Princess Sarah goes to Canada

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

Princess Sarah is now home for a few weeks (yay - warmth and happiness in abundance!) before she and gorgeous Cowboy Craig jet off to New York. Same SA number for while I'm here. Love you all!

Carnival Magic

2009-08-05T07:46:00.001-07:00

Canadia Day

2009-08-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

getting into the spirit of things!

...and again...!

Lindsay

it was good... and then Adie pushed my hand into my face!

Fun at Rotary Park

2009-08-02T10:30:00.001-07:00

Our spot

Whee! The slide is seriously pretty fun

Coming down in a huddle

Lisa and Sam

Finally - Rocky Pics! Some on F/bk as well.

2009-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Rockies

2009-06-17T09:28:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, the Canadian Rockies are totally awesome - we had a great weekend. I'll try to put up some pictures later today. xx

Lots of small town news!

2009-06-12T07:58:00.001-07:00

1. Craig and I have received our yellow belts in TaeKwondo! Lots of fun, and we start again in September.

2. We bought (actually Craig did) a new car - a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Will put photos up asap.

3. My amazing husband is taking me to the rockies for the weekend! He booked it ages ago as a surprise and for a special treat has booked into the most amazing, famous, expensive hotels in both Banff and Jasper. Will take lots of photos!!

4. If anyone doesn't know, we are coming to visit in August. I'll fly out a little bit before Craig to max out my time in the Mother City. Then we'll be in Durbs for a week for the big wedding, and then it's back to CT for a week... before a week to NY!!! see you in two months.

another little corner

2009-06-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is my desk and where I blog, email and skype you from (occasionally!).

Hold fingers for me - am going to visit the school today to meet the staff and give them my cv. In other news, have received much paperwork from the alberta edu dep and have so much admin to do for them!!

love and kisses,

Lobster Fest - Whitecourt's Party of the Year 2009!

2009-06-08T11:31:00.001-07:00

The Lobster Festival was a lot of fun, and a huge party. On the downside, my lobster was off and I got really sick later that night (well, early the next morning actually!) but it was well worth it. I'll put some more photos up when I get the rest from Adrian and Lindsay - they took some hilarious ones. xx

Adrian having a good laugh

They make such a cute couple, don'cha think?

Linds and I with Danie, a SA doctor who owns one of the clinics (and spa!)

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

2009-06-08T11:25:00.001-07:00

Well, Tae Kwando (spelling?) actually. We have been having loads of fun, but now it gets serious, as we are being graded tomorrow night! If all goes well we will receive our yellow belts. Yay!

Things I don't like about Canada

2009-05-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

1. Culture? What culture? Less than Australia (I kid, I kid).

2. Racism. In a country this rich and with this much potential, there really is no excuse.

3. The supermarkets - totally not as nice as SA - they need Woolworths!

4. The ratio of fast food restaurants (10) to individual, cosy, independent restaurants (1).

5. Although the country is diverse, it is not a sparkling, organic rainbow nation like SA.

6. Living in a rural area can sometimes be a bit like living the middle of one big trailer park.

7. I miss people.

8. The TV and radio advertising is so primitive - South Africa would laugh!

Things I like about Canada

2009-05-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

1. Nice clothes and homeware shops (in the cities only).

2. Everybody who has a job is respected and classy people don't only do classy jobs - much classless than SA.

3. Weather is nice for a change.

5. The Special K is much nicer than in SA.

6. Hardly anybody is really poor.

7. Cars and houses are much cheaper, and the interest rate is 0-2 %.

8. The South Africans here are really nice.

9. The cable TV (about 120 channels and lots of music) is so cheap ($16.00/month).

What Snow?

2009-05-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the ugly view of my mobile neighbours. Will get out and take pretty ones soonish, promise.

Dining room table is going to be delivered today!! Big 8 seater for lots of parties. Still need to find chairs though.

More Snowfall!

2009-05-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry - I know I keep on putting up pictures of boring snow... but it snowed again! And it's meant to be Spring! And it's the heaviest snow we've seen since we've been here! We had a blizzard on Monday and Tues, and it's still settled on the ground - there's more on the balcony than when we arrived 5 weeks ago.

Bowling in Whitecourt

2009-05-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Whitecourt is blessed with a dodgy bowling alley... which actually wasn't that bad - except that they made me wear the shoes!! Ended up having far too much of a party - says the girl that opened a bottle of red wine with a knife and splattered it over a friend's lovely white top. Needless to say, that experiment won't be repeated in a hurry!

