WINNING WALLABIES

The weekend started off well for a change with the Wallabies beating Wales early Saturday morning Canadian time. The matches are not on TV over here so you have to search the web. A couple of weeks ago I paid $75USD to sign up for an Internet subscription service that provides sports feeds.

This service shows nearly every sport known to man the problem is whether you can pick up the feed. Over the last couple of weeks I have endured poor feeds via a matchbox size screed on my laptop. The feed is intermittent and freezes for minutes at a time, usually when a try is about to be scored or saved.

Add this aspect to the way the Wallabies have played over the past few weeks makes for a very frustrating weekend.

This weekend I had the same problems initially I couldn't find a site on my computer to watch the game and when it did it froze and took ages to re-load. Of course this is the 40 minutes that the Wallabies decided to play rugby and turn on the razzle dazzle, but I saw none of it.

Totally pissed off I went looking for another channel at halftime and found one that was free. It was the Foxsports feed from Australia so here I was in Canada watching the Wallabies play rugby against Wales watching a feed from Australia....strange.

So I got to see the second half and stayed on the channel to watch the All Blacks beat France. That was a great game of running rugby.

It has been cold and bleak here over the weekend, no rain or snow but overcast and clod. Now in the midst of getting out and putting up Christmas decorations a chore I am trying to stay away from.

Not much on the radar for the week except for a trip to Wal-Mart in Washington State to do some grocery shopping as it is so much cheaper in the USA than here in Canada.

PICKLES ON A STICK

Often when I talk to family or friends on the phone or when I am out and about in Canada people ask me what I find are the major differences between living in Australia and living in Canada.

That got me thinking and here is a list off the top of my head in no particular order.

Taxes: In British Columbia where I live purchasers pay two taxes on sales, a Provincial tax and a federal tax. That's okay I have no problems at all in paying taxes what I don't like though is here the tax is added after the sale. It still takes me by suprise. Here I am thinking that I have just got myself a sweet deal and then they add the taxes at the point of sale. Just yesterday I bout a TV and paid $100 in Province and Federal taxes and then paid another $35 in TV tax? I still have no idea what that is. So my sweet TV deal ended up costing and extra $135 which didn't make the deal so sweet after all. Another time I constantly get caught out with the taxes is for flights and accommodation. The airline sites here in Canada quote all of their fares without the taxes. They get added when you go to pay. I like the Australian way, when you see a price you know that is what you pay as all the taxes have been added in.

Mail boxes: Posties have it easy in this part of the world as they don't home deliver banks of post boxes are set up in strategic areas and residents are issued with a box and a key. Up until a short while ago our postbox was about 500 metres away, just a month ago the boxes moved and now they are only 30 metres away which is better. Two advantages of the mailbox banks are that amongst the banks are several over sized boxes where you can have your parcels delivered and there is a slot at the top of the bank where you can post letters. So no posties here on motorbikes or foot, they all ride around in mini vans.

Petrol Stations: Here in BC you must pay before you fill up.

Banks and Banking: I can't believe how antiquated the banking system is here. Internet banking is way behind Australia and B Pay is non-existant.

Your Welcome: Canadians are renowned for being the politest of people and Your Welcomes fly thick and fast between all and sundry. I have been thought rude because I don't respond and never will (lord, strike me down if I do) with a Your Welcome. I still use the "no worries" or "no problem" when someone does me a service. Canadians don't get it unfortunately.

Winter sports: The sports sections here are filled with ice hockey, skiing, curling etc. all ice sports really. Plus a smattering of NBA and gridiron (Canadian/American). For a while I was getting 3 AFL and 2 NRL matches live a weekend as well as all of the rugby tests live. The AFL and NRL dried up as soon as the English Premier League started, though I did get the AFL Grand Final live. I don't even get the rugby tests live now I have to go onto the net to get them.

