Whirlwind Tour
Hello again - it’s been a little while since there’s been time to post. Over the course of the last month Dana and I have been busily preparing to be able to take a long time away from the office(s), then actually being away on a visit back to Canada. In point of fact, Dana is still in Canada in either Calgary of Vancouver working but will be back in a week’s time.
What a trip though. Very busy with plenty of travel but at the same time full of rewarding visits with friends and family plus a little fun. After a long but uneventful flight back to Toronto, we spent our first two days decompressing up at the cottage with Dana’s parents and enjoying our first swims in fresh water in quite a while. From there it was for two days in Meaford to visit my Mom. Good food, a nice game of golf and some packing for our next trip, which was into Algonquin Park for two nights on Tom Thompson lake along with Ian, Colin, Mike and Karen. For 3 days we didn’t see a cloud in the sky, although we saw a lot of bugs. It’s easy to see why it could have been an inspiration for so many paintings.
From there we (after a greasy meal) travelled up to Arnstein and Gavin’s cottage for Cornfest. So great to see so many friends - well done Ben for coming all the way from Tokyo - you almost beat us :). Thanks to the remnants of a passing hurricane it was a bit rainy, but only for 1 day. Volleyball, kneeboarding and catching up (over drinks) was the order of the weekend. Six hours from Gavin’s and we were in Waterloo to visit my Dad for a few days and to get some laundry done. Also, more gorging on steak and other food. Back to Toronto for two days of errands, dinners with my brother and Tara and Dana’s parents, and a golf game with the Integra boys.
Our final weekend was spent first in Ottawa to visit with Jeff Hopper (and not Louise, who was on her way to Tokyo - the terrible luck!) and see their new house and the world’s cutest puppy, Monty. We also had the chance to have breakfast with Suzanne, who happened to be in town from Vancouver, which was great. Adam and Lisa’s wedding in scenic Perth was the next day - again a fantastic chance to see loads of people in one spot and a beautiful ceremony and incredible meal.
After all that we were understandably tired, so after an early drive into Montreal we dropped off our rental car and grabbed a smoked meat sandwich lunch at the legendary Schwarz’s. Settling into our hotel for the rest of the day to recover (from the wedding reception, not the sandwiches), we decided we’d celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary with room service overlooking Montreal. The next day Dana flew out to Calgary and, after a morning meeting, I began the long (30 hour) trip back to Australia.
It’s nice to be back home in Sydney though - and to get out on the waves this morning. Thankfully, our friend Camilla and her room-mate were looking in on Fritz and Jasmine each day, as they seem to have done fine although they’re shedding up a storm with the warming weather. Pictures to be posted soon.