Wasaga Beach

On Sunday we went to Wasaga Beach for the day.  A mate from Troy's Fire Hall (Bob) offered to take us there for a day trip.  Bob is a great guy who has travelled pretty extensively overseas and appreciates that a local host is a great bonus when visiting new places.  He drove us to the Beach (approx 1.5hrs) via the backroads instead of taking the highways.  We saw some beautiful country side!  Bob was also able to give us a heap of history behind the places we were going. 

We arrived at Wasaga Beach and called into Big Jack's parents cottage.  After saying hello and having a chat, we promised we would come back on Wednesday to spend the day with them and to meet Jack's sister. 

The beach itself is actually a lake.  The weather gods were smiling on us and we enjoyed some glorious sunshine.  The water was quite cold and Bob told us that it was about as warm as it ever gets (eek) so we better get used to that.  I am amazed that people can be 60-80 metres offshore and still be only waist deep in water! 

Hardly any kids wear hats, se we looked a little out of place!

Bob was telling us about his house in Toronto which he has been restoring for the past nine years.  He invited us to come over for a swim at his local pool followed by some Thai food at his house.  I can't wait to see his house as he has done virtually all the work himself (it was a neglected, boarded up derelict house) and has kept it as a 1930s home with all the original finishings.  Troy spent the day at Bob's house on Monday to give him a hand with edging the patio paving.   Bob also has FIVE cats, so he and I operate on the same wave length when it comes to that!

Speaking of which, I have been asked to meet the Cat Shelter Co-ordinator on Friday to go through my training.  I am really excited about that as I am sure that Annie the cat has been pining for me. 

I will leave you all with some photo's from the Buskerfest.  bye for now!

You can see Jack on Troy's shoulders in the yellow shirt.  He lasted about three seconds before he scrambled down Troy's back like a squirrel!!!!

Update from Erin

Ok to set the record straight, I admit that I have had a sore knee but that was purely a temporary thing and is now fully healed.  However, I then developed an incredibly sore throat (which I was convinced was tonsilitis and my throat was going to swell up and I would die in my sleep) but has now altered its molecular make up and seems to have manisfested into just an incredibly sore tickly throat.  But being the trouper that I am, I soldiered on whilst Troy went to work on Thursday and all Thursday night. 

Today we decide to get out of the house and into the sunshine and we went to "Buskerfest" which is near downtown and is a wonderful festival of buskers.  It is held in the street and they had everything kind of performer you could imagine.   Jack got his face painted as 'red spiderman'.  It looked great at the beginning of the day but by the time we got home he looked more like Freddy Kruger.   Would you believe that just after lunch I rubbed my eye and thought, "oh that hurts..." and YES I have conjunca-bloody-vitis.  Troy has been calling me "pink eye" all afternoon.  We decided to try our luck at the drug store (pharmacy) on the way home, hoping and praying that by some fluke you may be able to buy antibiotic eyedrops without having to get a prescription.  So I run into the drug store (with my sunnies on of course), peruse the eye drops....and TAAA DAAAA there is a bottle of eyedrops called "Polysporin - Treats Pink Eye"!!!   Unbelieveable.  I am a little concerned however as the list on the back says to discontinue use if you have any of the following symptoms:  "large amount of discharge (hello....its conjuncativitis!!!), sensitivity to light (derrrr), hearing loss (what the?????)"   I tell you, Canadians are weird!  ha ha.

We have been invited to Wasaga Beach on Sunday for the day by a nice guy from Troy's work.  Hopefully the weather will stay lovely.  It was down to about 12 degrees this morning as Troy rode home from work.  He reckons he really needs some gloves but doesn't want to look like an Aussie Wuss.

On the Townsville front, it seems KC has officially approved of her temporary careproviders which is a great relief.  Troy is most peeved that it has only been a month and she has accepted Jaclyn and Sandy into her small circle of trust, something Troy has been trying to do for 10 years. 

for those of you who tried to use the link to the photos from yesterdays posting, please try again.  Troy reckons he has fixed it.

Fat Gods!!!