Food: Really not all that much is different, the foods are basically the same but packaged and presented differently. Meat is expensive here and fish is cheap. Probably the strangest thing I can think of is that they sell pickles on a stick at the cinema and people actually buy them to eat whilst watching a movie. (I am not kidding). And people say Vegemite is a weird food!

There are probably plenty more little things that pop up from time to time but the longer one stays the more you become used to and accept the differences.

Canada is a great place to live, very similar to Australia, the people are nice and the scenery is spectacular. What are you waiting for?

DEER ATTACKS

Cold and a little bleak in OK Falls at the moment. One of the hardest things to get used to is how early the sun sets at this time of year. Twilight is just a little after 1600 and it is totally dark by 1640. God knows what it will be like in the dead of winter.

I had an interesting experience on the walk with the dog yesterday. We were walking in the huge expanse of community forrest and two deer's were in front of us moving slowly away, but keeping an eye on both the dog and I.

Matilda, as is her want was scampering around like a blue arse fly, running full pelt here, screeching to a stop there, coming back and having a mock charge at me. In other words she was being a pest as usual. As we started to go up the slope of a hill Matilda ran 40 metres in front of me and stopped on the track to look back to where I was.

Now the mother deer must have watched all of this and thought that this pint-sized dog must have been a potential threat to her accompanying fawn, who was no Bambi anymore, it was a good size.

So mother deer decided to give Matilda a warning and charged her. Matilda, dipstick that she is wasa totally unaware of this and was looking back blissfully unaware at me. She didn't realise that she was in any danger until the deer stormed past her at close quarters. That got her attention.

The mother deer wasn't finished and came back for another go just to make sure the dog got the message. This time Matilda saw her coming and leapt out of the way. Luckily she jumped the right way otherwise she would have been trampled. Having got the message Matilda bolted back to me and hid behind my legs. The deer's gave us both a final look and took off over the hill.

I looked upon all of this with some amusement as one doesn't usually connect cute looking deers with Kamikazi charges. I assume the deer meant to frighten the dog rather than harm it. I know if she had hit the dog she would have done some serious damage.

Of course today on our walk Matilda gave all the deers we saw a wide berth. Perhaps she isn't as silly as I thought!

XMAS LIGHTS

Well it appears to be that time of year again as Xmas lights and decorations are starting to spring up all over the place, here in OK Falls. I have been told that these are the early birds, the harbingers of garish colour, kitsch and bright lights to come.



In my short time in Canada I have quickly come to the realisation that Canadians just love to have an excuse to decorate their house with all manner of trinkets and the only thing that is better than that is the opportunity to dress oneself in outlandish costumes and not be thought the worse for it.



First on the agenda was the change of season from summer to fall (autumn). Here, if you are indeed a good Canadian you have to place scarecrows on your front porch and a wreath of autumn leaves on your door. Now I don't know if this is some type of pagan or perhaps christian ritual that us Down Under heathens have allowed to pass by or maybe it is that our storekeepers aren't savvy enough to cash in on another consumer bonanza that has hapless citizens racing about to purchase a scarecrow to place upon an urban porch without nary a crop in sight.



Shortly after Canadians had welcomed fall to their doorstep they wage war against turkeys. Thousand upon thousands of turkey's paid the supreme sacrifice to decorate Canadian Thanksgiving table feasts. Families come together to celebrate what I am not sure. I know why Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, but I am still unsure what Canadians celebrate on the day.



No sooner are the turkey carcasses removed from the dining room table when Canadians take to the fields to collect over sized pumpkins that are grown for the distinct purpose of being mutilated and then illuminated in a front yard. It seems a little incongruous that there are millions starving in the world and all these pumpkins are grown to simply amuse and then left to rot away.



Canadians really throw themselves into the Halloween celebrations. Just up the road from our place a family dug a hole in their front lawn and deposited a full length coffin which contained a skeleton. The whole scene was cordoned off with special Halloween tape and floodlights illuminated the area.



What a show.