These are our lovely friends and next-door neighbours (their condo is an extension of our house, really, and the other way round). Both Lindsay and I love decorating our homes, idols, shopping and clothes.

update

2009-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry there's been no news or pics for some time. Nothing much is happening except the minatue of daily life... and the biggest thickest snowstorm i have ever seen. The snow is about 15 cm thick on our balcony! Have started Tae Kwondo (sorry spelling!) so will put up pics of us in our uniforms soon! Love love love

Shopping.... in "the CITY!"

2009-05-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Had a good day shopping in edmonton, more lookie lookie than any buying... but the sushi was amazing!!

Walking on (iced) water

2009-05-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

Lunch time! Lindsay and myself chow.

Ice tanning

Lindsay (note the people fishing in the background!)

Yesterday we bought a take-away lunch from Tim Hortons (we heart Tim Hortons - the best coffee and healthy fast-food) and took it too McLeod lake - which was still iced over!

Home-made Boerewors - the best I've ever had...

2009-05-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

What a fun and tiring day!

Photo Wall

2009-04-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is a wall in my kitchen that I'm slowly covering - with Welcome cards, goodbye messages, postcards and photos. Please send me a photo by email or a postcard to: 406 4502-52 Ave, Whitecourt, T7S0C4, Alberta, Canada and I'll put it up!

Yesterday Craig and I found the most beautiful antique shop in Edson - about an hour away (actually I pointed it out - he would have never gone in unless I had wanted to! but he loved what we got) and we bought some gorgeous china cups and saucers - different rose prints, a vase and some platters. He also bought me a vintage evening clutch and an old fashioned compact mirror! Isn't he lovely...

Snowy Scenery

2009-04-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the promised photos of a snowy Whitecourt and surrounds. The view from our window of the trailer park is incrementally more beautiful when covered in snow... leaving us perpetually disappointed when it thaws!

Our new bedroom

2009-04-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

We decided that although we have very little money to live on until some comes in, we need our living space to be beayuuutiful, so here are the pictures of the main bedroom - I hope you like!

Before:

After:

P.S. Has been snowing, quite hard. Will put up some photos tomorrow.

Final Destination: Whitecourt

2009-04-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Whitecourt on Easter Monday, and were welcomed with love by the other South African medical couples. The apartment (condo!) that we are renting from our friends is lovely and had been stocked with rusks, fresh food, a freezer full of meat and frozen meals, flowers and chocolates. As a settling in present it snowed, covering the ground and our newly borrowed Ford 4x4 truck with white powder.

The last few days have been taken up with setting up bank accounts, cell phone (mobiles) contracts, land line phone, internet, movie contract and everything else that modern daily living requires. Tomorrow we are going into Edmonton where Craig has his appointment with the College of Medicine, and we will also stop past IKEA (wonderful place!) to find new furnishings for our new home.

Our new condo:

Snow on our first night - borrowed truck, left hand drive: poor Craigy!

Edmonton - pick-up trucks and neon

2009-04-16T11:44:00.001-07:00

Executive Royal Inn

West Edmonton Mall

Our four hour flight to Edmonton was thankfully uneventful, just tiring. We arrived at the West Edmonton Executive Royal Inn hungry and tired, still on Toronto/Dubai/Cape Town time, only to be told that the money we had paid our travel agent had not reached the hotel! Not the fault of our lovely travel agent - it had got held up at some agency in between.

Gazing out of our hotel room window, after a burnt Pizza Hut dinner and giant Pepsi (the tempting glass of wine was so much more expensive), the only thing we could see was neon fast food signs and car headlights. Travel, always wonderful in retrospect, can often be dispiriting and isolated. It was only the next morning that we realised that our hotel was also surrounded by surburbia - brand new identical housing estates that hadn't had any lights on the night before.... Freaky. But the West Edmonton Mall (biggest in the world when it was first built and full of lovely clothes) was amazing. A combination of American and European high street stores, the occasional designer store, many department stores and the largest roller coaster and indoor water park in the world serves to part you from your money while you have fun. Horrible and garrish from the outside we were so pleasantly surprised when we walked in! Retail therapy really does work...

sunshine glint water friend tower

2009-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Toronto

2009-04-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Fortunately for us, we were able to call on our good friend Mikey to show us around. The good man not only waited for us throughout the immigration process and luggage collection fiasco, but also drove us around the city, showed us the hotspots, answered millions of tiresome questions ranging from Canada's range of fizzy drinks (pop), to strange and wonderful vocabulary (gas, condo) but also provided very good (Canadian) company. Great to see you again, Mikey! Toronto has an arty and eclectic edginess, evident in the Queen West street area, which we really enjoyed. But after only 20 hours in the city it was back to the airport, where I spent my time engrossed in Canadian magazines and newspapers, trying to acclimatise to the media culture of the country. More pics up soon, promise!