Well....Erin is making me do the blog.....GOD!!!  This will take me about 4 hours to write.  Anyway she is a little under the weather lately, and she thinks the Fat Gods are getting her back for the lack of respect that she has shown to the Fat Gods.  First of all her knee got sore for no reason, she just woke up and her knee was sore, she was waddling through the shopping centre regretting all the food choices she had made and thought the Fat Gods were teaching her a lesson.  And now she has a sore throat and can't swallow.  Ha Ha, although I just caught her eating a Freddo chocolate.....Silly stuff Erin!

So Last week Jack had an Art Camp and on Friday we went in and checked out all of his pieces.  Erin got a funky hair cut and I bought some footy boots as I have found a rugby league side to train with here.  Then Friday night we went around Lavinia's house for a BBQ, Jack played with Sawyer and we sat around chatting.

The next day we got up early to get ready for camping at Sauble Beach.  The weather wasn't the best but too bad.  We had a great time up there with the Guys from the Fire Hall and their families.  Jack loved it the whole time and there were chipmunks there that would eat food out of your hands....Pretty cool.  They took us down to the beach but it was freezing and raining lightly, but we enjoyed it all the same.

Monday I worked my normal 24hrs straight.  Tuesday we all went into town on the Subway to enroll Jack into school.  Jack thought that was pretty cool.  Now why do kids feel the need to touch everything and smoosh their face against the windows???  

Thursday is my next 24hr shift.  each shift starts at 7am and finishes at 7am the next morning. Every 4 weeks we work 7 24hr shifts.  So for 3 weeks we work 2 days a week and then on the last week we work 1 day.  It averages out to 42 hours a week.  Its a long day when nothing is going on,  I have only done 3 shifts so far.  Nothing major has happened yet.  Apparently there is a higher than average amount of violent crime in our stations area, so it is likely that I will attend a bashing or shooting of some sort before the years end.

Erin posted a photo gallery of our first month and this is the address.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=366331942212%3A213666854&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee


It would take ages to post them in this blog.

I am sure I have missed heaps, but I am sure Erin will correct this when she feels better

Cheers from Canada

Erin the "Cat Whisperer"

Jack started Art Camp on Monday.  He was excited about going but I was preparing for his confidence to evapourate upon entering a room of unfamiliar faces.   We were greeted by his teacher and her 'helpers' who are mainly kids who are aged between 12-16yo.  They were all expecting him as the lady who runs it (Lovenia) is one of Sandy's best friends and invited Jack to enrol.  Anyhow, they were all expecting the "Aussie Kid" and made him feel very welcome and comfortable.   Jack promptly advised me, "ummmm, Mum you can go" after being in the room for about 25 seconds.... Talk about being dismissed!    Jack comes home each day with Lovenia and her son Sawyer and I can't seem to get any information out of him.  It goes something this,
Me:  "hey Jack did you have a great day?"
Jack:  "yes"
Me:  "what did you do today?"
Jack:  "nothing"
Me:  "did you meet any new friends today?"
Jack:  "no"
Me:  "did you play today?"
Jack:  (sigh) "yesssss"
Me:  "tell me something that you loved doing today"
Jack:  (bigger sigh) "mummmm can you stop asking me things?"

He comes home with paint and stuff on his so I think he is painting???   Ha ha.  Lovenia said he has the most lovely manner (think she inhaled too many paint fumes) and is so sweet (yep she is delirious)!  There is an Art Show on Friday at 2.30pm so all the parents can come along and see all the artwork and stuff so that I am looking forward to that!

Troy and I opened a bank account yesterday and we were told we needed to have a Social Insurance Number to open the account.  I explained to the lady (she was ancient and couldn't type, read or operate a computer in any decent capacity) that we don't have the 'number', nor do we need one to work here (we don't pay Canadian taxes etc)....after scratching her head a little and me asking a couple too many questions, she took out a book and began reading up on appropriate ID to open an account.  She left the room for a second and I immediately swiped the book and read it so I was prepared when she got back.... Long story short, our Work Permits and our passports were accepted as suitable documentation.  Phew.   So after another 30 agonising minutes of her typing things incorrectly into her computer and inputting Troys name as Mister Troy instead of Troy Bower,.....grrrrr I was ready to grab the computer and slide it in front of me.  I am better at handling situations like that (I act really nice but am thinking, "you dill" in my head) Troy couldn't help himself and said to her at one point, "you just stuffed all that up" when she was typing in the wrong bits!  LOL.    Shame.  Rude Aussie. 

