On Sunday our daughter Stacey and her girlfriend Amy were due to arrive from the UK for a long-awaited two week trip. On Sunday morning we started the day with a phone call to my aunt and uncle in Spain who seem as excited as us regarding our visitors although I think they wish it was them coming here. Soon I hope!

Anyway, we set off for Toronto having looked on the web at traffic conditions to see everything was moving great and with it being a Sunday we hoped it would stay that way. Well, traffic was great up until we got right into Toronto on the 401 when it stopped. Apparently there is construction along the route and lanes were closed and everything was getting snarled up. At one point we were only a few km’s from the airport but at a total standstill and wondering if we would ever get there.

Stacey & Amy’s plane was due in at 5:10 and we eventually got to the airport just before this. We knew it would probably take them an hour to get through customs so had plenty of time in the end, especially as the plane actually landed at 5:22. As it was they didn’t come through arrivals till 7:10. We were beginning to wonder if they were even on the plane!  Lots of hugs and kisses and we were finally all reunited and ready for the long drive home. Although traffic was congested on the way home we didn’t encounter too many delays and got home late evening. After a little more chatting we all went to bed exhausted.

Monday rain was forecast all day and as the girls were still a little tired we decided to pop into Belleville, especially as Amy had never been before so Stacey wanted to show her the lay of the land. We also went grocery shopping for things the girls wanted. The rest of the day was spend just chatting and general stuff.

On Tuesday more rain was forecast which put paid to our plan of going to Toronto Zoo. So instead we went to Kingston for a little shopping and a drive round the city and a scenic route drive home.

The weather for Wednesday was again rain for Belleville and Toronto, so we decided to go east to Ottawa for the day. Stacey had loved Ottawa last time she was here and was eager to show Amy all the sights. We took the scenic route via highway 7 and encountered showers, but by the time we got to the city it was warm and dry. We all ventured over to the canal, then Parliament Hill where lots of photos were taken. This is Stacey (right) and Amy outside the Parliament buildings.

We then went across to Byward Market and at this point we decided to split up and meet later. We wandered around the mall for a couple of hours and then the market and had dinner at The Exchange which was very nice. After some more walking we decided to get a Tim’s at the food court and came across the girls. They had eaten at the Hard Rock Cafe. All of us had done what we needed to do and so decided to head home once beverages had been consumed. As we left Ottawa it started to rain, so our timing was perfect.

On Thursday we drove the girls to Toronto as we had booked them into a hotel for a few nights so they could explore the city. In order not to waste the day we all went to Toronto Zoo as the weather promised to be a bit better. As it turned out the weather was magnificent. Bright sunshine, temps in the 20′s, in fact almost too hot. I know it sounds silly but I had really forgotten what it felt like to be out in the heat.

The drive into the city after the zoo was pretty uneventful, but the DVP leaving the city was like a car park, so we decided when we returned home we would take a different route. We dropped the girls off at the hotel after checking them in at around 4:30 and after a detour though the city, hit the 401. Guess what – standstill again. After we got past the main toronto area it thinned out and we picked up speed, but then near Ajax it stopped again. In the end we didn’t get home untill 8pm, just in time for the last episode of The Big Bang Theory.

Yesterday (Friday) we didn’t do too much. I went shopping to stock up the cupboards and Chris tried to fix Stacey’s laptop for her. Alas it seemed it was a futile attempt and he decided it would be easier to give her one of our old laptops. So he spent the rest of the day transferring stuff from one to another etc.

Today Saturday, I have been spring cleaning and Chris is on his tractor mowing the lawn. Once again the weather is stunning, lets hope it stays like that for next week.

We parked the car at the airport and helped them with their bags to the checkin. Trouble was we were too early, so they decided they would wander round the airport for a while. We said a rather tearful goodbye and then they were gone.

The journey home was uneventful and we chatted about the last two weeks, reminiscing already! When we got home I cooked the two pork steaks David had left for us – to his cooking instructions and they were lovely.

On Tuesday morning I had a business meeting to attend and when I got home found they had not phoned to say they had landed which was a little worrying. But looking at the plane schedule on the web it got in ok, so we figured they had got the car and driven straight to their friends house in the UK where they are staying for another week and fell asleep. At about 2pm aunt Judy phoned to say they were okay, but that her friends mum was ill in hospital so they were going to visit that evening and would phone us again later in the week.

