Not That We’re Lonely – But We Do Miss You

If you really love us you’d call!

The cheapest option is Skype. It’s a free internet phone service. All you need is broadband (or hi speed) internet access. Then you Google ‘Skype’ download it and you’re set! Then punch in our email address and it will get you in touch with us. Too easy.

www.Skype.com

Option 2:
Get a phone card. You can get them at most newsagents, corner store etc. They’re $5 to $10 and you can chat for hours to most overseas destinations (ie Canadia). Calls are about 3 cents per minute. Worth an investment.

Option 3:
Jajah is like an on line phone card (but with a lot less dialing). You sign up and book a dollar amount (ie$10) using your credit card and calls are about 3 – 4 cents per minute. You put in the telephone number you wish to call, your own phone rings and when you answer it you are connected. The sound quality is also much more reliable than Skype. Even if you don’t want to sign up they will give you a free 5 minute phone call as a trial.
http://www.jajah.com/

New York

On Monday we left our car at New Haven and caught the train for a 90 min. trip to New York City, suitcase in tow! We arrived at Grand Central Station and booked into our hotel which was conveniently located in Midtown close to Grand Central. No snow and lovely sunny weather while here, but still very cold. Jordan was a little sick with a fever but fortunately nothing a little Tylenol (Northern hemisphere Panadol) didn’t fix. Although it did slow us down somewhat having to piggy back him around New York occasionally.

So we set off to see the sights of New York City. Stumbled across Time Square after a glimpse of the Chrysler Building along the way and into Toys R Us where we spent a considerable amount of time while Ivan and the kids had a ride on the ferris wheel inside and perused the enormous Lego exhibits and the latest fads in toys. Next a walk to Broadway and a visit to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, while I checked out a few shops. Headed home after that and out to a Thai Restaurant for tea.

Next day we caught the subway to the Staten Island ferry for a view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and a few of the harbour sights. On return to Manhatten we walked to Little Italy and Chinatown seeing Wall St, The Wall Street Charging Bull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull), The Federal Courthouse, Ground Zero, Empire State building etc along the way. Kids were tired after all this walking so we headed back to the hotel for a take away dinner.

Wednesday we walked back to Time Square for a spot of souvenir shopping and to get some tickets to a show on Broadway. Saw a matinee of Grease which wasn’t our first choice but great nevertheless. Then we caught the subway to Uptown as Ivan was keen to see the Seinfeld district. We had dinner at Tom’s Restaurant which featured in many scenes of Seinfeld! Food was yuck though! (http://www.bigwaste.com/photos/ny/toms/) Then another subway home with some tired kids again.

Thursday we subbed it to the American Museum of Natural History where we did a tour of the main attractions as we would never have enough time to see the entire museum. You need about 3 days just to see that alone. (http://www.amnh.org/) We went outside for a glimpse of Central Park, which wasn't looking too special in the height of winter with no leaves or grass around. Back to our hotel to pick up our suitcase and catch the train back to New Haven, now with a slightly sick Ella as well.
We spent another lovely night with Kata and Peter before the slightly quicker journey home, bypassing scenic routes for the shortest route this time. Arrived home Saturday evening to a Barry’s Bay full of snow! Apparently they had nearly 18 inches the weekend we left. Thanks to our wonderful neighbours we had a nice clear driveway, path and porch so getting inside was no problem thankfully.

On the way to New York

March 7th marked the end of Term 3 and the start of the week long March break holidays. Unfortunately it also marked the first (and hopefully the last) accident in our car, even before we left on our holidays. I managed to back the car out of the drive way and straight into the neighbour across the road’s car putting a large dent in the bumper and smashing the light cover. Fortunately the lights still worked and there was NO damage at all to the neighbour’s car!!! Amazing how much damage you can do when you’re going 5 km/h!!!!! (Mar’s blog – in case anyone’s wondering.)

Anyway off we set after school on our scenic trip through Vermont with our final destination- New York City! Unfortunately, once more, there was a severe winter storm warning for the weekend and we encountered snow fall the entire way that evening. Low visibility forced us to travel at 40 km/h a lot of the way which meant our trip to the first hotel we’d booked took 10hrs, arriving at 1 am!!! No drama crossing the Canada- USA borders this time thankfully! Stayed in a great hotel in Burlington, New York State, had a yummy breaky at a café, the kids and Ivan had a swim in the pool while I managed a very quick taste of retail therapy!