We also visited the Etobicoke Humane Society as they have a Cat Adoption and Re-homing Shelter where I am interested in doing some volunteer work.   I filled out my volunteer form and then was given a 'tour' of the shelter, which consisted on two medium size rooms with various aged cats.  I was in heaven.  I miss my cat KC very much and I loved cuddling and talking to the cats!  One cat named Annie caught my eye straight away as she is a dark tortoiseshell cat and it turns out that she has been at the Shelter for the longest time (ok that's me gone, hook line & sinker)....I'll take her!  I asked to pat her and was told, "oh she's not very nice.  She nips a bit so be careful".  Well after about 10-15 seconds I was giving her a good scratch and she was purring like you wouldn't believe.  She was even trying to roll herself and lay down on my hand when I was scratching her.  The lady was amazed and said she has never seen her respond like that.  What can I say???  Just call me "Erin the Cat Whisperer" from now on......  I didn't want to leave. The volunteer coordinator will give me a ring in the next couple of weeks to organise my training.  I am really looking forward to it.  
All I can say is that if Annie doesn't find a home sometime in the next 12mths, well.........she might just be coming home to Australia! 

Canadian Study

Well...due to lack of experiments conducted in the southern hemisphere I cannot post my findings on whether the water really does go down the drain in different directions depending on where you are in the world.

Maybe it is only Canadians who care????

I would however appreciate if someone in Australia could fill up their bath and let it out and then tell me which way it spins because it is the main question I get asked here.

And for any one who cares, the water spins mostly clockwise here in Canada!!!

Thanks
Troy

Fun at Walmart and Ontario Place

Well Troy had luck on his side on Wednesday when he was told that he had completed all the required training (um....hang on what training?.....He was sitting around doing not much.....) and could start at the Fire Hall.   This meant that his first shift would be on Saturday, so we had Thursday and Friday as free days together.

We ventured off to Walmart on Thursday.  I had contemplated carefully picking out my outfit of trackie dacks, g-string, mid-riff with no bra and ugg boots....but then decided it may only be the US Walmart's who get characters like that.  So off we went in respectable attire of boardshorts and tshirts with our 'flip flops'.  The men here don't wear boardies so Troy stands out a bit.  They tend to wear cargo shorts or khaki's. 

Anyhow, Walmart is very much like our Big W but only bigger.  Some items are considerably cheaper than the other stores here in Toronto and Australia.  The biggest bargain is to find that the Betty Crocker Devils Food cake mix is only $1.87 there!   Troy nearly did a happy dance in the aisle.  We stocked up on most general items.    We also went shopping and I was over the moon to discover that I am a SIZE 8 here.  SIZE 8, SIZE 8, SIZE 8.  Jeez it has been many years since I have been able to make that statement.  I wanted to tell the girl behind the counter to call for a price check on my SIZE 8 skirt!!!!   

Jack starts Art Camp next week which is run by a friend of Sandy's.  Her name is Lovenia and she is lovely.  She has been a school teacher for 15 or so years and runs this art camp during the summer.  The theme next week is Africa and Jack will learn all different African...things....I guess.  Dancing and artwork and animals etc.  Lovenia's five year old son, Sawyer will be attending and I am told by other people that Sawyer is a lovely little guy so hopefully he and Jack will kick it off.

On Friday we went to Ontario Place which is a bit like a mini dreamworld and wet n wild.  We got there just after 11am and didn't get back til about 7pm!  We had a great day.  Jack was really brave and went all all the amusement park rides - even insisting that he do it alone.  He went on a pretty scary one which is similar to a ride at the show in Townsville where you are all sitting beside eachother, they lift you up and then you free fall to the bottom.   There were also mini boats, mini ferris wheel, merry-go-round and a giant slippery slide. 

