The SOLD sign is up and other significant events

We drove past our new house yesterday and saw that the agent had put the "SOLD" sign up - that's a sure sign it's now really ours.

It's ours!

And yet another deer!

And yet another lovely Nanaimo view from one of the residential streets.

Yesterday we went through those life changing events that one would rather avoid but sometimes just can't...trying out a new hairdresser! To the young girl who was to cut my hair, I explained how I was happy with the style but just needed a bit of trimming in a couple of areas. After an hour of painstaking cutting, razoring, texturing etc. I was turned out of the shop looking like a blond James Dean - but many years older and without the good looks! I'm pretty sure she won't be on the short list.

However, the discovery of a lovely day spa close by turned out much better and I am now sporting lovely nails after a very relaxing manicure (despite the manicurist having a chipmunk voice) and pedicure - hopefully they (the nails that is) will last a few weeks as we don't have to do the packing, cleaning etc. of the past few months.

After the day's activities, we packed a picnic bag and headed down to one of the waterfront parks and spent a very relaxing few hours in the sunshine. Had a lovely and lively chat with a couple who spend half the year here (because of daughter being here) and half in New Jersey.

Neck Point Park - picnic spot

This is a long weekend and so today we are driving two hours north to Miracle Beach National Park (not entirely sure what miracles are performed there but I have a list of ones I'd like to submit for consideration). Our friends Don & Marilyn Macyk from Edmonton and some of their family are camping there for the week. We will just drop in for the day - we are looking forward to seeing them again. Will post some photos of that area tomorrow.

Now taking bookings

Hooray, it was third time lucky! We've just come from paying a deposit for the house I talked about yesterday so I guess it really is real. Just have the five days to go through inspections etc, pay balance of the deposit and then just count the days till we move in on 1st September. We are so excited - it's a great house and should make a very comfortable home and spot for friends and family to come and enjoy all that this wonderful part of the world has to offer. Few more photos below. No point showing more of the inside as it has all of the current owners' furniture - and they have impeccable taste so you might be disappointed when you see it full of our stuff!

Hopefully by the time the first visitors arrive, we will have acquired more familiarity with the area so we can be adequate hosts/tour guides. That will be our mission!

After coming from the house yesterday, we decided to take a little drive out of town. We went south about half an hour to a small town called Ladysmith and spent a few relaxing hours in a busy waterfront park just watching the action of families picknicking, kids playing and people swimming and kayaking. It was nice to have a change of pace.

Transfer Park in Ladysmith

This little guy was practicing to be a log roller!

On the way back into town, we stopped and had dinner and that's when we got the news that our offer had been accepted on the house - how efficient is that? We were already halfway through celebrating when the call came through.

Lighthouse Bistro

After dinner we walked along the Nanaimo foreshore and out onto the public dock. Met a couple who had just moved here a couple of weeks ago from northern Alberta. They had learned how to catch crab since arriving and were busy with their nets and bait of raw chicken. I'm tempted to learn the fine art of crabbing myself as it seems pretty easy. We exchanged contact details so we can connect sometime in the future. Also had a chat with a crusty long-time resident who expounded on anything and everything - spurred on by an afternoon of beers with his buddies!

Nanaimo Harbour

Dinner for someone lucky

While I've been sitting updating the blog, Brian went out to purchase one of the first new Macbook Air laptops - they hadn't even been put out on the shelf. He is now back and happily playing with it. Will be nice to switch from this very old laptop which has been limping along for us.

Today feels a bit more normal which is nice. I think we are finally over any jet lag, bugs and stress and can start to feel more settled. Of course, that will compound for the better once we move into the house (which will be empty for almost a month as we wait for our container to arrive). We'll have to scrounge some basics so we can stay there and save on hotel costs etc. Fortunately a BBQ, patio set and kitchen stools are included in the sale and we have a picnic set so that is a good start. We will be able to sit and eat. Just have to take care of the sleeping bit.

In a week or so we will take off and drive through the Rockies to visit family and friends in Alberta and then probably fly to Ontario to see Brian's family. It's all happening.

Can't wait to take up residence in 3077 Hammond Bay Road in September. Oh yes, we actually drove past Dingle Bingle Hill yesterday so it really is real! How funny is that?

Sometimes house hunting is like a box of chocolates....

You never know what you are going to get!

These past few days have been a bit of a roller coaster as we continue to go through the house hunting process. Thankfully we didn't go with our first choice of the renovation special as Brian would never had any leisure time...and thank heavens we backed off from the house with the GINORMOUS deck as all sorts of big issues unfolded as we progressed...and that brings us to today. Will it be third time lucky? We have just come from a second inspection of a house we put an offer in on yesterday. Had a counter offer from the owners and have just put in our counter-counter. Waiting to see what happens next.

So, if this is our new home, we would feel very fortunate. It has a few imperfections but, hey, who or what doesn't?  It's a couple of kilometres down the road from the first house mentioned above. Difference with this one is that all the fixing has been done so Brian would have nothing but leisure..and that worries him! The yard though does still have a lot of potential for improvement, thank heavens. The home is absolutely gorgeous, across from the water with brilliant views and a large deck from which to enjoy aforesaid views. There is a "beach" access a couple of houses down. Beach here is basically a rocky stretch between the land and the water so beach shoes would be essential. A 15 minute walk in the other direction brings you to Departure Bay foreshore which has a few eating spots, a gas station and not much else - ripe for development I would say!

How is it possible to remain unemotional when buying a house? We are doing our best but it is tough that's for sure. Just to whet your appetite, here are a couple of photos....

