hand side. We managed to spend about 4.5 hours up here, enjoying the sunset and watching the city lights come on. Our usual picnic up tall structures this time consisted of some really great stinky bleu-brie cheese freshly bought from the Kensington Market. I'm surprised we didn't stink out the whole SkyPod as it is not a large space!!

Of course, the Tower is higher than this. At a height of 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 inches), it is Canada’s National Tower, the World's Tallest Building, and an important telecommunications hub.

It's purpose: The CN Tower was built in 1976 by Canadian National (CN) who wanted to demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry by building a tower taller than any other in the world. The construction boom in Toronto in the 1960's transformed the skyline characterised by relatively low buildings into one dotted with skyscrapers. These new buildings caused serious communication problems. With its microwave receptors at 338 m (1,109 ft.) and 553.33m (1,815 ft., 5 inches) antenna, the CN Tower swiftly solved the communication problems with room to spare. As a result people living in the Toronto area now enjoy some of the clearest reception in North America. *Stub

Take Me to Niagara Falls, Canada

.... that's what I said to Martin ! Although Ontario has been home to Martin before, for me this was all new stuff, and in my mind, no trip to this part of the world would be complete without a visit to one of the most famous waterfalls in the world - Niagara. I have to say I was very excited about seeing Niagara Falls for the first time. Sadly, the commercialism surrounding it is a sorry sight to behold with poor planning and lack of thought for the actual nature of the attraction. I did not care too much for the numerous tacky tourist attractions of wax museums and casinos right at the falls. But inspite of the tacky stuff, I was not disappointed with the Falls themselves! They were breathtaking!

For those who have never been, the Niagara river (which is relatively young at 12,000 years) straddles the border between America and Canada. An island splits the river in two giving rise to waterfalls on both sides of the border. Officially it's made up of three falls - Bridal Veil Falls, American Falls (not surprisingly, on the American side!), and Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. Although the American falls are 9ft taller at 176ft in height, Horseshoe is the most impressive being much wider. It is - yes, you've guessed it - horseshoe-shaped! About half a mile long (2600ft) at the rim, Horseshoe has an average volume of 600,000 gallons of water flowing over its crest ... per second. Crazy! I'm very glad we came to visit at this time of year even though it was pretty cold. Apparently, Niagara receives 12 million tourists a year, and thankfully there weren't too many today, apart from the usual Chinese tour bus groups that we are now so accustomed to after our travels in China. I was shocked and relieved to see there was not much spitting going on! - something we are not accustomed to!

If it hadn't been for Martin's friend, Mark, lending us his car we would never have been able to see Niagara or explore the local area. The drive along the river passing large wine estates to the charming town of Niagara-on-the-lake was quite picturesque. All in all it was a great day out - pity we didn't have time to sample some of the fantastic wines the region is famous for! * Mush

At Earl and Joy's Cottage, Ontario, Canada

You meet so many good people when you're on the road, that you just have to go and see them in their natural habitat when you get back. Our good travelling friend's Earl and Joy live in this part of the world too. They picked us up from the Neilson's cottage and took us over to their place on Four Mile Lake near Coboconk, still in Ontario.

It was a relaxing few days and it was great to see them. It rained quite a lot, but it was cool to hear the pitter-patter on the roof and feel cosy in their cottage. We got spoilt by Joy and her good food, we took the odd trip into town and played Euchre every evening. And while Joy got me hooked on crosswords and a game called SkipBo, Martin helped Earl on his computer. When the weather was nice we went for walks, played horseshoes in the garden, or took the 'Snooz-cruze' paddle boat out on the lake. Sometimes, it was nice just to sit on the swinging chair overlooking the glass-like water and enjoy the peace and quiet, only interrupted by the occassional squark of Canada Geese overhead. It was a nice few days of chilling out, and great to see Earl and Joy before they took off for Asia again. We were disappointed that we wouldn't be criss-crossing paths with them again on those same roads. * Mush