The things we learn....

Did you know....

• That in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland you do not pay property tax as an improved property until your house is finished. So to avoid paying rates, nobody builds the steps down from their front door. Not very welcoming but very effective from a tax avoidance point of view.
• When icebergs float by, they are just like a giant icecube and cool the water and the surrounding air. If there is a breeze blowing, the iceberg "windchill" can be significant. Newfoundlanders hate icebergs in the summer!
• There is such a thing as an iceberg net, to harness an iceberg and wrangle it.
• Cape Spear is the eastern most point of North America (and I have been there and was nearly blown away!)
• Fog and wind do exist in the same space in Newfoundland.

Honoury Newfoundlanders

We are officially "screeched in" - joined in the song, kissed the cod, downed the screech (rum) and are now honoury Newfoundlanders!

Sniffles

Can you believe it is not rude to sniff in Canada? Not even a great, big, phlegmy honk at the dinner table - still acceptable etiquette. Apparently we Aussies are a bit anal about the whole sniffing thing - where we even move or turn away to blow our noses.

Sean and I believe it is to do with the weather. In the cold, dry climate, a runny nose is just normal. Australians associate runny noses with illness and therefore treat the sniffles and nose blows quite differently!

Cultural subtlety is fascinating!!

Bumpy

My new favourite run - The Swedes down into Paradise Bowl. The perfect name for a sensational bowl. The Swedes cannot be seen in the photo, it is just off to the left - a very steep chute (way too steep for moguls) running out into the moguls of Paradise Bowl. Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. It is a very long way through the bumps - and they are even bigger and nastier closer to the bottom of the chair. Love it!

Steep

Easter at Lake Louise, skiing in the most perfect spring conditions. Blue sky above, sparkling fresh snow below and the temperature, a balmy -5 degrees. My new skis that I have been huffing and puffing about - too short, not stable enough at speed - proved themselves magnificent in The Ultimate Steeps. This powder bowl has been opened relatively recently at Lake Louise. It was on permanent closure due to avalanche for many years. In recent years, avalanche control techniques have allowed the area to be opened.

We were skiing Devil's Thumb. Extremely steep and very narrow. Perfect snow, a great pair of skis and on my game skiing, I nailed it - not just once but two perfect runs down. Then we decided to ski moguls!

The Birds

Every Spring and Fall, we are visited by hundreds of seagulls enroute to somewhere. They gather on the rocks and ice in the river and kaw. They circle in the lights thrown up by the city and we can hear them through our double glazing.


Remember the Hitchcock movie - The Birds??

Has Spring come early?

The Canada geese are back, the river is breaking, the snow is melting and the trees are budding. Spring is on its way and a whole 6 weeks earlier than last year.