The weather has certainly taken a downturn since they selfishly took the Spanish weather back with them. We haven’t gone into double figures yet and have had rain and even some snow flurries yesterday – SNOW!!!!! The weekend sounds warmer but wet.

On Tuesday we spotted the groundhog for the first time this year, lovely to see him back. The deer seem to have moved on though as we haven’t seem them much at all. Now there is plenty of food in the woods they cannot be bothered with us!

When Judy & David left they were had decided that they really wanted to come and live over here. I cannot believe it as I never in a million years did I think they would be prepared to leave the warm climes of Spain to come to Canada, but they loved it. I can possibly sponsor them, so you never know. If they sell their Spanish house – buyers queue up here please, then I think they will seriously look at moving here rather that another area of Spain. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Yesterday was out first full day together and they got up really early as they were still on European time. We spent the morning catching up on thing and then later took them into Belleville to show them the sights. We took them to the mall and Chapters book shop which they were really impressed with. We toured the city and went across the bridge to The County and went along Rednersville Road where there are some really nice waterfront properties.

We went shopping and they were very impressed with the choice and price of food available. $200 of food shopping later we went home and my uncle cooked us a meal. I know you are all thinking, poor man, he comes here on holiday and has to cook a meal. But he loves cooking and is very good at it so is doing us all a favour – honest!

Every night we get deer in our garden and we had told them about this. So, with video camera set we waited for them to come – but no, the deer decided that last night was going to be their night off – making liars of us, typical!

The evening was spend watching telly and chatting, but soon the jet lag was catching up and they went to bed.

Today we went to Presqu’ile Provincial Park in Brighton. Trouble was many of the trails were flooded and inaccessible, but we still managed to visit a lot of the places and the lighthouse etc. They were amazed that Lake Ontario was so vast and looked to all intense and purposes like the sea. The weather was great and temps up to 16C so they haven’t got frostbite yet!

Tomorrow we are going up to 1000 Islands and Charleston Lake which should be really nice.

Paul Snr

After half hour there, hubby purchased a couple of t-shirts and we were on our way again. We stopped off once to get some food and got to the border crossing at around 6pm. We went through the border very quickly and easily as the girls had already been through immigration when they landed at Pearson and we are residents.

We stopped off at Kingston to have some dinner then got home, unpacked, watched some TV and went to bed.

Yesterday, Sunday, I did some housework, then we dropped the girls off at Quinte Mall (yes again). They still had some money left and wanted to spend it before they leave on Tuesday. Hubby and I went grocery shopping picked up a few other bits then went back home. The girls eventually phoned at 5pm to say they were ready to come home so I went to pick them up. On the way home we stopped at Blockbusters so they could get a DVD and then home. Had dinner and then hubby and I watched four episodes of 24, which we are desperately trying to catch up with.

We will go out for a final meal tonight and then take them back to Toronto tomorrow. We dare not look at our bank account as we have spent a fortune since they arrived.

We got back and hubby started to take the kitchen apart ready for the granite man coming tomorrow. Some of the wall units had to come down due to the fact they sit on top of the current worktop so needed to be removed in order to fit the new.

It took quite a long time and lots of huffing a puffing to get them down. Trouble was some of the other wall units had to come down too so I was left with half a kitchen.

At 4.30pm we set off for Toronto to pick up the girls. Their flight was due in at 7.30, but we wanted to start out early in case we hit any traffic. As it was we had a good, uneventful run into the city and arrived at the car park at 6.35pm.

We then sat in the café drinking tea and coffee for a while, wandered around arrivals and departures and then went back down to wait for their flight. Trouble was their flight was delayed and the screen as now saying due in 7.45 which wasn’t too bad. When 7.45 came the time changed to 8.00pm and eventually it showed they had landed at 8.03.

We then had to wait for them to come through immigration and baggage etc which eventually happened at 8.30, so not too bad.

After hugs and welcomes we made our way to the car, packed all their stuff in the back and off we went.

Although they were very excited, they were also very tired, so we told them to sleep in the car as we should be home in a couple of hours.

