Settling in

So we've been in Vancouver for over a month now, and beginning to settle in. Our apartment is pretty much all furnished now, with Andrew satisfying his technology craving with the purchase of a 40" tv, home theatre speaker system and a Playstation 3. We've also bought a new bed - king size, which is the same size as a super king at home - which is amazing, and lovely to finally sleep well. We also finally got our cable, internet & phone hooked up - so I'm loving the tv selection and trashy girly reality shows. Yay!

Vancouver, being on the west coast, is home to some gorgeous sunsets - and when the clouds are right, they can be just stunning.

Work is going well for both of us, and we're getting in to a routine now - although now with everything pretty much set up, we're looking forward to using our days off to relax and explore, something we haven't had a lot of time for since we got here. It won't be long before we get endless rain and freezing temperatures apparently, so we should make the most of the next few weeks. We're aiming to go to a (ice) hockey game in the near future as well. We're also off down to Seattle at the beginning of November - I have a ticket to the Billy Joel & Elton John concert, which I'm very excited about!!

The sooner I pick up the accent over here, the better - I have a tough time talking to clients on the phone sometime, some of them just have no clue what I'm saying, which makes for interesting conversations! Face to face it seems to be fine. Mind you, there are some funny Canadian ways of saying things - "rule", "cool" and "school" often become two syllable words - "roo-all", "coo-all" and "skoo-all".

Highlight in the newspaper last week - the name of a Mountie chief superintendent - "Dick Bent". What were his parents thinking??!!

Kelowna & the Okanagan

Friday afternoon we took of with Nic & Daragh for the long weekend - it was a public holiday on Monday as well as Nic's birthday. We were heading for the Okanagan, and staying in Kelowna. It's the heart of BC's wine area, and right on a big lake. Kelowna is about 5 hours drive from the centre of Vancouver, and mostly highway all the way so you can do speeds of 120km/h or so most of the way - so we didn't get there until about 9pm. As Andrew and I checked in they mentioned that there was a comedy night on next door, so we went along to that, which was great!

Saturday morning we headed north, to a place called Vernon, which is on the north end of the lake. There is also another lake up there which we heard was really pretty, and you could see it had potential, but as the weather was so overcast and threatening rain, potential was about it really. Still, pretty countryside. In the afternoon the boys went and had a round of golf, while the girs went shopping. Nic & I came across some really cute little shops, little craft shops and cafes painted in cool colours. The boys finished, and said it was an awesome course - despite not being able to work out how to reverse the golf cart, so instead of asking, they just got out and pushed it whenever they needed to reverse!! The thing about boys not asking for help or reading instructions is so true!! That evening we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks.

Sunday and it was time to hit the wineries. Nic & Daragh have been here a few times before, so they knew where to go - the first one was in a really pretty location, overlooking the lake, but I didn't like the wine so much - but free tasting was alright! The next one was really nice - Mission Hill Vineyard. Beautiful location, on a point overlooking the lake in both directions, and lovely grounds. Good wine too, which helps! Then I suddenly realised that this was where Jillian had brought Jason on her hometown date (the Bachelor, people), and that made it even better! Yay!

Next it was on down to Penticton, at the south end of the lake. The weather had packed in and poured down, but we managed a bit of sun over lunchtime, which was nice - a lakeside cafe, across the road from the "beach" - imported sand by the lake! I think the rest of us by this time were all wineried out, but Nic was still going strong, so it was off to another two. Most overlook the lake, so it's nice to sit and dream away anyway. On the way back up the lake to Kelowna there was a big thunder and lightening storm over the lake, so we stopped and the guys tried to get photos of the lightening - both failed. That stuff is quick. In the evening it was out for a nice dinner in anticipation of Nic's birthday the next day, at a cool little wine bar.

Being a bit further east, we managed to get some good licence plate hunting in. Those of you who have had the pleasure to travel with me, especially in Ireland and the US, will know of my passion for spotting different states/provinces/counties. This has now continued in Canada. Obviuosly, being in BC, we get a lot of BC plates, but also the odd Washington one, being close to the border. However we've also seen Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario - in fact, we have an Ontario plate in our building, and Nic has a Quebec plate in hers - very fortunate. One of the highlights was seeing the highly sought after Saskatchewan (spelt without googling the name - becoming a true Canadian) plate in Kelowna. And then seeing another one on the drive home - double whammy! I'm still on the hunt for the northern ones, and the maritimes. I can but dream.....

Moving in

Sunday was moving day - we got to move in to our own apartment! First we had to go and pick up the van, which was almost an hour's bus ride away. As most leases here start on the 1st, everyone moves out/in around the last day of the month. So moving vans/trucks are hard to come by. We were lucky to get one at such short notice, even if it was an hour away! Then we went to Nic's friend's place, as they had a bed there for us to pick up. What we didn't realise is that it's a double - which, for us, may as well be a single! Andrew's feet pretty much hang off the edge and touch the floor - so not sure how long we'll last without getting a new bed. Considering we had a super-king in NZ, a double is a big adjustment! But, it's free, and in good nick, so it'll do for now.

Then it was off to Ikea -the holy grail. Oh how I love it there. We got most of our stuff from there and spent 4 hours there - which I must say, Andrew coped very well with. By the time we picked up our stuff from Nic's place, we unloaded and started to set up. All of the Ikea furniture comes flatpack, so it all needs assembling - which we took the next two days doing! It's quite time consuming, especially when there are drawers involved.


We also had to do things like go grocery shopping, as we had no food, and there were a few more bits and pieces we realised we needed. The other great news we had on Monday was that Andrew was offered a job, which he accepted - so within two weeks of setting foot in Canada, we've managed to move in to our own apartment, and both land jobs! YAY US!! He's got a job with a mining company, so it'll be a change from working with an insurance company - still in I.T.

I started work on Wednesday, and had the first part of the day in training. The systems here are quite different, so I'll have a lot to learn, but hopefully shouldn't take me too long. I'm just going to dive in next week and hope that people will be patient with me!!