Saturday was spent gardening, cleaning and preparing for the Susan’s birthday barbeque. I was given the responsibility of using the Whipper Snipper to cut the edge of the grass. Whipper Snipper is a much better name for a grass trimmer than Strimmer! I was also given the responsibility of loading the charcuterie board and assisting with frying the onions. Susan did so much in the morning that she needed a bit of a nap in the afternoon! It was lovely to meet some more of Susan’s friends, and a very pleasant evening was had by all with plenty of food and drink being consumed. The mossies were out again though! Having started our celebrations quite early, we were tidied up and in bed at a sensible time, however some of the neighbours weren’t, with a party ... read more

Today we woke to sound of rain. Once the curtains were open we confirmed that it was definitely raining, and the view of the mountain from our window was cloaked by a layer of grey cloud. We had checked the forecast yesterday so we weren’t surprised, just a bit disappointed that the forecast was correct! We had planned to ‘do’ Lake Louise today, so we did. The lake is about an hour drive along the Trans Canada Highway, and it was unnerving at times with the massive tandem-rigged trucks thundering past in the rain, at speeds exceeding the speed limit, and with the spray from their wheels obscuring vision for a few seconds. What size engine do these things have to pull such huge loads at such speed?! The Bow River flows along beside the highway ... read more

After a lovely dinner, a good sleep and a delicious breakfast, we said cheerio and a massive thank you to Marg and Warren, loaded up Megan and headed south along the road the road back towards Calgary. There was a very faint smell of smoke, in the air, with a slight haze on the distant horizon. Along the road there are a few RV (caravan & camper van) ‘shops’ – one was called RV There Yet– very clever! As we reached the north of Calgary we turned right onto the Trans Canada highway, and soon had the view of the eastern Rockies visible in the distance, shadowy silhouettes behind the grey of the smoke. As we got nearer they mountains became clearer, their craggy peaks towering over the road, some with dots of snow still apparent. ... read more

So the whole point of our outing today was to find somewhere for me to have a dip in the Bay of Fundy (BoF). This has the highest tidal range in the world – up to 16m (52 feet). The Bristol Channel where I live has the second highest tidal range in the world at up to 14m (46 feet). Swimming in the BoF was one of my ‘I’d REALLY like to do this’ things on my trip over the Atlantic. Actually it’s on my bucket list! Marg joined us for the day and after a quick detour to get her new phone we headed off towards Wolfville, a university town about an hour away where we planned to get lunch. We passed signs to Windsor (apparently the birthplace of Hockey) and Chester, drove through some ... read more

After a bit of a lie-in this morning we headed out to Halifax. I persuaded Susan that we really needed to go on the bus, and bless her, she relented. The bus stop was at the bottom of the road we’re staying on, so that bit was easy. The buses in this area don’t take card payments, and thankfully I had some change. It wasn’t until I’d dropped my money into the slot that the driver told me there wouldn’t (couldn’t!) be any change. He got a 60c tip! It took about an hour to get to Downtown Halifax. The journey took us through a couple of suburbs where the population was the most diverse I’ve seen since I’ve been in Canada, both socially and culturally. We exited the bus at the Public Gardens and had ... read more