Our Christmas Message...

... well if it’s good enough for the Queen and the Osbournes it's good enough for us!!

It’s been a busy few weeks since our last post and have done some great Christmassy things!! And on top of that we have had tonnes of snow!!

First of all was the Santa Clause parade – it took place on a cold and windy Sunday and went on for ages! Here are a few of the (many) pics:

The obligatory Christmas Work Do’s to go to and Martyn’s was all free! Mine was a cash bar in a downtown hotel so for the Yorkshire in Martyn it was quite painful!! We stayed over at the hotel and it snowed overnight – it made my weekend!! On the Sunday after my do we went up to Grouse Mountain for some sightseeing in the snow…it was cold! We didn’t do any skiing but we will probably go up again during the coming season. More pics:

Then there were the bright lights of Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a large park in the middle of downtown Vancouver and at Christmas time they cover it in lights and run a small train through it. It was fab!! The train ride was pretty long for the money and the amount of lights that were used was huge! Again plenty of pics but here are a couple:

In the last week we have had unprecedented snow and cold weather – must have had about a foot already! And there’s more on the way…dare I say Christmas Day!!! We are going to have a white Christmas!!! I’m soooo excited!! We’ve even bought a sled but not managed to get out on it yet! Here are a few snowy pictures…it’s so Christmassy!

We want to take this time to wish you all a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Keep in touch
H&M xxx

Do you like our festive new look? Thought we would spruce up the blog for the season! Rights lets update you on how we have been getting on – Martyn has written the following update (he is really getting into this blogging lark!)

Things have been busy since our last post. I’m settling into my new job okay although working Saturdays now with a day off during the week which comes in handy (he also likes a day off from me! – Hayley)

We had our first dive the other week at Belcarra National Park in a body of water called Indian Arm.

The Canadian Branch of the Rothwell & Stanley SAA!!

The entry was by shore which wasn’t as easy as it sounds as to get to the small beach I more or less had to abseil down the embankment with our dive gear whilst Hayley watched on (with the camera! – Hayley).

Never mind SAA - its the SAS!!

About 200m off the shore is the wreck of the VT 100 which was an old mine sweeper and gunship. After the war it was converted into a woodchip barge but vandals set fire to it and it sunk. After kitting up we took the bearing and set off, there were plenty of large crabs, star fish and a few large plumose anemones dotted around. We didn’t find the wreck on this dive so we made our way back to the shore. During the surface interval we enjoyed a picnic whilst watching otters playing on a nearby pontoon.

Hayley posing for her glamour shot!!

Unfortunately conditions weren’t good enough to take pictures underwater. With the tide out we had a bit more beach to kit up on so again we headed out again this time coming across the wreck. It’s a large wreck and harbours a lot of life with crabs, langoustines and rock fish. Also came across a toilet – handy if you get caught short! Taking a bearing for shore we returned back to the beach and enjoyed a flask of coffee before heading back up the embankment and home – really miss the obligatory bacon butties though!

Belcarra National Park - the view from the beach

Now with Christmas looming we bought our tree last week. An artificial one this year but there are places where you hire a saw, pick the tree you want and then go and cut it down – awesome! We decorated it and the living room last Saturday (and had the annual argument! – Hayley). Decorations seem to go up a lot earlier over here.

We have seen snow returning to the mountains tops but haven’t had any down here yet. Getting into the season we went ice skating a few weeks ago, which we haven’t done for years – really cool and a really cheap thing to do here! Looking into ice skating on top of Grouse Mountain soon as well as trying to get some skiing in.

Enjoy the season and we will try and get another post done before Christmas!

Take Care
Hayley & Martyn xxx

Martyn's Talking!

Well I thought it was about time I put my thoughts down about the whole moving experience. Overall I think it’s the best thing we have ever done, Vancouver is an awesome city as there is so much to do, from walking in one of the hundreds of parks or strolling along the coast taking in the mountain or Pacific ocean view watching eagles circling above. Taking the skytrain into downtown and then the sea bus over to the north shore is pretty cool too and for just $9 (£4.50) you can use the public transport all day – bargain.

Mundy Park - one of hundreds of parks we have yet to visit!

It’s not all been plain sailing though, the last few weeks have been tough thinking about the family and friends we have left behind. After living with my parents for 2½ years we are enjoying our own space now but it’s not so simple to pop in for a chat and a coffee, we do talk every weekend and when we can it’s nice to see them on the webcam through skype. I miss the friends I made at Union Industries, always enjoyed talking to the account’s girls and Kath, Lisa and Nancy (also missing the Flying Pizza too, good food and hospitality – nice little plug for you there!!!), even miss the daily ranting and ravings of Richard and the latest screw up Ian had done!!!