I have to place my hand up in the air this time as I too plundered peaceful fields in search of the perfect Halloween pumpkin. An 87lb pumpkin was the best we could do and we proudly sat the pumpkin on the front lawn only to be embarrassed and disappointed a few hours later when a neighbour deposited a pumpkin twice the size on their front lawn.



The shame of it all!



The impending Halloween frenzy was too much for me I had to escape back to Australia to find a Halloween free zone. It almost worked and I was only accosted by three groups of small children presenting themselves at the front door of my son's house. I envisage in years to come someone will have to go to some remote and backwards place like New Zealand to escape the clutches of the Halloween beast.



I can either deny all that goes on in regards to these celebrations and claim that they are un-Australian or I can join in.



So how do I get on the roof to hook up the illuminated Santa and reindeer's!

On a personal note it would be nice to know if I am writing this blog for an audience of one....ME. If anyone else out there is reading this leave a comment. Nothing much just something to let me know that I am not alone.

DASHING DEER

It seemed that only a short time ago I was watching kangaroos bounding past the house where I lived. It happened on such a regular basis that I didn't even bother to look up. It was so mundane that the dog even stopped barking at them as they bounded by the back fence.

Now I find myself in Canada and confronted by a new type of bounder. Well to be accurate deer don't bound so much as leap, though those around OK Falls are more the ambling type of deer who just saunter down the middle of the rode going to one suburban garden after another.

The Australian in me still gets a kick out of seeing deer wandering around the streets. They really have no fear of humans and you can get reasonably close before they wander off. They crop grass close to busy roads all the time, yet in all my Canadian travels I haven't see one roadkill deer. The only dead deer I have seen were 2 dead deer beside a road in Washington, State, USA.

That tells me two things. American deer are dumber than Canadian deer and Australian kangaroos are dumber than all the animals in North America, because our roads are littered with dead kangaroos.

Just this morning I let the dog out into what passes as a backyard to be confronted by 2 deer happily chomping away on the remains of a summer garden. The dog thought about a chase but decided that discretion was the better part of valor and sat back valiantly and saw the deer off the property. The deer paid both the dog and I scant attention and wandered off when they felt like it.

Damn deer!

The other animal I have run into recently is bighorn sheep. I have seen them on the rocky slopes of the hills near where I walk the dog. They have only appeared recently so I assume that the onset of the cold weather and snow has driven them down from the higher peaks.

Sometimes I just see them far off silhouetted on a far off hill, but today they were relatively close to the trail a group of 5 bighorns who just watched my passage impassively never once taking their eyes from me or the dog. The buck was a huge animal with an impressive set of horns. Sad that these animals that are adept at suriving in such a harsh environment are often easy fodder for hunters gun's.

Not much going on with the book, still editing slowly with a target to finish by 07 December. What a relief that will be.

TOMMY REVISITED

Finally after well over a month away from the keyboard I started back again today at my book about a boy called Tommy Tippett. I finished the first draft of the book around five weeks and 85,500 words ago. Most of what I have read about writing states that once the first draft is complete you should lock the manuscript away in a drawer and leave it there for some time and revisit it later when you are refreshed and recharged. The theory goes that the time away from your book will allow you to look at it in a new light when you revisit your pages.

So that's what I did, I had a break and now I have returned keen to finish the editing process and get the book out there and see what happens. I can't say it was easy though, I did have some trepidation about starting off again as I really wasn't all that excited about the whole process of reviewing over 200 A4 sized pages.

today I bite the bullet and opened the book and started to edit, finese and re-write. Like most things the hardest part was that first step and once on my way it was easier. I only completed 10 pages today but now know I can complete more than that so I have placed a deadline of finishing the editing of Tommy Tippett by 07 December 2009. Let see how it goes.

It was a balmy 12c here in OK Falls today and the sun was shining a nice change after almost a week of cold, wet and sometimes snowy weather.