The waterpark side of things is where we spent the majority of our time.  There were two slides which Jack was big enough to go on - one was a family ride where we all go down together in a large round inflable raft!  I think Troy and I had just as much fun as Jack.  The other was a tandem waterslide with a double-person raft.  I was waiting down the bottom of the double ride waiting for Jack and Troy to emerge and I could hear Jack long before they got to the end!    There is also a large waterpark area like at the Strand (but about twice the size) with two mini waterslides for the little kids.   We were all very exhausted and a bit sunburnt when we got home that night.    It was also a battle of the fat gods for me.  The fat-gods for the upper hand at the beginning with me getting a bad case of dejuvu of doing the Goat Track whilst I was walking up the steps to the top of the waterslides.... ughhhh.   But then the fat-gods were well and truly beaten by a Baskin Robbins double scoop waffle cone!    Victory was mine.   I then noticed a stand called "Beaver Tails" and thought, hmmm I wonder what that is.  It was at that moment that someone was carrying their purchase from "Beaver Tails" and walked past me.....OH MY GODDDDDDD.  It was the most sweet and delicous smell....  I immediately had an obligation to my fellow 'foodie' friends back home to sample this treat.  I ordered the cinnamon sugar beaver tail.  It is a pastry-type long flat thing like a beaver's tail *duh... covered in cinnamon and sugar.  It tastes a bit like a big squashed cinnamon donut.   The outside border of the beaver tail is softer like a donut but the centre was crunchy!!!  I have taken a photo so will share it very very soon.  My mouth is watering just remembering it.

So the fat gods were once again defeated by a pretty large margin.  Luckily we are doing a fair amount of physical activity but I am unsure if that will be enough to overcome my new love of Beaver Tails.    Troy said I am going to be in strife if I keep it up...I am merely doing my Aussie duty to become accustomed to the foods and cuisine of Canada - plus winter will be here soon, so I am stocking up and increasing my layer of blubber for extra insulation.   Ha ha. 

We are missing everyone (even Darrin) and hope you are all well! 

Canadian Study

Ok Troy here, and have started a study to find out first hand if the water really does go down the drain in opposite directions, depending on which hemisphere you are in.  But I can only do the northern hemisphere for now so I am depending on you to do your own study and email me your findings.  If you could do this by Saturday night I will then post my findings Sundayish.  I am after the direction ( clockwise or counterclockwise, looking from above ) when you pull the plug in your sink or bath.  Try to do more than one for a more accurate result.

I have done 5 so far and not all went the same way. Only 4 out of the 5 went in the same direction

Cheers
Troy 

GPS For Sale

What should be a simple task of typing in the address and hitting done and then driving to the destination seams to be real f#%king difficult with the Tom Tom that we have bought.  I lost it in true Troy style today when it sent me through peak hour traffic to the other end of the road that I intended.  I only noticed when I was about to cross the 427 which is the big freeway next to our house???? Only about 15 kms from where I wanted to go. 
I calmly turned it off and then went ape s#!t at the world and then started driving there the old fashion way, once again!

Some Observations

Last night we were invited to Jim and Helen's house to meet their family.  They have four daughters and five grandchildren (oh and the husbands).  The kids range from 4-8yo and are really great (four boys and one girl).   Jim and Helen are wonderful people who are quite well travelled.  Jim is Irish and is great for a yarn.  I hear a bit about their drunken nights of fun, so I am looking forward to experiencing some great drunken stories sometime soon.

Anyhow, we headed over to their house (two doors away) in the early evening with a packet of Caramello Koala's which we bought over from Australia.  Handing out the Caramello Koala's was a great ice breaker for Jack, although the kids didn't really care about the point of them being from Australia, they just enjoyed the chocolate!!!  Troy was not happy to see the beautiful cadbury chocolate from home being 'wasted' on kids!  Anyhow, the kids loved the treat from Jack and that was enough to get them all chatting and they took off outside to play.

Troy didn't stay long as he was going into his Fire Hall for a second time to meet a guy who has been keeping in touch with him via email for the past month or so.  He was away when we first visited the hall, so Troy went in to introduce himself and meet him in person.    I stayed with Jack at Jim and Helen's house for an hour or so and Jack ran himself ragged!  The family get together reminded me very much of home with so many people, lots of food, conversation, drinks, noise and kids running in and out every two seconds.  There were balls and bats and frisbees and nets etc etc all strewn in the backyard which was very nostaglic also.   Jack was sad to leave but we all made assurances we would catch up again very soon.

