First Day in Canada.

No idea what time of the day it feels like or which day it is but here we are safe and sound. Our flight over was uneventful – last taste of L&P for months and landed in Vancouver after 1 hour’s sleep to a gorgeous clear day and Uncle Gilmore’s smiling face and bear hug. We are staying with Todd and Nancy and their 2 bundles of energy. Halle has taken to Laura like a limpet and Ethan is in Monopoly heaven with playing buddies. Jeff is envious of Todd’s amazing deck and fire pit and Linda is loving being with extended family. There is something special about sharing coffee and baking with people you have shared history with even though you haven’t seen them for years. Loving meeting the next generation of kids and getting a feel for living in Canada.

 

We arrived in Vancouver 2.15pm Tuesday afternoon, 6 hours before we left Auckland (the flight left Auckland 8pm Tuesday) – I always find that weird! Had a lovely family dinner followed by the younger generation, including Kelly and Monica's 2 kids, getting up to noisy high-jinks while the adults chatted. We had a great catch up sleep last night. Today we’ve done a little shopping, lots of people watching, a lovely nature walk more catching up with family and a good game of monopoly.

 

First impressions of Canada:

·         Flying into Vancouver over islands, inlets and river and spread out city with lots of green speckled with maples turning red

·         Such a friendly experience with the customs man at the airport asking us how Christchurch was doing with the rebuild!

·         Driving to Abbotsford – heading towards mountains topped with snow just over the border in the USA in the distance.

·         Great hospitality from family. Skeels around the world are the best!

·         Different migrant mix to Chch. It’s interesting what you get used to.

·         Tree lined roads through rolling countryside with lots of berry farms and snow covered mountains surrounding in the distance.