I started my workout routine again yesterday, like writing it is hard to commit to that first step but oncec taken it becomes easier. My knees are holding up, just so no high impact workouts, but enough to get the cardio going and the waist trim.

On that point I bought a pair of Asic Kayano 15 runners, the same brand I have bought for the last 10 years. I priced them when I was back home in Oz a few weeks ago and they were almost $300. I bought a pair from the USA and I paid $100. It is hard to imagine why a pair of running shoes should almost cost $200 more in Australia.

I dropped the Jeep off at a local garage today for a full service. It is just a new business so I thought I would support a local business. I know buggerall about cars and I am always wary of mechanics and the like, I suppose I just don't trust them. I thought a worst case scenario may have been $200 so I was taken aback when it came to $316.

But wait there is more in Canada the pricec you see is never the price you get for nobody adds the Federal or Provincial tax into the price. So an airline ticket you see for $120 is in fact $150 or more. By the time the taxes were applied to my repair bill the total cost was $355. All for a service. he told me what he did but I don't trust him. Yeah sure, shop local!

SNOW, WIND AND RAIN

A little over a week ago I was basking in the delightful sunshine of a warm spring day in Melbourne. The sky was clear and the sun was warm. A week later I walk a snowy trail in Okanagan Falls in British Columbia, Canada wondering when the sun will shine again and when my ears will be warm.

The Okanagan Valley is considered one of the prettiest and "must live" places in Canada. It is Canada's answer to South East Queensland, everyone who doesn't live here wants to move here to live. In the warmer months tourists flock to the region to sample the wine, take in the majestic mountain ranges that border the Valley and swim in the cool, crystal clear water of deep blue freshwater lakes. The days are hot and long, perfect for a holiday and a break from the hustle and bustle of larger Canadian and American cities.

Life is almost perfect.

But as the months march on, strange things start to happen, the leaves on the tree's change colours and then fall to the ground leaving behind bare limbs. Gaggles of birds take to the air and fly south in large V formations, precious garden trees and shrubs are wrapped in hessian to protect them from the cold.

Winter is on its way to Okanagan Falls.

In South East Queensland if a minimum temperature reaches 5c there is a run on doona's at
K-Mart. When I was living in Darwin recently a drop in temperature to 18c made front page news and prompted Darwinians to write to their southern relatives urging them to send Ugg Boots and flannel shirts.

If only that were the case in Okanagan Falls. Looking at the week ahead the maximum temperature is a forecast 5c and the minimum is -6. Those in the East of Canada would say that is an excellent forecast as temperatures there are often 10c-15c colder than here in the Okanagan.

The house I live in has central heating, a fireplace as well as two oil burners I walk around the house in shorts and t-shirt and I sometimes forget where I am and venture out to collect the mail or put the dog out and stop dead in my tracks as an icy cold wind takes hold of me and freezes the exposed parts of my body. In a most un-Australian fashion I bolt back into the warm house screaming like a little girl.

When we take the dog for a walk along the cliffs that overlook Skaha Lake one has to dress as if heading off for a mission to the Antarctic. Hat, ear-protectors, scarf, a heavy jacket with layers underneath as well as a pair of wind-proof pants, with thermals underneath, heavy woollen socks and sturdy shoes.

Well that is what the smart Canadians wear.

Whereas a smart Aussie such as I try and make do with a jacket over a t-shirt a pair of jeans a pair of sport socks and runners! I don't want to wear the offered hat because it will make me look like Elmer Fudd, nor do I want ear muff's as only small children and old folk's wear them. Layers of clothes under my jacket...no way no self respecting ANZAC would dare do that and only Canadians and people on American sitcoms wear long-john's. Warm socks would be nice but they cost five bucks and I would rather have a punt on the Wallabies than waste five dollars in trying to keep warm.