A big part of our life in the UK over the last few years was scuba diving, we’d meet up with the club every Tuesday night for possibly some training or giving a lecture to new recruits or simply chewing the fat over previous dive trips which more often than not ended in a tale of how Kenny had got into some scrape or other (usually ending with the story of him falling off the pier at Oban while trying to jump onto the boat intoxicated) – in fact thinking about it most of the stories were more about drinking habits and scrapes that people (usually Kenny or Tony) had got into than actual diving!!! We both certainly miss the dive trips, especially St. Abbs with the obligatory BBQ on the Saturday night whether it’s raining and blowing a gale or not – good times.

The last few weeks have been busy for me as I started a new job (service advising was okay to a point but 70% of the time felt more like a social worker with people and their cars problems!), the owner was a bit intense too, I think I was about the 6th service advisor he’d had in as many months. In fact my replacement, an experienced service advisor with 10 years experience, only lasted 3 days so I’m quite pleased I managed 4 months! The owner did look after me though and helped in securing a new job in a parts environment role, which I am now really enjoying.

Just recently I also took my driving test, coming from the UK you have to take a knowledge and practical road test to get your British Columbia driving licence. Coming from South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Austria or Japan you can simply exchange your licence for a BC licence but from Britain you’ve got to take the whole test – may have something to with driving on the wrong side of the road, I don’t know but hey I passed first time.

A big sport over here is ice hockey and the new season started this week, we went across to our local drinking place (not too many pubs around, unlike UK, tend to be restaurants with bars attached) to watch the Vancouver Canucks first game against the Calgary Flames. Just one word sums it up – AWESOME – this is a really fast game and takes some watching to keep your eye on the puck. In fact you don’t really see what took place in order for a team to score until you watch the slow action replay, I also thought before the fighting was an occasional thing but it’s part of the game, to the extent that some of the players are drafted in because of their fighting skills – even the officials just stand and watch while a fight takes place and when it looks like someone’s taking a pasting then they’ll go in and break it up – AWESOME - we’re hoping to go and see a game live soon. They started off well too beating the flames 6-0, the replay last night also saw them win 5-4 – GO CANUCKS.

At the moment, as I’m writing this, it’s the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. With just the 2 of us we opted to get a small turkey breast joint as a full turkey would have probably seen us through to Christmas for sure. Also looking forward to Halloween as this is a big occasion out here for adults as well as the kids.

All in all I think the initial ‘honeymoon period’ is over and our feet have touched back down, we’re now dealing with the everyday commute to work and then home, getting the weekly shop, paying the bills etc. but were doing all this in the most amazing surroundings, yes there are things we miss but we’re looking towards the future, getting on with it and living the life we dreamed.

Note from Hayley – Just wanted to add that one of my LPD friends, Susy, is having a really bad time at the moment and just wanted to let her know that we are thinking of her and her family at this sad time.

Bye for Now
Martyn

Hangs head in shame...

Hello! It’s been ages…we know! Sorry! But have been busy settling in and getting to grips with working!!

I started my training on July 14th. The first week was pretty intensive – studying for my insurance license. After 6 weeks of not working it was a bit of a shock to the system! I got my licence and then it was product knowledge training!! We took our final exam Aug 18th (got 91%, get me!!!) and have been allowed to speak to real live customers!! Some have been the calls from hell, typical!! But overall it’s been ok.

Since our last post we have been buying stuff for the apartment and making it look a bit more like home. It’s still a work in progress but we’re getting there!!! Will post some pics when I’ve tidied up!!

Each year there is a fireworks competition with teams from Canada, China and USA. Each country puts on a display over a couple of weeks and then there is a final display (Saturday Aug 2) when all 3 do a display and the winning team is announced. It’s a really popular thing over here so we decided to make the trip downtown to watch the finale. It was absolutely packed – I’ve never seen so many people walking in the same direction to the harbour where the display was to start!! The fireworks were amazing – I have never seen fireworks like it! Some were so big you could feel the bang through your body!! Unfortunately we forgot to take our camera (doh!) so here is a link to some video from the web http://strutta.com/fireworks !!

Last Sunday Aug 10th Martyn wanted to visit the Air Show in a town about half an hour away from us called Abbotsford (nr Chiliwack – what a great name?!?!?) I wasn’t too keen as I’m not really into planes but it was a great day! The fighter jets were awesome (see I’m starting to use some Canadian terms!) and I got my picture taken with a fully kitted out cop!!

