We're in Fernie, eh!

Firstly, thanks to everyone for their comments and emails - it's nice to be in touch with you all back in Blighty, and we really appreciate it, so thanks all!

We're now happily ensconced in Fernie, having left Vancouver yesterday by plane. For those of you who read the blog back in March, you'll have an appreciation of how much I HATE flying in the little planes that they insist on using for travelling internally in Canada. Although yesterday's flight was decidedly less bumpy than we expected, I was very glad when we landed.

We were a little late into Cranbrook but our wonderful handyman, Frank, was there to meet us and drive us to Fernie. We couldn't help but bombard him with lots of touristy type questions, (Will we see Bears, Frank? Will we see Moose, Frank? When will the snow come, Frank?) but I don't think he minded too much, even though we think he finds it hard to understand what we are saying sometimes! You can REALLY tell the difference in the accents up here. Every sentence ends with "eh!" (pronounced "a"). Frank has an awesome truck, with a big tray in the back, so we loaded up our luggage in the back and piled into the front with him. We were a bit worried about the bags getting soaked as it was still raining hard here, but surprisingly, most of the luggage stayed remarkably dry. We couldn't help but giggle a little when he cranked on the radio and it was a non-stop mix of country music! There was a break from the wailing guitar for the news, and the second item in was regarding the Cranbrook Best In Bloom contest. The Mayor had given a press conference to inspire the townsfolk to make a bit more effort, and had suggested that every Thursday should be "weed-whacking" day. I kid ye not. Only in Canada, eh!

We got to the Lodge in the afternoon and set about settling in, finding our feet and unpacking. It's very odd to have a big old house all to ourselves, and the creaking and groaning can be a bit spooky at night, but we'll get used to it I'm sure. Challenges so far have been figuring out how to lock the front door, connecting the wireless internet, turning on the water heater, turning on the microwave and fixing the flush in the downstairs toilet! It's amazing what you can do when you use a bit of common sense and logic! (although after much sulking, Jethro eventually twigged that the best way to connect the internet was to connect the router to the telephone line... thickie!)

We had two phonecalls yesterday. Firstly from Wendy to check that we had arrived safely (thanks Wend!) and secondly from Alistair, a friend of ours who lives in Edmonton (most of the time) and wanted to welcome us. It was lovely to hear from him and he's promised to pop in sometime over the next few weeks. Today, we will be on the hunt for some phonecards so that we can call family and have a good natter!

I'm also planning on pootling down to the job fair in the town. Will let you know what happens!

More news soon. Keep those emails and comments coming, eh!

I hate flying...

Old Skool flying stylee - propellors and everything!

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto...

Outside our front door, Fernie mountain shrouded in mist