Troy had work again today (his last week of training) so Jack and I had a lazy day at home.  We went for a bike ride to his school, testing out another way to get there rather than the other route we took last week.  Jack rode his own bike the whole way but complained that I didn't remember to take water for him.  I must remember to ensure his highness has water in future.  How silly of me that a 10 minute bike ride would require a water break. 

Here are some observations from an Aussie living in Toronto:
a)  almost every price is without tax included.  So if you see something for $1.99, when you go to pay for it, they chuck on approx 13% tax (called hst).  Some items only have 7% hst, but we are yet to figure out which etc. 
b)  the coins here are messed up - the five cent coin is bigger than the 10c coin.
c)  shopkeepers openly laugh at you if you say, "do you take Amex?"
d)  Canadians like to say, "good for you" but they aren't being a smart arse like we are.  So, if you come over to Canada and want to pay out on someone, don't say "good for you" as you will be paying them a compliment.
e) Canadians randomly stop and talk to you if you are out the front of your house.  They are friendly.
f)  When you meet a Canadian, they seem really fake nice at first.  But they aren't being fake....they really are just nice people.
g)  When you are a pedestrian and want to cross at the lights, they have different pictures to indicate when it is safe to cross.  When the crossing signal is going to change to a 'hand' to indicate not to cross, it gives you a countdown to tell you how much time you have left to get across. 
h)  There are no roundabouts in Toronto (that we have seen....)
i)  Adults don't have to wear bike helmets
j)  There are heaps of stop signs.  And in really weird places.... like at a T intersection, you will have to stop when you are going straight through (normally the car who gets to the T has to stop).
k)  When you get to a cross intersection with everyone on stop signs, the system "whoever gets there first gets to go" instead of giving way to your right.
l)  a flashing green light means cars can go straight AND turn left
m) you can turn right when you have a red light, but you have to give way to the traffic
n) most speed limits in residential areas are 40kms, well that is what the signs say but I have noticed people ignore them
o) buses have bike racks on the front of the bus for you to put your bike on (like on the bull bar)
p) Canadian's don't swear much from what we have seen
q)  The service is better here in restaurants and shops etc.  They are nicer and more helpful.
r) Canadian's don't know what rissoles are.  Or arvo. 
s) Their beer is great.
t) on a bike, the hand brakes are the opposite....found that out the hard way when I nearly went over the handle bars today.
u) Tim Horton's is a place for coffee here - it has great coffee but has a complicated way of ordering so you can't just ask for a Latte or a Cappucinno.  I was told that if you want a white coffee with sugar, you ask for a 'double double'.  Anyhow, I thought I did that but ended up with a some flash vanilla drink which was actually really nice.  Pity that I don't know what it actually is, so I can't order it again.
v) You can't stay in the country if you don't like hockey.
w) The Canadian side of Niagra Falls is better than the American side (they aren't just biased....)
x) They have this cool chip dish called a "poutine" which is chips with stuff on it, like cheese and gravy etc.  You also have to leave the country if you don't like these)
y) Taco bell is often in the same shop as KFC .... weird
z) They don't peel their potatoes before they make chips - sorry, fries.  Even at McDonalds, the fries have skin on them.  ewwwwww.

Niagara Falls

Went to a ball game on friday night, Baseball that is. Watched the Blue Jays beat some random team?  I did get told the name of the team and I think they were high up on the ladder but I forget.  A firefighter that had just come back from Australia after his exchange took us, his name is Pat, we had a good time, Jack enjoyed it for the most part.  The next day Pat and his girlfriend took us and some other Australians who are here for a Burns Camp to Niagara Falls.  We went on the boat that takes us right up to the water fall and you get doused with the mist We had a ball.  Then we came back to Toronto and went to a fourth floor balcony restaurant over looking the city square for some dinner.

Sunday was a lazy day, we had a catch up of sleep and Jack had a play with Emma from across the road and then we had a meet up with another neighbour's whole family and their kids, Jack had a good play with them.  I went up to the Fire hall and had a catch up with the guys on my shift.  They are organising a camp in a few weeks so I'll see if we can wrestle a bear or something!

One more week of training and then on the trucks for me.  Did some advanced resuscitation last week and it was all the same so thats good.  The firetrucks have a response time of around 3 mins here and they usually always beat the EMS(Ambos) to jobs.  So the fire service gets called to EVERY critical medical call like heart attacks, drownings, accidents, stabbings and so on.  But they still only have first aid medical training???? They just get to use it alot more I guess. 