For the plane fans out there here is a bit of a video of a jet - Click HERE It was a red hot day and we both got burned!!!

A couple of Saturday’s ago the local community association put on an open air movie showing of Grease. It was totally free and it was only round the corner so as we are trying to throw ourselves into everything we packed up our lawn chairs and went along. We had a great time, singing the songs (well I did, Martyn not so much!) eating burgers and generally having a good time!!

A few announcements!! Julia & Steve, congrats on your wedding, need a pic! Good luck Jane & Lecky, not long now!! I’ll keep my eye out for an email!! And last but def not least Hello to Baby Chloe Unsworth!! Well done Trina and Dave! We need more pictures of the little one!!

Hope everyone else is ok!
Take Care
H & M xxx

Working 9 to 5...

I have a job! Finally someone has taken the risk and employed me! After a second interview conducted in Starbucks(!) I was offered 2 jobs! The hiring manager wanted to hire me but felt that the job I had applied for would get boring after awhile as I would be able to do it with my eyes closed!! So he offered me a different role which would be more of a challenge and something that I could progress with. I thought about it and decided to go for the second role, Insurance Advisor, I will be selling insurance!! I was a bit apprehensive at first as I worked in a call centre a few years back and didn’t like it that much but let’s just say that previously I was answering around 120 calls a day this company only gets about 250 calls in total for all advisors!! Its much more laid back so lets see how it goes shall we?!?! I start on July 14th so I still have a bit of holiday to enjoy!

Since our last post we have been out and about checking out the local areas and activities. On Saturday June 21st a Dragon Boat festival took place downtown. Dragon boat racing is huge over here and there were hundreds of competitors!! There were races all day, lots of stalls and entertainment. But of course being English we sought out the beer tent first!!





The blue and yellow tent in the picture above is Cirque Du Soleil – it came to Vancouver a few weeks back and we have tickets for Sunday. Only ever seen a DVD of their performances so really looking forward to it. Speaking of Sunday – all the best Jane and Matt on Rachel’s welcoming day!! Don’t forget to send us some pictures!

This past weekend has been very busy! It was Canada Day on Tuesday and Martyn’s boss decided to keep closed on Monday so he had a nice long holiday weekend. The weather has been gorgeous too, really hot and sunny. Actually it’s been a bit too hot so we have had to get a fan for the apartment, will definitely look into air con when we buy a house!! Anyway back to the fun! We hired a kayak on Saturday and had a lovely 2 hours paddling around an area called Deep Cove. It really felt like we were on holiday, we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was only a 40 minute drive from our home!!



I’m glad we got a double kayak as it was hard work and I don’t think I would have got very far on my own!! A short video of our adventure can be seen HERE. More photos’ can be seen HERE.

Martyn’s boss threw a BBQ on Sunday for his staff as he has recruited quite a few new people lately. It was nice to meet Martyn’s co workers. I was the designated driver, which was fun! First time driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark!

Tuesday July 1st was Canada Day – Oh, Canada!


We jumped on the sky train to downtown and went to Canada Place where lots of festivities were happening! There were 3 stages with bands and singers we had never heard of, lots of stalls and an army exhibition with some very athletic young soldiers!


There was also a Mountie parade with bagpipes!!


More Canada Day photos HERE

Later that evening we drove over to the north shore to watch the fireworks. They would have been a bit bigger if we had gone downtown (the view in the photo is of Vancouver’s Downtown skyline) but we were told that trying to get parked would have been a nightmare!!

Some spectators started singing the national anthem, we really must learn that!! It was a great day, everyone was happy, the sun was shining and there were no drunken louts!

On a different note we are saddened to say that we have come across something that is not as good as it is in England…TV! Programs over here are pants! Its all really bad reality TV or reruns of old American sitcoms like Roseanne or Home Improvements!! We have put together a strategy to get over this – we have bought a Wii! Mario Cart is cool!

Just wanted to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Debbie and Rob on the birth, albeit a little early, of their daughter Lucy. We can’t wait to see some pictures!!

Right must go and plan what I’m going to do with myself until I start work!!

Take care and have a good day!!
H & M xxx

Vroom Vroom!

Do you like our new car??

Only joking! I would never be able to park that! The cars and pickup trucks over here are huge! This is our new car>>

Still going to be a reversing and parking challenge for me but the Dodge Caravans are everywhere here and with our diving, biking and camping gear the extra space will come in really useful. A few questions have come through about driving over here and yes you do need a car, Martyn especially as he wouldn’t be able to get to work but I’m looking at jobs along the skytrain route which is within walking distance of our apartment. It’s like the tube but cleaner, more reliable and with better views! We want to go and explore so having a car is a necessity, and to get to all those stash shops it’s a must!!