So I walk the snowy, windswept paths, with my ear's frozen and face chilled. My hands are numb with cold and starting to turn blue as frostbite sets in. My shivers and shakes nearly send me over the edge of the narrow path, but when asked if I am cold or if I would like a loan of a pair of gloves I just growl back that that would be a wussy thing to do and I am not cold at all.

I sometimes really hate my goddamn Australian pride and stubbornness.

Just today I asked my partner how cold it actually gets here in the middle of winter and she said last year it got to -27c on quite a few occasions. At that rate I may have to wear two t-shirts under my jacket.

But there is something to be said for walking in the snow with the sun shining, the air crisp, cold and clear an experience we don't often get in Australia.

Today as we were walking the dog my partner said "oh look at the big stick Matilda has in her mouth." M'mmm to my mind something didn't look quite right about this "stick" the dog had in her mouth.

You can imagine my amusement when I found that the "stick" was actually the leg of a deer. Matilda no doubt thought that this was indeed her lucky day. God knows what happened to the rest of the deer, perhaps a wolf or a cougar. I do know that after I wrestled the large morsel from Matilda we stepped a little more carefully in case there was a predator lurking in the woods.

Life is interesting, there is something different every day. Canada is so different but at the same time so similar to Australia

COLD CANADA

Sweltering in Melbourne one moment and freezing in Canada the next. Now I know why my body hates me at times.

Departed Melbourne without too much fuss though I did manage to leave my camera in my friends car. No problems, camera's were on special at the duty free, so I moved from a bulky Cannon camera to a lightweight model. Still it is an annoyance to leave stuff behind.

On most of my travels I avail myself of the Qantas lounge, something I have become accustomed to. But not this time I wasn't travelling Qantas so I had to wait with the great, unwashed masses and forgo free food, drinks, magazines and newspapers. I don't know how I survived.

I lucked out and scored a row to myself, thank you Air Canada! As I always do I slept little but watched several movies, the pick of which was Juilia V Julia. The Julie part all about a women that writes a cooking blog. She too wondered if anyone would read her blog. They did and it not only lead to a book but the film as well!

It was the first time that I had travelled Air Canada and I had no problems at all with the service. It wasn't the best airline food I have had but it was okay.

The plane actually landed early into a dull and bleak Vancouver Sunday morning. Rain and cold. My good moon at being off the plane soon dissapeared when I was given a going over by Canadian immigration. Apparently I came to Immigrations notice because I left and then returned to Canada so quickly. I must admit I was a little worried for a while as time dragged on, I had visions of being on the next plane back to Australia with my tail between my legs.

Thankfully that was not the case.

I had a three day wait in Vancouver and didn't really do a lot as I had been to Vancouver several times before. Also it was cold and wet and thoroughly miserable. So I managed to catch up on some sleep and reading.

Just yesteerday I hada wonderful trip back to Okanagan Fall through the Rocky Mountains. Huge snow covered moutains and pine trees covered in snow. To an Aussie who spent the best part of the last two years in the Central Desert region of Australia the snow was a wonderous sight.

So I am now back in my home base and trying to get up the motivation to continue with my Tommy Tippett book. Yes the first draft of 85,000 words is written but now comes the hard part, editing and honing the words that I wrote. Cutting and chopping here and adding something there. I really want to get on with the task but I am dragging my feet.

I have promised myself that I will start next Monday and I will hold myself to that especially now that I have placed the threat in writing.

Life is good I sit and write this as I look out over a majestic mountain range that runs down to the shores of a cold Lake Skaha. No complaints from me.

THE BLOG!

To blog or not to blog that is the question? It appears that this is a question all blogger's ask themselves and others from time to time. The exception probably is those that are famous enough to draw people to their blogs by their fame and profile.

I have neither. So it is going to be a hard slog to generate enough interest and exposure to my blog. I have had one comment on my blog, my first and perhaps my last and that was from my lovely daughter Kellie....but does family and especially a devoted daughter count? To my mind yes but I need people who don't know me to comment.

