New York City

Start spreading the news....da da da da da....(you get the drift). Well, what a week of work...(boring)....let's get to the good stuff!!! NEW YORK CITY BABY!

Arriving mid arvo on Good Friday (due to the delay at Ottawa airport / Newark Airport - Jersey) - strong winds caused huge problems in the US....we arrived safely (after having the pilot inform us it was to take 20 mins of circling above for us to land OR for the 25 mins of fuel left on board to run out - meaning we would head for Pennsylvania.....hmmmm...not reassuring us really, but we made it!)

Stepping off the plane - very small and cosy - 40 people on it - for an International flight - we arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport, around 15 miles from Manhattan. After the short trip - discussing cricket of all things - yeah, he was an Indian bloke - wanting to give us some stick about losing!!! we arrived on Manhattan - an amazing spectacle! Seeing the Empire State Building, Chrysler building and well any building of notable height (Ottawa is as flat as a pancake), we knew we were bound to love this place!!!

Finding our hotel with relative ease - 4 star luxury at a bargain rate - I LOVE NY & TRAVELOCITY!!! - we made our way towards Times Square....taking in all the fluorescent lights, massive screens, you need to see it to put it into perspective!

We did so many amazing things - i can't be bothered writing about - so here are the images so you can see for yourself. Up early, bed late - New York style!!! An amazing experience....and yes, I bought a Yankees jumper (sweater) and a Mets hat......it was $10 - give me a break!!!!

The storm begins!!!

Take a good look at the chair and table......(and this was after the massive snowfall we had during the week!)

What a final week of Term 2. We've had 2 snow days - each carrying between 20-30cm of snow, a full PD day and then, you guessed it, Friday snowed again - 10 to 15 cm, which was the calm before the storm- Ottawa had the largest storm of the season arrive (later afternoon Saturday, bringing over 48cm of snow in under 24 hours!!! Kate and I both shovelled hard Saturday morning to remove the first wave, then bunkered ourselves in for the day - heading to the supermarket to get food (in case we couldn't get out). The winds blew the snow around everywhere, causing havoc on the roads, lucky for us we were watching cheesy movies at home (American Pie:Beta House, Heartbreak Kid, Bee movie etc - don't think I need to say any more!!)

Waking Sunday morning - we headed out - to find everything covered in - yep - SNOW! Words can't express how much there was....so the photos will have to do that job for you (look at objects in the surrounding area to gauge size!!!) There are some "before" and "after" shots to make it all that more impressive (shame we didn't do it BEFORE Friday - as there would have been even more of a transition!)

So far over 4 metres of snow has fallen on Ottawa - making it the 2nd heaviest snowfall since
they began to record these things! Only 40cm to go until we break the record - and with more snow forecast for Thurs, Fri and Sat, we're in with a good shot!!! We're so close, I want that T-Shirt that says "I survived the winter of 2008!!!" - Didn't Karen pick a good year to be away!

Now I am enjoying Spring Break (Kate has to work, but she'll tough it out - just over a week till New York!!!)

Muesum of Civilization

As you have read above, Kate and I headed over to the province of Quebec (a stone's throw, well actually, a bridge crossing, but you get the drift) heading for Gatineau, which borders the Ottawa river.

We were desperate to see the First Nations & Aboriginals exhibit (especially after I had spent the best part of Term 2 teaching the kids about the natives of Canada!!) which highlights the Pacific Coast, Atlantic Coast and Inuit tribes in great detail as well as showing images of the many other tribes that inhabited the lands.

The museum had a number of interesting displays that were informative and gave you an indication of what life would have been like for these people many years ago (we're complaining that it is cold etc - at least we didn't have to hunt the animals down to get the fur to be warm!)