The weather this weekend was fantastic! It was really sunny and warm; we were the typical English abroad and got a bit sunburnt! Have now bought some sunscreen but it’s gone a bit cloudy now…typical! Last week a beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium gave birth to a little girl. It’s not an everyday occurrence so we thought we would go and take a look on Sunday. As the baby was only 5 days old they were controlling the number of visitors but it was worth the wait…it was a great experience. Martyn took a short video of mother and baby and it can be viewed by clicking here VIDEO. The aquarium is great and my favourite are the otters>

I wanted to take this one home! After the aquarium we walked down to the beach at English Bay and had an ice cream on the sand! The beaches here all have logs on them so you have something to lean up against and it gives the beach some order so it never feels crowded. Another picture to make you all jealous! >

On the job front Martyn is settling in well into his role and I have now had 3 interviews and another one scheduled for next week. Just waiting back now for second interviews or for someone to say they want me! Fingers crossed it will happen soon!

Glad the dive to Lochaline went well, and a little birdie told me that Jakey’s “one pair of pants” approach didn’t work!! I’m not surprised Kev didn’t want them back!! Has anyone won the pink sash of shame yet?? Has Paul finally shut up and actually listened to anyone yet?? We have been told of a few great dives just up the coast from where we are so as soon as our gear arrives we will be checking them out and will post some pics of all the lobster and crabs we will be picking up so you won’t need to send that sash over here!!

Right back to the job search!

Take Care
Hayley & Martyn xxx

Normal Service Has Been Resumed!

Hello all! Wow – it’s been mad since the last post! Sorry it’s been so long but we had to wait before the cable guys (incidentally a company called Shaw!) could come in and connect our telephone, internet and cable up – yes that’s exactly 10 days without TV or internet access! We have managed not to kill each other but it’s been tough! ha ha!!

We moved into our apartment on Sunday June 1st – its lovely! This is a relief as we hadn’t seen any pictures before we leased it! It’s within walking distance of a large shopping mall, the sky train and a bus station so all in all we’ve done really well – especially me with all the shops and food court!! Some pics of our apartment are here >>> there’s not much in it yet, we’re slowly getting stuff, our sofa is being delivered by Ikea (it was a lovely familiar shopping trip!) in a couple of weeks and we’ve had an estimated delivery date for our container of June 25th so by the end of the month we’ll have all our stuff.

On the job front – it’s been a bit slow for me; no one seems to want me!! But Martyn has had 2 job offers! One was selling cars for a large dealership and the other a service advisor for an auto repair shop. Typical, (marvellous) Martyn gets 2 offers and I haven’t had an interview yet!! He’s decided to go with the service advisor one as it’s more secure and involves no weekends!! The motor trade is looked upon much more highly here than in the UK, the pay is much better! He started work yesterday and all is going well!

We’ve been trying to get out and about as much as possible so it’s not all job hunting and sitting in listening to the radio!! We’ve been downtown a couple of times to Granville Island and Lonsdale Quay – which both have fantastic markets. On Saturday 7th we drove to Minnekhada Park for a gentle walk, that’s not what we got! 2 hours later after what can only be described as a bloody hard trek we arrived back to the car thankful (but also slightly disappointed) that we didn’t come across any bears!! Not something you have to worry about at Roundhay Park!

Minnekhada Park View

Martyn with his bear stick!!

On Sunday 8th we drove down to White Rock which is about 30 mins away towards the US border. It has its own little beach as it’s on the coast and there are loads of fish n chip restaurants!! We were economising so had taken sandwiches with us but we are definitely going again when the weather gets better so we can walk along the pier with our chips!! It’s a lovely little place, definitely on our “settling down” list for later on!

White Rock Seafront

White Rock Pier

The scenery here is breathtaking and you are never far away from a mountain view – where we are, Surrey, we have to cross a bridge to get to the Lower Vancouver area and it’s quite dangerous as the views are very distracting!! We are starting to get the hang of things but there are a few things that we’ve noticed: - the robins here are huge! They are the same size a blackbirds!! They don’t have squash here – it’s all ready mixed with water!! And you can’t get small bags of crisps, opps sorry chips!

Will post again soon and we will try and reply to our emails too!!

Take care
Hayley & Martyn xxx

We've Landed!

Hello from across the pond! Just a quick post to say we've landed and we are now officially Canadian residents! We have free internet access at the hotel we are staying at till Sunday so thought we would take the opportunity (don't forget Martyn is a Yorkshire man!) to use the free facilities to let you all know we have arrived safely.

