Four flights, a bus and a ferry over thirty hours - and we were racing to catch every single one, due to flight delays! Departing from 36 degrees in Ecuador to 8 degrees and snow in Canada. Add on to that 6 hours overnight in JFK airport, and you've got two very exhausted and cranky people! But we made it!
After getting off the ferry at Langdale, we shouldered our packs and headed off down what we hoped was the right road in search of our place. The fact that there are no streetlights and very few visible numbers on houses, made it a bit tricky to find our house, but evetually we found it. Then, just our luck, we couldn't find the key that was supposed to have been left out for us! And of course, it was dark and freezing and raining...ahh chaos! But it was all worth it in the end. The apartment we are staying in (the top floor of a house really) is absolutely fantastic. It has the most amazing views over the harbour and mountains - check out our photos! Gibsons itself is like something off a postcard. The town stretches along the coast, so no matter where you are the views are pretty spectacular. A couple of times when we've been walking around, we've actually spotted deer just hanging out in people's front yards.
Ahh, walking! We have been walking absolutely everywhere since we arrived. Tricky when we're still not really used to the freezing temperatures here (it's supposed to reach a maximum of -2 degrees tomorrow!). One of the first things I did was to go and buy a big fluffy eskimo jacket. I think Simon might be struggling a bit though. There isn't really anywhere here to buy men's clothes, I think we'll have to head over to Vancouver for a day of shopping. Can't complain about the weather too much though, it just started snowing here before and we were both very excited. The place looks even more beautiful covered in snow! Simon headed straight outside to start making snowballs! The game ended very quickly after one snowball ended up coming through the door into the house.
There won't be too much more walking in the cold for us from now on. We bought a car today. $400 Canadian. It's not pretty, the two back doors don't open and the boot doesn't stay closed, but it goes! It was such a treat today to go to the supermarket and drive home with our groceries. Last week we couldn't buy anything too heavy, and then we had to carry it all for the hour walk home.
Now that we've got a car, the next thing is finding jobs. Simon has found a few decent jobs to apply for. I can't teach here because I'm not registered with their school board, so I'm just looking for whatever I can get at the moment. We've also got some friends coming over at the end of the week to visit. It'll be very nice to see some familiar faces. We're both looking forward to it.