Canada at last!

2009-04-16T10:10:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the large gap - changing time zones, running through airports, buying hangers and black bags and emptying suitcases over the floor have meant that internet access has been sorely limited. But in the great CA we are, safely and with all our luggage (still waiting for air-freight which is crucial, so cross fingers)!

Will put photos up soon - as soon as I have internet access on my own computer.

CT - Dubai - Toronto - Edmonton

2009-03-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

We have a D-day and the flights are booked! (well reserved at least, until we pay :) The plan is to leave Cape Town on the 9th of April, fly to Dubai and land in Toronto on the 10th, spend a night there, land in Edmonton on the 11th and head to Whitecourt on the 13th! Four days of travelling half way around the globe. Can't wait!

Thank you to all who wished Craig well for his exam. Although he will only get his results at the end of April it did seem to go well and he is quietly confident that he'll get through. Keep holding thumbs for us!! Otherwise no other news for now on the Operation Canada front, just admin, admin and admin!

Good Luck Craig

2009-03-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

Craig is writing his Canadian medical exam today, after studying for about four days in total.

Good Luck!

Whitecourt Info - letting you know what we're gettin into!

2009-03-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

Whitecourt is a small Canadian town, about an hour north-west from Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. It is very close to the Rockies and within driving distance to Banff and Jasper, two of Canada's most famous ski resort towns. Although it is the beginning of spring, our sources tell us that it is still reaching -40 some days! About 8 000 people live in Whitecourt and it looks like a beautifully looked after town, where people know each other well.

For more information and pictures, visit www.whitecourt.ca and tell me what you think. It's a two year contract!

Whitecourt: Our destination for Easter '09!

2009-03-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

The up, down, turn-it-all around whirlwind

2009-03-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

And in other (surprisingly thrilling, shockingly fast) news... not 24 hours after I had been in tears as I finally accepted that we would not be leaving until the end of April (and would that really be the last delay, would we ever get there, is this limbo permanent...aargh!) Craig's exam number came through, after taking 3 days and not 4 - 6 weeks as was promised.

Now that's first world efficiency for you!

So poor, darling Craig is writing on Friday with the bare minimum of study time and has been working today through an onslaught of gastro. My champion!

Upshot being... we leave in TWO AND A HALF WEEKS!! Scaringly soon, but after all my moaning and groaning (thanks for putting up with me, friends) I just can't complain - I'm too excited!

Good and Bad News

2009-03-05T04:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were more relieved than jubilant when we found out that our visas have been finally and officially approved. It's all systems go, and we are now able to book a one way ticket!

But, as always with this process, three steps forward, two steps back - so predictable we should have been expecting it.

Craig has hit an exam hitch - he will be unable to work until he has written it, and the next time he can write it is on the 4th May. No exam, no work, no money to swan around Canada.

So we'll kick up a fuss, ask some questions, email everyone we can about it. Will keep you posted!

P.S. 38' C today... makes us think that a Canadian winter could be quite pleasant.

Count Down: One Month to go!

2009-02-28T01:45:00.001-08:00

Having moved into the roof of very wonderful friends of ours, we find ourselves in a very uncertain transitory period. However, visas are going well (although the medical was an expensive sham - R3 000 for both of us and the weird octogenarian doctor didn't really check much!) We just need final confirmation of visas before we actually book the flights.

Meanwhile, we couldn't ask for a better month of the year to enjoy Cape Town before we leave. Swimming, braaing, cocktails by the sea and drinks on the balcony - the flawless days merge into each other as time seems to go very quickly and yet not really move at all.

Count Down: Two Months to Go

2009-01-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

We are frantically trying to collect boxes as we are faced with less than two weeks to move out of our flat. Although I don't consider myself excessively materialistic and try to thin out our "stuff" regularly, we have so much to go! Lots to store, lots to take and all those comforting little things that I want to keep with me.