The weather today is spectacular and Nanaimo is having its annual big event - the bathtub races out on the bay. We saw a bit of it while checking out the house this morning but we will go out shortly and spend some time down by the water to enjoy some of the other events.

Is this our new home?

We've lost count of the number of houses we have trekked through over the past week. So many homes, so many which don't measure up to our check list. We did put a low ball offer in on a house overlooking the ocean - with our usual gusto attitude to renovations, we assured ourselves that this house which needed EVERYTHING done inside and out, would be fine and would not take up all of our time and money! I think Brian was starting to feel a bit weak at the knees at the thought of taking on another such huge project. Thankfully the sellers came back with an unacceptable counter offer which gave us time to reconsider - and reconsider we did.

We continued to look and also went back to some previous places. End result is that we have put an offer on another house and are just waiting for confirmation this morning that all is well - only sticking point was possession date which at this point is 15th September (a week or so before our container arrives). So...we may just have ourselves our new home on Wiltshire Drive - keep your fingers crossed.

We are so glad that we didn't end up buying on Merry Men Way, Athletic Street, Bergen-op-Zoom Drive, Black Franks Drive, Bratt Road, Buttertubs Drive, Captain Tristian de Konnick Way, Dingle Bingle Hill Terrace (seriously), Giggleswick Place, Lazy Susan Drive, Old Slope Place, Szasz Drive, Twiggly Wiggley Road (again, seriously) or Vowels Road, although we could have settled happily on Brian's Way or Thompsons Avenue.

The house has a huge upstairs deck, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and lots of other spaces as well as good storage, large garage for Brian's tools etc. There is also a hot tub included which in a way makes up for the fact that we sold our almost brand new hot tub in Australia for a pittance. There are still projects to do in this house but not nearly on such an overwhelming scale - and none are immediate unless we choose.

The 47 x 12 foot deck

Part of the view from the deck

Along with our house hunting this past week, we have managed to get our BC drivers' licences, health coverage, paperwork started to renew my Permanent Resident Card, etc. etc. Once we get the house situation resolved, we can have a bit more time for R & R to explore the area and also to plan a trip to Alberta to see family and friends and then maybe onward for a drive across Canada to see the Ontario family! Lots for us to look forward to.

UPDATE, UPDATE!  We've just received confirmation that our offer has been accepted! Yeah! We now have a new home. Can't wait to move in and start playing.

My next update should include some Vancouver Island touring stories. Stay tuned!

Sleepless in Nanaimo

After all of the planning and goodbyes, we are finally here on Vancouver Island. Thankfully, Canadian Immigration saw fit to let me back into the country! Arrived last Thursday (14th July) to a grey rainy day, followed by another grey rainy day. That was fine by us as we struggled to get over the fatigue of the past few months.



Our plane...

Are we there yet?

Almost!

Finally off the plane...we are here...

in Nanaimo, the harbour city.

Despite the jet lag, on Friday we were up and about and by the end of the day had bought ourselves a lovely new vehicle - a Honda. Special feature...heated seats in anticipation of some cold days ahead. We also finally have a GPS system whom we have affectionately called Zelda and we have enjoyed getting to know her.

It didn't take us long to make our first trip to "Timmy's"! Tim Horton's is a Canadian institution (their claim to fame is coffee & doughnuts/muffins but they also have great soup & sandwich lunches at very reasonable prices). Now it feels as though we are in Canada.

Last weekend was spent driving the streets of Nanaimo's neighbourhoods and looking at houses. We have met and are working with a lovely real estate agent named Braden who is VERY young. He says his clients often call him Uncle Braden - I assured him that would not work for us. We are getting a handle on the layout of this very beautiful city - far lovelier than we expected as when we were here last year for a brief visit, we didn't really see a lot beyond downtown and the main highway. Everywhere you drive, there are views of the water - because the island is so close to the mainland, you can see it in the background with smaller islands in between - very pretty.

One thing which has been interesting about Nanaimo is the number of deer we see in the suburbs - blithely munching on anyone's plants which take their fancy. We have seen whole families of them enjoying the smorgasbord of delights which are readily available.

We are off this afternoon for some more house hunting with "Uncle Braden". We've seen some possible contenders but want to take our time making a decision. There are homes with fabulous views which would be nice but the house has to work as well. This morning will be spent doing some more of the paperwork necessary to get our lives organised here. All in all, we are feeling pretty good about things so far. People here have been very helpful and pleasant.

Our temporary "home"



Up Up and Away

It has been an eventful month or so with farewells with some of the wonderful people we have been proud to have as friends plus a great few days with "the sisters".

We've now been homeless for a week! Feels pretty strange although we had a great stay with Bev and John who managed to keep us busy  and preoccupied ...have had a last Sydney Harbour ferry ride to Cockatoo Island followed by drinks by the harbour, coffee at The Haven in Terrigal, overnight power trip to Mudgee via the beautiful Galston Gorge and a final Sydney dinner experience last night.

Cockatoo Island

Can't beat this view!

Our accommodation in Mudgee (actually Gulgong - Owl's Head)

The hectic pace has left both of us with a bug so today at our hotel in Sydney we have been taking it easy. Think of us at coffee time tomorrow morning as we take off to begin our new life.

We'll keep you posted...asta la vista Australia!

When is a house not a home? 5th July

We are into Day 2 of the big pack! There are white boxes and shapes everywhere - our life reduced to anonymous packages. It's funny how quickly you disengage when your "things" aren't around. The movers have been fabulous - the only remaining concern (for me) is whether all of these packages will fit into the high top 40 foot container which arrives tomorrow to be loaded.

See all of that extra space!

Update...everything fitted with space to spare. I could have kept more ... Darn!