Trouble was the weather was not on our side. It started off as light snow flurries, which the girls thought, was good as they had arrived in Canada to snow. However, by the time we had got a few miles from the airport it had started to snow quite heavily. As the weatherman had only mentioned light flurries we didn’t think it would amount to much – we were wrong!

Soon we could barely see where we were going it was coming down so fast. The roads were getting covered and the traffic was slowing right down.

By the time we hit Oshawa it was gushing and several inches were on the ground and we were hardly moving. For the next 150 km we crawled along, with hardly any visibility and watched several lorries jack-knife and skid in the road. We saw several cars facing the wrong way and generally had a horrendous journey back. Lanes disappeared under the snow and cars and lorries made up their own lanes as they went along. Even in these terrible conditions, lorries were thundering past us!

If we had know this was going to happen we would have checked the girls into an airport hotel overnight and ventured out there the following day.

In total it took us over four hours to get back eventually arriving home at nearly 1am. By this time we were all shattered, especially hubby who had had to concentrate so hard driving. So off to bed we all went.

Today we woke at our usual time, but the girls didn’t stir until after 10am, although we were expecting it to be later than this.

We had a lovely Christmas card view of our garden, which was lovely, now we weren’t driving in it! We also had lots of strange animal tracks in the snow – not sure what all of them are.

Hubby removed the sink from the kitchen ready for the granite man (coming at 1pm) and also loosened all the worktops.

At about 12.30, I drove the girls round Belleville to show them the sights! By now the roads were clear of snow. We drove over the bridge to The County (Prince Edward County) and then drove the coastal route over the island to the other bridge, which we crossed to get back on the mainland. Took highway 2 to Belleville and then went to the mall.

Quinte Mall is ok, but it isn’t the Eaton Centre in Toronto, so I suggested that they wander round on their own and meet up with them in a hour – more than enough time, but God knows what I was going to do with myself!

About ten minutes later hubby phoned to say the granite man was not coming as they had broken the slab and would have to order a new one and we were back to the original fitting date of Dec 20th. To say we were annoyed is an understatement.

After a search of the mall I caught up with the girls and told them we would go back for Dad and pick him up and then all go out for a meal. They wanted more time at the mall (why????) so I left them there and headed home to pick up a rather annoyed husband.

We the drove back for the girls and collected them from outside the mall – they had managed to entertain themselves there for an hour and a half and still liked it – amazing! At this rate we could loose them for days in Toronto and New York!

We then went to Swiss Chalet for a meal and came back home. Hubby then had to refit the sink so we can use it, but the cabinets will stay down until the new worktop is fitted.

What an eventful couple of days!

We set off for the airport on Friday morning and I used my company’s car service to get us to Gatwick, which made the trip easier and stress free. We hit some traffic near the airport, but the driver went on a detour and we eventually got there.

Checked in ok, we were really concerned about the weight of our cases, one in particular as each case can only weigh a max of 32kg. Trouble was we had already thrown away our bathroom scales so could not weigh them properly. Hubby thought it was very near the limit, but there was very little we could do about it, so decided to see what happened and deal with it there (buy another case). However it weighed half a kilo under so we breathed a sigh of relief.

Had dinner at the airport and then went through to departures and eventually down to gate. Flight took off half an hour late, but the paperwork had suggested an 8 hour flight, but the captain said it would only be 7 hrs 15 mins, so would get in at the original time. Flight went well, but seemed to drag, eventually reached Toronto at 6.40pm.

Took a while for the plane to reach the unloading area and then had to walk 5 miles to the passport area (ok it wasn’t that far, but why can’t they park closer?) No queue at passport control, just one person in front of us. Went up to the woman and told her we were landing. She congratulated us and checked our customs form, scribbled over it in pink and told us to make our way to immigration where we would be processed.

Went to immigration – no queue. Went straight to a man at a desk who, once he knew we were landing told us to take a seat in another area and wait to be called. We didn’t even have the chance to sit as we were then called into a booth, even though there were other people waiting. The woman asked for our passports and the immigration paperwork we were sent with our visas. She looked at the photos and said she had to take new ones. Having been awake for nearly 20 hours, we were not at our best, so our PR photos will look awful.

She took new pics, then completed some paperwork, got us to sign the paperwork and then gave is a copy. She then told us to see a man at the end of the corridor who would give us our landing packs.

