SUPER VARIO WORLD

Hello from Canada!

We’re here, we’re good, we’ve got Bowser and we’re back on the road!

We had fun getting here, initially our flight from Gatwick was delayed for an hour whilst two argumentative passengers were removed from the plane by the police. They then refused to identify their hold luggage, causing more delays. We eventually arrived in St Johns, Newfoundland with 50 minutes to spare to catch our connecting flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, due to our lack of return ticket and only having hand luggage, immigration pulled us for extra questioning. Luckily the officer was a typical polite Canadian, and after being impressed with the number of stamps in our passports, she let us on our way with minutes to spare.

Sunday night we arrived at Dalhousie University to stay in student accommodation they rent out during the Summer. Two single beds, two desks, one washbasin and shared, unisex toilets and showers. Not the height of luxury but it was cheap and cheerful and at least the building was grand and historic, if somewhat cold at night.

The rest of the week was spent liaising with Customs and the shippers, trying to determine when we would be able to pick Bowser up. It was all a bit stressful and frustrating not having much control over what was happening and just having to wait for the bureaucracy to do its thing. We tried to kill time by going for lots of walks and actually happened to see Bower’s ship come in on from the top of a hill.

Halifax has an interesting history, although a bit gruesome. It started as a British fort in the 1700’s, battling the natives, then the French and then became a centre for pirates. Ships sailed from Halifax to help rescue Titanic survivors but mostly brought back the dead. 150 of them are buried in the city cemeteries, most un-named, their gravestones just show their identification number and the date 15 April 1912, the day after the ship sank as this was when it was presumed they would have drowned. During World War 1 two ships collided in the harbour, one carrying munitions, resulting in the largest manmade explosion prior to the atomic bombs. More than 2,000 people died and approximately 10,000 were injured as half the city was flattened.

Luckily Bowser’s ship got in safely and after some shenanigans with custom’s inspections and hanging around industrial parks in the baking sun, we picked him up on Thursday afternoon. We had a pleasant sunny evening getting him ready and attaching all our crap to the roof rack! We like to think he was pleased to see us, but not half as pleased as we were to see him.

So Friday the 9th we were back on the road, but the weather had taken a change for the worse. It rained all day so other than the odd stop here and there for food and drinks, we drove through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, not able to appreciate the landscape due to the rain and mist.

Saturday was much sunnier and saw us crossing into Maine, US of A and sure enough we got pulled again by immigration for further questioning. We had to convince them that we were not looking to live there – luckily we were prepared with copies of documents showing we owned a property in the UK, that we had income from renting it and what our savings and credit limits are. After a nervous wait, we were granted entry until December – more than enough time for our plans.

We then had a quick jaunt through Stephen King country and stopped at his house in Bangor, which is quite noticeable from the spiders and cobweb designed fence and gate. It was then on to Portland, New Hampshire, where all along the harbour was a street festival with live music, carnivals, food and hundreds of stalls selling the usual arts & crafts. We enjoyed a few hours wandering around, getting a bit too much sun, before heading off to Cape Elizabeth for a bit of peace and quiet and to see the oldest lighthouse in North America. There were loads of families enjoying their Sunday in the park with picnics and BBQs and we caught a high school graduation ceremony – it was all very American!

The next day we moved onto Gloucester, Massachusetts of Perfect Storm fame and had a nice walk about the harbour and seafront. There’s a very simple memorial to fishermen who have died sailing from that port alone – all individually named, a staggering 5000 odd.

Next up was New Haven, Connecticut for a really interesting tour of Yale University, particularly their immense new library where they keep rare and first edition publications in a six-storey glass chamber where the air is perfectly conditioned to preserve the papers. The outer walls are made of thin marble, which lets in daylight, but not harmful UV rays. It is an amazing building, but with fees at $60,000 a year and 10,000 students, they can afford it!

We then stayed with lovely Annie - best friend of Bry’s sister Michelle - her charming husband Chris and there two beautiful daughters in their gorgeous house in New Canaan. It was great to see them, we had a lovely evening catching up and appreciated the use of a proper shower and sleeping in air-conditioned luxury! We are very thankful for their generous hospitality.

Then it was heading back to Canada, via Albany, New York and a quick trip up their observation tower for views over the Hudson River. So far the only night we have paid for accommodation was a campsite on the banks of Lake Ontario, next to another lighthouse (just a coincidence, not an obsession), before heading to the Rainbow Bridge over Niagara Falls and up to Toronto to stay with Caroline’s great - actually amazing - aunty Jean, which is where we are now with her cute dog Trixie at our feet. We’re looking forward to a big family meal tonight with loads of second cousins.

Sorry for delay, we've had internet problems! Photos to follow soon.

Have a nice day, y’all!