Driving feels a little bit more normal now we have been doing it for a week or so.  I still check over my left should when taking long lefts sometimes, and crossing the road, we always need to stop and think where to look before crossing.  I still do the left right left right left right left right before crossing.

au revoir

We made it ONE week in Canada before having to go to the hospital!  Jack had some croup two nights ago which of course, only comes on at 3AM in the morning!  Why oh why does it hit at the most inconvenient times?  Anyhow, he has had it before so we knew immediately that we had to get him to a doctor.  Bleary eyed and a bit stressed about how to get to the hospital, we take off in the car with the GPS and teddy. 

Of course we had to take the freeway (eek, first time) but it was very quiet so it was probably the best time to try it out.  Once at the hospital, the nurses and doctors were all really really nice and once they realise you are Aussie, they are super duper nice.  The head nurse was asking us all about the exchange and was reminding Troy that "Nurses are your friends" not the doctors!! ha ha.   She said she will probably see him from time to time as she is in charge at Emergency and the Firies take patients there sometimes.   I think she may have bumped us up the wait list as well as originally it was going to be "quite a wait" and that turned into in and out within 1hour.  She was explaining that they had a shortage of beds which clogged up the Emergency Dept -- funny how health care is the same no matter which part of the world you are in!  We were back home at 5am.  Poor Troy had to get up for work at 6.30am, so he was really really tired yesterday.

His training has been a bit slow.  Lots of sitting around which has been frustrating him a bit.  I told him it's just like at home!  He is hoping today (Thurs) will be busier as they are doing some medical stuff.  He can fill you in on all that.

I went driving today (without Troy, big girl!) and got a few groceries.  It took me ages to pick the simpliest things like cereal and pasta sauce.  All the products are obviously different and where I am normally so used to grabbing the familiar brands I like, now I am having to read labels, ingredients and nutrition tables.  I found some cheddar cheese as well that resembles our cheese so Jack is pleased.   The food products are over are very.... commercialised.  Actually I don't know if commercialised is the right word.  It's like they have a million different types of packet pasta (like macaroni & cheese etc etc) and a zillion types of cereals, with all different variations of things.   Like baked beans come in about fourteen (slight exaggeration) different flavours etc.  It's weird.  We found ourselves at the milk section the other day looking at all the different types of milk saying, "we just want milk that tastes like real milk"!!   There is a whole cold section for hot dog sausages (weiners) and all the condiments that go along with that.  So we are having 'dogs' for dinner sometime soon. 

Jack has a little friend Emma (she lives across the road) for a play tomorrow so that will be great as he has been driving me up the wall.  I am sick of playing army, cars, basketball, video games (there is only so many times I can get my butt kicked by a 5yo at Mario Kart) and space ships.  Hopefully Emma will be able to handle the boy stuff better than me.  We will also visit the park for a picnic lunch.

Hope everyone is well and happy.   We will be going to a baseball game tomorrow night (Fri night) with some Firies so can't wait!! 

We had a bit of a lazy day today.  I have a headcold and Troy reckons he has chronic fatigue syndrome, so we decided to take it easy. 

Troy starts his two weeks of training tomorrow.  He thinks it will be predominantly with the Medical guru's as Fire fighters here are dispatched automatically to any serious 911 medical calls.  This can be anything from a heart attack, shooting, drowning, stabbing, stroke etc.  The Fire fighters have faster response times than the paramedics, so they just do what they can to preserve life until the paramedics arrive.  Troy has all his uniforms and gear, so I will get some photos this week.  The helmet actually has a beaver on it!  Once I figure out how to upload a photo on this blog thing, I will be able to show you. 

Driving is getting a bit easier.  It's still a bit weird but as long as you concentrate, it's ok.  I read Troy's last couple of blogs about my driving and I would like to point out that HIS driving is not great either.  When we got lost yesterday (Jack entered the wrong address in the GPS, sigh...kids) we went into a dead end street.  Troy turned the car around in a clockwise direction instead of anticlockwise!!!   See, it's not just me...