Walked along the corridor and a man greeted us with “Welcome to Canada”. He gave us paperwork to get our SIN number, health cards and other bits and pieces and a booklet giving details for general stuff in Canada.

We then collected our baggage and then had to go through the goods to declare customs section. Again, no queue and was seen instantly by a nice woman who asked for our goods to follow list. I gave her my home done list and she said it was perfect, one of the best she had seen. She filled in goods to follow form, typed some stuff on the computer and then stamped and stapled our lists to her form. I also gave her a list of items we bought with us, when she also stamped. She then gave us a computer printout, which we need in order to collect the goods when they arrive.

There, we were done and free to enter Canada. Whole process from getting to passport control, to walking out of the airport about 30 mins.

Got a shuttle to our hotel, showered and fell into a blissful Canadian sleep.

Woke early this morning and finally got around to reading through the booklets and paperwork we had been given. All seems pretty straightforward. We got ready and then went down for breakfast and then packed bits away and waited for a car to pick us up and transport us to Belleville.

Car came at 10am and after a stress free trip, complete with obligatory stop off half way at Timmy’s we arrived at our Belleville hotel at 12.00.

Checked in and after dumping all our stuff in the room, walked down to the Ford garage where our new truck is waiting for us. We had to sign some paperwork and show originals of our passports, visas and driving licences (they already had copies). Unfortunately the registration company do not open on Saturdays in the summer so we cannot collect the car today. However, now all the paperwork is complete, we are going back on Monday and will collect our new truck.

We then walked over to the mall and looked around Sears and other places for some bits and pieces for the house. Had dinner at Swiss Chalet and have now come back to the hotel to chill out for the night.

Will catch up tomorrow.

We picked up the 401 and travelled along to Trenton. The scenery to the east of Toronto is much more interesting that that of the west, where we have been before. The land is not so flat, there are more trees and it is generally quite nice. When we got to Trenton we diverted and took a trip round Prince Edward County. We entered the island at Carrying Place and just followed our noses and went round Wellers Bay area into Ameliasburgh, which we were not so impressed with. There are lots of properties which seem to be quite run-down and we decided that we probably would not want to live in this actual area. We then went into Picton which is a lovely town. There is a main road running through it which has shops and is very clean and looks really nice. We stopped off at Tim Hortons for a turkey and bacon club with muffin and drink. This cost $13 for two, very good value and very tasty.

After Picton, we went along the 2 and followed the coast to Cressy. This is a lovely road and there are many really lovely properties here, some with fantastic waterfront locations. At the tip of this coastal route we took the 8 back down to Smith’s Bay and then went across to Milford. We had to stop for petrol, sorry gas here and as we pulled up a man came out and filled the tank for us ($1.02 per litre). After Milford we went across to the Sandbanks area which again is very nice, but more geared to tourism. After this it was back up to the Wellington area and then off the island via Belleville.

We found the island to be very nice and are looking forward to meeting up with the real estate agent there and look at properties and get an insider’s view of the area.

Once in Belleville, we headed north as it was still to early to check into the hotel. We decided to drive around and get a feel for the area. we went to Foxboro, then across to Plainfield – very nice, then to Halston and down the Shannonville Road to Milltown. Then we headed back to Belleville and found our hotel. We have now checked in and have a very nice room with king bed and separate living area.

We popped across to the Quinte Mall which is near our hotel and it looks a pretty good mall. Not the biggest we have been to but it has most of the shops you would need on a regular basis. We had dinner there and have now come back to the hotel to chill out for the evening.

Tomorrow we are meeting up with the real estate agent from Kingston to view properties in that area – will report back then.

Step-daughter is looking after the house whilst we are away and we have a couple of viewings lined up during this period. Hopefully we will get an offer whilst we are away – well you never know!

All packed now, so ready & waiting, just a pity that we are not going to be landing, but can’t have everything.

Speak soon….

This time we will be visiting complete with visas, so it will be interesting to see how we are treated at the airport when we say we are not landing.

We now have a list of properties to visit whilst there and two real estate agents lined up to show us the properties. Hopefully one will tick all the boxes and we can buy it.

We have our Canadian mortgage set up, our money exchange in place, so all we need it the right house in the right location.

I just cannot wait to get there, and this week at work will be such a drag. Still at least it is only a four day week as Friday is a bank holiday.