No more snow on Saturday, this time it was heavy rain with the occasional ice pellets! We set off through the pretty villages and scenic landscapes of Highway 100 in Vermont. Or that’s what the brochures said. We could hardly see through the foggy windows of the car and through the blinding rain that once again forced us to travel at 40 km/h but we did see a few of the covered bridges that Vermont is famous for. So we headed for a few indoor sights including the famous (at least in Vermont) Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory!! This is a brand of ice cream started up by some hippy, college drop outs from the 60’s. It’s a fun place full of colour and psychedelic patterns and involves a tour of the factory and some free tastings!! Yummy ice cream with lots of unique flavours. Ben and Jerry are now living the good life and are not involved in the factory but their legacy lives on and the company is still involved in charitable and humanitarian works of one kind or another. Makes you feel good about eating ice cream!!!! (http://www.benjerry.com/)

Next stop was a night in a hideous old style ski resort that was way overpriced, dirty and creepy and reinforced Jordan’s fear of wooden hotels! We got out of there as soon as we could in the morning and gave up on the scenic route, instead opting for the main highway, out of Vermont, thru Massachusetts with our final destination Connecticut. Of course Sunday turned out to be a perfectly beautiful, sunny day as we drove along the boring lanes of the main highway! We did manage to stop in Springfield but found no sight of the Simpsons. While there we had a look at the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden. Springfield being the birthplace of Theodor Seuss Geisel, more commonly known as Dr. Seuss. (http://www.catinthehat.org/memorial.htm)

We arrived in New Haven to stay with Kata and Peter (Lenka and Veselko’s daughter and her husband) that evening. Again the wonderful Croatian hospitality was extended to us and we stayed in their apartment (a trendy converted warehouse) and had dinner with them and their 2 children, Anton and Marina.

Twin Wheels Farm

Off to the Twin Wheels B&B.
http://www.twinwheelsfarm.com/

We went with the Mask family to visit Cathy’s family property near Brudenell, about 25 minutes from Barry’s Bay.
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/so05/indepth/soc_brudenell.asp

Cathy’s father, Joe Van Massenhoven, met us out the front with his team of Belgian draft horses already hitched to the sleigh. Essential supplies (blankets, peach schnapps and Belgian chocolate liqueur) were loaded on and away we went.

Travelling through the pine forests across newly fallen snow was like going back into a storybook time. Andrew Mask occasionally reminded us that we were back in Canada by triggering the odd snow shower by shaking a low hanging branch. Joe pulled up the sleigh about 30 minutes into the journey so that we could sample some Belgian hospitality. Nic had his first little shot of Belgian chocolate liqueur which warmed the cockles of his little heart and put a big smile on his face that did not disappear for the rest of the day.

Upon returning we went out to meet the rest of the horses. These guys had never even seen a horse rug in their lives, they have no idea what wind chill is and they have no qualms about -35 degrees. They were beautiful, healthy looking animals and very keen to get up close for a friendly pat and a rub. They’d probably melt in an Aussie winter!

Lunch was taken inside the Van Massenhoven residence, a hand built log cabin (as you would in rural Ontario). We had masses of traditional Belgian waffles, made with the secret recipe, and baked on the wood stove using waffle irons brought back from Belgium,smothered in berries and cream or brown sugar or maple syrup. Yummo!

We then went with the Masks to their summer cottage, a hand built log cabin (as you would in rural Ontario).

There we went ice fishing (no luck), quad bike riding and sliding down the road on GTs, flying saucers, toboggans and snow boogie boards. This was followed by spider dogs (a Killaloe delicacy) and roasted venison sausages. We then returned to the Masks’ home where we stayed for dinner which included venison casserole. (We white Aussies could really learn a few things about how to consume some of our national symbols. Wombat stew is sounding better than ever – and think of the road kill that we could utilize!)

It was probably just another ordinary weekend in Canada for these people but for us it was a priceless slice of Canadia.