Wakefield

Venturing into Quebec province (into Gatineau Parc) with Natalie, Shannon and Kiwi - we made our way towards Wakefield, a very small, but quaint village with magnificent scenery - both natural and man made.

Arriving there around lunchtime, we made our way towards one of North America's treats - an enclosed bridge. Parking not too far from it, we made our way across the bridge, taking in the structure. During the summer time most people launch themselves from the bridge - but the way the water was flowing today, I can't imagine doing it - neither can Kate!

After taking in the scenery, we headed to the local bar, where we had lunch and a few pints! Strolling through the quaint village, we found some lovely shops including a bakery, an aboriginal souvenir hut as well as a sweets store!!!

R & R for the rest of the weekend!

Shanna's Kingston Expedition

Where do we go when the hot weather arrives? KINGSTON!!! A 2-hour drive south of Ottawa, Kingston is home to the 1000 islands, as well as Fort Henry and a few other attractions (none of which we saw, as we are back there mid June).

Shanna, a colleague from work, invited us to spend the weekend with her family (who live on the outskirts of town with a beautiful view of the lake!).
After a short drive, we arrived, then made our way into town! Shanna, a wonderful tour guide, gave us an insight into Kingston life, taking us down the main street (Princess) and venturing in to a few of the local hotspots.

The weather heated up rather quickly, so we made our way to White Mountain - home of the best ice-cream in the world - hard to argue - it was excellent!!!

Walking up and down the main street and taking in the magnificent views of the pier and local areas, we made our way to the local LCBO (beer store) to stock up for the evening ;)
Shanna took us out for dinner on the patio at "piggy's" - which was wonderful.

Sunday: After a wonderfully cooked breakfast - ok - eggs on toast - but cooked by Shanna, we made our way towards the Chaffey's lock - recommended by Bob - Shanna's dad. A great setting for lunch. A wonderful weekend and a place that we will definitely revisit in the not too distant future.

Fultons Sugar Bush - Pakenham

Now that Spring had finally arrived - and the mountain of snow that had stood before us (for the past 3 and a bit months) had melted so suddenly, we headed out to Fultons in Pakenham (pronounced Packingham), which is about a 30-45 min drive from Ottawa city - to see how Maple Syrup was made (from scratch).

After last weekends poor attempt at seeing the process (older style place - used buckets to collect the sap), Fulton's was at the cutting edge of technology. Each tree was tapped with a blue OR green line, that connected to the main pumping station. From there, the sap was heated with boiling water added to it. Unfortunately, due to the weather (again), they have had a relatively unpredictable season (they need freezing temperatures at night, then around 10 degrees during the day with some sun to speed up the process).

With a few of the girls from school, we decided we'd better sample some product. After a short sleigh ride (yep, there is still snow about!!!) we went indoors for some pancakes!!! YUM!!!!

After a great late brekky / early lunch, we went our separate ways for the rest of the weekend (wet, windy and a bit fresh).

On the way home Kiwi (Michelle) noticed (in a pamphlet) that we were going to be crossing the only 5-arched bridge in North America! With the quick melt we've had, rivers are bursting at the seams - literally and the water powered through these arches (see the results for yourself!!!)

After a tip off from one of the ladies at work, we headed out for Thai food (Pookies Thai), which was amazing....pics attached too.....doesn't do it justice!!! Bloody beautiful!

The weekend that was......

Another weekend has flown by - it's now been over 3 months since we've been here - time is flying by soooo quickly! So much still to do!

Spring has finally arrived, with temperatures hitting double digits (in the positives) for the first time since we arrived - today - 11 degrees......(the locals were in shorts and t-shirts, us, pants and jumper....wind was chilly!)

Saturday I had a workshop summIT - and IT based workshop in the city - a great day - learnt a few little things!

Sat night headed out with quite a large group of school mates, to watch one of our wonderfully talented teacher/musician mates gigs......a great turnout by staff ensured a good night -and relatively long one!

After a late night, or early morning - your choice - we got up around 11 - heading to the Sugar Shack over in Quebec Province. After taking the wrong turn - French signs are hard to follow! We arrived to find that the snow had melted at an alarming rate over the past week, causing the tubing to finish a little early. Browsing around quickly, we realised that we'd have to head to another shack next weekend to see the full process being completed! A burger washed down with a pint in Ottawa city finished off a busy and lovely Sunday arvo quite well!

Globetrotting

The show has come to town - The HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS. For years, I have seen these fantastic showmen parade themselves on the net, slamming, passing and dribbling their way past their opponents, putting on a great show - and a great show it was.

We laughed so hard during the evening, it has a show that you have to see - once is enough. Plenty of crowd interaction and staging, great competitions and fun for everyone! Had a blast. A great school night out!

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!!!)