I'm still quite tired from the flight and the time difference but Martyn seems to be taking it in his stride! We have ticked off quite a few things already today (Thursday) and we are going to register at a recruitment agency tomorrow so fingers crossed we will be earning soon!

Anyway, not sure when our next post will be as we have to set up internet access in our new apartment but promise to have some pics for the next one!

Take care
Hx

Not Long Now!!!

Keep hearing this phrase a lot now, 'WE KNOW!!!' of course we are excited about the prospect but it is rather nerve wracking as well thinking that we are starting all over again in a new country.

A few weeks ago we decided to take some pictures of around Leeds to take with us. We purchased some glass coasters that you can add your own pictures to and thought well known landmarks around Leeds would be a good idea. Take a look below at some of the piccies taken:

(as you can see we waited for a nice sunny day)

Here's a link to some others: http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll218/Hayley_1976/Leeds%202008/

Enjoy
Martyn

Going, Going, GONE!

Not us (yet!) but all our stuff has gone! After a long, difficult weekend the removal company came in on Monday 12th and packed up all our worldly possessions and they are now on their way to Canada. The weekend was difficult for many reasons; trying to decide what we would need with us for the next couple of months (yes - it takes that long!) was hard as the weather both here and in Vancouver can be changeable so outfits are needed for every eventuality!! It was also quite emotional as the packing would be another one of those milestones that we keep hitting along the way. Well they very nice men turned up at 9.30am and one got to work in the garage, one in the living room and the third in the bedroom. We had our stuff spread out as we couldn’t fit it all in one place!! Here are a couple of photo's of the boxes>>

It was strange just hanging around and not doing anything, you really felt like a spare part! So I went out and did some shopping and left Martyn to make the tea! After about 4 hours we got to this point>>

And then after the inventory was checked and signed it was time to say goodbye to the retreating van - only 8 weeks to wait till I see everything again!

We are rattling through our lists of things to do, all direct debits have been cancelled, car sold, apartment rented, now all we need is a job! So that's the focus for the next week and a bit oh that and the party on Friday!!

Right that's it for now, but Martyn has said he may post soon...so watch out for his witty musings!!

Bye
Hx

Where Would...

...you choose for your last trip in the UK? We pondered over this at the beginning of the year and came up with many places. We eventually settled on the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. We have always wanted to see it and we had never been to Northern Ireland before so decided we would go over for a visit.

We went for 3 days at the end of March (tied in nicely with Martyn's birthday so I didn't have to get him a pressie!) and stayed in Belfast, which is a lovely city and quite small so it was easy to get round - good job as when we got there it was chucking it down! We had booked a coach trip on the second day to the Causeway, which included stops on the way at various sites. The first stop was at a castle (there are a lot of castles in Northern Ireland!) which unfortunately we couldn't go in! Then it was off to the Carrick-a-Ride rope bridge.

It was a good couple of kilometres to get to the bridge but it was worth it for the views>>

After our death defying walk across the bridge we travelled up the North Antrim coast, which is stunning. We were very lucky to have great weather and we managed to see over the water to Scotland! But the main attraction was the Giant's Causeway - I was bowled over!

Our photo's don't really do it justice unfortunately but here is a moody black and white shot>>

And here is one of us standing by some of the stones, just to give a bit of perspective!! >>

We have lots and lots of photos of the stones but to get a real sense of them you have to go and see them I'm afraid! On our way back to Belfast we stopped off at Bushmills Whisky Distillery - much to Martyn's delight! Not my favourite place as I hate whisky but hey ho, it was his birthday weekend I suppose! He bought a very expensive bottle and I got a candle, which I'm pleased to say doesn't smell of whisky!

Our last day in Belfast turned out to be a lovely sunny, clear day so we revisited the sights we took photos of in the rain and retook them so we could prove it was good weather some of the time! We had a great weekend and much Guinness was consumed!

On a different note, it was my last Leeds Paper Dolls crop yesterday :( It was a day of mixed emotions, I really enjoyed the scrapping and company as I do every month but there was a twinge of sadness as I wouldn't be attending any more. There was a little party organised and I got presents!! I was so emotional by the end of the day that I didn't eat all my Chinese takeaway and had to get an early night! Thanks girls for making my last crop really special and I hope none of those photo's of me crying ever get on to the Internet!!

Right well I think that's about it, still much to do and organise for the big move but I did get our guestbook finished today for our leaving party - so this is advance warning to all our guests that a witty and moving comment will be required so get your thinking caps on!

Take Care
Hx