So I will fly this blogspot out to a wider group of people and see what happens. It is a little disheartening to write away knowing full well that nobody is reading what I write. But what the hell, perhaps one day!

CANADA BOUND

The touring around the backblocks of Victoria has come to an end. My good friend Adrian and I saw quite a bit of Victoria in the first half of the week. It is beautiful country, luch green fields with fat shhep and cows, interwoven with area's of stately euclypt forrest.

I particularly enjoyed the old towns, some big and some real small, all had character and a interesting array of old buildings. Well that is they are old to Australian's, around 150-100 years old, our history doesn't go back all that far and the 1850's is a long time in Australia.

Victoria lived up to its reputation as being cold and bleak one moment and the next you are dazzled by bright sunshine and find yourself shedding clothes. Earlier in the week it struggled to get to a maximum temperature of 13c, whiclst today it was
34c. Crazy!

It was great staying with my old Army buddy and fellow Chinese tour guide, but I am looking forward to heading back to Canada and MORE cold!

Early start on Sunday morning, a flight to Sydney with Qantas and then a 12:15pm flight to Vancouver with Air Canada. I usually fly Qantas so it will be interesting to experience the Air Canada flight.

I will then have four days in beautiful downtown Vancouver before heading back to Okanagan Falls over the Rocky Mountains.

Nothing at all to report on the writing front as I am waiting for comments from friends and family about my first draft. Perhaps it is terrible as no one appears to want to give me feedback and they don't want to hurt my feelings.

I will certainly get cracking with the edit when I get back home as time is wasting and I really want to know if I am wasting my time or not.

And for all aspiring writers here is another story of hope See it can be done!

BALLARAT

Wild and wet day in Mt Gambier, Adrian and I had a quick breakfast and headed off to the Blue Lake which is located in the centre of the town. It is quite an amazing site a huge volcanic crater filled with azure colured water. The lake has a depth of 70 metres and supplies the drinking water to Mt Gambier. Unfortunately we didn't see the Lake at its best as the weather was wet, windy and cold.

We decided to drive to Ballarat the largest inland city in Australia which is famous for the 1850's gold rush and the miner's rebellion at the Eureka Stockade. We drove through lush green pastured countryside where wooly sheep grazed contendly. There wasn't much trafic on the road and many of the small towns we travelled through appeared to be closed for the Melbourne Cup holiday.

We arrived in Ballarat in the mid afternoon and checked into a motel in time to watch the famous 2 mile horse race that stops a nation. My pick Alcopop came fifth so no winnings for me.

Walked through town and I was astounded by the plethora of Victorian era buildings, most have been restored and they are in pristine condition. The weather still isn't the greatest for this time of the year but this is Victoria after all and it is infamous for its weather.

Nothing too much going on with my writing and Tommy Tippett at the moment, I am still waiting to hear back from the people who are reading the first draft of the book. I want to hear their comments to find out what they think and what changes may need to be made. so for now it is a holding pattern.

We will probably be heading off to Melbourne today.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

I had an early morning flight out of Brisbane to Melbourne, the plane was full of racegoers heading to Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup horse race. Hat boxes and suitbags galore.

I was met by my long-time friend Adrian at the airport and we proceeded on a road trip to who knows where. Ended up doing the scenic Great Ocean Road, a road that runs alongside the Pacific Ocean with fabulous views at craggy cliffs.

Highlight of the day was the 12 Apostles, rock formations that sit in the sea, formed by the wind and sea. Spectacular!

We finished the day off at Mt Gambier in South Australia a town famous for its beautiful cdeep blue lakes. Tomorrow will be a day of exploration and decision making as we have to decide whether to travel on to Adelaide or turn back into Victoria.

Not much going on in the writing front, I am still awaiting comments and advice on the first draft of Tommy Tippett. Adrian has given me a few tips and pointers about voice and audience that were sound and appreciated.

I am now thinking of starting on the next stage of the Tommy story.

The road trip continues!