Monday, December 22, 2008

Storm and a Falling Hemlock Tree

It is snowing again! After me and Kate cleared the driveway the other day, mother nature decided to dump another 10-15 Cm's of snow on us.

Lake Echo is freezing over and guess what? last night we awoke to the sound of an almighty crash outside. We assumed like last year it was just a pile of snow falling off the roof and so we went back to sleep, however, in the morning we discovered the real reason for last nights crashing sound. A massive Eastern Hemlock tree which borders the front garden which has been there for god knows how many years decided that it had enough of the storm and keeled over, missing the house and the car!

Had it fallen a different way, then I might have been writing this blog post from the next life.

Now I believe we need to call some guys with chainsaws and bloody big truck to take the bugger away.

Merry Xmas.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The SNOW has arrived!

Well, after a few warmish days in Nova Scotia the weather has finally kicked into its seasonal norm and the temperatures have fallen, just like the snow!

Schools are already being closed and warnings are out for the highways.

Yesterday, me and Katie went shopping at Mic Mac Mall and had lunch at East Side Mario's which was excellent.

The last few days we have been putting up the Christmas decorations and lights, I have been out taking photos in the snow and I expect tomorrow I will be shoveling it off the driveway.

Today we ate at Cora's in Dartmouth and had a healthy feed, and by healthy I mean unhealthy....if you know what I mean?

The other night we boiled up 8 Lobsters and they were absolutely ace! We bought them for only $5.00 Lb direct from the fishermen since they are getting paid low prices from the distributors, they have taken to selling the Lobsters direct by the side of the road out the back of their vans. Good ones too!

As always the Snow provides for excellent photography and I will be surely returning to New Zealand will hundred's of wintry photos.

This weekend we plan to grab a hotel in the city and go out for a meal and a few Britney's.

Muzzerino.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter in Halifax, Nova Scotia

God! I never want to see Toronto Airport again!!

Between being hungover and waiting for a delayed flight I was desperate to get out of there. I spend about 8 hours in the airport just walking in circles, visiting the same shops over and over, looking out the window and checking the departure monitors to see if my flight was actually going to go or not.

Due to high winds the Halifax flight was delayed but we eventually got there after a very bumpy approach.

Nova Scotia is much warmer this year when I arrived, indeed 25c warmer than last time where it was -12c and now it is +12, indeed much like an Auckland day.

This soon dropped however and we are now sitting at around 0 degree's C and last night we got a wee but of snow, not much but enough for me and Katie to make 2 snowballs from the picnic table!

Today we are off to grab an Xmas tree!

One Day in Toronto

I decided to take a trip into the city since I was there only one full day so I took a public bus from Dixon Road near the Airport to Kipling Station where I grabbed a subway train (free) to Spadina road then I jumped on a Streetcar to King Street, (also free, was I supposed to pay?)

At around -6c it wasnt too bad for walking around and I had my warm hoodie with me. The good thing about wearing a hoodie in a Canadian city is that you actually need one and are not mistaken for a criminal.

I went up the CN Tower to check out the view and it was great, although it was a grey winters day the views of the downtown area were still fantastic. While I was in the lift I asked the lift operator where all the good Toronto bars were and of course from the CN Tower, it wasnt hard for him to point them out.

I found myself about an hour later in a bar called the "Friar and Firkin" where after a few ales I got talking to a local guy called Trevor who interestingly had a script with him. I asked him about it and we got talking about movies and film-making and stuff and before I knew it was there all night and ended up getting rather minced.

Afterward we headed to a club and shortly thereafter I grabbed a taxi back to the Airport hotel.

Upon arrival at the airport I got the munchies and decided to use the vending machine for a bag of chips (crisps), but of course the offending machine decided to jam up and it gave me nothing, at first....

After a few bashes, shoves and kicks I walked away with about 9 packets of Crisps ranging from Salt N Vinegar to BBQ... all in all not a bad score. Thank god all the other guests were sleeping and did not see me retreat to my room with my arms full of free snacks.

See ya T.O.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Big Trip

Well, After a gruelling 12 hour flight from Auckland to Los Angeles, (where a woman proposed to me when she heard my accent, awesome! ) then an additional 5 hours to Toronto, I am finally here in a beautiful Canadian Winter ( It feels like Christmas! )

-8 Degrees, that's right my Kiwi friends, -8 degrees when I got out the door to grab my free shuttle to the Holiday Inn Airport East and the hotel is awesome. I took some of those "No-Jet-Lag" pills (made in NZ) before I left and hey, I think they work!

I am about to brave a Public bus to get into Toronto city center where I plan to explore, take a few snaps then scurry back to the hotel before my snot freezes to my face.

Ka Kite Ano!

Muzzerino.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008