I have found a nice little shopping plaza which is relatively close (about 3kms) with a good grocery store, a bakery like Bakers Delight and a few other good little shops like BASKIN ROBBINS.  There is a really lovely Deli which stocks cheeses in every shape and form you could imagine.  I am still looking for the Bega or Coon cheese.  Oh and Troy is going to ask them to get some vegemite!

There are a few nice playgrounds in our area so we went for a walk this afternoon (Jack on the scooter) and explored a bit.   It is weird when you are in crowds of people to speak to eachother and people turn around and look at you.  I am getting a complex and think I sound really bogan.

Pork seems to be quite cheap here.  Too bad we don't eat a lot of pork - that might change.  Lamb is from New Zealand (in the shop I looked at yesterday) and a roast will set you back about $22 per kilo.  Bloody hell. 

Everything here is different.   We get excited to see familiar foods like Special K, Milo etc but then after you taste it, it is completely different.  Troy nearly cried when he found out that the Milo here tastes more like a cross between nesquick and ovaltine.  We bought a cadbury chocolate today and was sad to learn it tastes more like Nestle chocolate and also a bit like cheap chocolate easter eggs.  Hmmm.....perhaps the fat gods are realising that my willpower is so bad that they have to alter the makeup of all the great foods in my life. 

Oh WAIT!  We tried their pizza here yesterday and it was YUMMMMMM.  Their bases are so delicious, kind of like a classic crust but with a touch of crunch.  And they don't go overboard with their toppings like Aussies do.  They keep it simple and tasty!  One slice is like a whole quarter of a pizza!  You can't order a Half-slice, so OH WELL you have to eat the whole slice!  Take that, fat gods!!!

Miss you all and hope you are all enjoying your yummy Milo's and Cadbury!

Bonjour l'Australie

tout l'emballage de produits a français et anglais sur eux, si j'ai pensé nous devrions faire le même.  Si maintenant vous pouvez avoir une petite perspicacité à que c'est comme être au Canada.  Aujourd'hui nous avons sauté dans la voiture et avons dirigé au sud pour voir Ontario de lac, Jack a vu un Tramway en bas là, et il a pensé peut-être nous étions dans Melbourne? pas si !!!
Nous avons fait tout ceci sans l'aide d'un GPS juste pour une aventure. Sur le chemin du retour nous sommes allés par le refuge pour animaux où Erin pense qu'elle pourrait faire du porter volontaire. Alors nous avons allumé le GPS pour nous obtenir à la maison. Je prendrai le GPS de retour parce qu'il ne nous a pas obtenu en fait n'importe où près des destinations que nous avons voulu. Erin est entré le navigue à la bouton de maison et il nous a pris quelques blocs loin à quelque maison faite au hasard ? bien que c'était une maison agréable nous sommes incertains quant à comment cela est devenu notre destination de maison sur notre nouveau GPS ? Erin blâmait Jack. De toute façon nous sommes rentrés finalement la bonne vieille façon de mode. ...Luck!
Toujours nous conduisons à la maison nous dépassons notre maison, ils paraissent très similaires, je pense que nous avons besoin de traîner un drapeau ou quelque chose.
N'importe lequel comment j'ai découvert la chose diagonale est juste une préférence pour peu d'entre les voisins ici, et je coutume est wierd si je coupe l'herbe dans un modèle normal.


Jusqu' à encourage la prochaine fois du Canada.
 
all the packaging of products has both french and english on them, so I thought we should do the same.  So now you can have a little insight to what it is like to be in Canada.  Today we jumped in the car and headed south to see lake Ontario, Jack saw a Tram down there, and he thought maybe we were in Melbourne? not so!!!
We did all this without the help of a GPS just for an adventure. On the way back we went by the animal shelter where Erin thinks she might do some volunteering. Then we turned on the GPS to get us back home. I am going to take the GPS back because it hasn't actually got us anywhere close to the destinations we've wanted. Erin entered the navigate home button and it took us a few blocks away to some random house?? although it was a nice house we are unsure as to how that became our home destination on our new GPS? Erin was blaming Jack. Anyway we eventually got home the good old fashion way....Luck!
Everytime we drive home we overshoot our house, they all look very similar, I think we need to hang a flag out or something.
Any how I found out the diagonal thing is just a preference for a few of the neighbours here, and I wont be wierd if I mow in a normal pattern.


Until next time, cheers from Canada.