Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day everyone from Winnepeg Manitoba.

Well today after 1900kms we are finally out of Ontario. Day three and we drive from Thunder Bay to Winnepeg and we drive though the beautiful Lakes region yes more Lakes and more fresh water never seen so much fresh water. James counted 20 different lakes in a space of 15 mins in the car they are all lovely and stuck up here in the middle of the country.

We also leave the bad weather behind after camping in a very nice dry hotel in Thunder Bay we hit another hotel in Winnepeg for Canada Day.

The amount of lakes and water amazes me it is everywhere you look. Then 20 kms into Manitoba we hit the prairie, flat endless fields.

Canada Day is much like Australia Day everyone celebrating and wearing red and White with flags and drinking beer in the great outdoors. We walked down to the main area of
Winnepeg very nice city, quite old and alot of trees but very flat.

Anyway time for bed of to Swift Current Tomorrow in the middle of Saskatchewan yes another province.

Summer Trip Uxbridge to Thunder Bay

Day Two - We leave Clear water and its very overcast and quite cold. We drive along hugging the coastline along Lake Huron and hit Sault Saint Marie which is the border of US and Canada and its also where Lake Huron meets Lake Superior so Kevin found the Lock system quite interesting and it had a huge bridge going over the river. We then drove on around Lake Superior which was very beautiful but unfortunately horrible weather and so we just kept driving till we got to Thunder Bay some 830kms later we arrive very tired and sick of being in the car. We did see the lovely sandy beaches on Lake Superior and we did stop for lunch on a quite rocky beach on the Lake also but it was so cold and windy and raining that we didn't get out of the car for long. Anyway we were supposed to camp at a few Provincial Parks along the way but it was too wet so we just kept driving and got to Thunder bay on the far West side of Lake Superior. Disappointed we didn't get the chance to discover more of the Stunning Lake Superior but what can you do Canadian weather!!!

Day One

So we are of on our trip we leave Uxbridge early afternoon and head for Blind River 510 Kms north west of home. Our trip takes us through cottage country of Northern Ontario and the Muskokas which is very pretty black granite rock escarpments and undulating hills, a nice change from our flat farmland area that we live in. We then hit Lake Huron and follow along the shore till we get to Clearwater Lake Campground. The weather looks a bit dodgy and we are not even sure if we are going to be able to camp on the first night but the weather holds of and we spend our first night in tents in Canada and its a beautiful night. Steph goes for a swim in the lake and we have dinner down by the lake as well. We meet some Canadians and they point out the Cedar trees across the lake that they are a perfect line along the bottom and explain that the deer stand on the ice and eat the leaves of the trees to where they can reach. (picture below).

Last School Day Activities

Ok so here we are on the last days of school and its a golf tournament complete with dress ups and teams put together and named. Ours is the Four Clubbers and this is Mika, Laura, Christie and Myself we had a great afternoon of Golfing or maybe more drinking than golf anyway really fun day had by all and we finished of with dinner at one of the teachers houses which was very nice.

See it has actually got hot here now!!

Summer on Wagner Lake

We have had a wonderful start to summer, their summer starts on June 21st weird eh?? Anyway it has been very warm this week and we have had some great parties in the neighbourhood lately, everyone who has a lake front property has an amazing park like area in front of their houses and its lovely in the evenings, they are set up really well for summer here.

These are photos of our friend Denises birthday and the summer solstice party at our friend Lyns house as usual most of the neighbourhood was there drinking beer and generally having a good time, everyone asks us what we are busy doing here on the weekends well this is about it we are having a wonderful time with the neighbours its lots of fun and they are wonderful people, they have really made us feel very welcome.

We have been out on their boats this week and doing lots of swimming in the lake its quite warm now, not the sea but quite refereshing all the same. James has been happy because he has got to do some skiing and wakeboarding and Steph has been her usual waterbaby and spending every spare minute in the water. The lake is fresh water and cleaned by a flow through stream.

Kids are now finished school for the summer get this 10 weeks off and I finish school on Monday, Kevin is finished tomorrow and then we get organised for our big trip.

Well just wanted to touch base with everyone before we are of on Monday for 5 weeks so will hopefully get to put lots of photos up along the way.

Ottawa Tulip Festival

May saw us head of to Canadas Capital - Ottawa about 4 hours drive north east of us, for the Tulip Festival and to experience more of Canada.

We had a wonderful weekend here, this is a beautiful old city with lots of magnificent buildings and a very European influence. We had lunch at a restaurant at the end of the Rideau Canal to begin with, this canal is man made and is the longest skating rink in the world in winter. There were tulips all along the canal, these come up after winter and were everywhere and in every colour. We then were invited along with the other exchange teachers to have afternoon tea at the Australian Embassy and meet the Aust Ambassador to Canada, quite young man very personable. Then we had a BBQ at one of the Canadians house in Quebec, all French. Ottawa is in Ontario divided by the Rideau river and on the other side of the river is Quebec so all French, very interesting.

Next day we went for a tour of the Parliament buildings very old and English, they are very pro monachy here much stronger than Aust. Anyway it was lovely and quite huge. We then had a native experience and saw TeePees and had a native lunch, which was also quite an eye opener.

We then went to the museum of Civilisation the next day and this was really amazing reading about the development of another country is really interesting and its so different to Aust and the fact we knew very little about any of it made it very worthwhile.

May Activities - Spring in Wagner Lake

Well as you can see the snow has finally gone and we have beautiful tulips and greenery, never thought it would come. The temps are warming up nicely, still a bit cold at times but getting to be quite nice.

We have been busy over the last month, we have been to Ottawa (pictures and stories below), James has had a few Venturers camps and Steph has been getting ready for her ballet recital. On top of all this we have been getting ready for the summer and the end of school which is very strange but all that usually happens in Aus in December is happening now in June so its all go with summer parties and break up school events.

Took Steph and a few of her friends to Canadas Wonderland on Friday and they had a great time went on heaps of rides and I came home with a lovely head ache, photos below.

She has been missing her friends quite badly lately and she really neede cheering up its been hard for her to fit in with a group here, girls this age are pretty cliquey and she has found it hard to find a nice group. She is really well though I am now giving her Methotrexate injections which was pretty harrowing at first but its all fine now, she is of all her other drugs and we go to the Sick Kids Hospital again in a few weeks for her check up, but as you can see she looks very healthy, we finally have a bit of puberty happening which is good.

James has yet another girlfriend and is really doing well at school now so he has finally settled down and now has his final exams for yr 9 then is finished for the summer. Its been a struggle getting him through but he seems to have picked it up now which is good. He is very happy and very comfortable in his school he is much more of a social bunny that Steph and seems to get along fine wherever we put him.

Kevin has been working long hours to raise money for us to go on our summer trip so he is always busy with that still no word on being able to teach here they are hopeless, we really hope to get him teaching in September would make our finances much more confortable.

Anyway enjoy the pics.

Spring in Canada got to Love it!!!

So here we are on beautiful Wagner Lake, Ice skating in Winter and now that it is spring, 11 degrees on the weekend beautiful balmy weather. People have got their boats out on the lake, I sat outside on the front patio for lunch then joined some friends for beers in their boat in the afternoon, well admittedly the boat was in the back yard still, but it was very nice. Now a mere 2 days later, we have 20cm of snow and the worse road conditions we have had all winter, this is crazy. Ah got to love living in Canada!!!
This is us outside our house and a few photos of our snowy area. Can you believe we didn't get a photo of us with all this snow in all of winter!!!